Shaping a Creative Milieu: Creativity, Process, Pedagogy, Leadership, and Place

This paper surveys research in relation to the conditions and processes considered important in fostering creativity in a variety of contexts including cities, organizations, and learning environments. Two established schools of the arts, and their leaders, serve as case studies in the examination of milieu designed to foster creative thinking and work. The paper identifies ten characteristics found to be common in the formation of creative milieu by scholars in psychology, business, economics, anthropology, geography, leadership, urban studies, education, and the arts. Characteristics include exchanges across cultures and domains of knowledge, opportunities for serendipitous interactions and for solitude, risk-taking, stable economic conditions, inclusive leadership, open communication, and the presence of visual stimulants and other creative people and activity.