Friends, I collated below some impressions that we were left with in the course of the Edgeryders project. If you’re words are not here, do leave them in as comments. Hope you enjoy reading as much as I did…
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“We have built the most interesting political project in modern history. We should give it a chance” - G. Farrell lote — Francis Gosselin (@monsieurgustave) June 14, 2012 |
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“This platform is moderated in an incredibly amiable way so that everything you share is appreciated and amplified, and links are made to the thoughts and experiences of other members. It’s like a slow sustained speed dating session online. Also it’s a collaborative learning platform, with particular enquiries on reinventing education, making a living and so on. But meeting people in real life, and in the offices of the heart of Europe was something else.” - Bridget McKenzie, June 17th |
| "to speak or not to speak with institutions using the language of institutions. that is the question" \#LOTE \#Shakespeare — Giovanni de Paola (@giovannidepaola)June 15, 2012 |
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| "I felt suspicious of it relationship with an institution as large as the Council of Europe and was concerned with how my life experiences shared here would be used – I see now that the intentions are sincere. I can see that the conference was a representation of its internal limits, that the goal of “how Europe’s young citizens could claim a stronger influence on our common future – and a larger share of the social responsibility that goes with it” laid out is one that can be taken up by working together. For this EdgeRyders has produced a unique burst of energy and the ideal network of individuals with which to approach the work ahead [...] I'd like to say thank you to everyone that was involved in organising, attending and making Edgeryders happen, you have achieved something phenomenal in bringing us together, in a way that cuts through a prevalent alienation, and you did this with sincerity and honest intentions. I have never witnessed such an act on this scale before." - Ben Vickers, June 23rd | |
| "Edgeryders, a community of young people of diverse origins came together to discuss what to do with their continent. In many ways, it can be said that the Council of Europe was taking a huge risk with this – admitting a relatively radical group of individuals into their midst under a heading as provocative as ‘Living on the Edge’. The \#CoE did good by bringing us here, but I think that's the limit of their capability to contribute now. It's up to us now" - Smari McCarthy, June 21st | |
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“Honestly I hadn’t the impression of not being listened. Spyros has given an overview of Thessaloniki’s cultural policies that stand out positively for variety, quality and social inclusion from the Italian ones that led the occupations as reaction. Perhaps he could comment about how Thessaloniki’s administration would react in the same situation. even more sincerly, listening to the closing speech, I felt listened by Gilda Farrell.” - Alessia Zabatino on meeting policy makers |
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“the Edgeryders community not only has ideas, but working capacity and is capable of proposing solid solutions to several problems currently in the minds of most Europeans. If these are the people writing the future (and already living there for the most part) we’re in good hands.”
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“ The EdgeCamp unconference (which I first suggested, and which Francis, Stephane, Yann, Noemi, Malcolm and Nadia planned, organized, hosted and executed) was a spectacular success and was, without-a-doubt the best Open Everything flavoured event that I’ve yet heard of. It was a spectacular success on those terms. […] The next time we do this EdgeRyders thing, let’s aim to walk out not having changed ourselves, but having changed the world.” - Vinay Gupta, June 24th |
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“Things are already in motion born from relationships made, and seeds sown in strasbourg […] i would also like to say a big thank you to the CoE and Edgeryders team for organising the event and launching the platform, the social capital and connections given to us last weekend will be paying itself off for years.” - Jay, June 26th |
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“The first positive and important signal I received was having #LOTE organized inside the premises of Council of Europe. I know this was announced prior to the event but living the moment was different, the moment when the Edgeryders “occupied” the ground floor (or was it the 2nd floor?!) on the first day and then listened to Emilie Turunen, member of the European Parliament who from Denmark delivering very honest and to the point opening remarks. I quote her: “It 's never been as worst when it comes to unemployment as it is now, and I think we need an extraordinary effort from this generation to really change the whole direction of Europe” […] I would like to sincerely thank Alberto, Nadia and Council of Europe for this opportunity. Thank you Lyne Robichaud for introducing me to this great community! And big thank, Merci and Shokran to each one on of you Edgeryders for this great eye-opening experience, hope to join you again in similar gathering in the future.” - Ibrahim Elbadawi, July 2nd |
| "Single biggest \#edgeryders message: Remobilise resources that the market wastes"
— James Wallbank (@accessjames)June 15, 2012 |
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“For me the take away point is having met a surprising number of people that 1. seem to be building pieces of the future (permaculture, health security, lifestyle hacking, sharing economy, social currencies…) 2. have a knowledge-oriented, facts-are-sacred attitude normally find in scientists 3. are not necessarily doing particularly well by the usual standards. Almost all are in precarious employment, few are making serious money, some are scraping together a living at the margins. The more I think about this, the more they feel like a very serious asset. Intelligent, capable, creative people with a low opportunity cost of time? They could be the only fresh forces we, as a society, can deploy towards attacking the fundamental problems (especially those that business has no interest in solving, because there is no money to be made in doing so). I am certainly going to incorporate them into my future projects.” - Alberto Cottica, September 20th |
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“I’ve learned that we have a lot of common aspirations that are not conditioned by national settings, by “my politician”, “my university”, “my potential employer”, “my church”, “my neighbours”, even “my family”. Also, aspirations are non-negotiable. Any individual, no matter what her background or opportunities, has the right and responsibility to do what she thinks is necessary to achieve them. Good news is, we stand together.” - Noemi Salantiu, September 20th |
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"I learned to listen to and increased my feeling towards national policy my critical sense and become more selective and increased my responsibilities as European citizen" - Simone Muffolini, September 20th |
"This platform has been a light beacon in a dark ocean and I thank you for that."
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“Edgeryders has reinforced my conviction/belief that there’s hope in this generation of ours and a bigger room to grow and improve, through the sharing of ideas and resources among peers on plafroms like these. It gave me a sense of belonging to a solid and caring community […] Whenever I need inspiration and encouragement to act I log into Edgeryders and read a mission report. When I need help, advice and/or feedback, i know that my friends, colleagues and peers are just a click away.” - TOOLosophy, September 20th |
| "At the beginning of December I went to Brussels to meet with Edgeryders during the second Living on the Edge (#LOTE2) conference – an event that significantly changed my take on how governments and nonprofits should be working with citizens, particularly with citizen experts [...] Edgeryders as a project by the Council of Europe is coming to an end in a couple of weeks. Apart from the guide for policy makers, the project served as a platform for creating a strongly knit self-driven community that is only now really taking off, with impressive enthusiasm and audacious projects to be realized in the months to come. A reasonable thing for us now would be to watch them actively and explore their model in various parts of the continent and beyond" - Justyna Krol, December 19th |
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“thanks to Brussels I met a lot of special people. The sort of fellows who are making a positive impact in the world in different areas. People that not only live, but people who are alive. So yeah, there is definitely hope” - Victor Miron on #LOTE2 |
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| @prabprab: "There's public value in this kind of conversation" with @edgeryders. Valuable engagement with those the EC often misses. \#lote2 — Rory Smith (@roryjhsmith) December 7, 2012 | |
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“The stories I have heard have made me the #edgeryder I have become” #LOTE2 — Dazinism (@dazinism) December 9, 2012 |
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“Consideriamo #edgeryders un caso di policy learning. Favolosa commistione di experts all’insegna del revolt-system-revolt @alberto_cottica” — OKFn Italia(@okfnitaly) December 18, 2012 |
