Memorandum submitted by Tim Smit, Chief Executive, The Eden Project, Cornwall

We at the Eden Project believe that the work of creative partnership is central to the development of people both young and mature. We have 37,000 children a year taking part in experiential, arts based, workshops and activities. The demand is massive and the appraisal of the work by the Education Department at Exeter University (research available on request) demonstrates that it is highly effective in stimulating children to engage in a wide range of subjects, but especially those most suited to cross-curricular engagement. These techniques once successful with children are then rolled out to the general visiting public. It is no accident that 1.2 million visitors a year come here.

 

It is our belief that for our communities to be healthy and resilient enough to meet the challenges that the next thirty years will undoubtedly throw at us, we will need to be able top tell ourselves stories that will make sense of who we are and why we need to change and...why this is a positive thing. I could bore with statistics, but I would point you at the web-site of possibly the most inspirational and successful school in the world; The Manchester school in Pittsburgh, USA masterminded by William Strickland. Here creativity is seen as the core driver in the development of personality and language, after which learning takes on a relevance that didn't previously seem apparent to pupils.

 

I leave you with the famous phrase coined by CS Lewis:

 

"While Science may lead you towards truth, only the imagination can lead you to meaning..."

 

I commend to you the work of Creative Partnerships and would urge you to be supportive of them as their work is fundamentally important.

 

July 2007