My research agenda at Tongji University spans three subject areas: Care, Value, Place; Urban-Rural Reconnection; and Knowledge Ecologies & AI
 thackara.com/research-statement-tongji-uni

I was made a Senior Fellow at the Royal College of Art in 2011. My connection with the RCA began in 1998-2000 when, as Director of Research, I developed programme of real-world innovation projects; these helped the College extend its global leadership role as an outward-facing centre of innovation. Since then I helped start new design innovation institutes in Italy, India, Japan, Hong Kong, the UK, and the Netherlands.

Doors of Perception (Doors) began life in 1993 as an international design conference in Amsterdam. Doors brought together grassroots innovators, entrepreneurs, educators, and designers to imagine alternative futures - sustainable ones - and take design steps to realize them. In 2000, Doors of Perception became an independent company and we moved the conference to India for five years.In 2005, having staged nine big events, we switched our focus to place-based Xskool workshops. These events connect the “what is?” with the “what if?” – often in the context of a bioregion. Invited experts work for local project and community leaders; together, we develop new opportunities.

As Commissioner of France's main design biennial I produced an event called "City Eco Lab" in St Etienne. Conceived as a 'nomadic market of projects, City Eco Lab made projects visible to the wider populace and started people talking about ways they might be improved or about doing similar projects themselves. 46 live projects from the St Etienne region were shown side-by-side with best practice projects from other parts of the world. The event was hosted by the Cite du Design; its designers were Exyzt and Gaelle Gabillet.

Dott 07 was a two year programme of sustainability projects commissioned by the UK Design Council and the region's economic development agency, One North East. Dott 07 culminated in a two week festival at the heart of the cultural centre on the banks of the River Tyne in North East England; itr was visited by 30,000 people. Dott was inspired by two questions: 'what might life in a sustainable region be like? (and) what design steps might get us there?". Full story at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Designs_of_the_Time

I was on the start-up Steering Committee (chaired by Franco Debenedetti) of this new postgraduate institute founded by Telecom Italia. Its founding director was Gillian Crampton Smith. My specific tasks were to help develop and articulate the institute’s basic concept and organisational form; define and articulate the roles of, and benefits to, industry sponsors; organize an international workshop of experts to refine the research programme; and produce an inaugural event;

I was the expert advisor to the Hong Kong Design Task Force (chair: Victor Lo) which developed a new innovation and research policy for the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The task force plotted the best way for Hong Kong and China to move up the value chain from a product-based to a service-and-flow based economy. Following the report, Hong Kong launched a "DesignSmart" initiative with the creation of a HK$250million (25 million euros) fund.

The Institute, which was founded by the Dutch government and the city of Amsterdam in 1993, was a think-and-do tank whose mission was to increase the economic and social contribution of design. The Institute's projects brought together a variety of design specialists, users, and experts in many other disciplines. Doors of Perception, the institute's flagship conference, started in 1993. 10,000 people visited the Institute's building each year and 500,000 people used its websites. I left the Institute in 1999 and set up Doors of Perception as an independent company in 2000.

Highlights included an International symposium on science, innovation and design for the Asahi Shimbun (Tokyo, 1987); exhibitions for Axis Gallery (Tokyo); a conference on Interactivity and Environments for the European Commission (Paris, 1989); An exhibition called Image and Object at the Centre Pompidou (Paris 1989); Mirror of Medicine, an exhibition for the 150th anniversary the British Medical Journal, curator Peter Dormer; research and commentary on the BBC Design Awards programmes in 1990 and 1992; T-Zone, an exhibition of Japanese architecture and video, with Riiche Miyake, for the Architectural Association (Brussels and London 1992); The Inventive Spirit, a touring art, technology and design exhibition for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Vienna, Leipsig, Turin, Brussels, 1992); and Sovereign, research and procurement (in ten months, from start to opening) of a national exhibition at the V&A to commemorate The Queen's 40th anniversary as sovereign. Designed by Pentagram. (London 1992). When Japan's bubble economy burst, we closed the business.

I worked for two years as a freelance journalist, being inter alia Modern Culture Editor, Harpers & Queen; Design Correspondent for The Guardian; Design Correspondent for The Spectator; and a contributor to the The Late Show (BBC).

I returned from Australia and Asia to become editor of the UK Design Council's monthly flagship publication.

Baed in Sydney, I commissioned architecture, design and agriculture titles for international professional and education markets.

Commissioning editor of architecture and design books

Drove a Routemaster on route 73