Congratulations to our 2025 Regional Events Civic Ignition Grantees! We received 27 submissions totaling $43,330 in financial requests. These grants were discussed in a consensus-based workshop with approximately 17 community leaders. The winners are: Lux Capacitor by Glass House Arts San Diego / Youtopia Lux Capacitor is an open-source, ground-mounted solar floodlight system for lighting…
Congratulations to the 2025 The Mid-Atlantic Leadership Conference (MALC) Civic Ignition Grantees! We received 13 submissions with a total financial ask of $42,000. These grants were discussed in a consensus-based workshop with approximately 60 community leaders. photo by Jeff Stoltzfus The MALC committee wishes to express deep gratitude to an anonymous donor who contributed a 100%…
Congratulations to our 2025 Burners of New Zealand and Australia (BoNZA) Civic Ignition Grantee! We received 2 submissions with a total financial ask of $32,149. These grants were discussed in a consensus-based workshop with approximately 50+ community leaders. The winner is: Pilot of Burner Regional Library of Things (BurnerRLoT) Paradise, Victoria- Australia The BurnerRLoT pilot…
LOCATION: Chicago, Il What is the BWB Chicago Civic Ignition Grant? Proceeds from Winter Ball 2025 will be funding these micro-grants, empowering change makers to make a tangible difference in local communities. A program aimed at funding innovative community & civic projects within the greater Chicago area. We are interested in programs that create collaborations, produce…
Timeline:–Grant opportunity is announced on March 4, 2024–The deadline for grant submissions is March 29th, 2024 (Midnight wherever you are)–Workshop participants will review the grant proposals at the 2024 European Leadership Summit in Tallinn, Estonia (Weekend of April 4-7, 2024)–The winner (s) will be announced the week of April 8th, 2024 Apply here: https://forms.gle/m9erjYmctK6wVKZb6 What’s…
One of our 2022 Civic Ignition Grant Recipients from the Multi-Regional Summit Gathering (MRS) in Northern California/Nevada is The Immigrant Aid Project from Reno, Nevada; USA. At A Glance: – A fundraising project for displaced people from Afghanistan, Syria, and Ukraine through traditional printmaking. – 2 team members have instructed 75 participants on fabric block printing.– 8 artists…
What is the Southeastern Leadership Roundtable Civic Ignition Grant? A program aimed at funding innovative community & civic projects within the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, or Virginia. We are interested in programs that create collaborations, produce direct actions, utilize several of the 10 Burning Man Principles, are reproducible,…
Congratulations to our 2022 BONZA Civic Ignition Grantees! We received 3 submissions with a total financial ask of ~$3,000. These grants were discussed in a consensus-based workshop with participant leaders from Australia and New Zealand. Congratulations to the Grantees: Remote Village by Rain and Wick (Fremantle, Australia)https://remotevillage.com.au/ Remote Village makes and gifts food and clothing…
Congratulations to our 2022 MRS Civic Ignition Grantees! We received 8 submissions with a total financial ask of $11,100. These grants were discussed in a consensus-based workshop with 16 participant leaders from the Northern California and Nevada region of the United States. We are also thrilled to announce that an additional $2,000 was generated from…
Want to share this opportunity with your network? Use this language for an easy copy/paste: [Applications Open: ELS Civic Ignition Grant!] Do you have an innovative civic or community project happening in Europe? Burners Without Borders wants to seed fund your project! This grant gives anyone the opportunity to submit a collaborative, creative, and principle-focused…
Want to share this opportunity with your network? Use this language for an easy copy/paste: [Applications Open: Mexico Civic Ignition Grant!] Do you have an innovative civic or community project happening in Mexico? BWB wants to seed fund your project! This grant gives anyone the opportunity to submit a collaborative, creative, and principle-focused project with…
Congratulations to our 2020 RBLS Civic Ignition Grantee! We received 12 submissions with a total financial ask of $17,500. These grants were discussed in a consensus based workshop with 12 participant leaders from the Northwest region of the United States. With $1500 in funds to allocate, we are hugely excited to congratulate our newest Civic…
Congratulations to our 2020 NERT Civic Ignition Grantees! We received 9 submissions with a total financial ask of $13,500. These grants were discussed in a consensus based workshop with 30 participant leaders from the Northeast region. With $1500 in funds to allocate, we are very grateful for anonymous contributions of $500 and $750 to increase…
Congratulations to our 2019 BWB-DC Civic Ignition Grant Winners! We received 4 submissions that were considered during the workshop. A big congratulations to this years grant recipients: Recipes for Resilience Recipes for Resilience will be a cookbook that takes you on an amazing food journey with 20 undocumented migrant women living in DC. It will include…
Congratulations to our 2019 Australia New Zealand Leadership Summit Civic Ignition Grant Winners! We received 8 submissions that were considered during the workshop. Thank you to all of our applicants and participants for an engaged civic impact experience. A big congratulations to this years grant recipients: Workshops R Us (New Zealand) Workshops R Us will…
Congratulations to our 2019 Multi Regional Leadership Summit Civic Ignition Grant Winners! We received 8 submissions that were considered during the workshop. It was a great conversation and the workshop took about 60 minutes to complete, and about 22 participants took place in the workshop. Thank you to all of our applicants and participants for…
One of our 2018 European Leadership Summit Civic Ignition grant recipients is Nea Kavala Art Without Borders by Love Without Borders Project lead Kayra Martinez shares the story: Love Without Borders worked with children on the run from war to create a tour of their artistic creations. The art is traveling around the globe to…
One of our 2018 Multi Regional Summit Civic Ignition grant recipients is The Morris Teaching Garden! Project leader Gemini describes the project: 20 people have participated in this project to create a year round garden and space to teach about urban gardening. This project is a part of the Morris Hostel, a long standing burner…
Congratulations to our 2019 European Leadership Summit Civic Ignition Grant Winners! We received 19 submissions and had 17 participants join us to judge the cycle at our meet up and workshop. It was a great conversation and the workshop took about 90 minutes to complete. Thank you to all of our applicants and participants for…
Congratulations to our 2019 Southeastern Leadership Roundtable Civic Ignition Grant Winners! We received 10 submissions and had over 50 participants join us to judge the cycle at our meet up and workshop. It was a great conversation and the workshop took about 90 minutes to complete. Thank you to all of our applicants and participants for…
What is the Southeastern Leadership Roundtable (SERT) Civic Ignition Grant? A program aimed at funding innovative community & civic projects within the Southeastern Leadership Roundtables respective geographic areas. We are interested in programs that create collaborations, produce direct actions, utilize several of the 10 Burning Man Principles, are reproducible, and creatively tackle local social…
Our 2018 Rocky Mountain Civic Ignition grant recipient is Made in the Shade! The Wasatch Community Gardens are organic and solar powered, stewarded by a very environmentally and forward thinking organization. The Wasatch Community Gardens work with homeless women and provide produce to ESL schools. Made in the Shade project participants teamed up with…
One of our Multi-Regional Summit 2018 Civic Ignition Grant recipients is The Elk Creek Community Park Art Walk. 8 people participated in the ideation of an art walk in Elk Creek Community Park. So far, 20 community members have designed quilted “art blocks” using squares of plywood, to be painted and used to transform a…
BWB Galveston have been given a three mile stretch of beach boardwalk to imbue with the 10 principles…
New Zealand & Australia Leadership Gathering Civic Ignition Grant WinnerProject Name: Sparkhaus Studio, Burner Makerspace & Community HubOne of our 2018 Civic Ignition Grant winners is Sparkhaus Studio, Burner Makerspace & Community Hub. 30 people participated in the development and execution of the project, and it’s already been experienced by more than a hundred community…
Congratulations to our 2018 Multi-Regional Summit Civic Ignition Grant Winners! We received 5 submissions and had about 20 participants join us to judge the cycle at our meet up and workshop. It was a great conversation and the workshop took about 60 minutes to complete. Congratulations to the winners: Elk Creek Community Park ART Walk (Northern Sacramento Valley): The Elk…
Congratulations to our 2018 Australia & New Zealand Burner Leadership Summit Civic Ignition Grant Winner! We received 4 submissions and had about 35 participants join us to judge the cycle at our meet up and workshop. It was a great conversation and the workshop took about 60 minutes to complete. Congratulations to the winner: BOSS Newcastle Maker Space (Newcastle,…
Congratulations to our 2018 Rocky Mountain Burning Arts Summit Civic Ignition Grant Winners! We received 10 submissions and had about 15 participants join us to judge the cycle at our meet up and workshop. It was a great conversation and the workshop took about 60 minutes to complete. Congratulations to the winner: Made in the…
Congratulations to our 2018 Mid-Atlantic Leadership Conference Civic Ignition Grant Winners! We received 6 submissions and had about 18 participants join us to judge the cycle at our meet up and workshop. It was a great conversation and the workshop took about 75 minutes to complete. Congratulations to the winners: Sandtown South Community Apiary (Baltimore…
Congratulations to our 2018 European Leadership Summit (ELS) Civic Ignition Grant Winners! We received 13 submissions and had about 30 participants join us to judge the cycle at our meet up and workshop. It was a great conversation and the workshop took about 90 minutes to complete. Congratulations to the winners: 001 Transforms (Kyiv, Ukraine): We believe volunteering,…
Congratulations to our 2018 Southeastern Leadership Roundtable Civic Ignition Grant Winners! We received 9 submissions and had over 40 participants join us to judge the cycle at our meet up and workshop. It was a great conversation and the workshop took about 90 minutes to complete. Congratulations to the winners: Feeling Fruity and Bringing Beauty:…
Congratulations to our 2018 SXSW Civic Ignition Grant Winners! We received 9 submissions and had 28 participants join us to judge the cycle at our meet up and workshop. It was a great conversation, even though our meet-up was in a lively bar, and the workshop took about 90 minutes to complete. Congratulations to the…
Our 2017 ELS Civic Ignition cycle received 16 submissions. On Saturday of the conference 22 community members came together to discuss the submissions, producing a meaningful and at the same time difficult conversation circling the ideas of impact and community investment. We are exited to announce our two winners from the 2017 cycle: – David’s Ranch…
ELS Civic Ignition Grant 2016 Winner announced: Burners Without Borders in collaboration with the European Burning Man Regional Network is excited to announce the winner of the ‘ELS Civic Ignition Grant’ for 2016: [freespace] Barcelona. [freespace] is an international movement that is an experiment in what is possible when a community shares the gift…
StarShade is a prototype solar-powered shade canopy designed for rapid deployment wherever off-grid power is needed. Inspired by NASA’s folding origami shade sails and solar arrays for deployment in space, StarShade uses a dynamic scissor mechanism that allows it to fold and unfold easily with minimal on-site assembly. The mission of the project is to…
See this newsletter in it’s original format here. 2025 marked 20 years of Burners Without Borders. This year, we celebrated two decades of people showing up, using creativity to solve local challenges, and building communities through meaningful, hands-on action. What began as a small group of Burners responding to disaster has grown into a global…
The Temple of Re:creation began as a collaborative vision between artists in Ukraine to build a sculptural art piece through a women-led residency. Supported by the Civic Ignition Grant, the project entered a rich development phase that included research, community engagement, and a meaningful artist residency at Baranivka, a rural space that offered reflection, healing,…
Read the newsletter in its original format here. Born in the wake of a storm, Burners Without Borders has spent 20 years evolving into a worldwide network of action—still asking the same question: how can creativity and community meet the challenges of our time? If there’s one truth the last two decades have taught us, it’s…
Hosted by Footprint Project | July 30–31, 2025 | Black Mountain, NC What happens when you bring solar builders, grassroots organizers, festival producers, disaster responders, and cultural workers into one experimental learning space? You get Resilience Fest—a gathering where creativity and community become the backbone of response and long-term recovery. Resilience Fest organizers believe that…
Read the newsletter in its original format here. As we move deeper into BWB’s 20th anniversary year, something’s shifting. Across the globe, chapters are gathering, projects are launching, and communities are asking: What Future Now? This summer, we’re not just talking about change, we’re making it. The narrative we’re exploring—response, resilience, and regeneration—isn’t a timeline,…
What began as a small act of support has grown into a scalable model for localized economic transformation. Cultivating More Than Coffee In the lush highlands of Eastern Uganda, where the volcanic soils of Mt. Elgon cradle generations of coffee farming wisdom, the Lambano Group is cultivating more than just crops—they’re nurturing the future of…
View this newsletter in it’s original formatting here This year marks 20 years since Burners Without Borders was born in Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath—evolving from an emergent relief project into a movement of radical possibility. In 2025, we’re celebrating not just where we’ve been—but where we’re going. We’ve been exploring a narrative from response to resilience,…
Location: Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine Size: 30 sq.m. off-grid house designed for full-year living Sergii’s journey into sustainable construction didn’t start in a classroom—it started in the desert. Inspired by the radical self-reliance of Burning Man, he saw how temporary communities could thrive in extreme environments with creativity and collaboration. What if that same spirit could be…
A Does BWB offer funding or grants? Burners Without Borders has historically run two micro-grant programs: Civic Ignition Grants are usually regionally focused, typically associated with one of Burning Man’s Community Leadership Conferences, and are selected in a consensus-driven workshop by participants directly connected to the region. The Civic Ignition Grant Program started in 2013…
Overview The Burner Gear Giveback (BGG), is a grassroots initiative aimed at redistributing unused or lightly used camping gear to individuals and communities in need. Spearheaded by a dedicated organizer in Reno, Nevada, the project accepts donations from participants exiting Burning Man. They collect, sort, and distribute essential items to the unhoused and mutual aid…
As we approach a new year, Burners Without Borders (BWB) finds itself at a crossroads. The year 2025 marks our 20th anniversary—an opportunity to reflect on our past and envision our future. We recognize that the world has changed, our community has grown, and our perspective evolved, leading us to ask: How might we show…
Margi is a beautiful portable pizza oven that brings happiness and pizza to the community. Margi was built by a bunch of volunteers in 2021 and has been bringing people together over food (specifically, delicious pizza) ever since. Congratulations to our 2024 BoNZA Civic Ignition Grantees! We received 6 submissions with a total financial ask of…
About the project: The “Temple of Re:creation” is a collaborative land art project for women impacted by the war in Ukraine, conceived as a symbolic haven for healing and empowerment. Central to the initiative are three components: the Art Residency, Land Art Construction, and Documentary Production, with the BWB Civic Ignition grant being allocated specifically…
Welcome to the BWB Summer Newsletter Burners Without Borders is getting a new look! We’re busy preparing for our 20th anniversary next year at Black Rock City in 2025—and we’ve already started to roll out some changes. We’re envisioning the future as well as reflecting on almost two decades of incredible community-driven impact. In this edition,…
The **‘Serve’** element focuses on giving back to the land, ecosystem, and greater community. Some of these projects included: This year we added a second effigy burn on Friday night, but unlike traditional effigies, this one was designed to create biochar—a form of charcoal that enriches soil and sequesters carbon. The burning process was planned…
Welcome to the 2024 Spring Newsletter As we embrace the energy of spring, the BWB community is alive with action. From our BRC Speaker Series now available for your listening pleasure, to the search for our next BWB Program Manager, Chapter updates, and the launch of two Civic Ignition Grant opportunities, there’s no shortage of ways…
2019 Australia New Zealand Leadership Summit* Civic Ignition Grant Winner New Zealand Workshops R Us will create a mobile training type makerspace that we can take to towns and cities in New Zealand where we can teach people how come together as a group and make things and thus helping to build community. Our Mission…
2020 BWB Civic Ignition Grant at Northeast Round TableWashington DCBlack Burner Project, Erin Douglas The Black Burner Project is a multicultural movement driving inclusivity at Burning Man, travel, self exploration and radical expression through imagery and personal stories. Project creator Erin is now taking this initiative offline (it is hosted on Instagram). She is working…
2020 BWB Civic Ignition Grant at Northeast Round TableNew York City, New York OUR Crown Heights is an interactive community engagement project, that emerged as a reflection on recent spikes in anti Semitic attacks and hate crimes in New York. It creates a platform for play, and self expression through poster illustrations, while highlighting each…
Doris Romero Baccala’s Community Support Project by BWB Sacramento Region and community of Perquin, El Salvador This was a Civic Ignition Grant from the Multi-Regional Summit. The schools in Perquín are located in a unique location and an especially unique situation. The lands they inhabit were overtaken by Honduras after the Salvadoran Civil War. This…
Eric Semukula & Issac Mutalimundesi’s Lambano Project(Mt Elgon Uganda and Bean Grounded Placer County Project)The Lambano Project’s objective is to recover and take back the ownership of coffee farming for the Budduda community in the Mt. Elgon region of Uganda. Budduda community is located along with the Mountain ranges of Mt.Elgon, a sub-region in Eastern Uganda.…
Creating Connected Communities: Cohousing Symposium by Cris Clucas (Canberra, Australia) https://www.cohousingcanberra.org.au/ Canberra has the second highest median house prices in Australia after Sydney. Stable housing and buying a house to live in is a pipe dream for most young people and many who find themselves in the lower socio-economic bracket. This grant will support a…
2020 BWB Civic Ignition Grant at Northeast Round TableNew JerseyGardenState Guerillas Cumberland County is in need of developing more culture as well as recognizing their community in need (special needs, foster kids, low privilege, local artists) Cumberland County is one of the highest for illiteracy, teen pregnancy, foster children, and autism. This project creates an…
Remote Village by Rain and Wick (Fremantle, Australia) https://remotevillage.com.au/ Remote Village makes and gifts food and clothing to anyone in need. After gifting food throughout Australia, they landed back in their hometown of Fremantle, Western Australia. They’ve observed and been impacted to see a lot of people in need of assistance in the area. This…
2020 BWB Civic Ignition Grant at Northeast Round TablePittsburgh, PennsylvaniaNothing About Us Without Us, Lena Chen Merging political activism with personal storytelling, this project represents the lived experiences of sex workers through writing and performance. In a series of talking circles and workshops, this project will engage sex workers in discussions about their professional experiences,…
One of our Multi-Regional Summit 2018 Civic Ignition Grant recipients is The Elk Creek Community Park Art Walk. 8 people participated in the ideation of an art walk in Elk Creek Community Park. So far, 20 community members have designed quilted “art blocks” using squares of plywood, to be painted and used to transform a…
This was a Civic Ignition Grant from the Multi-Regional Summit.Submitted by Krista Gurko & Linda Kalb Hamm These funds will provide tulle and ribbon for an interactive tutu making station at Sacramento Pride fair 2022 A Sacramento Valley Spark (SVS) volunteer was inspired to bring the tutu making experience to Sacramento Pride 2022. She shared…
2022 Civic Ignition Grant, Multi-Regional SummitReno, NevadaJessi Sprocket Janusee The Immigrant Aid Print Project creates clothing and accessories that reflect specific immigrant populations. Our mission is to increase awareness about immigrant and refugee stories & to support these populations monetarily. The crux of the project centers on creating hand-dyed, block printed clothing and accessories that…
Winter Newsletter 2022- read this newsletter with much nicer formatting here. As we welcome the Winter Solstice, we honor the rhythms of life. We are reminded that we are all connected, and just one small yet necessary part of the whole. In the transition of this season, we want to take a moment to reflect on the…
Civic Ignition Grants are regionally focused, typically associated with one of Burning Man’s Community Leadership Conferences, and are selected in a consensus driven workshop by participants directly connected to the region. The Civic Ignition Grant Program started in 2013 inspired by the BWB Chicago Community Grant Salon. To learn about open opportunities, and read about…
View the original formatting of this newsletter here! Whether you just returned from Black Rock City inspired to start a project at home, or you’re continuing to work hard on your ongoing initiatives– BWB is here to help you experiment, learn, connect and share. In this newsletter edition we’re excited to highlight opportunities to get involved…
We’ve been hearing from many in the Burning Man Community who are getting involved and wanting to support the situation in Ukraine while gathering the most relevant information across the network. This page is meant to share grassroots community projects, mutual aid groups and other resources. We will keep it updated with emerging initiatives. Burners…
View the original formatting of this newsletter here! It’s the first summer season in a few years that’s reminding us of how things used to be. While we’re not out of the pandemic woods yet, our annual cycles for our grant programs and Black Rock City camp are ramping back up with force. While this feels like…
View the original formatting of this newsletter here! Welcome to the Spring BWB Newsletter! Things are kicking into gear and we’re seeing events and projects popping up all over. At BWB we’re excited about this resurgence of energy, and remembering to be kind to ourselves with this return to a faster pace. We have updates about the…
BwB Galveston began in 2017 after Hurricane Harvey with 2 disaster recovery projects, followed by the Civic Ignition eco art grant from Burning Man Project. This gifting funded our first installation of the Seawall Mural Project. Our local mini Burn gathering “Sea Escape” funded the 2nd installment in what we hope to be a trio of murals on…
The Burners Without Borders (BWB) Network is a constantly evolving collection of people, organizations, communities, theme camps, projects, and ephemeral entities. The network is connected into other Burning Man Project networks, and extend into the wider world. We strive to be a distributed and mutually supportive network. BWB offers advice, connectivity, resources and where appropriate,…
Burners Without Borders is a program of Burning Man Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. However, BWB wasn’t always officially a part of the BMP nonprofit (and BMP wasn’t always a nonprofit!). We are an ongoing experiment in how to best serve the Burning Man community and the world at large. A Little History: BWB began when…
Headquarters Team Burners Without Borders is a dynamic, global community representing years of effort by countless people. There is a small group embedded in the Burning Man Project who keep the BWB engine humming. These are the folks on the other side of the Contact Us form, and we would very much like to invite…
Having trouble reading the newsletter on our website– see the link version here There’s been an ongoing conversation at Burners Without Borders about how we seem to be living in a time when disasters and crises are piling on top of one another. This ‘new normal’ requires a different frame of reference and adaptation of our…
2024 Impact Numbers We’re thrilled to estimate that between the 7 chapters we’ve spoken with so far during End of Year Check-Ins, their work has positively impacted over 2,500 people in their communities! We have 39 more to go! If you’re a community leader (or want to be), join us in contributing to our worldwide impact story. Connect with your local BWB group and become…
As BWB celebrates its 20th anniversary, Detroit stands as one of its earliest and longest-running chapters—a living legacy of what happens when empathy meets action, and when a community chooses to show up for one another year after year. What began as a few blankets in the back of one person’s jeep has turned into…
[freespace] is an international movement that is an experiment in what is possible when a community shares the gift of physical space. A [freespace] is a gathering place for people to come together, to create, teach, learn, and share the things which they are truly passionate about, and strengthen connections between individuals as well as…
20 people have participated in this project to create a year round garden and space to teach about urban gardening. This project is a part of the Morris Hostel, a long standing burner run establishment. Downtown Reno is a food desert. There are 90,000 people living in the downtown area and zero affordable, fresh food…
“With the Galveston Seawall Mural Project, Galveston County’s Burners Without Borders chapter hopes to create a lasting impact in the community with an interactive, Paint-by-Numbers style mosaic artwork along one of the largest features of Galveston Island, the Galveston Island Seawall. Our image will incorporate messages of gulf ecology and the 10 Principles of Burning…
by Sergii Dumyk Part 1. ConceptualMy mission is to accelerate a sustainable future and to create a holistic environment for humans and nature to coexist in a blossoming way. Our NGO 001, a BWB grantee from 2018, is focusing on building the Prototype of Future Housing, an autonomous modular tiny house made primarily of natural…
