In the last few decades, thousands of technology and infrastructure projects aimed at the developing world and environmental sustainability have sprung into action. What could life in the developing world look like 10 years from now if all these projects take root? We're making a Burning Man cabal (camp) in 2008 to find out just that.
We're building a camp in the middle of a Nevada desert that actually implements - in a real, live, fully inhabited minivillage - the technologies and plans each of our projects has been developing independently. It's a way to see all these initiatives working together and to explore the symbiotic relationships that would grow between them in an actual village. It's a look at what the developing world could be within a decade. Actually, since we'll be using working production models of all our systems, it's a look at what the developing world could look like... right now.
We're looking for interested groups and people. If you have a project with a fully working implementation that focuses on appropriate technology & infrastructure, contact us.
Coming
Sign yourself up if you want to join the crew. Mel, Smari, and Vinay are currently the core organizers of this effort.
- Mel Chua (OLPC) - Cheap sustainable computing / education (firstname at firstnamelastname dot dom)
- Smari McCarthy (Fablab) - Cheap sustainable personal manufacturing
- Vinay Gupta (Hexayurt) - Cheap sustainable housing
Helping
If you want to help out but aren't sure if you can make it to the playa next year yet, add your name here, along with some way to contact you.
- Chriswaterguy (Appropedia Foundation) (Hoping I can make it to the US and Burning Man) - water and sanitation with minimal resources. Contact via my talk page.
- name (project) - description
Trying to persuade
Particular people & projects we're trying to persuade. Know someone from the same project, or similar projects? Add them to the list (or if you know the org but not a person, to the list below.)
- Marcin (OSE) - Cheap sustainable local economics
- Laura, Amy (D-lab) - Cheap sustainable X as research @ universities
- Matt (formerly of VDS and Green Mountain Engineering) - Cheap sustainable transportation
- Ben, Marco, Erik, Molly (Ideatree) - Cheap sustainable sanitation / nonprofit design firms business model
- DP (QUB) - Cheap sustainable (carbon neutral) aircraft design.
- educational institutions - Barefoot college
- AIDG
- Mayapedal
- Green wifi - mesh wireless internet
- OpenMoko & GNU Radio - cellular communications
- Gawad Kalinga - village building
What's missing
Types of projects and specific projects we don't have specific people in mind for yet. Add ideas to this list, ping folks you know.
- more educational institutions
- garbage disposal (for recycling and sorting, maybe have some info & demo of Recycling and dengue fever in Sukunan, Indonesia. That's more about the developing world, so we should look for others too.)
- public healthcare
- small scale democracy
- localized renewable energy sources