Project

The Love School Project

A co-creative process between students of product design at UdK and pupils from Love School in the Slum Kangemi in Nairobi

In a co-creation process between students of product design at University of Arts Berlin and pupils from Love School in the Slum Kangemi in Nairobi, Kenya, designs have been created that focus on craft, material understanding and form development. Both cultural environments served as sources of knowledge and inspiration. A variety of multifaceted object with hybrid aesthetics have come into being that evince an autarchic identity both as high end products as well as DIY variation. Experiments and developments were done with porcelain, clay, plaster, fine metal, fibre, sisal, veneer, plastic bags, PET bottles, corrugated sheet metal and bulk trash.

Besides the design process the question of value of those materials, the necessity of new products and the relation to a global social context was reflected. The students became teachers of their own by continuously reflecting their own process and to then pass on a simplified version to the children. The children on the other hand participated in the design and problem solving process and thus experienced an increasing awareness of self-efficacy as well as ownership concerning the final sale of the designed objects. The revenue serves the purchase of a piece of land for the continuously displaced Love School Center which will be cleared out once again due to speculation.

So additionally to the financial support of the school in Nairobi the goal of the project was diverse: it was an attempt to test development work as a co-creation process. It sensitized the students to see their work as a creative service in a client relationship and it offered the kids from the Love School Center the opportunity to cooperate with the students and participate in the purchase of new grounds. For all participants this project was and will be an inspiring, mind expanding experience.

by Susa

Disruption Network Lab

An ongoing programme of events and research focused on the intersection of politics, technology and society

Examining the intersection of politics, technology, and society, Disruption Network Lab exposes the misconduct and wrongdoing of the powerful.

Disruption Network Lab is an ongoing platform of events and research focused on the intersection of politics, technology and society. We are a Berlin-based nonprofit organisation in Germany (Disruption Network Lab e. V.) that has since 2014 organised participatory, interdisciplinary, international events at the intersection of human rights and technology with the objective of strengthening freedom of speech, and exposing the misconduct and wrongdoing of the powerful. We develop work that advocates for the globally marginalised.

Disruption Network Lab organises inter-disciplinary conferences at the interface of scholarship and politics and local meetups throughout the year.

by Susa

SEEDS

A payment platform and financial ecosystem to empower humanity and heal our planet.

Seeds: A New Currency

SEEDS’ unique protocols maintain a more stable value for Seeds. This addresses the intense volatility of many alternative currencies.

This happens by tracking demand changes and creating new Seeds to meet new demand. For example, with Bitcoin new demand is represented by an increase in the price of BTC, leading to wildly appreciating price.

Imagine borrowing BTC a few years ago. You’d have a 1000+% interest rate to pay back that 1 BTC. Seeds fixes this problem. Bitcoin, and many alternative currencies are designed like gold and stocks while Seeds are designed like national currencies.

Bitcoin = Digital Gold;

Most Other Cryptocurrencies = Better Stocks;

Seeds = Better Money

Unlike national currencies, Seeds are not created from impossible debt and exploitative interest. Instead, Seeds are created to replace destroyed currency and to meet new demand as our society grows.

Destroying Seeds

Seeds are also routinely destroyed to account for any decreases in demand.

Many services provided today could be replaced with code providing “zero marginal cost” services. Examples include, digital advertising, banking services, insurance services, escrow services, etc). SEEDS will provide these services and users pay for them by burning Seeds. These services will become more valuable as SEEDS grows, balancing growth and destroying currency to fuel the harvest.

Where the money comes from

Growth comes from transitioning away from our current financial systems – not from converting our natural and social world into money. We repurpose the incredible growth designs of our present systems to transition into new ones. Once we’ve transitioned into this new system we can evolve it however we need using a clear and direct governance process.

New Seeds go directly to reward a variety of beneficial behaviours in our society.

by Susa

Living Gaia

Wonderful initiative collecting donations for the Huni Kuin indiginous people of Acre, Brazil to buy back their land in the Amazon rainforest.

Amazon landpurchase project

Protecting and strengthening indigenous groups also protects the rainforest. Satellite images clearly show that only the areas inhabited by indigenous people in Brazil have experienced little deforestation.

To protect the forest and its inhabitants, we plan to enable the Huni Kuin to buy 16,800 hectares of land in the Jordão community.

The land is located between the Huni Kuin’s land and uncontacted groups being pushed back into Brazil by Peru. We want both groups to benefit from this purchase. About one third of the land to be bought has been cleared and is to be reforested. The farmland is surrounded by intact forests. We hope that the reforestation will also help the wildlife in this region to recover. A centre for dialogue and exchange is also to be established.

The Huni Kuin live in 32 villages along the rivers Jordão and Tarauacá near the village of Jordão in the state of Acre, Brazil.

Uncontacted Indigenous Groups
There are groups of the Huni Kuin people who fled across the border to Peru after first contact with rubber collectors and have been living in isolation ever since. Over the past ten years, they have been pushed back to Brazil due to the activities of large corporations on the Peruvian side.

The land to be purchased will serve as a buffer zone between the contacted and uncontacted Huni Kuin, who are relatives and friends.

 

What can I do?
Donate to our association account!
A donation receipt will be sent via e-mail (on request also by postal service) to you at the beginning of the next quarter. Please send your name, address, transfer date and amount by e-mail to contact@living-gaia.org.

Living Gaia e.V.
IBAN: DE48 4306 0967 1150 1986 00
BIC: GENODEM1GLS
Keyword: Amazon land purchase

or by SEPA direct debit mandate (single or recurring payment)

by Susa