Miami University and the department of entrepreneurship are home to World Creativity and Innovation Day (WCID), April 21, the day before Earth Day, and World Creativity & Innovation Week (WCIW), April 15-21, which serendipitously begins on Leonardo da Vinci’s birthday, April 15. World Creativity and Innovation Day, April 21, was founded in 2002 by creativity specialist Marci to provide time and a reason for people to use creativity in problem-solving to generate new ideas and use imagination to take positive action in the world.

Over the years, the idea gained momentum, and the day grew into a week, starting on DaVinci’s birthday and ending on April 21 – Earth Day, and celebrated around the world. In 2018, the United Nations recognized World Creativity & Innovation Week by proclaiming April 21 World Creativity & Innovation Day to “encourage creative multidisciplinary thinking to help us achieve the sustainable future we want.”

Today, WCIW is celebrated annually in more than 50 countries around the world in celebrations that vary from meetings and conversations to workshops and festivals. WCIW is unique because each participating community celebrates in their own way. Celebrations vary from meetings and conversations to workshops and festivals. This time provides the creative community a purpose and a time-shared reason to grow worldwide as we reinvigorate what it means to live with and navigate new ideas, actions and outcomes.