CREATE is an acronym for Culture, Research, Entrepreneurship and Technology Exchange. CREATE was originally designed on the need for community-based institutional capacity on the ground to incubate and support economic activity as a means for holistic development in communities. The initiative focuses on building knowledge in priority areas such as small business development, leadership and economic growth partnerships.  

The RLEDI has created a number of partnerships to expand the pool of experts and practical experiences it uses to prepare entrepreneurs and LED practitioners for real world conditions. Importantly, the RLEDI is a direct response to a national government policy mandate for job creation, entrepreneurship and increased productivity as the backbone of social development in South Africa. This requires skills, resource capacity, as well as consistent and sustainable public, private and civil society partnerships to address the mandate.  

 CREATE was conceived on the basis that economic development needs to acknowledge the cultural context in which it is occurring and in particular the expectations, preferences and prejudices of people in different communities. It was further directed at promoting the importance of entrepreneurship as a tool for people-owned development; technology as the basis for improving lives and livelihoods, and the necessity for multi-stakeholder discourses for embedded learning and ownership.  

 To achieve this, the CREATE Living Lab provides an opportunity to integrate a diverse range of academic and practical expertise.