Social Creativity for Organizational and Community Innovation

Department of Human Life Design and Science, Faculty of Design
Akane Matsumae, Professor

We engage in both research and practice on the design of co-creative processes that enable diverse people to collaborate across differences in roles, backgrounds, and expertise [1][2]. Taking into account emerging technological and societal trends, including AI, our research focuses on the cognitive dimensions of collaboration. In particular, we investigate the mechanisms of social creativity, the dynamic interplay between individual and collective creativity [3], and how these collaborative processes shape social relationships and psychological ownership [4]. Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative approaches, we explore these phenomena using physiological measures [5] and narratives [6] as key sources of insight.

In practice as a faculty for societal innovation design, I work with municipalities and companies through collaborative research projects on regional future co-creation, open innovation, and organizational transformation. My activities include the design and facilitation of workshops, facilitator training program development, and hands-on support for co-creative management. A distinctive feature of my approach is its emphasis not only on idea generation and value co-creation, but also on the (re)structuring of relationships among participants and the cultivation of foundations for sustained collaboration.

How can individual creativity become a driving force for generating new forms of collaboration and relationships? Through the reciprocal integration of research and practice, I aim to contribute to a co-creative society in which people from diverse contexts can collectively envision and put future possibilities into practice.

■ References
[1] A. Matsumae, Decentralized Autonomous Social Innovation Design and Social Creativity in a Connected Society, The Future of Design Education, Design Science and Innovation (Springer Nature), 2025. 3
[2] E. F. Soedjito, Y. Nagatsu, A. Matsumae, Less or more? Evaluating approaches to filling the gap: awareness-raising experience design for social inclusion, Design Science (Cambridge University Press), 11 ( e41 ), 2025.10
[3] Q. Ehkirch, K. Sawai, S. Škec, A. Matsumae , Interpersonal aspects of creativity: indicating interactive level dynamics with biosignal synchrony, Design Science (Cambridge University Press), 11 ( e47 ), 2025.11
[4] T. Shimada, A. Matsumae, The Influence of Collaborative Participation Modes on the Formation of Plural Psychological Ownership Toward the Commons, Journal of Creativity, vol.29(1), 2026.3
[5] K. Shoji, K. Sawai, Y. Motomura, A. Matsumae, An attempt to estimate the creative state during co-creation by using a hidden Markov model, Proceedings of the Design Society (Cambridge University Press), vol. 5, pp. 499 – 508, 2025. 8
[6] K. Shichijo, A. Matsumae, Characteristics of paralinguistic communication indicating pre-resonance during co-creative design grasped by decision tree analysis, Proceedings of the Design Society (Cambridge University Press), vol. 4, pp. 1075 – 1084, 2024. 5

■Contact
Department of Human Life Design and Science, Faculty of Design
Akane Matsumae, Professor

website：https://www.design.kyushu-u.ac.jp/~matsumae/matsumaelab/top/