What I liked about the 2022 Montreal-Barcelona Summer School

The 2022 Montreal-Barcelona Summer School has been an intensive two-week program about creativity management in innovative societies and took place from June 23 to July 8. The program contained visiting innovative companies and organizations, learning through interactive workshops and creative projects in Barcelona and Montreal, and cooperating with students from different countries.

In addition, the program offers two scholarships exclusively for GLOCAL students each year! One of the scholarship recipients, YanYin Chow, shared her experiences of participating in this amazing summer school. If you are interested in creative industries and cultural innovation, this is the article that you shouldn’t miss!

“Traveling, doing internships, visiting family and friends… there are plenty of options for GLOCALs’ summer. I was not sure if I made the right decision when I applied for the scholarship in April to attend the summer school co-organized by HEC Montreal and Universitat de Barcelona Business School on Management of Creativity in an Innovation Society. Yet, it turned out to be one of the most inspiring and transformative learning experiences I had!

The summer school was a 16-day journey that took place in Montreal and Barcelona. In the two cities, industry experts from multiple disciplines unfolded their stories and insights on how they realise human imagination.

Creativity is essential in every industry: Market leader of circus art, Cirque due Soleil shared with us their experience in sustaining creativity in their daily operation and how they survived the pandemics. The founder & CEO of a plant-based steak company shared with us how bioprinting was going to alter human’s future diet and reduce carbon emissions. A retired astronaut from the Canadian Space Agency explained how deep space healthcare could help with services in medically underserved areas. Operators of music festivals revealed how they explored alternative revenue sources to better shape their audience mix. The Research Director of Experiential AI led us to rethink the meaning of responsible AI technology. Behind different industries, there are common values that made these innovations feasible: respect for humanity, openness, and collaboration.

As participants, we learnt not only from the speakers but mutually from each other. Just like our GLOCALs, participants had a highly diverse background – over 75 participants coming from over 30 institutions/ companies. 40% came from the academic sector while 60% work in private companies in different sectors such as sustainable mobility, machine learning, media, FinTech, healthcare, real estate, and computer games, etc. The intensive (a lot of coffee was needed though…) and interactive program, including workshops, team challenges and presentations, bonded us as a supportive community. We seized opportunities to deepen our relationships beyond the programmed social gatherings (i.e. more drinks and parties!). Listening to their personal stories and professional experiences was a precious opportunity for perspective-broadening and self-reflection.

I feel I miss Barcelona more after the summer school, but it is time to say adiós. I am happy that, apart from Cava and Jamón Ibérico, I now have more stories packed with me to share with my friends and family at my next stop, Rotterdam!”