The European Year of Creativity and Innovation aims to raise awareness of the importance of creativity and innovation for personal, social and economic development; to disseminate good practices; to stimulate education and research, and to promote policy debate on relevant issues.

The Year addresses a wide spectrum of related themes such as:

• fostering artistic and other forms of creativity through pre-school, primary and secondary education including vocational streams, as well as non-formal and informal education
• maintaining engagement with creative forms of self-expression throughout adult life
• cultural diversity as a source of creativity and innovation
• information and communication technologies as media for creative self-expression
• ensuring that mathematics, science and technological studies promote an active, innovative mindset
• developing a wider understanding of the innovation process and a more entrepreneurial attitude as prerequisites for continued prosperity
• promoting innovation as the route to sustainable development
• regional and local development strategies based on creativity and innovation
• cultural and creative industries including design – where the aesthetic and the economic coincide
• innovation in public and private services.