speakers

John Howkins

John Howkins is a leading figure in the global development of the creative economy. His book, "The Creative Economy' (2001) was the first account of new ways of working that are revitalizing culture, manufacturing, services, retailing and entertainment. "Creative Ecologies' (2009) describes places and systems where "thinking is a proper job'. It shows how to bridge the gap between individual talent and group power. John is the Chairman of BOP Consultants and a Board Director of HandMade plc. film and TV rights company and of HotBed Media Ltd. He is also a Director of Screen East regional screen agency. He has advised numerous multinational companies, creative businesses, government organizations and cultural agencies. He has worked in over 30 countries all over the world. He is the Founder and Director of the Adelphi Charter on Creativity, Innovation and Intellectual Property. He devised the London Intellectual Property Advisory Service ("Own It').He was associated with HBO Inc and Time Warner Inc from 1982 to1996 with responsibilities for TV businesses in Europe. He is Deputy Chairman of the British Screen Advisory Council (BSAC). He is a Member of the United Nations Advisory Committee on the Creative Economy and a Council Member of the UK government's Arts and Humanities Research Council. He is a former Chairman of the London Film School, Vice Chairman of the Association of Independent Producers and Executive Director of the International Institute of Communications (IIC). John leads in Shanghai the John Howkins Research Centre on the Creative Economy. In 2006 he was listed as one of the Fifty Most Important People in Intellectual Property by "Managing Intellectual Property' magazine and in 2007 he was nominated #1 Creative Star in China by "Beijing Business News'. He is the author of "Communications in China', "Four Global Scenarios for Information', "The Creative Economy', "CODE', "Dutty's Dare', "Creative Ecologies' and other books.

Every day, more people gain more freedom to make their own choices about where to live and what to think. These modern-day nomads are so numerous that general principles are emerging, framed by history, sociology, geography, environmental studies, epidemiology, urban studies, ecology and demographics. We move, cities change their shape, social structures evolve, we adapt. People and companies move to be near each other. Everyone makes a different choice. Our creativity is personal and private, and our ability to use it is variable and unreliable. It helps if you are in the right place at the right time. The old question, Where do you want to live?, is now, Where do you want to think? Ecology is the study of organisms and their environment, asking why this, why here? It tells us how organisms relate to each other through mimicry, symbiosis, collaboration and competition. It is holistic and radical and provocative, summoning evidence from human behaviour in cities, beetles in the desert and swarming bees to illustrate general rules on diversity, change, learning and adaptation. Yet though we have Gregory Bateson's ecology of mind, Arne Naess's ecology of wisdom and many explorations of urban ecologies and network ecologies, attempts to use ecology to illuminate creativity have hardly begun, beyond using it as a fancy word for context. This is a pity, given the richness of both concepts. Ecology may help us to understand why thinking for oneself is treated as normal in some places, but odd and anti-social in others.

Link:

www.creativeeconomy.com
www.adelphicharter.org