 New IYF Publication Spotlights Importance of Nurturing Young People’s Creativity Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Creativity is credited with giving workers a competitive edge in today’s marketplace; yet arts-based education is under-funded and under-valued. Creativity also lies at the heart of efforts to develop solutions to many of the problems facing the planet, from poverty to environmental degradation to disease prevention. Still, many of today’s youth lack opportunities to develop and express their creative gifts.
The valuable role of youth programs in cultivating young people’s self-expression is the focus of the International Youth Foundation’s (IYF) latest Field Notes publication. Nurturing Young People’s Creativity captures the experiences of IYF partners in Canada, the Czech Republic, Peru, Turkey, and the United States. Each of these efforts is engaged in a global youth development initiative of IYF and Nokia. All are actively promoting young people’s creativity – through writing, painting, dance, filmmaking, and more. “Even if your program deals with education or employment training, if you don’t incorporate creativity, you risk having youth drop out,” says Regina Aguirre, program director at the Centro de Información y Educación para la Prevención del Abuso de Drogas (CEDRO) in Peru.
The publication underscores the usefulness of arts-based approaches in developing life skills, reaching at-risk youth, retaining program participants, and increasing youth self-expression and public awareness of critical issues.
Please see other topics explored in the IYF Field Notes series, including: Youth and the Environment, Working with the Business Sector to Advance Employment, and Promoting Active Youth Citizenship.
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