Innovation and Creativity is on the agenda of economical, political and social actors in dynamic,
accelerating societies. According to specific rationalities of institutions and professions, Creativity
and Innovation Discourses differ in institutional fields – there being translated into daily
institutional and individual practice. More and more, global innovation discourses open up to
questions of developmental strategies of future-creation and of the goals and values of our
societies and common world as a whole. Sustainability, futurability and happiness become
relevant dimensions of a new development agenda, which addresses the interconnectedness
of economical and social development to universitarian knowledge creation and especially as
well to Higher Education.
Knowledge for development, ‘development education’ and “education for sustainable
development” approaches show, that education has become central to development and
community development, where democratic participation of all groups, especially women in the
development process is understood as foundation for development. With increasing globalization,
as well the advance of new communications and information technologies, national policies of
digitization and knowledge economy, development education paradigm opens up towards those
emerging trends. What are the paradigms of development education to suggest new possibilities
and spaces for “development” that take advantage of emerging world trends, critical knowledge
development paths and the role of education in these processes?
Here, the role of public universities is under debate and the public mission of the university is
being reframed. What is the responsibility of the university to development and what is the
mission of university as a critical institution, a transformative institution, shifting from
(dis-)interested scholarship towards the promotion of national and global citizenship? How will
Universities interprete and respond to these trends, how will the future of the university develop
and what can universities contribute to a sustainable development? Non-rivalry, coproduction
and collaboration as principles of the economics of knowledge are carried over to knowledge
institutions and countries as a whole and define new development trajectories. The notion of
global knowledge development needs an open global society, and the development of trust
relationships within learning societies. “Open knowledge” and “open knowledge production”,
related models like “peer production” and “peer governance” provide emerging alternatives to
traditional proprietary models of knowledge production. On this background, we analyze and
develop institutional strategies as “social practice” in epistemic fields, shaping and defining
new forms of social production, social labour and social media. Open science and open
education show to be the emerging mode of educational open and creative development.
Against a discourse of wealth creation and a limited orientation towards economical growth
leaving social wellbeing behind, and against a discourse and a developmental strategy linked
to GDP and economical growth, a development agenda of Happiness is set up as a
developmental strategy of integrate equitable and sustainable socio-economic development
with environmental conservation, cultural promotion and good governance. In order to analyze
the potentials of a happiness strategy, the term and notion of “happiness” as such has to be
reflected on. Different traditions of thought and epistemological strategies are obvious: While
western thought – like the United States Declaration of Independence - adresses happiness
as individual right, eastern thinking develops it on a completely different epistemological
background and sets of values. While the term in the western world has been connected to a
psychological, individual and “rights” oriented dimension, in eastern thinking we might find a
religious, collective and “responsibility” oriented notion of depth and deliberation, meaningful
life, a thoughtful use of gifts and time, of a life with thought and purpose. The pursuit of
happiness as individual freedom of one´s own private, personal, individual happiness as
achievement, respecting the same right in others, contrasts to concepts of good governance,
of organizing, of economy and of development and a practice of transcendence.
“Knowledge Cultures” of happiness as an economical and social strategy can be related to a
greek epicurean notion of a painless life, John Lockes orientation of the subject towards
pleasure and the repulse of pain, to material wealth – or to a religious tradition based on
practices of awareness, mindfulness and sustainable co-existance with nature and all life on
earth. It is to be analyzed as national strategy, as a potential for organizational and institutional
developmental strategies in economy, society and education.
Happiness as discourse and developmental strategy connects to development theories,
questioning linear models of modernization and progress. Development theory focusing more
on human development and “development as freedom” after Amartya Sen (1999), “limits to
growth” and sustainable development following the Brundtland Commission in “Our Common
Future” developed in 1983, and what Arturo Escobar (1995) calls “postdevelopment”. As well
theories of economic development shift to theories of interdependence of education and
development with attention turned to human capital theory, theories of human development,
returns on investment in education (Osmanković et al, 2011) and endogeneous growth. World
agencies of today therefore promote the need for investment in human capital especially
education and health.
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