I am speaking at TEDxPompeii next week. We expect a larger international echo than most TEDx events, because, well, Pompeii. I am going to focus on the power of skilled communities, and on the fact that institutions need to give up control if they want to work with them.
In other words, I am going to be talking about you guys. The key part of that will be inspiring, edgy stories of communities self-organizing to achieve something for the public good: one story, one slide.
So: would you like to propose a story? Incredible things are happening in Future Makers Nepal, Future Makers Global, Spot The Future Bucharest, and all over the community. I know I would like to mention at least:
But I am definitely missing out! For example, Spot The Future Bucharest is so bustling that I actually lost the overview; I have the impression of a very lively scene but am having trouble picking out one story in particular. Maybe @Alex_Stef can help. Calling also the FutureMakers Global crowd: @Inge, @Driss, @Hegazy, @Mikhail_Volchak, @Iriedawta, @nataliegryvnyak.
If you want to propose a story, write a comment with a one-paragraph, and link a picture to me. Thanks!
From our side, we might have a confirmation about the status of the project as the deadline for Hack the Quake was today - hopefully with good news that the project is taken forward with financial and institutional support. That could be a quite successful outcome of the project, along many other small victories we celebrate here.
If you are looking for some more stories from Nepal, here are the beautiful ones:
Milan Rai, the well-known Nepali artist who started building toilets after the earthquake. And then the initiative grows and grows, and now they're doing all kinds of things. (part 1, part 2). Milan was at our unconference, and he's so modest and kind that some people did not get it's really him :)
The biggest story is about the collective action here, though. Not single cases, but the aggregate. See our "Deliverable 2" mapping report in the Google Drive folder for material about this. The report will also be published on edgeryders.eu shortly.
Another sweet but premature story, but might have sufficient progress by next week: Our findings on how to do community-driven disaster response will somehow be applied to the Tbilisi flooding, it seems. At least I'm going to set up a space for some of the Tbilisi Edgeryders on our server today (according to their request), so they can install a crisis mapping app or similar.
Cairo’s first case study is out, here. Else I would highly recommend Harassmap, an egyptian initiative against sexual harassment that started as a movement, turned into a non-profit and continuous organising. More info in this Guardian article.
@Alberto, if it’s still the right time - our project was selected from 120 to the final round, among 15 others. We do the pitching on Wednesday, 24th of June, and then 3 best ideas will be supported with money and expertise. Fingers crossed;)