In times like these, getting creative and innovative is a must. The bad economy and newfound concerns about long-term sustainability both require new kinds of thinking.

As it happens, Philadelphia will be the epicenter of such thinking, at least for a couple days, as the Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit rolls into town on October 5th and 6th at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

While the overall focus is dollar-oriented, there is a whole track at the conference dedicated to "Creative Sustainabillity," including topics like "21st Century Architecture," "Green Places and Spaces," "Go Green with Virtual Business Practices" and a case study - "The Sustainable Urban Science Center at Germantown Friends School." It was about these that I spoke with Kelly Lee, the President & CEO of Innovation Philadelphia, the local non-profit behind the event.

"We wanted to make a clear connection between creative industries and the green economy," she said. "So we thought it was important to have a track dedicated to sustainability isues."

It wasn't just her idea: "In 2006 [the previous time Innovation Philadelphia held such a conference] we had panels on design and we received very few proposals that had to do with sustainable design. We did have a couple and we put those speakers on a panel with other peoople talking about other types of design. Now we've received so many proposals its its gone from a very small part of the [creativity] conversation to its own conversation. There's so much activity in this area, and so much potential for growth."

Lee noted that there's a lot of buzz about "green jobs," but the conversation needs to be broadened: "Right now you have a lot of discussion centered around weatherization," which has "a skill level involved," but "we need to have deeper conversations about the green jobs revolution, to understand how this region can reposition itself to make the most of it, and also talk about how it pertains to technology - what are the technologies we will all be using?"

With attendees from all over and a speakers roster ranging from keynoters Elizabeth Gilbert ("Eat, Pray, Love") and Jane McGonigal (Director of Game Research and Development, Institute for the Future) to Rachel Zimmerman (InLiquid) and Michael Nutter (City of Philadelphia), there's a lot of creative ground that will be covered in the areas of architecture, engineering, urban planning, regional media and information technology."Having this conference," says Lee, "is something we think is critical not only be because we have the opportunity to showcase these [local] professionals but we have the opportunity to learn from what other people are doing."

While full registration may be a bit much for entrepreneurs and starving-artist types in the midst of this downturn, Lee stressed that there are 3 sessions that are free, open to the public, and there's also a "no-frills package" for $75 which gets you access to all the presentations and sessions but not to meals.

Find out more about the Summit here.