The role of the arts in driving creativity and innovation has long intrigued scholars and practitioners across management, design, and cultural studies. While many organisations acknowledge the potential of artistic thinking to challenge conventions, stimulate imagination, and inspire innovation, systematic approaches to embedding the arts into R&D and organizational processes remain underexplored. This track builds upon the growing body of research on art and design thinking, arts-based initiatives (ABIs), and art–science collaboration to deepen understanding of how artistic practices intersect with scientific inquiry, technological innovation, and societal transformation.

We invite contributions that explore how arts-based and co-creative approaches can foster responsible, sustainable, and human-centered innovation. By bringing together insights from art, science, business, and public sectors, the track aims to reveal how unconventional and aesthetic perspectives can drive new forms of creativity and value creation across multiple domains.

Key themes may include, but limited to:
• Arts-based initiatives in industry and academia – how artistic practices (e.g., residencies, performances, consulting, etc.) can reshape R&D, organizational learning, and innovation cultures.
• Art–science–innovation collaborations – mechanisms through which art and science interactions produce new ideas, enhance creativity, and lead to breakthrough innovation.
• Artistic Methods in Scientific and Technological Research - How do artistic practices such as speculative design, visualization, or performance contribute to scientific discovery and innovation?
• Co-creative and intermediary spaces – such as innovation labs, living labs, and artist-in-residence programs, serving as brokering institutions connecting diverse stakeholders.
• Urban and public innovation – the arts as a catalyst for participatory, inclusive, and sustainable innovation in cities and communities.
• Responsible and sustainable innovation – integrating aesthetics, ethics, and imagination to promote social and environmental responsibility.
• Unconventional thinking for entrepreneurship and creativity – challenging linear and efficiency-driven models by engaging with artistic processes and embodied creativity.
• Health and wellbeing innovation – exploring how arts-based and creative approaches can transform healthcare systems, medical R&D, and patient experience.
• Cross-sector Knowledge Integration - What mechanisms help bridge epistemic and cultural boundaries between artists, scientists, and innovation managers?
• Art–Science Residencies in Industry or Academia - What outcomes and learning processes emerge from artist-in-lab or artist-in-residence programs?
• Art Thinking and Scientific Creativity- How does art thinking influence scientific ideation, experimentation, and problem framing?
• Policy and Ecosystem Support for Art–Science–Innovation - What national or regional programs foster the integration of art and science for innovation?
• STEAM and Pedagogical Approaches - How can higher education integrate art–science approaches to develop future innovation leaders?

The track encourages multidisciplinary dialogue between researchers, artists, designers, innovation managers, and policymakers. We particularly welcome papers offering theoretical frameworks, empirical studies, and practice-based insights into how the arts can act as an intermediary force linking creativity, knowledge, and innovation.
This session aims to advance the academic conversation around art-based innovation by demonstrating how aesthetic, scientific, and managerial logics can intersect to address complex innovation challenges.
The track will serve as a foundation for further collaboration among contributors, with the aim of developing a Special Issue on Arts-Based Initiatives and Art–Science–Innovation Interfaces in an management journal.