Spring Newsletter 2025
April 18, 2025
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, and now we’re trying on the lens of regeneration. Not as a fixed destination, but as a question we’re exploring, together.
Over two decades, we’ve proven that meaningful change comes from us, not from outside forces. This anniversary calls us to deepen the connections and experiments that make real differences in our communities.
Thank you for bringing your gifts and vision to this work.
Let’s keep coming together, showing up, and building what’s next.
As always, we invite you to join us for upcoming events, stay connected with our community, and consider supporting BWB with a donation. Let’s continue to support one another in building a better world together.
The BWB Spring Summit at Fly Ranch
We’re thrilled to invite you to the BWB Spring Summit, happening May 15–18 at Fly Ranch! Rooted in Service, Learning, and Celebration, this year’s gathering brings our community together to ask the question, “What Future Now?”.
Over the weekend, we’ll dive into meaningful conversations about how we shape our communities while getting our hands dirty with regenerative agriculture experiments, and enjoying the hot springs. It’s a chance to create, connect, and prototype the world we want to live in—together. The event is an off-grid camping weekend with a balance of structured and unstructured time.
➡️ Fill out this interest form to let us know if you’d like to join, and we’ll be in touch with more information soon!
BWB Grants $2,300 to Burner Disaster Response BDR
BWB is proud to support BDR with a $2,300 grant. Learn how you can get involved.
Read more about this project here.
After Hurricane Helene tore through communities in the Southeast United States, a spark of Burner spirit ignited something powerful. Andy “Fixxer” Owens—Rootpile camp lead—saw the tools of his camp become the backbone of a grassroots disaster response. Out of the mud, Burner Disaster Response (BDR) was born. From clearing debris to preparing land for new homes, BDR has been there—offering hot meals, hard work, and hope.
House 001: Imagination Meets Sustainable Design
What started with sparks in the desert has become a fully autonomous, off-grid home designed for year-round living. Inspired by Burning Man, Sergii Dumyk’s House 001 is the embodiment of radical self-reliance and sustainable innovation. The project received early support through a BWB Civic Ignition Grant at the European Leadership Summit, and has since grown into something much bigger: a blueprint for future living. Now a proud partner of the New European Bauhaus, NGO 001 is sharing open-source designs that combine functionality, natural materials, and circular economy principles.**
Read more here.**
BWB Worldwide Call: Regenerative Disaster Response
BWB held its first Worldwide Call of the year on February 18th, with 48 participants investigating what a Regenerative Disaster Response might look like. Sparked by conversations with Allina Talladen in the Southeast Burner Disaster Relief group, the call explored her range of action, from food distribution to acquiring new farmland after Hurricane Helene in an effort to transform food systems in North Carolina.
Using food to understand systems that are regenerative—those that restore ecosystem health and increase biodiversity—the group began an initial exploration of regenerative disaster response applied to power generation, housing, water systems, and land restoration with organizers from SolarPunks, Brushy Fork Leadership Institute, KY Tenants, and Appalachia Voices.
Don’t miss our next call—subscribe to the Community Activation Calendar.
BWB Detroit
Once a month, Burners Without Borders Detroit gathers at Cass Park to serve hot meals, coffee, and distribute clothing to those in need. What starts as a groggy morning quickly transforms into a meaningful, heart-filling experience. The crew includes a solid core group alongside new volunteers—parents, kids, friends, and partners. Meals are funded out of pocket, and while formal fundraising has taken a pause, the spirit of generosity remains strong. Each gathering is a reminder that in helping others, we often help ourselves.
BWB North Texas
BWB North Texas sprang into action last month, hosting Roller Burn—a high-energy, community-driven event that raised nearly $1,000 for their local LGBTQ resource center.
They also teamed up with Texas Ramps to build a wheelchair ramp for a home in Dallas, putting their skills to work to improve accessibility and support their neighbors. This crew continues to show what civic impact looks like, one project at a time.
BWB Colombia
Recognizing the environmental impact of international travel, especially for events like Burning Man, BWB Colombia has launched a project to offset the carbon emissions of approximately 50 community members traveling from Bogotá to Black Rock City.
Read more about their latest project here
Join a Fly Ranch Friends & Family Campout
Come be part of something special—Friends & Family Campouts at Fly Ranch are a chance to reconnect with the land, contribute to meaningful projects, and share in community magic under the desert sky. For more information email flyranch@burningman.org.
Join the BWB Volunteer Team
Want to dive deeper into the Burners Without Borders community and help shape the tools that power our global network? We’re looking for passionate volunteers to join our volunteer tech team to help maintain and improve our WordPress website.
We’re also on the lookout for graphic designers and storytellers—folks who want to bring BWB’s impact to life through images and writing—to build our volunteer communications team.
Interested? Send us an email at bwb@burningman.org
Whether you’re a code-savvy collaborator, an artistic visionary, or a wordsmith with a love for community stories, there’s a place for you in our BWB volunteer teamshere. This is a great opportunity for those in our network who are not in a BWB Chapter or Working Group to build relationships, get more involved, build with clear purpose that suits your skillset, and co-create the next phase of BWB’s evolution.
🎥 Share Your BWB Memories!
As we celebrate 20 years of BWB, we’re gathering community stories and video content for a special anniversary video and an upcoming BWB Airport Show at the Reno-Tahoe Airport.
Have a favorite BWB video clip? An old-school photo, patch, t-shirt, zine, or cultural artifact? We’d love to feature it!
👉 If you have something to share, email us at bwb@burningman.org with a short description (and file or photo if possible). Let’s honor two decades of bold, creative community together!
This gathering brings together art, community, and civic engagement with a series of 5-minute project pitches from individuals inspired by Burner values.
Burners Investing for Good
April 29 | 6–8 PM | San Francisco, CA
Celebrate the placement of Marco Cochrane’s R-EVOLUTION in the Embarcadero Plaza and connect with Burners investing in impact.
Pitch your project or come be inspired!
High Country Heroes with Andy Owens
Andy Owens was recently featured on a local Boone, NC broadcast segment, “High Country Heroes,” where he introduced listeners to Burner Disaster Response. The segment aired as part of Mark in the Morning on WATA Radio, highlighting the impactful work being done by this volunteer-led organization.
From the Vault: The Art of Creating the Community You Want
As BWB celebrates 20 years of community impact, we’re taking a moment to honor where we’ve come from—and the bold ideas that started it all.
🎥 Watch Here In this TEDx Black Rock City talk, BWB co-founder Carmen Mauk shares the origin story and ethos that sparked a global movement. She reminds us that all the ideas needed to build thriving communities already exist; what we need are more drivers of those ideas—a call to action for anyone ready to step up, get creative, and make a difference.
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. Consider donating to the continued success of BWB. Any amount that you can give will go a long way in helping us to reach our goals. Thank you for all the support you’ve given thus far!
Stay Connected: Explore The BWB Ecosystem of Current News, Social Media Channels, & How To Get Involved.
