DE VELOPMENT
32 · MONEY
ISSUE 56
Dayna is a senior speech therapist by day and feature writer by night. When she’s not busy fixing words, she is travelling the world to add to her fridge magnet collection.
MASTER your CREATIVITY The Edward de Bono Institute has been rapidly gaining worldwide recognition as a hub of creativity and innovation, here in Malta. In lieu of this month’s focus on design and creativity, Dayna Clarke caught up with the innovative hub’s director, Dr Leonie Baldacchino. As director and senior lecturer at The Edward de Bono Institute for the Design and Development of Thinking at the University of Malta, Dr Baldacchino has been lecturing on entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation since 2008. She holds a PhD in Entrepreneurship from Warwick Business School (UK), an M.A. in Creativity and Innovation (Distinction) and a B.Psy.(Hons) from the University of Malta. Her academic research interests include the psychology of creativity and entrepreneurship; social, sustainable and inclusive entrepreneurship; and entrepreneurship education. Can you tell us more about the Edward de Bono Institute? The Edward de Bono Institute was set up at the University of Malta in collaboration with Professor de Bono in 1992. Initially, the Institute was concerned primarily with
teaching his thinking tools and techniques but, over the years, we expanded and diversified our activities into four interrelated subject areas, namely creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship and foresight (www.um.edu.mt/create). How are the thinking tools and ideology of Edward de Bono implemented? The Institute shares Edward de Bono’s view that creativity is a skill that can be learned and improved through practice. His thinking tools and techniques, including the Six Thinking Hats and Lateral Thinking, as well as a variety of other models and methods, are taught and implemented in our courses through a blend of theory, research, hands-on group work and discussions. Students are often required to apply what they learn to real-life scenarios, for example, by generating ideas for new products or services, designing improvements to existing offerings, and solving problems faced by organisations. What is on offer at the Edward de Bono Institute? Today our Institute offers a Master in Creativity and Innovation, a Diploma in Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a PhD research degree in the areas of Creativity, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Foresight, and a variety of optional undergraduate study units. The Master programme has been attracting local and international students from a broad base of disciplines for many years, and it has just been revamped in response to their feedback and recent advances in the field.
New study units include ‘Creative and Critical Thinking: Theory and Practice’, ‘Leadership for Managing Change and Innovation’, ‘Creativity and Innovation in the Cultural and Creative Industries’, and ‘Strategic and Entrepreneurial Decision-Making’ which will be delivered by a visiting lecturer from Lincoln International Business School (University of Lincoln, UK). This course also includes a Research Methods study unit and a supervised dissertation project, but students may opt to exit the programme without completing the dissertation. In such cases, they are awarded a Postgraduate Diploma in Creativity and Innovation, provided that they have successfully completed the taught component (60 ECTS). This course is available both on a full-time and a part-time basis, with all lectures being held during daytime. The duration for full-time students is three semesters while that for part-time students is six semesters. The Diploma is a part-time evening course, aimed at individuals who would like to further their education and improve their career
