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BWB Newsletter Summer 2023
Welcome to the Spring BWB Newsletter– read this newsletter with much nicer formatting here.
| Summer is a busy time, so we want to keep our introduction short and to the point. This newsletter is packed with information. We’re inspired by impactful projects around the world: –Rooftop and permaculture gardens in Kakuma Camp and Beqaa Valley, Lebanon –Land & ecosystem restoration projects from Costa Rica to Kenya to France –Opportunities to plug in and amplify your work with BWB in Black Rock City…and more! Check out the (count ‘em) FIVE opportunities to support/volunteer with civic initiatives making a difference.Stay in contact with us and consider donatingto keep our program alive. As always, BWB is powered by our incredible community. Thank you for being you.  BWB Spring Summit 2023  The 2023 BWB Spring Summit hosted 99 participants on the Hualapai Flat at Fly Ranch. This year’s theme, “Listening to the Land”, prompted the questions: ‘how do we deepen our relationship with the land to become better stewards?’ And ‘what rituals or practices allow us to expand our capacity to listen to the landscape?’For three days, we listened, shared stories, and practiced being in an off-grid community together. We invited indigenous community members to join us and were honored to learn & share with members of the Pyramid Lake Paiute, Big Pine Paiute, Yerington Paiute, and Diné (Navajo) tribes. These events are grounded in three core elements that guide our programming and time together: Serve, Learn, and Celebrate. Curious? Learn more about the annual event here. Worldwide Community Call “Burners with Bees” Replay is Live In April we hosted, “Burners with Bees”, a community call highlighting Burner bee projects. The call brought together enthusiasts from across the globe sharing their passion for these prolific pollinators. Thank you to Charlotte de Casabianca (BWB Bogota), Tim Bremner (designer of the 2023 Man base) and Massimo Massarotto (Fly Ranch Bee Team) for sharing their projects with us. In case you missed it, you can watch the replay here: Civic Activation: Burners With Bees Are you interested in participating in a year-round Burners with Bees online group? Join our Facebook Group Burners With Bees Microgrant Winner Updates This quarter two BWB grant winners shared updates about on projects centering on food sovereignty in their communities. What better way to celebrate summer than by talking about bees, gardens, and food?  Permaculture Design Course (Kenya, Africa) Life Foundation Aid is a grassroots organization within the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. With a grant from BWB, they successfully ran two 9-week permaculture sessions with Permaculture Partners, where community members learned and applied permaculture principles.Check out their story highlighting the impact of this program: “Neema, a participant who completed the Permaculture Design Course, started a small vegetable garden in her family’s living space in the camp. With the increased availability of fresh produce, the camp’s overall food security improved, and the community became more self-sufficient. The success of Neema’s garden demonstrates how a small-scale permaculture project can have a significant impact on the lives of refugees and create positive ripple effects in the community.” Read more about this project here.  The Green Roof (Bekka Valley, Lebanon) Salam LADC (Lebanese Association for Development and Communication), is a grassroots NGO founded in 2006 that works to provide education and support to the vulnerable populations of Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. They provide direct aid and facilitate initiatives of independent international volunteers. (See more in our opportunities section). With a BWB community grant, volunteers from Salam LADC created a rooftop garden for their community center. The green roof not only provides fresh food for their students and vulnerable households, but is an area for teaching about healthy eating, climate change, and sustainable agriculture. Read more about this project here.  Burners Without Borders Worldwide Community Call “Preparing for Disaster”  On July 19th at 5p PST / 8p EST / 2a CEST join BWB for the panel: “Nourishing Resilience: Preparing for Disaster”. Over the past few years, people have been recognizing that we are living in a time of compounding disasters, and we’re starting to expect them. Seasons of wildfires, poor air quality, excessive heat, hurricanes, and other climate disasters are hitting wider swaths of the global community every year.This call will include short presentations, group conversation, and participants will leave with some reminders as we head into the summer and fall disaster season(s). Join this call for practical information, stories, and tips to prepare ourselves and support others in response to a variety of different disasters. RSVP on Facebook and register here TODAY!  BWB in Black Rock City and The Green Corridor. 3:45 & EsplanadeIn 2023, BWB will be located at 3:45 & Esplanade, which places us at the front of a new neighborhood initative called the ‘Green Corridor’, a collection of theme camps that are committed to creating a more sustainable Black Rock City.Join us! Open Programming Call for BWBAre you a speaker, maker, or facilitator? A performer, musician, or storyteller? Do you have something you want to share with the Burning Man community? BWB camp invites you to participate in our open programming call! The BWB camp holds a variety of programming including speaker series and panels, workshops, meetups, performances, and more for all citizens of BRC. Tell us what you would like to bring to BWB in 2023 by filling out our programming application form here .  Sustainability Report: Year Four Update Join Burning Man on July 21st at 11a PT / 3p ET / 9p CEST for our annual update on the 2030 Sustainability Roadmap. Hear from experts, community leaders, artists, and partners as they discuss progress toward the three goals; Handle Waste Ecologically, Be Regenerative, and Be Carbon Negative. Facebook Event here or register here.   BWB Alberta (Canada) De-Mooping Calgary To kick off the Spring, Burners Without Borders Alberta organized a group of 20 volunteers (and four dogs) to participate in “De-Mooping The Default World (Calgary’s 7th Edition)”. The route was part of Calgary’s annual riverwalk cleanup event, and 10 bags of trash were filled along a section of an assigned pathway. De-Mooping events are an easy way to practice several principles such as LNT (leave no trace), communal effort, and civic responsibility!  BWB Bogotá (Colombia) BWB Bogota has continued developing three projects this year. Bee Safe: We continue to deepen our impact in the rural zone of Zipacon. We now collaborate with 4 rural schools to create and protect beehive corridors in which 80,000 stingless native bees will thrive. This week, the 4th school, called El Bosque Encantado (“the enchanted forest” in Spanish) will initiate the Bee Safe program with its 13 students by making hives, becoming little experts in bees, and installing special jars and attractants in the school garden to woo the first members of the swarm. Click here if you want to support this initiative. The Germinator: We had our first native tree planting day! Twenty people embarked on a beautiful journey to reconnect with nature and honor the Colombian paramos, our unique alpine tundra ecosystem, that is found only in the Andes mountain range. We are on a mission to build The Germinator, a greenhouse aiming at growing native seeds and accelerating the restoration of the natural reserve’s ecosystem. The quickstart session was a day of pleasure, with barefoot yoga in the moss, a delicious picnic by a crystalline river, a hike in the clouds, and the planting of native shoots! Close to $600 was raised. Community germinates hope Ikigai Explorers: The academic year is over for our 30 students and 4 burner teachers! We honored this with a Gala event on June 25th. This year, the kids specialized in 2 tracks: DJ and digital photography. We showcased their talent through a photo exhibition and a live DJ set. Over 200 people were expected to join us at Aurora Espacios Conscientes.  BWB Galveston (Texas, USA) Seawall updates and reef restorationOur Seawall is a storm surge protector built from 1902-1904 after the 1900 ‘Storm of the Century’, that wiped out the island. Our ancestors built this wall to protect future generations & our paint seals and secures the seawall. It is a work of art that strengthens the integrity of the wall. We have secured primer paints purchased for the 3rd & final mural, but we need your help to fund the rest of the paint to cover a 12-15ft wall! Venmo / Paypal BwBGalveston@hotmail.com or come volunteer on painting days~ Join our monthly meetup! Seawall Drum Circles 4th Friday of the month from 6 pm until the fire burns out! 62nd/Seawall Blvd. (Babe’s Beach) Reef Restoration Project -We have an exciting volunteer opportunity for our Gulf Coast Divers! We will be making preliminary trips to the Flower Garden Banks reef to determine a course of action, we are inviting people to take on leadership roles in this reef restoration project. Our next meeting will be on Aug 13th @ 6 pm @ Pier 21 Galveston. For more information email Capt. Shay: BwBGalveston@hotmail.com or find us on FB or IG  BWB New York (USA) Backpack project and boat fundraiserEarlier in 2023 New Yorkers did another ‘Backpacks For The Unhomed’ project, with support from a BWB Community Microgrant, BWB Detroit, the New York League of Arts (the folks behind NY Decom), the House of Good Deeds (a NYC 501(c) dedicated to altruism and community building), South Bronx Mutual Aid, local business Lightbulb Grip, and crowd funders like you! With a goal to support the unhomed and to inspire NY burners to participate in big-hearted endeavors, over $6500 was put into the project, along with various donations and a pickup truck full of gear.Volunteers assembled and packed hygienic items, shelf-stable food, and warm items into backpacks along with hand-written notes of friendship and a list of resources. Packs were delivered to local homeless shelters and immigrant detention centers.This is a grassroots initiative that happens twice a year. If you are interested in being involved in a future project, reach out to lauretta.prevost@gmail.com if you are interested in leading a future project, we can set you up with the resources at our disposal. This round was spearheaded by Theresa “Shiny” Galeani, Jonah Levy, and Lauretta Prevost. The Future of the Boat Hidden in industrial Brooklyn is one of New York’s most legendary DIY creative spaces. Known to most as simply ‘the Boat’, the vessel is a decommissioned steel ferry, which has provided grassroots space to an extraordinary array of artists, collectives, musicians, and magicians. The Boat faces increasing pressure to undergo restoration and find a new docking location. Long-time Burner Lindsay Arden is examining new possibilities for the next generation of this beloved vessel – and invites you to follow the journey, participate, and contribute. Call to Action: It’s up to us – doers, makers, mad geniuses – to create the world we want to live in. We invite you to donate to and/or share our crowdfunding campaign and visit our website.  BWB Second Life (Online) Relay for life and Darkness into Light On May 6th BWBSL partnered with BWBV and participated in Darkness Into Light (DIL). DIL walks take place around the globe and this was our 3rd year walking in the virtual world. June marked our 7th year as a registered team with Relay For Life in SL. The art we installed on the relay track added that burner flair, you can see the pictures here! Please find BWBSL Chapter events & initiatives posts here.  BWB North Texas (USA) Fundraising and nature clean upWe kicked off the season with a Spaghetti fundraiser for Myschievia, our local regional burn. Together, we raised over $1000 for our fire department. Thank you for your support!In June we joined forces with the local flow arts community and hosted a nature cleanup. Let’s preserve and beautify our surroundings while fostering a strong sense of community and creativity. Stay tuned to the Burners Without Borders North Texas Facebook page for information on our pool party collection drives and other activities.  BWB Vancouver Canada Enjoying a busy spring and summer seasonDarkness Into Light Walk On May 6th from 4:30 am until sunrise, we walked together as a registered team with Darkness Into Light (DIL), a global suicide and self-harm awareness and prevention initiative. Together we raised $450.00 for the Crisis Intervention & Suicide Prevention Centre of BC. Thank you to David Cawley and his DIL Vancouver team for organizing DIL Vancouver 2023. Thank you for making Hope Shine BWBV Grant BWBV provided a $200 grant to “the New Moon Circle” an ongoing initiative led by Sonya Braich. Participants engage in activities including guided meditations, reiki sound baths, mindfulness, and reflective group exercises. The circle provides a safe space to connect with the self, share experiences, and find support within a like-minded community, fostering healing and wellness.FOAM FEST in Vancouver On June 17th BWBV participated in FOAM FEST, a Make-A-Wish Foundation event. The 5k had 22 obstacle courses, the world’s largest inflatable waterslide, various slip and slides, and some mucky mud pits too! These all combined with 2.5 million cubic feet of foam for some unforgettable fun. We raised $266 for this event.Continuing through the summer, BWBV encourages our members to initiate park/beach clean-ups! Please find BWBV Chapter events & initiatives posts here.   Ecosystem Restoration Communities are seeking Volunteers (Worldwide) If you’re looking for an event, volunteering opportunity, or restoration experience, check out our Restoration Project Finder under PARTICIPATE on our website. Current initiatives are taking place from Kenya and Costa Rica to Belgium, France, Spain, and The Netherlands. You can always inquire about volunteering at all of the other ERCs around the world too! Volunteer at Salam LADC (Lebanon) Salam LADC received a BWB Community Microgrant in 2022. Since 2016 we have hosted over 600 volunteers from more than 30 different countries on-site with projects across Lebanon. We are always looking for volunteers who are open-minded, comfortable working as part of a team, and passionate about helping vulnerable populations. Especially useful (not required) skillsets:Previous experience in education or working with childrenArabic language skillsInternational Driving PermitIf you want to gain field experience and support our projects on the ground in Lebanon, you can learn more here.  Habibi Works is Hiring (Remote OK) Looking for a new opportunity to share your talents & skills and to create an environment that allows people around you to thrive? Our diverse team is currently looking for a motivated, skilled person(s) to fill various positions. The ideal starting date is the end of July 2023. Learn more here. Apply until June 29 via recruiting@soupandsocks.eu  BLAST is Looking for On-Playa Volunteers (BRC) BLAST (Burner Leadership Achieving Sustainable Theme Camps) is a green theme camp rating system and environmental accreditation. We’re super excited to be returning for our second year, and we need your help on-playa evaluating, touring, and celebrating green theme camps! This could be a great role for you if you:Are passionate about sustainability and green infrastructureFeel excited about chatting with sustainability leads from other theme campsEnjoy being super encouraging and supportiveVolunteers are required to attend a volunteer training on Zoom, and an orientation meeting on-playa (Tuesday or Wednesday morning), followed by visiting and evaluating 2-3 theme camps around the city. If you are interested in joining the BLAST team please send us an introduction to greenthemecamps@burningman.org  Burner Gear Giveback (Reno, NV & Black Rock City) Calling all Theme Camps and compassionate individuals! We are looking for support to make an impact on Reno’s homeless community. This initiative aims to collect excess camping gear that would be otherwise thrown away or discarded after Burning Man. The gear will be redistributed to un-sheltered individuals in Reno-Sparks through community outreach. We are looking for camps that are interested in being a point of collection for gear and individuals who are interested in volunteering (transportation, point of collection on playa, cleaning gear post-event). If you’d like to learn more about this initiative, contact Hailey at empathyjunction@gmail.com   Haba Build at the Pyramid Lake Museum and Cultural Center in Nixon. Next time you drive through Nixon, be sure to stop by the Pyramid Lake Paiute Museum & Cultural Center and enjoy a picnic lunch under the newly built Haba, a traditional Paiute shade structure surrounded by the ethnobotanical gardens installed by the Ripple Team and funded through a BWB microgrant. The museum admission is donation based and is open to the public year-round.  The First Bee Hives Installed at Fly Ranch Bee hives have recently been installed at Fly Ranch and the team continues to monitor them to see how they adapt in hopes of further installations. The mission of the Fly Ranch Bee Team is to offer a ritual within an art installation that elevates the relationship to life, to meaning, and to impact by connecting participants to the inherent harmony of our world. They are working to create a portal into the primordial connection to the hive mind of honeybees. Using the installation, they hope to guide people through a ritual that encourages the use of all the senses. Follow the progress of the bees here.  Fly Ranch Stewardship Days See dates and register HERE. Weekends focus on hands-on projects while setting aside time to explore the property, soak in the springs, make friends, and enjoy the beauty around us. Our suggested registration fee allows us to provide meals, snacks, and beverages. Campouts start at 8am on Saturday and conclude on Sunday at 4pm. For a comprehensive overview of the Fly Ranch Project, visit the website.  Spring Summit in the News Joseph Miller, Indigenous Community Relations Coordinator for Friends of Inyo, and BWB Spring Summit participant, wrote a blog article about his time at the BWB Summit for the Friends of Inyo Website, and was featured in their June Newsletter. Read the full article here.  Can you spot the legendary mutant vehicle in this autobiographical article by Alejandra Rubio? Yavapai-Apache tribal member Alejandra Rubio gets behind the wheel to trace her Native American roots along one of Nevada’s iconic road trips. Check out the full article here.   This June, BWB Member (and BRC Sound Co-Lead) Karlis Kandero built an upcycled installtion ‘Wingnut Cheese Bar’ for the unofficial Lativan Burn Deja with with support from other BWB members. This is the playlist he built for the installation, and is meant for the long summer days of summer solstice.  BWB exists because of YOU.Over the years, your participation and generous support have enabled this creative community to accomplish so much around the world.BWB is known for helping real people solve real problems. The unique gifts this community brings to the international stage are quickly transforming what people think is possible.To continue doing this important work, we need your help. To donate to the continued success of BWB, click here. Any amount that you can give will go a long way in helping us to reach our goals.Thank you! Stay Connected with BWB: Explore the The BWB Ecosystem: Current News, Social Media Channels, & Get Involved. |
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