Engagement2.0: Sexy Online Charity

Yesterday I was at a meeting organized by the German sustainability network 3plusX on "Engagement 2.0". Five fresh German online charity portals presented their work and vision. All of them intermediate online between concrete help projects and givers, may it be individuals or companies. All developed their web2.0 strategy to communicate the projects informative but sexy.

What I like about these portals is that they aim to make engagement easy, informative and concrete. For a lot of people a boarder to give money to charity is because they don't know what happens with their money. The charity culture in Germany is much less developed as in the UK or States.

A large part of the discussion was about how these portals generate their money. Some get their money over corporate sponsorship, while others take a small part of the collected money. Off course, both have good arguments.

The initiatives still have to prove what they are worth, but they are all the kind of projects realized with sweat and ideals. Just one critical question: is it really needed and workable to have so many different portals? Should they be concurrents or cooperate?

I am not going to give any ratings here, just look at them yourself and decide what you think of them:

Betterplace
Helpedia
Elargio
Reset.to
Netzwirken

Grass Routes at the SelfHub in Berlin

The SelfHub is a 'club for people with ideas'. It fuses the best of grounders centre, library, cafe and office lounge. The SelfHub is part of an international network of Hubs around the world and the first one in Germany.

We found this an excellent place to present our vision and create an inspiring evening for everyone in Berlin interested in our projects. Be there! Spread the word! Change the world with style!

Notification: the event is moved to the 15th of May!

Click here for more info

"Change the World with Style": Presentation by the Grass Routes Foundation

Dear friends and all interested,

We invite you to a special evening on Thursday the 15th of May in the SelfHub in Berlin, where we will present you the projects and ideas of Grass Routes in a creative way, to inspire you and to provoke you to think and act yourself. Central topic of the evening is “How to Change the World with Style?”

We invite you to a special evening, where we will present you the projects and ideas of Grass Routes in a creative way, to inspire you and to provoke you to think and act yourself. Central topic of the evening is “How to Change the World with Style?”

Grass Routes is a young, international NGO based in Berlin that combines creative thought and social pioneering with sustainable development and lifestyle.

We will present you our vision and projects, and in an active workshop brainstorm and explore with you the potentials of combining creativity and sustainability as core values. For Grass Routes, using art and style is more than a good marketing strategy or working method. Creativity is the soil for creating change from the grassroots.

About a year ago we started Grass Routes with the wish and urge to create new, innovative projects that combine creative vision and sustainability. In January 2008 the Grass Routes Foundation was created and we are preparing to make Grass Routes a spinning centre of projects, ideas and vision.

We will present you upcoming projects such as the upcoming Berlin Fair Fashion Affair, the new, community based Green Fashion Label Pamoyo, a Sustainable Fashion Agency, an online database project and international trainings for young designers.

All visitors are welcome to participate in the celebration of this new organization.

Looking forward seeing you,

Frans Prins & Cecilia Palmer
Grass Routes Foundation

Thursday 15. May 2008 19.30 hour
Adress: SelfHub, Erkelenzdam 59-61, Berlin Kreuzberg, www.selfhub.de
Price: voluntary donation
Open for: everyone
More info: www.grass-routes.org

Programm:
19.30 Welcome
20.00 Fashion Performance by Pamoyo
20.15 Vision Statement & Presentation of Projects by Grass Routes
21.00 Workshop “How to Change the World with Style”
21.45 Afterparty

Please note that the event has been moved to the 15th of May!

Images by SelfHub and Pamoyo

Wave of Social, Green and Political BarCamps from Berlin to Tibet

When I first heard about BarCamps, I had a clear image of some bearded men with beers, hanging around a campfire. Very campy, but the idea of a BarCamp is hanging around for more reasons than campfire and beer.

BarCamps are a new phenomenon that are boosting a wave off grass roots social change through new media usage. Now the Bar Camp concept is implemented for a broader range of social issues. The barcamps started as an informal form of knowledge sharing in progressive use of computer technology, such as the development of open source internet applications. The methods used are connected to the informal hackers meetings and the Open Space methodology. According to BarCamp.org , a Barcamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. "It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from participants."

According to Wikipedia, The first BarCamp was held in California in 2005, in the offices of Socialtext. It was organized in less than one week, from concept to event, with 200 attendees. Since then, BarCamps have been held in over 31 cities around the world, in North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Australasia and Asia. In 2006, BarCampEarth was held in multiple locations world wide.

The BarCamps, either focussed on social issues or not, are a great and easy form to spread and exchange knowhow and come to new ideas and common vision.

Upcoming Social BarCamps:

Social Camp in Berlin, Germany
German NGO's, netfreaks and social innitiatives gathering in Berlin
GreenCamp in Frankfurt, Germany
meeting of LOHAS experts, green entrepreneurs and environmental activists
Lhasa Bar Camp in Tibet
Don't know how serious or underground that one is
BarCamp Caucasus
the largest new media and blogs event in the Caucasus, powered by Soros
BarCamp Asia in Bishek, Kyrgystan
MediaBarCamp Belarus / Lithuania
EcoCamp - Conversano, Italy
PolitCampGraz - Graz, Austria
CommunityCampBerlin - Berlin, Germany
CreativeCamp - Kilkenny, Ireland, Europe
Health2.0 Unconference Amsterdam - Amsterdam, Netherlands
Social Innovation Camp in London, UK

for more BarCamps in your area visit the BarCamp Wiki