The Creative Platform is a paradigm for unlimited application of knowledge in processes. It is practiced by a creative process in groups. Through the creative process humans develops an ability to be themselves - thus freeing them from limitations of disciplinary (academic/professional), social or cultural character.

The basic element of a creative process is the idea. An idea is a unique situation-specific representation of knowledge - and the process consists of ideas - on ideas - on ideas until the solution in the form of a product, project, procedure, an appointment, idea concept, a professional understanding or course of action is a reality.

The Creative Platform is an approach for teaching creativity and/or running creative processes. It is the idea of an ideal mental workplace for interdisciplinary, intersocial and intercultural groups. On the platform it is possible for professionals from all kinds of disciplines and cultural backgrounds to unlimited apply their knowledge for solving a common task/problem. Therefore The Creative Platform is a learning environment, where people apply their knowledge unlimitedly to create new knowledge constructions in terms of ideas for products, services or new perspectives on their thinking.

As a didactic approach the creative platform forms a shift in paradigm compared to most didactic approaches. While the core in traditional didactic approaches is about reflecting experiences
or literature, the core in The Creative Platform is about engaging in the experience of creatively creating something together with other people. This notion builds on the premise that only through total engagement it is possible to let go of the dominating patterns of thinking that are bound by disciplines, social structures and cultural traditions.

Examples of application ranges from organisational development, product/service development, teaching creativity at all levels of education, creative teaching at all levels of education, cross disciplinary work, self-esteem development and much more. In the video below you can see an introduction to The Creative Platform.

6-phase model

1. The process on The Creative Platform and the work done on it always follow the same phases - no matter what the purpose might be:
2. Preparation for facilitating the process, composition of participants, physical frames and writing down a minute-by-minute program of the process
3. The Red Carpet is a ritual in which participants get onto The Creative Platform and have the motivation, concentration and confidence to engage in the process
4. The problem/task is presented briefly and without professional/academic input of any kind
5. Idea development is where knowledge is applied unlimited in a creative generation and development of solutions for the problem/task
6. Professional/academic input is brought into the process when when we have found a direction/an idea that we want to develop further
7. The Blue Carpet is a ritual in which participants are taken down from The Creative Platform and will be prepared for the ordinary world again

3D cases

The process includes a number of 3D cases from the 3D Didactic. These exercises provide a change in behavior and thinking of the participants needed on The Creative Platform. The 3D cases are context independent. A process consists of alternating 3D case - working on task/problem - 3D case - working on task/problem, and so on. Therefore the 3D cases are only used to create a specific behavior and thinking that is needed for the following work on task/problem – a bit like a training before doing. You can read more about 3D didactic in by following the link "3D Didactic" in the menu above.

Principles

The entire process of The Creative Platform including 3D cases, the work on task/problem, the 6-phase model and everything else - are uncompromisingly following four fundamental principles:

• All have the same kind of thinking and behavior at all times (parallel thinking)
• One should only focus on the task (task focus)
• There should be no experience of judgement (no experienced judgement)
• Stimulating the use of all kinds of knowledge (horizontal thinking)

Further understanding of The Creative Platform

It would be a good idea to familiarize yourself thoroughly with The Creative Platform before you start using it. A good place to start would be the "Conceptualisation of Creativity practices through Action Research: The case of The Creative Platform at Aalborg University". Furthermore we recommends you to read a concept paper on The Creative Platform "The Creative Platform : a new paradigm for teaching creativity" which is published by Problems of Education in the 21st Century Journal, Vol. 18, 2009, s. 33-50. In addition, you can find many publications about The Creative Platform here.

The Creative Platform can be used for any processes where you need a group of people to develop new ideas or thoughts - regardless of the task/problem.

The same process that leads to radical innovation will also enhance self-esteem and thus the joy of participation by the individual human. Therefore The Creative Platform can both be used for innovation, development of job satisfaction through a higher self-esteem and in any situation where new thoughts or ideas are needed. 

The Creative Platform can be used for teaching creativity, creative teaching in all subjects from primary school to PhD level, developing self-esteem, generation and development of ideas for new products, services, organisational setups, marketing plans, what to do in the weekend, where to go for holiday or any other context where a new idea or thought is needed in a group.

When you want to start using The Creative Platform it would be a good idea to familiarize yourself thoroughly with it before you start. A good idea is to experiment with using it in situations where you have only little at stake. The more confident you become about using it, the more your participants will understand, feel it and eventually get onto The Creative Platform. 

You will find videos and literature that we recommends you to read before you start using it here: What is the Creative Platform? The Creative Platform uses the 3D Didactic as an important part of the processes. We recommend you to also study this concept further. You can find more information here: 3D Didactic.

We have developed process modules and tools for processes that are available below:

• Process modules
• Tools for processes

We hope you will find as much pleasure using The Creative Platform as we have as well as thousands of teachers, consultants and others using it already.