Brussels, 06/01/2009 (Agence Europe) - At a ceremony in Prague on Wednesday 7 January to be hosted by Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek and Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Commission and the Czech Presidency will officially launch the European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009 with the slogan “Imagine. Create. Innovate”. A conference will be held to mark the occasion, as will a round table meeting to be attended by seven of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation Ambassadors, among whom are former prime minister of Finland Esko Tapani Aho, who will chair the group, German inventor Karlheinz Brandenburg, French researcher Dominique Langevin, Hungarian inventor Erno Rubik and Romanian film director Radu Mihaileanu, together with business people, artists and designers. These eminent personalities will adopt a set of recommendations for EU governments and institutions. European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth, Ján Figel' was pleased that so many leading figures and organisations had shown interest in the event. “It is also a sign of the importance of creativity and innovative capacity in Europe that many companies, associations and organisations have expressed the wish to become partners of the Year,” he said.
The European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009 aims to raise awareness of the importance of creativity and innovation as key competences for personal, social and economic development. It has acquired special significance in the context of the current economic slowdown - the message that will be delivered throughout the year by means of conferences, information campaigns and other initiatives from member states will be that Europe should not react to the crisis by reducing investment into skills and innovation so that it can compete on equal terms with other countries of the world. In Brussels, a conference on the contribution of the EU's existing funding programmes to creativity and innovation will be held at the beginning of March. Also in Brussels, a series of six public debates will be held on key topics relating to creativity and innovation from February onwards. The full list of events is available at http: //http://www.create2009.europa.eu (I.L./transl.rt)