Exploring identity and contesting racism through games: a co-design lab in Brazil

Exploring identity and contesting racism through games: a co-design lab in Brazil

Racism is a pervasive and complex problem, affecting individuals and societies differently. How can we address this issue creatively and engagingly? How can we use games for empowerment, awareness, and education? These questions motivated a co-design lab in Brazil in a partnership between GIG and the University of Bristol and its collaborators. The co-design lab is part of the project Contesting Algorithmic Racism in Brazil, funded by the AHRC Impact Acceleration Fund. The project explores the cultural responses to racism embedded in data and digital technologies, such as algorithms, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. The project also seeks to create games and other interactive online resources that challenge and address algorithmic bias in Brazil. Date: 2008 - 2012.Location: Piscinao de Ramos, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Description: Black man uses sunblock cream on his arms over a chess board in front of a glass with beer at Ramos Public Swimming Pool. Credit: Julio Bittencourt The co-design lab consists of online workshops with...
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Building an Inclusive Future: The Africa Makerspace Network

Building an Inclusive Future: The Africa Makerspace Network

In recent years, makerspaces have emerged as a powerful force for innovation and community building in cities worldwide. These shared workspaces provide access to tools, technology, and resources often out of reach for individuals and small organizations. They also serve as a hub for collaboration, experimentation, and skill-sharing. But while the benefits of makerspaces are clear, they are not equally accessible to everyone. In many parts of the world, makerspaces are concentrated in urban areas and are often dominated by privileged groups. This creates a significant barrier for individuals and communities who need more resources or connections to access these spaces. The Africa Makerspace Network (AMN) is working to change this. AMN is a network of makerspaces and innovation hubs across Africa committed to creating inclusive spaces for innovation, learning, and entrepreneurship. Their mission is to build a network of African makerspaces that are accessible and sustainable and connect them with the global maker movement. AMN was founded in 2019 by a...
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Africa Lawyers Hub: Empowering African Lawyers to Drive Positive Change

Africa Lawyers Hub: Empowering African Lawyers to Drive Positive Change

Africa Lawyers Hub is a non-profit organization that aims to empower African lawyers to drive positive change in their communities. The organization was founded in 2020 to connect lawyers across Africa and provide them with the resources and support they need to make a meaningful impact in their countries. One of the critical ways Africa Lawyers Hub achieves this goal is through its mentorship program. The program matches experienced lawyers with young professionals just starting their careers. The mentors provide guidance and support to the mentees, helping them to navigate the legal profession and to develop the skills they need to be successful. In addition to the mentorship program, Africa Lawyers Hub provides various other resources to its members. These include access to legal training, continuing education opportunities, and a network of legal professionals who can provide support and advice. The organization also hosts events and workshops to bring its members together and to provide them with opportunities to learn from one...
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Fostering Egypt’s development through The Make and Innovation perspective

Fostering Egypt’s development through The Make and Innovation perspective

San3a Tech is a social enterprise established by young Egyptians to democratize technical innovation and build an impactful community of makers. It is also one of the Global Innovation Gathering hub members since 2022. Egypt faces a critical problem of missing the importance of research and development in the community and its effect on the industry and the Egyptian economy. Therefore, there needs to be an environment to bring together people interested in making, innovation and technology. The main challenges faced by Egypt today include the following: Lack of hands-on learning techniques in schools and universities in Egypt, although Education and training are crucial to national's industry development, economic growth and political stability. The Egyptian vocational schools need to provide the industry with qualified and skilled technicians. Craftsmanship produces low-quality creations due to different reasons. Co-innovating in MENA region These were the main drivers for San3a Tech founders to start the grass-root initiative in March 2012 through Fab Lab Egypt at first, followed by several projects and...
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Interview with Gertrude Goh from the Africa Makerspaces Network

Interview with Gertrude Goh from the Africa Makerspaces Network

The Africa Makerspace Network seeks to harmonize all makerspaces under one umbrella for growth and sustainable development in Africa. They achieve this by researching and contacting makerspaces in Africa, building makers' businesses, technical and entrepreneurial capacity, and enhancing prototype-to-product development and manufacturing. In this interview while in Berlin, Gertrude Gosh explains the Africa Makerspace Network and her work with Kumasi Hive in Ghana. https://youtu.be/_MhbhGWfkyo die Erstellung dieses Blogs Post  von der Stiftung Nord-Süd-Brücken mit finanzieller Unterstützung des BMZ Gefördert ...
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The r0g_ way or the hard way

The r0g_ way or the hard way

  On a sunny Monday afternoon, wandering through the streets of Charlottenburg, quietly tucked away on Knobelsdorffstrasse directly near Schloss Char  lottenburg lies r0g_agency, co-directed by longtime friends of GIG, Stephen Kovats and Susanne Bellinghausen.  “open culture” is plastered on the window in bold yellow lettering that if the sun hits it directly, it reflects perfectly over the white arched walls inside, further echoing core values of r0g_: accessibility, innovation, and peacebuilding. r0g_agency works with local grassroots organizations in the Global South to support openness within a developmental context.  As we walk through the front doors, we are warmly welcomed by our hospitable host, Stephen, and their summer intern from the University of Alberta, Lisa. Looking around, the walls are decorated with various educational materials, including a mock game board highlighting the dangers of irregular migration and the struggles migrants often face.  Currently, the list of ongoing projects is somehow interconnected and related to one another. From counteracting online incitement to violence with #defyhatenow...
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Labmobile: on the road in Northern Uganda

Labmobile: on the road in Northern Uganda

Young people between the ages of 18 and 30 in Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement and surrounding communities in northern Uganda face many problems, two of which GIG and Platform Africa proposed a project that seeks to address: Youth unemployment and lack of media literacy. With a youth unemployment rate of almost 70% and a high percentage of people who could not complete their school education but were traumatized by war and flight as schoolchildren, misinformation often leads to outbreaks of violence. Tensions have increased over the past year, particularly following the Ugandan government's restrictive measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and the World Food Program's (WFP) simultaneous 30% cut in food rations for refugees. Platform Africa foundation was in 2017 in Uganda by South Sudanese refugees. It is a non-profit organization that supports young people of all nationalities, ethnicities, genders, and sexual orientations through capacity-building programs (SDG 4). It focuses on media skills development, entrepreneurship, social-technological innovation, and establishing an open, peaceful...
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#BorgaLife: Our Innovators and Migration project is coming to a close

#BorgaLife: Our Innovators and Migration project is coming to a close

Over the course of the past six months we implemented our project “Young Innovators: Using Digital Media to inform about Regular and Irregular Migration Issues”. Together with our partner organisations Kumasi Hive, Impact Hub Accra and Wikimedia Ghana User Group and with the support of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, we aimed at improving the information base on business and knowledge exchange related travel for young Innovators. Globally about 28.2 million international migrants are aged 15 to 24 and live outside their birth country for various reasons (United Nations, 2017) and the issues of innovation, technology and migration are mentioned in 9 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), reflecting their significance in economic development and advancing people’s lives (IOM, 2018). Young people’s migration has a crucial role in fostering innovation. Their movements does not only improve their personal potential and capabilities, but contribute to creating opportunities for those around them (UN Development Program, 2009), bringing knowledge and new...
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i4Policy Task Force Meeting

i4Policy Task Force Meeting

After the convention of hubs organized last year by i4Policy, during which innovation community leaders from across Africa co-created the Africa Innovation Policy Manifesto, the first meeting of the Africa Innovation Policy Task Force took place at Impact Hub Kigali in Rwanda.  i4Policy is a pan-African movement gathering over 140 Innovation Hubs from 43 African countries. The 21 members of the Task Force include several GIG members: Sheila Birgen of iHub, Kenya; Markos Lemma of iceaddis, Ethiopia; and, Jaiksana Soro of Platform Africa, South Sudan & Uganda. Jon Stever of The Office & Impact Hub Kigali in Rwanda hosted the meeting and convened the task force as lead of the i4Policy secretariat. I was invited to take part in both the 2018 and 2019 events as an observer - and I did observe history in the making! https://twitter.com/i4policy/status/1127263908551692290 After three intense and long days of co-creation to update the Manifesto (one evening ended after 3am!), the Task Force presented a new outline of...
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Meeting your neighborhood friends, activists and makers – open:fora at r0g Agency

Meeting your neighborhood friends, activists and makers – open:fora at r0g Agency

Together with Open Source Ecology Germany e.V., and with the support of the Guerrilla Foundation and GIGgers in Berlin we from r0g Agency held our first open:fora 'street meet' … a rather spontaneous artistic and cultural action intended to complement the week of re:publica. At a time where we felt that cultural activism and open culture is being subverted by a growing political rejection of societal freedoms we ran a series of thematic events and cocktails bringing our friends and colleagues from the open tech and culture communities, artists and social activists together to zoom in on specific projects and stories we are working on. It was a great opportunity to meet new and old friends and get their feedback on new initiatives, such as the Migrant Media Network (MMN). Based on our #defyhatenow initiative in South Sudan, MMN, conceived by our colleague Thomas G. Kalunga, focuses on social media as a peacebuilding and migrant information system. Piloting with Ghanaian...
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