This is an article I wrote five years ago, when I was beginning the transition from a sensible career as a radio journalist to whatever it is I do now. What made me dig it out was an invitation from my friend Will Golding (of the Treehouse Gallery and other magical projects) to contribute to a book he's putting together: the Forest DIY Artisan's Handbook is part of the campaign to save The Forest Cafe, an amazing volunteer-run arts and events space in central Edinburgh, the kind of enclave of sociability I was writing about yesterday.

It was the summer of the Gleneagles summit and the G8 justice ministers were coming to Sheffield. I decided to invite them for a picnic. Everyone would be served a single bowl of rice, a taste of the lifestyle of the billions who live on under $2 a day. The ministers didn't come, but lots of other people did, and I learned things that month that I've lived by ever since.

1. START WITH A GOOD IDEA – try it out on a few people. It's got to catch their imagination or it won't work, whatever you do.

2. CLEAR YOUR DIARY – a lot of work in a short time generates more energy than a little over a long time. With a good idea, lots of people are going to help you out – but mostly in between their other commitments. Someone needs to be committed to it 24/7. That's you.

3. FIND YOUR ALLIES – your idea should be big enough to catch the imaginations of people who don't think they have much in common. In my case, middle-aged Methodists, militant anti- capitalists and a Dutch entrepreneur with philanthropic tendencies. You don't have to get them to trust each other – you just have to get them to trust you. And they need to find the story you're inviting them to take part in more interesting than the things they disagree over.

4. RAISE THE STAKES – make sure you can't afford for it not to happen. Talk to everyone about it - telling people what you're going to do ties you in. So does spending your own money on printing 10,000 fliers. When I lugged those back from the printers, I knew there was no escape.

5. HAVE A LAUNCH – ten days beforehand, six of us turned up outside the town hall with a giant invitation and some bowls of rice. This got us our first hit of media coverage – all the local and regional papers, radio and TV.

6. WRITE GOOD PRESS RELEASES – read the last article your target newspaper ran on the subject and use similar phrases. Write it so a lazy journalist can cut and paste it – they probably will. Try to find a headline that makes them do a double-take. Keep the rest short and include quotes from you and your friends with emotive soundbites.

7. MAKE IT UP AS YOU GO ALONG – keep checking what you've forgotten to do and listing where you need to be when, but don't map it out like you're invading Normandy. When someone comes to you with a problem, get her to solve it herself. If the idea's good and you're throwing all your energy at it, everything else will be OK.

8. STOP AND LOOK AROUND – when it's all going crazy and you've got two samba bands arguing over who should go on stage, three hundred people queuing for a bowl of rice at an army mess tent and a group of anarchist clowns having a party in the 'VIP area' – stop for ten seconds and remind yourself where all this started – before you rush off to locate the silver candlesticks you borrowed from the landlord of the Rutland Arms.

9. REMEMBER TO HAVE FUN! – some days in those three weeks I didn't want to get out of bed, I just wanted the whole thing to go away. But it was worth it when I heard someone say about an idea I came out with the other night, "If Dougald says it'll happen, he'll make it happen." And the party afterwards was good, too.

I wrote this for Vinay Gupta's new crowd-sourced book, The Future We Deserve. But it's also a kind of manifesto for what we've been doing with Space Makers over the past two years - and for all the likeminded people and projects we've met along the way.

In industrial societies, life has been organised into compartments.

Ray Oldenburg identified the three most universal: the home, the workplace and the "third place", the playful, sociable, conversational space of the pub or the coffeehouse.

To these we might add the specialised spaces of industrial-era institutions: the hospital, where we are sent to be ill; the school, where we are sent to be taught; the prison, where we are sent to be punished.

This division of space is the counterpart of the division of labour. Pursued in the name of efficiency, in many cases it has long been counterproductive, as Ivan Illich argued 40 years ago. Hospitals are not generally a good place to get well. Schools encourage us to think of learning as something which takes place through artificial exercises, in isolation from the rest of society, and under duress.

Oldenburg saw that the third place was both the humblest and, in some sense, the most humanly-important of our compartments. We can push this further. What he called the third place is a native reservation of sociability, a surviving enclave of something which, in other times and places, has characterised almost every corner of human society.

For all the wonders industrial production made possible, it also meant unprecedentedly anti-social working conditions for the vast majority of people. Even in the rich countries, where the physical degradation of earlier industrialism is practically extinct, the subjection of working time to the goal of maximum productivity remains. Only the most radical of employers, willing to become fools to the logic of capitalism, can tolerate that which makes work more enjoyable while also less productive. (It will be objected that enjoyment increases productivity, but while this may sometimes be true, it is wishful thinking to claim it as a rule.)

Similar arguments can be made for the antisocial character of our homes, schools or hospitals.

What gives hope is that all of this is in flux, at least in the struggling countries of the post-industrial west. The converging crises of the early 21st century create new possibilities, even as the massive public or private sector developments which have shaped our towns and cities becomes rarer.

Under their feet, barely noticed, a new kind of spatial agent is emerging: improvisational, bottom-up, working with the materials to hand; perhaps unqualified, or using their training in unexpected ways; responding pragmatically to the constrictions and precarities of post-crisis living. Between the jugaad culture of the Indian village, the temporary structures built by jobless architects, the pop-up shops, the infrastructure-savvy squatters and open source shelter-makers, the Treehouse Galleries and urban barns and Temporary Schools of Thought, just maybe something new is being born.

We could call it the culture of the Space Hacker - because these new players have more in common with the geeks, hippies and drop-out-preneurs who gave us open source and the internet revolution, than with the architects, developers or property industries we have known.

Unlike Silicon Valley, though, these hackers have given up on the goal of getting rich. They are driven instead by the desire to make spaces in which they want to spend time - sociable spaces of living, working and playing - as they, and the rest of us, adjust to the likelihood of getting poorer.

A couple of weeks ago, I got cross with Radio 3.

Unlikely, I know – as broadcasters go, the entire output of the BBC's arts, ideas and music network probably provokes fewer blunt objects thrown at radio sets than a typical edition of The Moral Maze.

What had got to me was a project called New Generation Thinkers.

“Just imagine,” I harrumphed, “if the BBC set out to map the great public thinkers of the 20th century and began by ruling out George Orwell, Gloria Steinem and Antonio Gramsci.”

You see, New Generation Thinkers was described as a search for “the next generation of public intellectuals” - but to be considered, you had to be studying or working within a university.

So I wrote to Roger Wright, the controller of Radio 3. Not only did this ignore the history of public thinking, I pointed out, but it was particularly misguided in our generation - many of whose brightest minds saw what was happening to academia and chose to do our thinking elsewhere.

And, to redress the balance, I invited readers of this blog to nominate emerging public thinkers whose work they value.

Two things happened next.

The first was that dozens of you took this invitation and ran with it – in comments here, on Twitter, on your own blogs, over email or (in some cases) in the pub.

The second was that I had an email from Abigail Appleton, Head of Speech Programmes at Radio 3, assuring me that the network is “as keen as you would have us” to recognise outstanding thinkers from both sides of the campus boundary. “I know the Night Waves team will certainly be reading the suggestions posted on your blog with interest.”

That's good to hear. I still think it was a mistake to announce a search for “the next generation of public intellectuals” when what you're really looking for is young academics whose research will make interesting radio. But it's a mistake for which I'm grateful, because it has started a fascinating conversation – and given focus to a desire which, I've seen over the last few weeks, many of us share.

As I wrote to someone:

Given the speed at which history seems to be happening right now, there's an urgent need for better public conversation. We need critique and analysis of Wikileaks, the Big Society or the student protests from people who have an intuitive understanding of how networks change things, but who are also able to bring longer historical and theoretical perspectives to the conversation.

So in a few days time, a group of us will be launching New Public Thinking - a blog which aims to provide a platform for that mixture of intuitive understanding and long perspective. I'm delighted at the range of voices from both sides of the campus boundary who have already agreed to write for us.

As the site launches, I'll pull together some of the ideas which have emerged from our discussions: about the nature of “public thinking”, its social, cultural and political roles, and the particular characteristics of our generation of thinkers.

The Nominations

For now, here's a round-up of the nominations made so far in response to my original post. This is not a definitive list of anything. Some are based at least partly within a university, others are more “emerged” than “emerging”, and not all would necessarily define themselves as “thinkers” - but this is at any rate a rich collection of people whose work has inspired others.

There is evidence here of what Brian Eno, another non-university public thinker, describes as “scenius” - the extreme creativity that emerges collectively within a cultural scene. In a networked world, it is impossible to deny the power of “who you know” - and we've had friends and collaborators nominating each other, one writer nominating his partner, and one of my nominees nominating me back.

But what is exciting, to me, is the open-edged nature of these networks, the cross-connections and the plurality of worlds represented. This is not an old boys club. It's not even a finished list - so do pitch in with your own nominations, on here or elsewhere.

Indra Adnan (Downing Street Project, Soft Power Network)

"Writing on the nexus between Buddhism, soft power and the politics of gender and families... Indra's advocacy and development of Joseph Nye's concept of soft power - from an American propaganda exercise, to a radically compassionate network politics, rooted in conflict-mediation and practised throughout the world - brings new insights about public life." (Pat Kane at The Play Ethic)

Charles Armstrong

"Charles brings his understanding of ethnography and technology together to create new tools and infrastructure to help us live better. I’m nominating him particularly for his work on emergent democracy and the brilliant One Click Orgs which is introducing democratic structures into the corporate world." (Andy Gibson at Sociability.)

Philip Blond (Author of Red Tory and Director of ResPublica; nominated by Indy Johar)

Alan Boldon

"Alan has done, and continues to do, amazing work, inside and outside of university sector around the idea of 'making places'." (Nick Stewart on this blog)

Tessy Britton

"I’m particularly nominating her for her incredible work on Social Spaces, including the wonderful book Hand Made, and her bold action-research project of the Travelling Pantry, touring the country to test her ideas out in practice." (Andy Gibson at Sociability.)

Jenny Diski

"She has spent a career unswervingly seeing the world differently without slipping into tired contrariness." (Peter Geoghegan at Slugger O'Toole)

Mark Fisher (aka K-Punk)

"Uses the best of radical left theory (Zizek, Badiou, Negri, Deleuze) as tools for writing heterodoxically about music, popular culture, the political spectacle and activism, in a way which for me defines what "public thinking" should be." (Pat Kane at The Play Ethic)

Andy Gibson

"Brings his training as a historian to thinking about social technology and the social changes we're living through." (My nomination on this blog)

Vinay Gupta

"Vinay has one of the sharpest minds of anyone I've ever met and is thinking about the big problems." (My nomination on this blog)

Bob Hamilton

"The driving force behind City Strolls and the multiple projects that spin off and away from it, his description, analysis and response here to Chomsky's visit to Govan in 1995 underlines why he should be included." (Mike Small at Bella Caledonia)

John Hartley (Artist and director of experimental music collective Orquesta Tonta; nominated by Bridget McKenzie)

Elaine Henry

"The impact of her Word Power books in Edinburgh in a time when Big Books has all but taken over, is difficult to quantify. The Radical Book Fair has hosted Milan Rai, Ilan Pappe, Joel Kovel, Rahila Gupta, Haifa Zangana and hundreds of others down the years and is a testament to her quiet but deeply impactful thinking and organisation." (Mike Small at Bella Caledonia)

Polly Higgins (Barrister, author and international environmental lawyer; nominated by Bridget McKenzie)

Dougald Hine

"He’s been consistently years ahead of public discourse, introducing me to Ivan Illich when we were dreaming up School of Everything, writing about economic collapse long before the mainstream had the courage to do so, and creating new models for living and working which I believe will help shape the future of society." (Andy Gibson at Sociability.)

Garrick Jones (Design and innovation thinker, founder and partner of The Ludic Group; nominated by Indy Johar)

Pat Kane

"His sui generis writing on social life, and particularly play, has long been a source of inspiration." (Peter Geoghegan at Slugger O'Toole)

Roz Kaveney

"The thing that strikes me most about Roz's writing and her activism is that it's passionate and reasonable. She's kind and courteous to people with whom she strongly disagrees. She argues unpopular cases with tact, good humour and erudition." (Tim Concannon on this blog)

Sam Knight (Journalist, writing for Prospect, FT Magazine and elsewhere; nominated by Charlie Tims.)

Alastair McIntosh

"McIntosh and the Centre for Human Ecology were thrown out of Edinburgh University in 1996 after their methodological approach pushed them beyond the acceptable norms of that institution. He has thrived since publishing the acclaimed Soil and Soul: People versus Corporate Power (2004)." (Mike Small at Bella Caledonia)

Alex Porter (of Newsnet Scotland)

"A thinker interrogating the difficult and mainly avoided issues that are affecting all of us on a daily basis." (Peter Thomson on Bella Caledonia)

Nina Power (Author of One Dimensional Woman and the blog Infinite Thought; nominated by Yvonne Roberts.)

Heather Ring (Artist, landscape architect and founder of The Wayward Plant Registry; nominated by Charlie Tims.)

Cassie Robinson

"Cassie is asking deep questions about sexuality and relationships." (My nomination on this blog)

Geoff Ryman

"Geoff encourages people to write and to use imagination to explore important questions about society and being human. He's challenged an often conservative genre to address what's possible, to think about the significance of technology in the near future rather than escaping into hyperreality, through espousing his mundane Science Fiction manifesto." (Tim Concannon on this blog)

John Thackara

“He isn't just a persuasive advocate of ideas about green design, but his "Doors Of Perception" conferences have been great opportunities for the meeting of practical minds across disciplines, under the urgent horizon of climate crisis.” (Pat Kane at The Play Ethic)

Thanks to those who've blogged their nominations so far: Peter Geoghegan, Mike Small, Pat Kane, Bridget McKenzie, Andy Gibson. Look forward to reading more.

(Just to be clear: this list won't necessarily be the same as the group of people blogging for the New Public Thinking site. There will be plenty of overlap, though, and anyone nominated here is very welcome to write for it.)

Radio 3 is currently looking for "a new generation of public intellectuals". You can apply here - except that to be eligible, you must be studying or working inside a university.

Now, call me self-interested, but by this criterion, the likes of John Berger or a young Karl Polanyi would fall through their net.

I'm not comparing myself to those remarkable men. But as someone whose work gets cited by academics in a range of disciplines and is, I hope, beginning to make some impression in the public sphere, I'm disappointed to be excluded from consideration.

This isn't just about me, though - there's a whole network of people I'm aware of in the UK and beyond who are doing substantial new thinking from outside of academia - often in close and constructive dialogue with those operating from inside university departments. The way Radio 3 and the AHRC are approaching this project is going to miss out on a huge amount of the emerging intellectual culture of our generation - many of whose brightest minds saw what was happening to academia and chose to do our thinking elsewhere.

I've written to Roger Wright, the controller of Radio 3, telling him this and inviting him to redress the balance. To help him, I'd like you to nominate your own choice of "new public thinkers" from outside of the university walls.

I'll start the ball rolling with three people whose ideas I value highly:

• Vinay Gupta has one of the sharpest minds of anyone I've ever met and is thinking about the big problems.
• Cassie Robinson is asking deep questions about sexuality and relationships.
• Andy Gibson brings his training as a historian to thinking about social technology and the social changes we're living through.

So, who are your nominations? And which other public intellectuals of previous generations would we have missed out on, if we applied the criteria being used by Radio 3?