Australia Council CEO, Jennifer Bott, has urged future leaders from the Commonwealth to factor the abilities and enthusiasm of ‘the creative class’ into their planning for 21st century economies. Bott delivered a keynote speech to the Ninth Commonwealth Study Conference 2003 in Melbourne, Australia on 'The Arts: Future Challenges' this month. During her address, she asserted that communities that encourage creative diversity are more likely to attract the intellectual talent that will build the so-called New Economy; artists have many of the key qualities needed to keep new enterprises alive; the best companies will no longer buy our time, but our ideas; artists are adept at entering new and confronting territories, and could become a bridge between the sciences and humanities; and that the arts should not be peripheral to current world dramas, but central to them, stimulating public debate with imagination and courage. The Commonwealth Study Conference is convened every six years, and brings together more than 200 early-to-mid-career future leaders from over 40 Commonwealth countries for two weeks. It provides an intensive leadership experience for young men and women drawn from business, unions, governments and community service groups. For further information, CLICK HERE.