The Power of Curiosity to Stimulate Innovation for Sustainability

Curiosity is a multi-dimensional concept with no single definition, and overlaps extensively with related concepts, including creativity, inquisitiveness and openness to experience. In the context of this conceptual ambiguity, we approached curiosity through the following working definition: a focussed or exploratory inquisitiveness that motivates us to connect what we don’t know to what we do know. How Might Curiosity Help Stimulate Innovation for Sustainability? Curiosity is dually important for innovation, first in its link to creativity and divergent thinking, and second in its role as an intrinsic motivator to sustain interest in a given area. There is a coherent and compelling case that links curiosity to the challenge of creating sustainable patterns of energy supply and demand, and promoting energy efficiency. In the context of new technologies that allow us to find things out easily and quickly, the overarching challenge at an educational level is to support deeper forms of curiosity; those that arise from cultivating interest in the complexities of our own natures, embodied engagement with technical challenges, and cultivating expert curiosity through sustained commitment to a particular field or practice.

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