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Special Edition: BWB Mid-Spring Newsletter 2020
| *Having trouble reading this newsletter? See the original here, the formatting is much nicer 🙂 Strange times, Friends. In a regular year, we publish our newsletters four times a year- this way we keep the vital information flowing without overwhelming your inbox. However, so much has been happening we felt it important to share the most recent updates with you. As a BWB team member said recently, “Today has been a long week.” and indeed it has. This week has been a long month, and these last few months have been quite the year. Yet as we look around at what’s happening, we feel without a doubt, that the mighty power of community is shining through in these chaotic times. Wherever you are, we hope this special edition of the newsletter finds you safe and well. Of note in this newsletter: – An invitation to our now digital BWB Spring Summit – A Mutual Aid pane – Highlight COVID-response projects – Call for Artists: Design Science Studio – Other events and opportunities coming from the network Stay connected: Join the BWB Volunteers Worldwide FB Group for regular updates, check out our Global Slack Workspace and consider donating to BWB. We are community-led, and community-supported. Thank you for being you. Join the BWB Digital Spring Summit (Register Now)  Let’s gather together (virtually) at the free and open-to-all BWB Spring Summit on May 23rd. Join us for conversations about the future of our community, culture and how we impact the world.Invite your team, family, camp, and friends to join our four to five hours of programming. The Summit will include both formal (presentations + breakouts) as well as informal (wellness offerings + social time) content. If you’re interested in submitting content for conversations or breakout discussions the deadline is Wednesday, May 13th– so send us your information ASAP. This event is FREE and open to everyone. However, during the event we will be running a fundraising campaign to help us support the annual BWB Grant Programs. We are still looking for individuals to provide matching grants– if you’re interested please reach out to: bwbsummit@burningman.orgTo register for participation or contribute your ideas: https://bmanbwb.wpengine.com/projects/bwb-spring-summit-2020 Upcoming: Mutual Aid & Burners Panel (May 15th)  Mutual Aid is a concept that is often used in grassroots crisis response. But what does it mean? And what does it have to do with burners?We are excited to invite you to a very special one hour panel discussion to explore the overlap, commonality, and tensions between the burner culture and Mutual Aid culture. You’ll also leave with a few new tools to try in your local organizing.May 15th – 3p PT/ 5p CT/ 6p ET Click here for the details Weekly Community Roundup Video Calls: COVID Response  Burners around the world have been responding to COVID-19 and affected communities in crisis. BWB is committed to supporting the projects reflecting the values and 10 Principles of the burner community. We do this primarily by providing congregation spaces and amplification tools.The weekly Wednesday night Zoom conversation have become a focal point to share diverse projects, ideas and programs from the network, and make calls for support and action. This well-paced weekly call began in response to COVID, and will continue as long as it stays relevant.Projects give a 5-minute overview, followed by a short Q&A. Afterwards we host breakout rooms based on interest for deeper discussion. We’ve had inspiring conversations stemming from 60+ projects in various locations, including New York City, Arizona, California, Utah, Reno, Mexico, Vancouver and beyond.Our next call is this Wednesday, May 13th, from 5-6p PST. The FB event can be found here, or you can find the info here on the BWB website. The link to signup for presentations can be found in the FB event each week, if you are not a FB user, please email us at: bwbresponse@burningman.org for the link. Project Highlights from the Community Roundup Calls  Housing 4 Frontline Health Housing for Healthcare Workers has been reporting out at our weekly Community Roundups. They are seeking individuals to start new regional chapters around the United States & Canada. They work to provide healthcare workers with housing during the COVID-19 response. Request: Volunteers who are comfortable with spreadsheets and managing potentially sensitive data. Visit their website and contact them if you or your group are interested in learning more about this initiative. For more information or to get involved please contact at housing4frontlinehealth@gmail.com Vampire Blood Drive Vampire Blood Drive is a burner blood drive campaign initiated in Los Angeles. They are encouraging people to donate blood (with the right precautions) by activating theme camps and other groups, working with BWB-LA and the Red Cross. They are partnering with Theme Camps to get it started in other cities and looking to activate other blood drive initiatives to collaborate in promoting this initiative. Request: To participate in the Vampire Blood Drive if you are in the area, share the event, or to donate blood and/or collaborate to get drives started in your area!  Grassroots Aid Partnership (GAP) Grassroots Aid Partnership utilizes burner infrastructure for social impact by partnering with the Foam Home Camp and the Abraxas dragon mutant vehicle. They are currently serving meals in North Carolina + san Diego to underserved communities and looking to expand. Request: GAP is seeking a kitchen to partner with in NOLA to better serve high need areas. They are also looking for volunteers to assist in expanding to San Diego. This initiative can be started in any area. If you are interested in getting involved, please reach out to GAP at dave@grassrootsaidpartnership.org or amanda@grassrootsaidpartnership.org.  Creators vs. COVID- Entertainment Industry Makes Masks A network of 30 entertainment industry creatives have come together to form mask-making teams in order to provide PPE to frontline and essential workers all over the country. They are interested in helping others start this work in their own areas and have a template to share. Please contact at creators@glmdesignhouse.com to get involved.Request: CvC is looking for donations to support works and 3D printing contacts to create a more diverse range of PPE.  Footprint Project Footprint Project has successfully installed solar tents and trailers to create the COVID19 Clinic in the Matamoros migrant camp in Mexico. The project overcame weeks of obstacles to bring their nanogrid infrastructure across the border from the US.Request: Footprint Project is seeking financial donations as well as equipment donations in order to expand the project (solar panels, trailers, vehicles). So restrictions apply for equipment due to border restrictions, please contact for more information.  Neighborhood Resiliency Initiative The Neighborhood Resiliency Initiative, founded by Barbarella a.k.a. Clutch, is an initiative in Salt Lake City focused on creating a model to grow neighborhood resilience through food sovereignty. Please visit their website and fliers for more information on what the project is doing to expand outside of Salt Lake, or to get involved in starting your own initiative using their template.  Safety Net Fund Safety Net Fund (SNF) is a Bay Area based initiative started to offer grants to artists impacted financially by COVID19. So far they have raised over $300,000 and given out thousands of grants to local artists. They are looking to expand this project in order to keep serving the community. If you are interested in getting involved you can contact them at team@safetynetfund.io Request: SNF is looking for financial donations and companies interested in matching. SNF also wants to inspire you to support your local community of artists- reach out to learn more. Ongoing Events:  Daily Cuppa Coffee Virtual Meet-up Organizers behind the 2019 Feast on Playa have pivoted to build community during COVID-19.A rotating cast of hosts from the US and Mexico invite you to drop in for coffee and conversation, everyday at 11:11am PT. Check out the Daily International Coffee Hang here. See you there!  #TogetherWeGrow Sunday Planting The Feast crew has also started a seeding group to remember and experience the joys of planting. Every Sunday they gather, virtually, to plant seeds and grow food around each of our homes. Around the world, we connect with our roots. Our efforts bear actual fruits. Event Details here. #OneWorld Fast Event  A global convergence of Burners called #OneWorldFast has emerged from the BWB Feast Community. Burners! Help us raise a chorus of solidarity with our Muslim family currently observing Ramadan. From May 14-23rd, we are inviting people of all backgrounds, faiths, and beliefs to fast as a global community. You can join the OneWorldFast movement in three ways: – Fast, from sunrise to sunset, any day, between May 14th and 23rd – Post a :30 second video on social media with the hashtag #oneworldfast. Links: FB, IG – Sign up here for a Virtual Iftar (Break Fast) and cooking lesson on May 21st. FB Event.Fasting holds a common quality of uniting people.. As we are facing a global pandemic, joining together as one human family has never been more important.Learn more about our movement at www.oneworldfast.org or reach out to share@oneworldfast.org.Come join us! Opportunity: Call for Artists: Design Science Studio  Join the Design Science Studio, an educational incubator to design and create art that imagines the next 10 years of regenerative future. The deadline is June 5, 2020, apply at designscience.studioWe are calling ALL CREATORS: fine artists, designers, performers, philosophers, ecologists, fabricators, systems thinkers, data scientists, and others to apply to the studio.Join us to learn about Bucky’s principles for design and apply these ideas in a collaborative development period with a creative community. The studio will culminate in a series of digital showcases, opportunities to sell your work on the BFI marketplace and more!In this uncertain moment, we are all looking for ways to connect and share solutions. The Design Science Studio is growing a community of thought-leaders and creators who will help build a better future from the ground up. Brought to you by the Buckminster Fuller Institute in partnership with habRitual, as well as, Burners Without Borders and Gray Area whom have joined as community partners on this mission. We hope that you’ll join us! Resource: The Long Disaster from Nick Farr  Climate disasters, political disasters, economic disasters and the consequences of old and new means of war are emerging as a single, continuous event. Those of us engaged in response and relief work are noticing that the nature of disasters are rapidly changing. We encourage folks to read a paper written by BWB member Nick Farr about the landscape of disaster and the frameworks that we at BWB are using to guide us. We need to adapt together, now. We have been preparing for this moment and our communities need us right now. The work that you’re doing is more vital than ever. We are deeply grateful for your leadership and resiliency.“Well it seems to me that all real communities grow out of a shared confrontation with survival. Communities are not produced by sentiment or mere goodwill. They grow out of a shared struggle.” – Larry Harvey BWB Press & Media  ‘How the Burning Man community is helping to get masks and other supplies to hospitals‘CNBC Article from April 1st on the Burning Man community’s initial response to COVID in partnership with Ethan Garner and Peter Durand.  With Burning Man Canceled, Attendees Lend Trailers To Sacramento Health Workers In IsolationA piece on Cap Radio (Sacramento, CA-area NPR affiliate) highlighting Burners donating infrastructure to those in need in the Sacramento area.  Life is a Festival Podcast: “Financial Resilience for Creatives” with BWB members Nick Farr and host Eamon Armstrong “In this global crisis, financial uncertainty affects us all, especially those whose livelihoods are based on gatherings like festivals and other events. Today on Life is a Festival, my friend and fellow member of Burners Without Borders, Nick Farr, CPA, will help us navigate the byzantine networks of government programs so we can get the resources we need now, and prepare for the future.”  The transformational festival as a subversive toolbox for a transformed tourism: lessons from Burning Man for a COVID-19 world Academic Article by Ian Rowen from the Journal of Tourism Geographies. He references his many years of experience within the Burning Man Community, as well as work from BWB.  The Explorative Podcast featuring an interview BWB Program Manager Molly Rose Levine. This episode explores Molly’s journey into the world of mutual aid and civic engagement. Consider Making a Donation to BWB 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. This is true more now than ever…Burning Man Project and Burners Without Borders are in a new economic reality in light of the pandemic– in order for us to continue organizing, facilitating and supporting projects across the world we need to uncover new ways to make this program financially sustainable. 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. And if you have other fundraising ideas for BWB- reach out and share them with us.Thank you!  Stay Connected with BWB: – BWB on Facebook – BWB Volunteers Worldwide FB – BWB Soundcloud – BWB Youtube – BWB Twitter – BWB Instagram – Learn how to make your own BWB Project |
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