White paper on creativity - ebla center

Chapter 4business) as most residents in theirhome area. This can give rise to theproblem of the generationaltransmission of knowledge expressedin the material culture of an area, whichgiven the high tacit component cannotbe compensated by the entry of newlabour resources from outside the areaunder consideration. To ensuregenerational transmission, the variouslocal private and public stakeholdersmust make efforts at systemic level toencode tacit knowledge expressed inthe local area and therefore make iteasier to conserve and develop theheritage of such knowledge. To thisend, it may be useful to intensify therecourse to specialised schools andtraining schemes as well as qualitycertification tools for local products,such as collective property rights(Cuccia and Santagata, 2004).Crossover elements, which also derivefrom working on international marketsand the growing interaction withforeign designers, must act as a furtherstimulus to reinterpreting theconventions of international design (attimes it also seems to be yielding to aprocess of standardisation), on thebasis of the local heritage of materialculture. The adoption of instrumentssuch as collective property rights,aimed at conserving the commonheritage of knowledge associated with alocal area, which does not preclude thepossibility of making use of distinctiveindividual labels such as the signature,can be of help in this case too. Thepublic and private institutions involvedin assigning these distinctive labels tolocal businesses can protect localidentity and also anchor externalstimuli for innovation to what aredeemed to be the essential featuresshaping the specific nature of localproduction. Moreover, the institutionscan play a more effective role inpreventing any attempts at productmisappropriation (e.g. counterfeits andfakes) when intangible local culturalcapital is implemented in theproduction of material goods whichcan be differentiated on the market.4.5 Collaboration betweendesigners and businessesIt is useful to analyse the relations – i.e.what kind of interaction and degree ofcollaboration – between the officialfigures of designers and the productioncontext in which they operate.On one hand, designers on the marketwish to maintain their independenceand pursue individual success, realisingtheir projects by collaborating with thebusiness world, while on the other,entrepreneurs seeking the collaborationof designers are willing to give thempublic acknowledgement by promotingthe product made together with bothdistinctive labels (the company brandand the designer’s signature), but onlywhen the designer is already wellestablished.Otherwise, entrepreneursmay resort to in-house designers withwhom they establish a morecontinuous working relationship, butprefer to keep their contributionanonymous. Thus, for example, in thecatalogue of many businesses operatingin the lighting sector, such asWHITE PAPER ON CREATIVITY 101