Fall Newsletter 2024
November 5, 2024
To see this newsletter in it’s original format click here.
Welcome to the BWB Fall Newsletter 🍁
At Burners Without Borders, we believe that a foundation of lasting change is empowered communities. Recent efforts, like supporting recovery after Hurricane Helene, highlight our commitment to working closely with partners on the ground who share one core principle: Listen First. We allow our efforts to be shaped by the desires, needs, and visions of people on the ground, ensuring that our actions support local autonomy and bolster local organizations and efforts rather than replace them.
This approach reflects our belief in the innate capacity of communities to create their own solutions. Whether it’s in the wake of a storm, the rebuilding of a neighborhood, or the quiet growth of a community garden, our work is about building relationships, learning from one another, and co-creating pathways to more regenerative solutions.
We also believe that resilience is not only physical but cultural. By bringing art, creativity, and celebration into our efforts, we support spaces where healing, hope, and the human spirit can thrive.
As you explore this newsletter, we invite you to learn more about the work happening across our communities—and consider how you, too, can be an active partner in building a more connected, creative, and resilient future for all.
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.
Hurricane Helene Response: How You Can Help
Our hearts go out to everyone affected as Hurricane Helene’s aftermath continues to impact the residents of Asheville, Western North Carolina, and the greater Southeast. We’re here to connect you with Burner-led initiatives making a real difference in the recovery efforts.
Explore how our community is responding to the crisis and what you can contribute to these relief efforts by supporting our Partner Organizations like the Grassroots Aid Partnership and Footprint Project, amongst others.
Want to connect? If you’re part of a project aligned with local leadership for Hurricane Helene, please reach out to us at bwb@burningman.org to let us know. Together, we can create meaningful change in the wake of this disaster.
**Building Resilience Together:
How Mutual Aid Strengthens Communities
Mutual aid is a vital component of disaster response and resilience, emphasizing local support systems where neighbors help one another before responders arrive or when traditional systems fail. Unlike conventional charity, mutual aid fosters collaboration by directly sharing community-held resources based on immediate needs.
As the effects of climate change worsen, mutual aid networks provide quick, flexible responses, and empower communities to navigate crises effectively. This model, grounded in self-organization and direct action, strengthens resilience and autonomy. Curious to learn more about mutual aid?
Watch: BWB Mutual Aid Panel exploring the intersections and divergences of Burner culture and mutual aid.
Share: The BWB Hurricane Response Resources to equip people with essential information for effective disaster response.
Read: BWB<>Mutual Aid Historical Context Brief that connects mutual aid to Burning Man culture and emphasizes BWB’s focus on sustainable and community-led recovery efforts.
Disaster Preparedness Partners and Resources
Disaster preparedness isn’t just about reacting to emergencies; it’s about taking proactive steps long before a disaster strikes. Some innovative organizations are changing how we approach readiness by building tools and resources that empower communities well before a crisis. Let’s spotlight a few trailblazers in this space:
Aid Team is an innovative platform designed by Burners to streamline disaster relief efforts by connecting volunteers, organizations, and resources in real time. Its mission is to make emergency response more efficient by using technology to anticipate and match available aid within areas in greatest need.
Watch Duty provides real-time wildfire updates to keep communities safe.
Originally focused on California, the crowdsourced app quickly gained popularity for accurate, real-time information, and now operates as a volunteer-driven nonprofit providing trusted maps and location-specific alerts for wildfire response.
Disaster Packs help people prepare with easy-to-use kits tailored to specific regional risks. From hurricanes to wildfires, disaster packs provide essential tools and guides that make preparedness accessible and customizable. Beyond just a kit, the practice spreads a culture of readiness, emphasizing education and awareness.
Want to host a community workshop focused on creating Disaster Packs? Check out our ready to go workshop toolkit here.
Grassroots Aid Partnership: Nourishment for Body and Spirit
GAP’s focus on uplifting spirits and providing support embodies a “cultural first response” ethos that Burners Without Borders values deeply. GAP offers not only material support but love and care, nurturing communities physically and emotionally.
GAP’s unique collaborative model is highly efficient and effective.
- Every $1 donated enables GAP to give $15 in aid
Grassroots Aid Partnership (GAP) stands out in the disaster space for its collaborative, community-driven approach, but what truly sets them apart is the care they bring to their work. Beyond delivering food and supplies, Burner-led “GAP” infuses health and emotional well-being into every aspect of their efforts. In Asheville, they have brought music, showers, and solar-powered atmospheric water generation to help create spaces of relief and comfort for those affected.
Footprint Project: Pioneering Sustainable Disaster Relief
In disaster scenarios, the traditional response often results in significant waste—think of all the single-use water bottles and gas-powered generators. But what if there was a cleaner way? Footprint Project has been proving it possible. Since 2017, they’ve deployed over 200 kW of mobile solar and 600+ kWh of battery storage in more than 20 missions, providing clean power access to over 28,000 people in the hardest-hit communities.
Disaster relief can be seen as a natural extension of building a temporary city. By implementing off-grid systems at BRC, and then bringing them into disaster areas, Footprint Project not only supplies immediate relief but empowers communities to rebuild sustainably and enhance their resilience against future disasters. This commitment to renewable energy and self-sufficiency underscores their mission to support relief efforts in a way that promotes long-term recovery and sustainability.
Did you know? Footprint Project tested their first microgrid at Black Rock City! In 2017, they provided power to Rampart—the city’s emergency dispatch and response hub, coordinating vital medical and fire services across Black Rock City.
BWB in Black Rock City 2024
BWB hosted a community dinner for 120 leaders, sharing stories about regenerative food systems and sparking new partnerships. Read the full recap, including stories about Pyramid Lake Paiute elders hosting an Indigenous ceremony, talks and workshops from our speaker series, and more!
Burners Without Borders celebrated its 19th year at Black Rock City, bringing together a vibrant mix of community leaders, project organizers, and volunteers from across the globe. Highlights included an interactive art bike tour featuring projects from Colombia, Brazil, and beyond and the BWB camp’s sustainability hub infrastructure that includes bio-filtration toilets, solar powered refrigerator/freezer, and regeneratively farmed ingredients.
Year 5 Update on the 2030 Sustainability Roadmap (Replay)
Missed the live call? Watch the Year 5 Update on Burning Man’s 2030 Environmental Sustainability Roadmap. Burning Man Project is making significant strides toward our goals to handle waste ecologically, be regenerative, and achieve carbon negativity by 2030. In 2023, over half the camps in BRC contributed to these sustainability efforts, with 43% using renewable energy and 20% working toward carbon removal.
This call highlights exciting projects in Black Rock City, at Fly Ranch, and beyond, including our renewable energy and land stewardship work, and partnerships in Gerlach. Hear from Indigenous rights advocate, Autumn Harry, and Burning Man Founder, Harley K. Dubois, as they share about the community’s climate action progress.
WATCH: 2024 Sustainability Report
BWB Worldwide Call
Tuesday, November 19th at 5p PST / 7p CST/ 8p EST/ Wednesday 2a CET
Join us for our BWB Worldwide Call! Gather with the BWB community, learn about how you can be part of our 20th-anniversary celebration in 2025, and share in conversation. RSVP on Facebook here.
Reserve your Spot! BWB Fall Worldwide Call
Renewable Energy Burner Symposium
Tuesday, December 7th at 10a PST/ 12p CST/ 1p EST/ 7p CET
The event is open to anyone interested in renewable energy.
Topics to be Included: Lessons learned from Solar Art 2024, The Green Corridor and Humans Uniting for Better Sustainability (HUBS), A South African Burner’s report on solar usage on playa, and Renewable Energy Use of Theme Camps and Mutant Vehicles at Black Rock City.
Renewable Energy Burner Symposium Tickets
Celebrating 10 years of Service
BWB-CC remain stewards of the 6.7-mile stretch of beach spanning between Nueces County and Kleberg County for over 10 years now! “We continue to have 4 clean-ups a year with a burn. Our next clean-up, ‘A Love Letter to Communal Effort,’ will be February 14th-16th. We hope to have a bunch of new folx to clean and enjoy the fabulous Burner Beach.”
In 2022, BWB-Brazil received support for the construction of a kitchen in an indigenous village. After exploring various budgets, we pivoted to building a bathroom since the four-family village had no running water, and the children were using holes in the fields. We’re thrilled to share that the bathroom is now finished and has become a vital resource for families and visitors participating in traditional Pataxó ceremonies and rituals.
Bathroom construction in Pataxó culture center. Bahia – Brazil
Charlotte de Casabianca, the BWB chapter lead in Colombia, has been leading the production of the stunning, “Biodiversity Jenga,” art installation at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP16). This 21-foot tall piece, created by artist Benjamin Von Wong, symbolizes the fragile balance of our ecosystems. The project brought together local artists and over 200 students, creating an installation that calls for urgent action to restore biodiversity. After COP16, “Biodiversity Jenga,” will remain in Cali, Colombia, as a lasting reminder of the power of both community and art in driving environmental change.
(NEW) Southeastern Burners Helene Relief BWB
In response to Hurricane Helene, Southeastern Burners, Regional Contacts, Burners Without Borders, Regional Event Producers, and various theme camps have united to form a new group that is meeting online weekly. This collaborative initiative is designed to bring Burners together for volunteering, collecting donations, and sharing information about what’s needed, where donations can be made, and addressing gaps in response efforts. You can follow their progress and updates.
This group is unifying Burner-specific efforts to give relief to Hurricane Helene victims.
Paiute Wisdom & Environmental Stewardship at Black Rock City 2024
The stories they share weave together history, sustainability, and community efforts, reminding us of our responsibility to care for the Earth. Watch the full video here,
We’re excited to share an inspiring talk by Dean Barleses and Donna Cosette from Burning Man 2024. Hosted by Burners Without Borders, Paiute elders discuss the significance of environmental stewardship and their ongoing fight to protect sacred lands like Pyramid Lake and Thacker Pass.
BeLoved Asheville Needs Your Help
In response to Hurricane Helene, BeLoved Asheville is seeking RVs to help house those affected by the storm. If you or someone you know can lend an RV or wants to support in other ways, please reach out. Every bit of help counts in providing safe shelter for those in need. Please share to spread the word!
Help Develop a Closed-Loop Food Waste Solution in Denver Metro Area
Food System Hackers is seeking creative minds to help develop a cutting-edge property in the Denver Metro area, and help transform urban food waste into valuable agricultural resources through a closed-loop system. Using large-scale equipment like blast chillers and biodigesters, they aim to divert waste from landfills, reduce emissions, and generate renewable energy.
Support Requested:
– Civil, mechanical, and chemical engineers for space operations design
– Software engineers, Blockchain/AI enthusiasts for operating system development
– Graphic designers and web developers for creative input
– Climate scientists to contribute expertise
Contact us at contact@foodsystemhackers.com
In a recent episode of The Response, ‘From Relief to Resilience’ Will Heegaard, Operations Director of Footprint Project, shares insights into the organization’s mission and the critical role that resilient communities play in disaster recovery. Tune in to discover how innovative approaches can transform disaster response into community development of a more sustainable and resilient future.
LISTEN: ‘From Relief to Resilience’
In ‘Combating the Meta-Crisis With Emergent Communities and Radical Hope’ of HomeGrown Humans, Nick Farr discusses how Burners Without Borders emerged from the Burning Man community to address disaster preparedness and recovery through radical self-reliance and collaboration. He explores the importance of anti-fragility, the “infinite game” mindset, and how emergent communities can offer hope and solutions to a growing meta-crisis.
‘Doomsday Prep for the Rest of Us’
In this thought-provoking article, Jamie Wheal explores the unsettling rise of survivalism fueled by fears of societal collapse and challenges us to rethink how we prepare for the future. Instead of relying on escape plans, Wheal urges us to focus on building resilient, connected communities that can withstand the challenges ahead. Read more about the perils of 1% solutions and what we can do differently. READ: full article.
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!
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