Â鶹´«Ã½

The new Centre for Radical Creativity strengthens the role of creativity in research, education and practical collaboration with companies and other partners. Rather than being a single physical space, it represents an approach that runs throughout the entire university: the aim is to bring together expertise from different disciplines and generate new kinds of solutions to the complex challenges of our time.

Radical creativity refers to the ability to transcend conventional boundaries and combine different fields of science in an open-minded way. At Aalto, this is reflected, for example, in the collaboration between art, technology and business. The centre provides a platform where researchers, students and partners can experiment, combine their expertise and develop ideas without predefined answers or outcomes.

Creativity is a source of innovation and one of the most important skills in working life. The centre’s goal is to make it a tangible skill that is accessible to everyone and can be actively developed. The ambition is to integrate radical creativity into the studies of every Aalto student – potentially bringing thousands of professionals with new ways of thinking into the workforce.

One example of the centre’s broad reach is the open and free online course Diving into Radical Creativity, launched in November 2024. Within a year, the course reached more than 20 000 learners and makes developing creativity accessible to a wide audience. The Radical Creativity online course has nearly 70 partners, most of which are companies. 

Creativity in research and practice

Research conducted at the centre strengthens Aalto University’s interdisciplinary collaboration in leveraging creativity and advancing new ways of thinking. For example, the multidisciplinary Creative Leap project, funded by Business Finland, has developed methods for identifying and enhancing creativity in companies, as well as demonstrating its connection to financial success. Several major Finnish companies participated in the research.

An international perspective is brought to the centre by Visiting Professor Mark Runco, one of the world’s leading scholars in creativity research. His professorship has been made possible through a donation from the Amer Cultural Foundation. Runco has fostered collaboration between Aalto’s schools and strengthened the university’s international research networks.

‘The Aalto University Centre for Radical Creativity also serves as a bridge between the university and society. Experiments and joint projects carried out with companies and other partners help translate research into practice and generate new innovations,’ says Riikka Mäkikoskela, head of the centre.

The centre is a new fundraising target for Aalto University. Through it, the university aims to strengthen its position as an international forerunner in research and application of creativity – and to build national competitiveness far into the future.

Back to the home page of the Review for Donors 2026