Aravinth Panch : Generating A Cycle of Thinking For Longevity

Aravinth Panch : Generating A Cycle of Thinking For Longevity

By Ann Joshua Comment Closed
Ecosystems services encompass the vital benefits that nature bestows upon us to sustain life on our planet. Diverse natural elements such as forests, wetlands, rivers, oceans, and the myriad of animal species inhabiting our world are all examples of how different ecosystems exist. During Aravinth’s enlightening mentoring session, you will have the opportunity to delve into the different roles in safeguarding these ecosystems for the well-being of our planet. To deepen our understanding of the intrinsic value that nature brings to human lives, we must incorporate practices that keep us accountable and acknowledge the true worth of natural resources within our maker practices. Aravinth, an ardent social entrepreneur, dedicates his efforts to empowering underserved communities in war-affected regions of Sri Lanka. His work focuses on enabling these communities to address local socio-economic and environmental challenges effectively. As a co-founder of DreamSpace Academy, a non-profit social enterprise, Aravinth actively fosters positive change through various impactful initiatives. DreamSpace Academy operates on challenge-based learning,...
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Bahar Kumar : Reversing Power Dynamics In Community

Bahar Kumar : Reversing Power Dynamics In Community

By Ann Joshua Comment Closed
In this mentoring video presented by Bahar Kumar, we dive deep into what entrepreneurial communities look like and to also discover the impact/need for building such spaces. Baharserves as Director at Impact Hub Kathmandu', formerly Nepal Communitere. In this role, she leads a vibrant community-based innovation hub that supports ambitious changemakers, enabling them to transform their ideas into successful ventures. With a deep commitment to empowering visionaries Bahar employs methodologies like human-centered design to gain profound insights into the communities' needs. By understanding these needs she strives to design innovative and relevant solutions that address pressing challenges. Her expertise in community engagement and innovative problem-solving has been instrumental in fostering positive change. Through her multifaceted experiences and qualifications, Bahar Kumar exemplifies a dedicated leader and advocate for social innovation. Her work at Impact Hub Kathmandu showcases her unwavering commitment to empowering entrepreneurs and catalyzing positive social impact. As she mentions, “it is through entrepreneurship that we can build impact at scale;...
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Collective Keynote: Local Innovation and Global Community with Kudzai Mbaiwa, Jay Fajardo and Georgia Nicolau

Collective Keynote: Local Innovation and Global Community with Kudzai Mbaiwa, Jay Fajardo and Georgia Nicolau

By Ann Joshua Comment Closed
Global Innovation Gathering: Unveiling Stories of Impact and Collective Transformation In 2015, GIG transformed Kudzai's life, sparking her passion for the intersection of finance and technology. As an economic development specialist, she champions digital solutions in enterprise development and personal finance. Originating from Zimbabwe, the diverse grassroots initiatives within GIG captivated her. Upon joining, she immediately sensed a profound unfolding of the future, declaring, "The first thing I saw here was the future." This foresight translates into recognizing the boundless potential of creative minds to envision and shape a life surpassing current realities. Transitioning to the panel, Jay Fajardo, Kudzai Mbaiwa, and Georgia Nicolau share their experiences with GIG. Jay, a tech entrepreneur with 35+ years in ICT, became a GIG member in 2013. Founder of PROUDCLOUD and director of LAUNCHGARAGE, he's a pioneer in the Philippine tech scene. Jay emphasizes curating a shared vision for success, unlocking collective innovation through active participation. His 2013 experience revealed the power of grassroots innovation,...
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From Makers to Ministers: Suggestions for Future Policy Dialogues with Linda Bonyo and Felipe Fonseca

From Makers to Ministers: Suggestions for Future Policy Dialogues with Linda Bonyo and Felipe Fonseca

By Ann Joshua Comment Closed
Linda Bonyo and Felipe Fonseca take on the trailblazing conversation of what the future of policy looks as makers in those positions of change. They touch upon the importance of fostering open and constructive policy dialogues to achieve effective governance. This would involve engaging with various stakeholders, including citizens, experts, and interest groups, to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the issues at hand and to craft well-rounded policies that address multiple perspectives.  The two speakers touch on the theme of commonalities. As Felipe explains, the diversity of commonalities is to be understood through the metaphor of the seed. The story begins in the context of the leftist government and civil society; some vacant positions within the government prompted individuals with activist backgrounds to step in and take up these roles. This experience led to a realization that they had become an integral part of the government machinery. They were well aware that their first responsibility was to caution communities against placing...
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Georgia Nicolau: Advancing Empathy; For Commitment To Care And Responsible Innovation

Georgia Nicolau: Advancing Empathy; For Commitment To Care And Responsible Innovation

By Ann Joshua Comment Closed
Georgia Nicolau, an esteemed participant in the critical making mentoring program, hails from Brazil and possesses a diverse skill set, such as being a creative professional, researcher, writer, trained facilitator, and consultant. Her expertise lies in the realms of social organizations, collective action, innovation, and culture and the arts. Notably, she played a pivotal role in co-founding the Procomum Institute in 2016—an NGO that champions the commons-oriented approach in her Southern American country. At the institute, she serves as Program Director, enabling partnerships and institutional development. She initiates an in-depth exploration of the pedagogy employed by the Procomum organization. Their pedagogy serves as a means to comprehend the foundation of their community-focused work particularly in terms of integrating local knowledge. What does this mean, you ask? And also, why is this important? To address these questions effectively let us explore the analysis of the seven principles underlying the organization’s pedagogy. First is faith in people and their encounters. The notion that every...
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GIG vs The World: A Panel Talk from Andrew Lamb 

GIG vs The World: A Panel Talk from Andrew Lamb 

By Ann Joshua Comment Closed
A catalyst. Often a catalyst is seen as a person or event that quickly causes change or action. The causation of a catalyst can vary, but most often or not, the result is usually positive and in the case of this talk we find that to be true. Andrew Lamb, in his talk titled "GIG vs The World," dives deep into the inner workings of becoming a catalyst and what that means for him. As we listen we find out the causation for his catalyst was burnout - typically recognized by persistent fatigue, sentiments of dissatisfaction, pessimism, and skepticism towards work-related duties'; however, such feelings toward his previous work fostered a breakthrough moment that changed the trajectory of his career and how he sees the world now.  Andrew Lamb, for 4 years, was the chief executive of engineers without borders in the UK. It started as a Student Club, and what was a charity soon evolved into something bigger. As more...
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Distributed Manufacturing: A Talk by Independent Researcher Peter Troxler

Distributed Manufacturing: A Talk by Independent Researcher Peter Troxler

By Ann Joshua Comment Closed
In the 10 Years of Global Innovation Gathering Conference, Peter Troxler engaged in a dynamic conversation defining distributed manufacturing in the 21st century and what the future of it might look like. To answer the question of what distributive manufacturing is, one must look at the history of open source hardware. The year 1993 marked the year of the first documented open source community in modern times through TAPR Radio Amateur - although there were other sources done before 1993 up until most of them became patented. An exemplary embodiment of what the modern open-source movement resembles is evident in the Bang & Olufsen speakers introduced in the 1970s. Bang & Olufsen made a significant impact on the audio industry by introducing wireless capabilities, revolutionizing the way speakers were used. Prior to this innovation, speakers were typically connected to audio sources through wires, limiting their mobility and placement options. Bang & Olufsen transformed this traditional setup by developing a wireless...
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Saad Chinoy : Curating A Curious Mind That Goes Beyond Conventional Thinking

Saad Chinoy : Curating A Curious Mind That Goes Beyond Conventional Thinking

By Ann Joshua Comment Closed
Covid-19 one could say, is a thing of the past. However, the lingering effects can still be seen today. Although pain, suffering, isolation, and many online Zoom calls are associated with this period, some positive outcomes have emerged from the pandemic. For example, we can look towards the trailblazing organization TechForGood. It utilized the pandemic as a source of inspiration to bring individuals from the community to uphold principles that employ appropriate technology, design thinking, and sustainability to create assistive tech. As Saad Chinoy states, "an unintended consequence of being forced to do online things has this unexpected positive benefits of equalizing everyone and so.. we are relatively better now at trying to troubleshoot tech issues, and so that's exactly the skills the people who volunteered could bring to the table and trying to apply that skill [to help fix tech]". The Professional Geek individual Saad embodies the qualities of a geek, a maker, and a coffee enthusiast and, as a...
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My Hardware, My Choice – A Panel Talk by Teresa Dillon, Linda Bonyo and Maximilian Voigt

My Hardware, My Choice – A Panel Talk by Teresa Dillon, Linda Bonyo and Maximilian Voigt

By Ann Joshua Comment Closed
During this panel discussion, Teresa and Maximilian (later on followed by Linda) come together creating a dialogue around the Right to Repair - discussing what impacts the latter has on topics such as sustainability, value chain, economic impacts around the world, culture, and how technology is dealt with and treated within such context. What Do You Think Right to Repair Means and Looks Like Today? Starting the discussion, Teressa initiates the discourse by shedding light on more that just the topic of repair and delves into the realms of care, maintenance, and healing cultures - arguing that repair holds a significant position, particularly in a localized context. Some examples of data research supporting the concept of repair acts can be through trade and electrical repair services; other similar approaches are also seen through Tales of Care & Repair, an initiative used to collect stories of everyday repair including creating data where people upload costs of what/how they have repaired and their motivations....
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Emílio Velis: Cultivating The Skill Of Documentation & Knowledge Transfer

Emílio Velis: Cultivating The Skill Of Documentation & Knowledge Transfer

By Ann Joshua Comment Closed
Emilio Velis, serving as the executive director of the Appropedia Foundation, brings a wealth of expertise in sustainability and international development. His work encompasses various facets of the open movement aiming to create social impact. Emilio initiates a vital conversation that dives into the essence of documenting and highlights its significance in the context of knowledge transfer. As Emilio describes, documentation is the process by which different motivations try to explain a series of statements that reflect facts about the world as experiences and narratives. Open-source documentation aims to facilitate collaboration and humanize the process by bridging connections between individuals. Thus, creating a chain reaction which begins by: an idea written down, to creation, implementation, utilization, and ultimately finding solutions. Documenting presents an opportunity for others to understand and appreciate the shared knowledge. In addition, the personal value each contribution holds can motivate others to think critically, build upon ideas, and explore alternative possibilities. In essence, this paves the way...
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