<strong>Celebrating the Innovation Global Project and Its Online Exhibition</strong>

Celebrating the Innovation Global Project and Its Online Exhibition

Innovation is a powerful force that can drive social and economic development, especially in the Global South. Unfortunately, the distorted image portrayed by media often obscures the potential of digital innovations in countries in the Global South. As a result, Global Innovation Gathering (GIG) took on the challenge of highlighting the developmental potential of digital innovations from countries in the Global South. Fab Lab Nepal - Picture by Pradita Pradham The GIG's Innovation Global Project is now in its last month, culminating in online and offline exhibitions showcasing Global South innovations. The project addressed the problem of the distorted image of the Global South in the media and the need for more information about inventions from the Global South. Changing this perception is essential to promote collaboration and partnerships to drive social and economic development. The project targeted three groups: development cooperation organizations, innovators and hubs, and digitally interested public members. Development cooperation organizations are already aware of the potential of bottom-up approaches...
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GIG is hiring: <br>Support Ukrainian Makers with Project Tolocar

GIG is hiring:
Support Ukrainian Makers with Project Tolocar

GIG is…. Global Innovation Gathering (GIG) is a vibrant, diverse community of innovation hubs, makerspaces, hackerspaces and other grassroots innovation community spaces and initiatives, as well as individual innovators, makers, technologists and changemakers.  GIG is pursuing a new vision for global cooperation based on equality, openness and sharing. We aim to enable more diversity in the production of technology and global innovation processes and support open and sustainable solutions developed by grassroots innovators. With solid roots in the global south, GIG provides a platform for meaningful exchange by fostering knowledge sharing and collaboration between its members. We're thrilled to announce a new project supporting makers in Ukraine by connecting them with makers from the GIG network, facilitating exchange and co-creating open hardware projects for local needs. Some of our members are already part of the project, e.g. creating mobile makerspaces. You can learn more at https://tolocar.org/en/ Therefore, we are looking for two people to join our team as soon as possible: Position 1_ Project Coordinator  We...
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Building Innovation in Nepal: Impact Hub Kathmandu

Building Innovation in Nepal: Impact Hub Kathmandu

photo courtesy of Impact Hub Kathmandu Impact Hub Kathmandu is an open, inclusive and collaborative space designed to give social innovators, entrepreneurs and change-makers somewhere to meet, work, network and learn. They provide a friendly open space that welcomes people from all across Kathmandu, and beyond! They are part of a global network of 105+ Impact Hubs in over 60 countries, working across disciplines, acting across sectors, with amazing people putting ideas into action.  Impact Hub KTM provides business support to Nepali entrepreneurs and businesses with a social purpose. They connect, inspire and support impact entrepreneurs to scale up their projects and enterprises to address some of Nepal’s challenges,  convening changemakers to convert their passion and commitments into meaningful projects. They also have FabLab Nepal, a digital fabrication laboratory to learn, play, create, mentor, invent, and innovate. They provide access to the environment, the skills, the materials, and the advanced technology to allow anyone to make (almost) anything. Since establishment, they have worked...
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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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Makerspaces for sustainable development

Makerspaces for sustainable development

Mboa Lab's Critical Making efforts in Cameroon Cameroon's MboaLab is teaching useful critical making skills with the aim of promoting women's self worth, their ability to determine their own choices and the right to influence social change for themselves and others as well as to remove gender bias through critical making . MboaLab is an open and collaborative space located in mefou-Assi village in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The aim of MboaLab is to catalyse sustainable local development and improve people’s living conditions through open science. Their approach focuses on the integration of local knowledge by centering the local community especially women. On 5th - 7th March 2022, MboaLab brought together secondary school girls, women in academia, and women in rural areas for 3 days of discovery and learning. Discovery and fabrication On Day 1, was a day of discovery where the participants were introduced to MboaLab, and had a tour where they visited the different sections of the lab with explanations about...
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MboaLab inaugurates its “Bio Innovation Hub”

MboaLab inaugurates its “Bio Innovation Hub”

MboaLab committed to educating, transforming and positively impacting the lives of the Cameroonian people through its DIY lab. Last February, Mboalab, in partnership with the University of Cambridge, inaugurated its "Bio-Innovation Hub". This Hub is a shared biotechnology laboratory made available to researchers and students and is already undoubtedly contributing to the democratisation of biotechnology in Africa.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD5m_UQrw8A Founded in 2018, with the aim to tackle the lack of biology laboratory equipment and reagents; MboaLab started bridging the gap in access to scientific equipment, particularly in Cameroon. This is the seed of what became the DIY biotechnology lab, MboaLab, in 2018 Biomakers at Mboa Bio Innovation Hub DIY biotechnology labs believe that science shouldn't be reserved for those who are formally qualified scientists and that anyone and everyone should be able to dabble in science. Therefore, in partnership with local universities, MboaLab organises and runs internship and training programs to equip growing talents in molecular biology, synthetic biology, engineering, and biotechnology. As a result, about 50...
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Join us in the Critical Making Mentoring Programme 2022

Join us in the Critical Making Mentoring Programme 2022

We are excited to launch the Critical Making Mentoring Programme coming up this spring. Here is a sneak peak of what is to be expected! The Mentoring Programme will take place during 2022, requiring only a few hours of active participation per month. Further details will be announced soon! Do you want to stay updated on the mentoring programme? Register your email now to get a special notification when the programme opens for application in April! Update: The mentoring programme is open until the 31st of May. Click here for more details and to apply About Critical Making:Critical Making is a partnership to encourage responsible research & innovation to foster open access, inclusiveness and positive change across the global maker community. Together, we add scientific insights into the potential of the maker movement, and set up activities that focus on critical and socially responsible making. We aim to show how these communities can offer new opportunities for young makers of all genders to contribute to...
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GIG presents a Masterclass at Innovate2030 Bootcamp

GIG presents a Masterclass at Innovate2030 Bootcamp

We are excited to announce that Geraldine de Bastion, a GIG member and co-founder, will present a Masterclass about GIG at the Innovate2030 Bootcamp on March 10th, in a day full of profound insights, learnings from the best, and crucial interactions moments.  Innovate2030 Bootcamp is the space where stakeholders, challenge-providers, collaborating partners and the Bootcamp´s finalist teams come together for the first time to get to know each other.  11 Masterclasses offer real-life insights from A-Z in climate-tech entrepreneurship and multidisciplinary and global perspectives given by experts from all over the world and various disciplines.  It is a unique opportunity to join an exceptional vision on climate-smart cities and meet the Innovate2030-finalists. The main goal is to share first-hand insights on innovation processes and glimpse Innovate 2030 bright concepts and groundbreaking ideas.  Innovate2030-SDG11 is a partnership by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (#BMZ) and its new lab for digital innovations – #digilab – in collaboration with the Make-IT Alliance. You can learn...
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At Connective Cities Living Lab, “change darers” are Rethinking Municipal Response to global pandemic challenges.

At Connective Cities Living Lab, “change darers” are Rethinking Municipal Response to global pandemic challenges.

Authors: Harinjaka Ratozamanana, Chris Doering, Daniela Marzavan,  The rise of e-government announced a great change in public administrations—but how could it be without Global Innovation Gatherings “change darers” ? Public sector organisations have always looked out for new ways to fulfil their public mission. This November—together with Mazavan Innovation,  Data Natives, and the Connective Cities platform—members of the Global-Innovation-Gathering-community are taking part in some virtual magic towards “hacking” municipalities worldwide and help them to experiment with new ideas,  processes, networks, management tools and technologies in order to create public value and effect positive change.  Daniela Mazavan is taking part in the Capacity Strengthening capsules and sharing her knowledge about Innovation Ecosystems for Urban Development among many selected experts. Sénamé Koffi Agbodjinou from  Woelab Togo talks about his work at Hubcity and his ongoing project in cooperation with his local municipality. Harinjaka Ratozamanana from Hackoragna.coop is one of the Hackathon Mentors as he organised #Hackoragnavirus in Madagascar and participated actively at The Global Hack and...
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Announcing DOTS 2021!

Announcing DOTS 2021!

It is finally that time of the year! Although we could not physically gather anywhere after 2019, we did gather virtually in many events, and also during the weekly GIG team calls. We know the reality of meeting online is not exactly what we want – but we’re also preparing to meet again physically in 2022 ! Still, this year’s DOTS – our annual gathering – will need to take place virtually .  DOTS will be more focused this year on our network and organisation. With this, we invite you to save the date for the DOTS week (November 26-30) and to participate and arrange sessions. Leading up to this, we shall offer several info sessions about board members roles, GIG governance and the general assembly.   The agenda for DOTS: 26th | 13.00 - 15.30 CET: General Assembly Meeting The  General Assembly is the central decision-making organ of GIG e.V. the NGO which forms the legal body of the GIG Network....
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