Click here to see recorded lectures, panels and seminars from the conference, which took place in November 2024.
Rethinking Creativity in Education –
A Solution for 21st Century Challenges?
Welcome to this international conference on creativity in education, organized in Stockholm by Berättarministeriet in association with Karolinska Institutet. The conference is addressed to academia, school leadership, teaching professionals and stakeholders in education. Participants in the programme have extensive expertise in the areas of creativity and critical thinking, encompassing both theory and practical application. For more information about the conference, the agenda and participants, please see below.
About the Conference
Globalisation and new technology have driven a paradigm shift that has changed our perception of the world around us and how we live our lives. In many ways, today’s generation faces a society in transformation with new opportunities but at the same time extensive challenges such as the climate crisis, economic inequality and an increasingly automated labour market requiring new skills and competences. Complex societies require human abilities such as creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration. These skills can be difficult to fully automate.
The mission of the education system is to educate and train intellectually independent citizens who are capable of leading meaningful and successful lives, with problem-solving and critical thinking skills through various learning and teaching strategies. Schools must equip students with skills for continuous development through lifelong learning, to face this new and complex existence.
The education system in many countries is undergoing a structural crisis. However, every crisis is a challenge that also offers opportunities for innovation. At this conference, we ask the question: How can we strengthen learning and teaching in schools and support creativity to promote students’ ability to face the future?
Berättarministeriet (Ministry of Storytelling), founded in 2011, is a non-profit, non-partisan foundation striving for a society where all children are confident with the written word. The backbone of an advanced liberal democracy is a well-functioning educational system that guarantees all children a high quality and equal education. Today, children’s study results are affected to a great extent by housing segregation and their parents’ or legal guardian’s socioeconomic status. Berättarministeriet offers support to schools in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. Both the pedagogical framework and how the support is prioritized is based on research into how socioeconomic factors affect children’s education.
Berättarministeriet has a national public assignment for Swedish primary schools. Berättarministeriet is part of the International Youth Writing Community with over 50 other organizations worldwide who have been inspired by the 826 model.
Karolinska Institutet is one of the world’s leading medical universities, with a vision to advance knowledge about life and strive towards better health for all. Karolinska Institutet accounts for the single largest share of all academic medical research conducted in Sweden and offers the country’s broadest range of education in medicine and health sciences. The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet selects the Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine.
Karolinska Insitutet is Sweden’s largest medical university, with 6,700 students, 2,000 post-graduates and over 5,500 employees. The university is divided into three departmental groups with a total of 21 departments. Activities are conducted at the two campuses in Solna and Flemingsberg, as well as at several hospitals and other healthcare facilities in the Stockholm region.
Johan 
Pehrson
Minister for Education, Sweden
Johan Pehrson is the Minister for Education in Sweden. He studied law at Uppsala University and King’s College in London and is the head of the liberal political party. Johan Pehrson has been entrusted various missions regarding education and research throughout his career. Currently, he is active within children’s education, study funding, higher education and research and space.
Annika 
Östman Wernerson
President, Karolinska Institutet
Annika Östman Wernerson is a professor of kidney- and transplant science and combines her mission as president with research, clinical work and the education of medical students. Additionally, her commitment to education has laid the foundation for her deep insight into the institute’s core areas and collaboration partners.
Dilsa Demirbag-Sten
Secretary General and Co-Founder, Berättarministeriet
Dilsa Demirbag-Sten is an author and journalist and is regularly asked to speak on topics such as education, integration and equality. She has been a board member of multiple foundations, universities and counsels, all with a focus on the importance of education, literacy and culture. Within these areas she has received numerous awards, most recently the Industry Award for the Promotion of Graphic Professions.
Ronald A. Beghetto
Pinnacle West Presidential Chair and Professor, Arizona State University
Ronald Beghetto, PhD, is a recognized expert on human creativity, Generative AI, and the possible in education. He is Professor at Arizona State University, where he founded the AI-Possibility Lab. Beghetto is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and recipient of the Rudolf Arnheim Award. He is Editor for Review of Research in Education and Series Editor for Creative Theory and Action in Education.
Duncan Crawford
Senior Content Manager, OECD Education and Skills
Duncan Crawford’s work involves moderating education-focused events and webinars, writing and editing publications, and hosting the OECD’s Education Podcast, Top Class. As a former foreign correspondent for BBC, NBC and Al Jazeera, he has two decades of broadcasting experience and has reported on conflicts and geopolitical issues from more than 30 countries and territories.
Peter Gärdenfors
Professor emeritus in Cognitive Science and Cognitive Modeling, Department of Philosophy, Lund University
Peter Gärdenfors is the author of The Desire To Understand and Can AI think?: About Animals, Humans and Robots among several other works. His research focus lays on semantics and the evolution of thinking and language.
Yulia Kovas
Professor of Genetics and Psychology, King’s College London
Yulia Kovas is Visiting Professor at King’s College London, where she conducts research into gene-environment interplay in education. Professor Kovas directs InLab and she is the author of over 200 scientific articles, book chapters and volumes, including recent book Oedipus Rex in the Genomic Era: Human behaviour, Law and Society.
Mara Krechevsky 
Senior researcher, Director of 21st Century Excellence, Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Mara Krechevsky has been conducting educational research for 40 years, including directing “21st Century Excellence” and “Making Learning Visible.” Her most recent projects include “Pedagogy of Play”, a collaboration with the Lego Foundation and the International School of Billund, Denmark, to develop a pedagogy of play from preschool to middle school.
Bill Lucas
Professor, Director of Centre of Real-World Learning University of Winchester and Chair of Global Institute of Creative Thinking Advisory Board
Bill Lucas was Co-Chair of the Academic Advisory Board for the PISA 2022 Creative Thinking Tests. A researcher and educational reformer, his model of creativity is used in schools in more than 30 countries. Author of academic and popular works, His latest book is Creative Thinking in Schools: a Leadership Playbook.
Andreas Schleicher
Director for the Directorate of Education and Skills, OECD
Andreas Schleicher has worked for over 20 years with ministers and education leaders around the world to improve quality and equity in education. Andreas initiated and now oversees the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and other international instruments that have created a global platform for policy-makers, researchers and educators to innovate and transform educational policies and practices.
Niklas Brismar 
Pålsson
Teacher in Swedish and Philosophy
Niklas Brismar Pålsson is teacher at Anna Whitlocks Upper Secondary School in Stockholm. Niklas is also part of the jury for the Swedish teacher award Pennsvärdet and facilitates seminars with philosophers. He expresses that a primary goal as a philosophy teacher is to make philosophy feel close and tangible. Niklas also aims to create a classroom environment where all questions are welcome and where the students want to learn.
Jennifer 
Buggie
Teacher and Advisor for the Integration of Creativity and the Arts in Education, Ireland
In her postgraduate studies Jennifer Buggie has focused on leading change through teaching in drama and history, and on teacher identity in school amalgamation. She is passionate about providing teachers, artists and children with the skills and opportunity to work together in creativity rich schools.
Axel Eklund
Director of Story and Program, Berättarministeriet
Axel Eklund has extensive experience of working with education, both as teacher and at Berättarministeriet. At Berättarministeriet he is tasked with creating, and developing school programs, as well as analyzing trends in the schooling world.
Cassie 
Hague
Analyst, Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, OECD
Cassie Hague has worked on the “Fostering Creativity and Critical Thinking” project, working with networks of educators to develop pedagogical approaches to support student creative and critical thinking. She has also worked in the Policy Advice and Implementation Division, reviewing and evaluating countries’ educational policies and initiatives.
Robert 
Harris
Professor of Immunotherapy in Neurological Diseases, Academic Vice-President of Doctoral Education, Karolinska Institutet
Robert Harris was awarded the Karolinska Institutet Pedagogy Prize in 2014 and FEBS Education Award in 2024. Recent publications include Brain behaviour and immunity and Nature Nanotechnology.
Mats Malm
Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, Associate Member Nobel Committee
Mats Malm is a literary historian and the translator of Old Norse works such as The Younger Edda. He has authored several books including Construing Cultural Heritage and Ivar Arsenius, the storyteller. His research investigates how the meaning of different texts can transform over long periods of time.
Kenneth
Nally
Curriculum and Assessment Policy Unit, Ministry of Education, Ireland
Dr Kenneth Nally is part of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Unit at the Ministry of Education in Ireland having originally worked with its schools’ Inspectorate. His work focuses on learner creativity and encompasses strategy, research, analysis, and evaluation. He will provide examples of how to cultivate creativity through teacher professional learning.
Celeste O’Callaghan 
Principal Officer in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Unit in the Department of Education, Ireland
Celeste O’Callaghan has policy responsibility for curriculum and assessment with a particular focus on lower secondary, including the wellbeing curriculum, and also leads the Department’s work on the implementation of Creative Youth, a cross-Departmental pillar of Creative Ireland.
András
Simon
Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet
András Simon is a member of the Nobel Assembly since 2022, and he is Editor-in-Chief for the scientific journal Experimental Cell Research.
David 
Sonnek
CEO Navigare Ventures
David Sonnek has spent more than 20 years in Venture Capital investing. Believing strongly in the transformative power of science, he focuses mostly on physics, ICT and quantum technologies. David holds a Ph.D. in Atomic Physics from the Royal Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from the Stockholm School of Economics.
Maria 
Wilenius
Secretary General of the Swedish National Commission for UNESCO
The UN-organisation UNESCO contributes to peace and security by promoting international cooperation in education, science, culture, communication and information. Maria Wilenius has been the deputy university director of Stockholm University, she has worked at Stockholm University of the Arts and at the Ministry of Education.
Anders 
Ynnerman
Professor of scientific visualization and Head of the Division of Media and Information Technology (MIT), Linköping University
Anders Ynnerman’s position as head of the division includes missions regarding education, research and innovation, as well as a responsibility to disseminate the research to the public. His research cover research areas within astrophysics, artificial intelligence, visual learning and communication.
Agenda
9:00 Check-in and registration
Coffee and breakfast at Aula Medica, Karolinska Institutet
9:30 Welcome
Annika Östman Wernerson, President at Karolinska Institutet
9:35 Opening remarks
Johan Pehrson, Swedish Minister for Education
9:50 Introduction of the moderator
Introduction of the moderator Ronald Beghetto, Presidential Chair and Professor, Arizona State University, by Dilsa Demirbag-Sten, Secretary General, Berättarministeriet
9:55 Introduction to the program
10:05 Introduction to theme 1 and the first keynote speaker
10:10 Theme 1: The creative being – the science of becoming
Peter Gärdenfors, Professor emeritus in Cognitive Science and Cognitive Modeling, Department of Philosophy, Lund University
10:25 Panel discussion for the theme
Panel discussion with Peter Gärdenfors, Mats Malm, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, Associate Member Nobel Committee, and Niklas Brismar Pålsson, teacher in Swedish and Philosophy. Audience interaction.
11:05 Best practice for the theme
Outreach STEM-program with Berättarministeriet and Karolinska Institutet. András Simon, Professor, Karolinska Institutet, and Axel Eklund, Director of Story and Program, Berättarministeriet.
11:25 Introduction to theme 2 and the second keynote speaker
11:30 Theme 2: A future for creativity – an educational matter of fate or fact?
Andreas Schleicher, Director for the Directorate of Education and Skills, OECD
11:45 Lunch with opportunity to connect and take part of posters
13:00 Panel discussion for the theme
Panel discussion with Cassie Hague, analyst, the Creativity and Critical Thinking project (OECD), Bill Lucas, Professor of Learning and Founder and Director of the Centre for Real-World Learning (CRL), and Maria Wilenius, Secretary General for the Swedish National Commission for UNESCO. Audience interaction.
13:30 Best practice for the theme:
Cultivating creativity through teacher professional learning in Ireland. Kenneth Nally, Curriculum and Assessment Policy Unit, Ministry of Education, Ireland, and Jennifer Buggie, Teacher and Advisor for the Integration of Creativity and the Arts in Education, Ireland.
13:50 Audience interaction and introduction to theme 3 and the third key note speaker
14:00 Theme 3: Reimagining education: Expanding our view of the possible
Mara Krechevsky, Senior researcher at Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Director of 21st Century Excellence
14:15 Panel discussion for the theme
Mara Krechevsky, Niklas Brismar Pålsson and Kenneth Nally. Audience interaction.
14:45 Coffee break with opportunity to connect and take part of posters
15:30 Creative entertainment
Carl-Einar Häckner, illusionist, comedian, musician and writer
16:00 Concluding remarks for the first day
Robert Harris, chair of the scientific committee for the conference and Professor of Immunotherapy in Neurological Diseases, Academic Vice-President of Doctoral Education, Karolinska Institutet
16:15 Non-alcoholic refreshments and finger food in the foyer with opportunity to connect and take part of posters
16:45 End of conference day 1
9:00 Coffee and breakfast with opportunity to connect and take part of posters in the foyer at Aula Medica, Karolinska Institutet
9:30 Introduction of the second moderator of the conference
Introduction to the moderator Duncan Crawford, Senior Content Manager, OECD, by Dilsa Demirbag-Sten, Secretary General, Berättarministeriet
9:35 Introduction to the program with audience interaction
9:45 Introduction to theme 4 and the fourth key note speaker
9:50 Theme 4: Creativity and technology – the digital revolution serving creativity in education?
Ronald Beghetto, Pinnacle West Presidential Chair and Professor, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University
10:05 Panel discussion for the theme
Ronald Beghetto, Anders Ynnerman and David Sonnek. Audience interaction.
10:40 Best practice for the theme
The Wisdome project with Anders Ynnerman, Professor of Scientific Visualization and Head of the Division of Media and Information Technology (MIT), Linköping University
11:20 Introduction to theme 5 and the fifth keynote speaker
11:25 Theme 5: Creativity: genes, environments and chance
Yulia Kovas, Professor of Genetics and Psychology, Kings College London; Director of InLab
11:45 Lunch with opportunity to connect and take part of posters
13:15 Panel discussion for the theme
Yulia Kovas and Peter Gärdenfors. Audience interaction.
13:45 Introduction to the theme 6 and the sixth keynote speaker
13:50 Theme 6: Measuring creativity – why curriculum, pedagogy and assessment need to go hand in hand and how we can do it now
Professor Bill Lucas, Director of Centre of Real-World Learning University of Winchester and Chair of Global Institute of Creative Thinking Advisory Board
14:05 Panel discussion for the theme
Bill Lucas, Ronald Beghetto and Celeste O’Callaghan, Principal Officer in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Unit in the Department of Education, Ireland. Audience interaction.
14:35 Moderator scopes the conference topics and contents with concluding audience interaction
14:50 Concluding summary
Robert Harris and Dilsa Demirbag-Sten
15:10 End of conference
Location
Completed in October 2013 and named Building of the Year 2014, Aula Medica, with its triangular shape and façade consisting of 6,000 panes of glass, is an impressive property on Campus Solna, which otherwise consists largely of brick buildings. With its location along Solnavägen, facing Karolinska University Hospital, it is clearly visible to everyone who passes by, and the façade’s slope of a maximum of 33 degrees and the overhang of 23 meters out over Solnavägen really make it stand out.
Over the years, Aula Medica has hosted Nobel lectures, scientific symposia, and annual general meetings. Thanks to a donation from the Erling-Persson Family Foundation, the building could be erected in conjunction with Karolinska Institutet’s 200th anniversary. The inauguration took place on October 11, 2013. The auditorium in Aula Medica is named Erling Persson Hall and is built as an amphitheater with a capacity for 1 000 people.
The architect for Aula Medica is Wingårdh Arkitektkontor.
The conference is held at Aula Medica, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels väg 6, Stockholm.
You can reach Aula Medica by bus, commuter train, subway, or car. Odenplan is the nearest commuter train station, and S:t Eriksplan is the nearest subway station. Bus lines 3, 6, 72, 77, 506 and 507 stop near Aula Medica. The nearest bus stops are Karolinska Institutet Biomedicum or Karolinska Sjukhuset Eugeniavägen.
Map
Aula Medica has good accessibility for people with disabilities. With elevators to the auditorium and six audience entrances, it is easy for everyone to enter. The auditorium is equipped according to accessibility standards with hearing loops and signage for the visually impaired.
If you have further questions we are happy to help. Please contact us at: info@berattarministeriet.se