Celebrating World Creativity and Innovation in STEM

April 21st is World Creativity and Innovation Day (WCID), a day to challenge and expand our brains to come up with new, innovative solutions to old problems. Whether they are small inventions that make day-to-day life easier or large, collaborative group efforts that make that whole planet a better place to coexist, WCID is a day that encourages everyone to offer their best ideas for improving life as we know it.

According to daysoftheyear.com, WCID was originally inspired by Leonardo da Vinci, who was well known in the communities of “Invention, Mathematics, Music, Geology, Astronomy, Cartography,” and several other fields.“World Creativity and Innovation Day was established to encourage everyone to dig deep and find their own inner da Vinci.”

The official WCID website explains how the holiday was officially founded by Marci Segal, a Canadian woman, in 2001. After reading an article that claimed Canada’s creativity was in crisis, “[s]he thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if people knew how to use their natural ability to generate new ideas, make new decisions, take new actions and achieve new outcomes, to make the world a better place and to make their place in the world better too?’”

Segal then made it her life's mission to encourage creative and innovative thinking around the globe, and her efforts and projects have only grown in the decades since the holiday’s creation.

As a Capitol Tech student, you can get involved in creativity and innovation too by recognizing the ways in which it relates to the STEM world. There’s no better way to celebrate and get involved than by researching and playing a part in this year’s worldwide WCID project— The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)!

According to the WCID site, “The Sustainable Development Goals are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice. The 17 Goals are all interconnected, and in order to leave no one behind, it is important that we achieve them all by 2030.”

Amongst these goals are clean water and sanitation, sustainable cities and economies, responsible consumption and production, affordable and clean energy, climate action, and many more. Through the power of STEM, and with the innovative thinking WCID promotes, these goals are completely achievable.

Technologies such as engineering, sustainable building, and critical infrastructure are crucial to utilize in pursuit of the SDGs. Skills harnessed by inventive thinking in these areas can create a bright future that will thrive for generations to come. With the possibilities that STEM provides, moving into this new world as a team can come sooner than we know.

“Observed six days after Leonardo da Vinci’s birthday and one day before International Mother Earth Day, World Creativity & Innovation Day (#WCID) is well positioned to encourage creative multidisciplinary thinking to help us achieve the sustainable future we want,” states the empowering call to action on the holiday's official website.

Capitol Tech offers countless degrees to foster creative ingenuity in the world of STEM. To learn more about these programs, view our fields of study and peruse the various courses and degrees offered. Many courses are available both on campus and online. For more information, contact admissions@captechu.edu.