John Thackara

Sr. Fellow, Royal College of Arts Advisor, BITSDES

Mr John Thackara - an author, curator and professor - is developing the agenda of designing for life - and caring for place - within social and ecological systems. He curated the celebrated Doors of Perception conference for 20 years, first in Amsterdam, later across India.

He was commissioner of the UK social innovation biennial Dott 07, and the French design biennial City Eco Lab. In 2019, he curated the Urban-Rural expo in Shanghai. He is Visiting Professor at Tongji University in Shanghai, and Politecnico di Milano, and is a Senior Fellow at the Royal College of Art and a Fellow of Musashino Art University. He was a 2022 Design For Planet Fellow at Design Council, UK. His 12 books have been published in 14 languages, including his most recent, How To Thrive In the Next Economy: Designing Tomorrow’s World Today. He has also contributed chapters titles to 80 multi-author books