Native American chiefs were flown to Sussex to give business leaders a talk on firing up their firms with creativity.

Elders Momfeather Kaelble Erickson and Grandfather Warren Redwing Ramey, leaders of the Southern Band of the Cherokee, and Leon Secatera, chief elder of the Navajo nation, joined delegates from 20 countries to show industry leaders how companies can boost trade and save the world.

The elders hoped to teach industry about cultural diversity and how this could benefit business.

The Creativity and Cultural Diversity conference at the University of Sussex featured practical workshops and included a chance to be artistic with the South Coast Eco-Art Group.

Chris Gurner and Rafael Berrio, who run the group, put on an exhibition called Faces Of Nature, which featured sculptures made from timber found on beaches.

They invited delegates to make their own sculptures for the exhibition.

They hoped to promote more environmentally-friendly uses of resources and highlight issues about the exploitation of natural resources, pollution and environmental policy in developing countries and the impact of globalisation.

They invited delegates to harness their creative thinking by carving wooden totem pole-type sculptures.

They wanted to explore the mental space between reality and imagination.

Mr Gurner's wife, Theresa, the artistic organiser of the conference, said: "It gave the experience of actually being involved in creativity rather than just talking about it."

The aim of the conference was to push work in the field forward and bring together views from more people. Brighton was chosen as the venue because it was considered the most convenient location for people travelling from all over the world.

Organiser Caroline Fryer, of the Creativity Consonancy in Brighton, said: "It is mostly to do with thinking skills.

"It is more about the processes than what you get out of it."

She said the definition of creative as art is a British perception of the word, adding: "In this country creativity tends to be associated with artists.

"Creativity is how you approach everything, the way you run businesses or the way you teach a class of children."

Delegates from countries including America, India, Australia, South Africa and the UK joined the five-day conference.

They included teachers, writers, government representatives and social workers.

The main speaker was Dr Kobus Neethling of the South African Creativity Association.

He is a former South African government advisor and consultant to companies such as Shell and BMW.

Mrs Fryer said teachers at the conference learnt how they could be creative in the classroom.

Margaret Talboys, of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, spoke about how creativity can be used across the curriculum and not just in arts subjects.

She also ran workshops on how to develop creativity in children.

Social workers learnt how they creativity could help them overcome problems at work.

Mrs Fryer said: "The conference was very successful in terms of the way people learnt from one another."