The Centre for Creative Development (CCD) is a collaborative initiative between VBNK and the David Glass Ensemble (DGE).  It is a culmination of a partnership that began in 1998 when the started to contribute their unique expertise to VBNK's staff and organisational development processes.  This was in addition to the significant amount of other work that the DGE was then doing in Cambodia and SE Asia, bringing new and exciting aspects of arts and creativity to development organisations and their practice.  Their work in Vietnam has led to the establishment of the ‘ensemble creative training and development’ www.ensemblecreative.org  David Glass also contributed significantly to both the concepts and the practice of the VBNK CHART project.

The decision to establish the CCD was both a consolidation of the work done together by the two organisations and a first step towards sharing this work with the wider development community. It is intended to be a base for training about, and events using, creative practice.  It is intended that the CCD will eventually become a ‘think-tank’ that is a resource to the development sector and other practitioners where good practice can be promoted and ideas can be discussed and developed.

Creative Practice
The fundamental premise on which the work of the CCD is based is that development is about relationships and that creative practice is an essential component in establishing the good relationships needed for effective development practice to take place.

Many development practitioners are struggling to find effective methodologies for their work and find that the constraints of the logical framework project cycle are not conducive to building relationships with beneficiaries that are based on trust and participation. Creative process does not attempt to replace other methodologies and project frameworks, but to underpin and supplement them with more effective ways of establishing the fundamental prerequisites for good development practice.

Recognition of the value of creative techniques in development has been increasing over the years. This has come about through the continuing activities of practitioners, but also through a growing awareness in the academic and training fields. Some courses now exist within academic institutions and other organisations. A great deal of activity takes place, largely piecemeal. There does not appear to be any single environment where theory, technique and actual practice can take place together.

CCD aims to be a place where development practitioners and others can explore and share creative processes in order to enhance development practice and understanding through a holistic exploration of creative methodologies and thinking.

TIME OUT!  A CCD EVENT
All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the individual.— Albert Einstein

Much time, attention and resources are given to building the capacity of the Cambodian staff who work in development agencies, and to developing the organisations themselves. But very little time, if any, is ever given to the expatriates who work in Cambodia in government, donor organisations and NGOs and are contributing to the country’s development in numerous ways. Some are leaders and managers, some are advisers, some are highly paid, others are volunteers, some work in very isolated situations, and others are part of big teams. Whoever and whatever they are, from time to time they all need the opportunity to step back from what they are doing to reflect and refresh, to consider their successes and challenges and to recharge their batteries. For this reason, the VBNK Centre for Creative Development decided to offer “Time Out!” - a retreat workshop for expatriates.

The aim was to make space for practitioners to reflect on and find creative responses to the challenges of their practice. A range of activities such as personal reflection, purposeful dialogue, case stories and the creative arts enabled the participants to engage different energies and to allow fresh thinking to emerge.

The group very quickly developed its own safe space in which to share experiences that enabled them both individually and collectively to develop new understanding of the challenges that we all face. This understanding and the combined energies and experience of the participants created a fun dynamic in which everyone found new insights and ideas about their own work and challenges, and about how these fit into the bigger picture of development in Cambodia.

Overview of the time out process

Some images and evaluation comments from participants:

“So much it is difficult to know where to start! different viewpoints, perspectives on issues that I have been struggling to either comprehend or which I haven't even spent enough time on and which are relevant and essential to me understanding my self and that's where it begins again, my journey as a development practitioner but with a new pair of shoes on and a very different map + some new equipment + some equipment repaired + some remaining the same. “

“I'll take myself away from the retreat- mulling over feeling and thoughts, pictures, sculptures, words I've seen, made or felt and I'll try to go about the process of incorporating them into my perceptions and my actions.”

“I feel privileged to have had this opportunity to learn and meet so many wonderful people.”

“Can’t wait for the next one! Want to recommend it to many.  Thank you for inviting me!”

“Thank you - I would love to and need to do this again.”

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