What would society be like in the future? This class sets off by imagining that society of the future will be a “Creative Society” where each and every person makes full use of their own creativity that they originally hold within themselves. In a creative society, it will become a commonplace for everyone to “create” in many different fields and domains.
In the past, “Information Society,” which began with the advent of the Internet, changed our lives, organizations, and society. In the same way, the arrival of Creative Society will bring enormous change in the way we live, organize and live in society.
Imagining what those changes are and what they will bring is an important in preparation for the future. Methodologies and tools regarding the creation of a future where we can live well are important. In this course, I will share an idea that I have devoted myself to for a decade, my relevant works and my experience with you.
The idea is to create and utilise ‘pattern languages’ for creative human actions in order to encourage people to improve their practices and dialogue in many domains. Pattern language is the media for identifying common patterns of good practices embedded in specific domains and sharing the wisdom with others. It was originally proposed in the architecture domain in the 1970s and has since been applied to various domains such as software development, education and organisations.
For the past 20 years, my collaborators and I have created more than 80 pattern languages on diverse topics that provide tacit practical knowledge of creative human actions, comprising more than 2,400 patterns in total. Topics include the following: learning, collaboration, presentation, project design, open dialogue, education, reading, music composition, project design, startup, value-creation marketing, social intrapreneurs, change making, cooking, living well with working and parenting, living well with dementia, elderly care, management of child care, employment of people with disabilities, welfare innovation, hospitality, life transition, beauty in everyday life, natural living, digital transformation, disaster prevention and public policy design.
These pattern languages have been practically utilised to improve practices and generate dialogues among people in various organisations and communities. I also have developed a methodology and philosphy for creating a pattern language that contains aspects of both of science and art. You will learn the case of a new type of academic study, which I call "Studies on Creative Practice".