A plan to improve the quality and quantity of creative learning opportunities and initiatives throughout Scotland has recently been published. Each of the partners – Creative Scotland, Education Scotland, Scottish Government, College Development Network, and Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, Skills Development Network, General Teaching Council for Scotland and the Scottish Qualification Authority – will implement a series of specific actions. The…

Grundtvig learning partnership of partners from Austria, Germany, Slovenia and Spain, co-ordinated by EDUCULT (Austria), researched existing approaches to family learning in cultural and creative education settings.

The report offers an overview of the learning partnership; presents quality criteria for cultural learning for families based on observations and discussions; presents brief case studies of visited institutions; and includes a self-assessment…

ICEnet has got its Facebook page now as well! We will be reminding you of interesting content on the platform, sharing new items, asking questions, giving answers – and making sure you have another way to discuss and learn more about everything related to creative education. Like, comment, share, post, link; lurk secretly or flood it with your presence; and enjoy!

Nikky Smedley on Creative Education – interview

Nikky, you have a lot of experience of working for and with children. What does this mean to you? And what would you say is the main difference for you between working with children and working with adults?

[Nikky] That’s an interesting one. A lot of my work has a great deal of humour at its core, and anyone who…

Dear ICEnet members

ICEnet is a community full of fascinating and inspiring people, stories, experiences, successes and aspirations. As it would be a pity for them to stay unnoticed, we have decided to feature every now and then ICEnet members whose work might give you something to think about.

So, without further ado, let us introduce to you…

Nikky Smedley

Who is…

Dear ICEnet members

Welcome to the first official ICEnet newsflash! With nearly a hundred members now, our community is growing nicely.  There are creative professionals who attended the International Creative Practitioners Forum in Vilnius in May (which marked the official launch of ICEnet online platform); those involved in Creative Partnerships Norway; artists involved in the exchange Artists in Creative Education – Pakistan and UK; and…

Paul Collard's first blog is now on the Creativity, Culture and Education website – to read the blog click here.

It’s been a month now since the International Creative Practitioners Forum participants returned from Vilnius to their homes all over Europe. What was the month like? At what occasion did you get a chance to use something particular that you’d learnt at the Forum? Did something make you recall particular people/events/discussions from the Forum? Have you stayed in touch with people you had met there? Any interesting collaborations emerging?

Let us know how your life and work…

I recently discovered an intriguing quote:

"We need to make Artists in every profession."

Jody Giles, CIO of Under Armour, Inc.

Source: Education Closet, How Creativity Changes the Game

I like how this fits my belief that creative thinking, originality, playfulness, openness to unconventional ideas and…

Some of you taking part in the event in Vilnius on 22–24 May 2013 might have missed our nice colourful reflection board situated in the Open Space of the venue, which provided some key ideas and reflections on the Forum and mainly its workshops. Facilitators of each workshop provided the two creative minds (and four creative hands) working relentlessly until the very end of the Forum with their feedback on questions emerged, emotions triggered or discussed, major ideas/issues, structure of…

DICE (“Drama Improves Lisbon Key Competences in Education”) was an international EU-supported project. In addition to other educational aims, this two-year project was a cross-cultural research study investigating the effects of educational theatre and drama on five of the eight Key Competences. The research was conducted by twelve partners (DICE Consortium; leader: Hungary).

To read background information, research findings, recommendations or resources and…

Training Artists for Innovation (TAFI) was a two-year cooperation project of six European partners, including ICEnet Founding Partner Cultuur-Ondernemen, and its end product is a "book which will guide you through the world of competencies and training of artists who implement artistic interventions within organisations and companies". The creators believe that artists can help organisations and individuals to become more creative, but need more than just  artistic skills to do…