Johanna Skantze: 'An open society breeds creativity'

Johanna Skantze is Director of Generator Swedish Creative Industries. She has perceived an international career as a management consultant, working with innovation, entrepreneurship and regional development projects.

Among the projects Johanna Skantze managed is the EU-project Gate2Growth Incubator Forum, a pan-European network of university-based incubators from 30 countries. Johanna also has previous experience from working with marketing and communications in the IT industry. She is often engaged as a speaker at international conferences on topics such as infrastructure and promotion of creative industries, innovation and entrepreneurship, cluster development and regional development strategies.

Interviewee’s profile

Name: Johanna Skantze

Current occupation: Director Generator Swedish Creative Industries

Three crucial turning points in your professional life: Geographically making my career from Sweden to Germany to Italy and now back to Sweden transforming the project Swedish Creative Industries into its current organization Generator Swedish Creative Industries.

Which issue is vital for you: Challenging myself

Which factors prevent people from being creative?

• Bureaucracy
• Prejudices
• Being reactionary
• In many cases: individuals themselves
• Short-term perspective

How much freedom is acceptable for creativity?

All the freedom in the world! An open society that encourages free thinking breeds creativity.

Is it possible to plan creative quarters? Which conditions are important for the development of creative quarters?

Sweden sees examples of both created creative quarters and bottom-up initiatives that have developed without an explicit plan. Telefonplan in the south of Stockholm is an example of a bottom-up cluster where micro-enterprises in the design and art sector have been established with the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design as a hub. The growth process of this cluster has been further supported by the local real estate company and the municipality, for example in terms of office space and incubation facilities.

In another part of the city, Värtan, the opposite development can be identified. Here a top-down initiative to create a creative cluster in a new and growing quarter of the city is being undertaken. The best solution is probably a combination of a bottom-up and a top-down approach – all while embracing the value of the cluster development process itself.

Conditions:

• commitment from public and private actors, for example politicians, municipality, real estate companies et cetera
• a shared vision
• engagement, driving forces and people connecting all the different actors

To which extent – in a negative or positive way – do local players matter?

Local players are important; from the private as well as from the public sector. The driving forces are people who know the local prerequisites, who are aware of the history of the area and who are well-connected. These are also extremely valuable in this process. They are the key in creating a common vision and sharing and engaging other people in this vision.

Photos: Johanna Skantze& heidelbär (profile at piqs)