World Creativity and Innovation Day celebrates collaboration in its 21st year

Scottish Health Innovations Ltd (SHIL) is urging NHS ground breakers to be inspired by the collaboration theme of today’s 21st World Creativity and Innovation Day and take the next step towards realising net zero targets.

Part of World Creativity and Innovation Week (15-21 April), the annual day of celebration sees the world invited to embrace the idea that innovation is essential for sustainably harnessing the economic potential of all nations.

SHIL believes it is an exciting opportunity to not only celebrate the health and social care innovators of the past year who helped to fight the COVID-19 pandemic by unlocking new solutions, but also the forward thinkers who can become tomorrow’s sustainable-minded innovators with everything from very simple to complex ideas.

April 21 is a United Nations International Day of Observance celebrating the use of creativity and innovation to advance the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. It aims to empower people to use new ideas and make the world a better place.

Organisers believe that innovation, creativity, and mass entrepreneurship can provide new momentum for economic growth and job creation whilst also extending opportunities to the most disenfranchised in society, helping to eradicate poverty, and also improving the environment.

The concept is open to all interpretations – from artistic expression to problem-solving in the context of economic, social, and sustainable development.

SHIL hopes this ever-evolving concept – building on the interplay between human creativity, ideas, intellectual property, knowledge, and technology – can be leveraged by NHS Scotland to inspire and accelerate impactful healthcare innovations, in turn positively impacting health, social, and economic outcomes.

On #WCID 2022, SHIL further believes that the day’s collaborative theme is especially important, underpinning its ambition to work side-by-side with the NHS, academia, industry, entrepreneurs, and funders as part of a tightly knit, highly interconnected ecosystem.

We are also certain that Scotland has a vital, sustainable contribution to make – that ground-breaking ideas emanating from within our NHS have the power to significantly improve health and social care for all, while supporting an ambitious, entrepreneurial, forward-thinking nation that can meet its zero carbon target for 2040.

As part of its ongoing Sustainability Innovation Call, SHIL continues to seek ideas from health and social care professionals that can help support NHS Scotland to adapt, develop, and strengthen in response to climate change.

Inspired by World Creativity and Innovation Day, we must therefore make an important next step, by taking its collaborative message to support effective partnership working that brings together the right skills, expertise, and ambition to optimise sustainable innovation.

Strong partnerships are vital in supporting our mission, but fundamentally we want to encourage the NHS Scotland workforce on #WCID 2022 to find greener solutions that can transform lives by challenging norms and looking beyond currently accepted practice.

A health service that responds to environmental risks and meaningfully changes the way it operates is a better health service.

Find out more

• Respond to SHIL's Sustainability Innovation Call
• Learn more about World Creativity and Innovation Day
• Get involved at @WorldCreativity and using #WCID #IAmCreative