Creativity and the City is a subject we've visited many times here on "Smart City." This week, we'll explore the topic from a different angle.

John Thackera is the Director ofÊ, a design futures network based in Amsterdam and Bangalore. Founded as a conference in 1993, Doors of Perception connects a worldwide network of visionary designers, thinkers, and grassroots innovators. We'll ask him about his recent remarks that lit up the Amsterdam design conference.

Doors of Perception continues to stage scenario workshops and conferences in Europe and India. Each event has a theme - such as 'speed', 'home', 'play', 'lightness' or 'flow'. In addition to its conferences, and an award-winning website, Doors develops connectivity scenarios for clients.

A former journalist and publisher, Thackara was the first director of the Netherlands Design Institute and is a member of the Virtual Platform, a body which advises the Dutch government on cultural and innovation policy. He is also on the Scientific Committee of the Interactive Institute in Sweden and sits on expert groups advising the European Commission in its innovation policy. Thackara is on the coordinating group, responsible for vision building, in Convivio - the new European Union network for social computing.

We'll also talk to Robert Leaver, CEO and Senior Consultant withÊNew Commons, who has been leading work in Providence, Rhode Island, to define what the creative economy really means.

New Commons builds organizations and builds communities as "inseparably joined at the hip." Robert is a teacher at Boston College's Leadership for Change, a 12-month learn-by-doing executive leadership program for change agents.