Summer always seems to slow things down, and the Ramadan is not helping it either (read how @Hegazy works during Ramadan here). In Georgia, bars consider moving their complete bar to the seaside. That is how slow things may get in summer.
But, we are never sitting still. We had some crazy weeks. Romania hosted an awe-inspiring workshop with community members in Bucharest. In Nepal, we announced the winners of the writing competition. And @Alberto is on a tour through Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine, and Belarus.
So what about Bucharest?
Over the past few months working with Bucharest candidate to European Capital of Culture 2021 we’ve collected stories of beautiful people and shared them with the world. We met offline, cooked together, biked together, and supported each other’s initiatives in local events. We hosted a workshop on 9-10 July with 35 community members and are now aggregating takeaways from the workshop so we can move from talking to action: come help!
Be sure to check who’s who in the Talk to Me videos!
Nepal on the rise!
An impressive amount of posts were shared in the Future Makers Nepal group last week. It all had to do with the Future Makers Challenge competition.
One of the winners, @Prabin_Shrestha, used a narrative around his own house to address questions on leadership, purpose, and common experience. Read and comment on his post here: Organizing ‘what’ and leading ‘whom’ in ‘empty spaces’.
But maybe we should tackle problems in Nepal with playful tongue-cheek humor, argues @Sneha_Pandey in the post Humoring Our Flaws Away. Do you agree? Leave a comment with your thoughts!
Future Makers Global - from onion layered communities to art protests
Youth entrepreneurship is booming in Egypt as young people take matters into their own hands launching businesses of their own. Does the government fulfill its intended role and help? Or does it stand it unknowingly in the way? Follow the tale of a confused state here.
What happens in Egypt when you combine a co-working space with a library, an exhibition space and a lecture space in one of the oldest districts in town? MEGAWRA tries to start the debate on urbanism and architecture, bottom-up. Read @Hegazy's reflections about it here.
Or when street art is being used as a way of self-expression, to spread awareness about political situation and events in Armenia? Do the activists get disappointed when their works are being ruined by the police? @Iriedawta met up with them to find out. Also, if you are interested in psychology, do not miss Psycamp unconference this year in Gyumri which is going to take place on August 1-2, 2015. You can RSVP to the facebook event if you plan to attend. The event is open to amateurs and professional psychologists and you can even host a session if you wish!
And in Georgia art is being used to counter social issues, why not link young artists with socially inclusive societies? Or use the artistic way of thinking to work on biological farming? At the Center for Contemporary Art, they believe it is what art should do.
The case studies we are compiling in Armenia, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Morocco and Ukraine, are growing every day. For more stories, check out the group.