Active citizenship to relieve societies’ pressing problems from the inside
During ten days in January, fourteen personalities from all over Europe gathered in the Workshop From vision to reality – Laboratory on self initiative at the Academy of Visionautics in Berlin. Although coming from very different backgrounds, countries and disciplines, what they all connected was the wish to change issues that were not going well in their surroundings and to contribute to a more humane, sustainable, enjoyable and healthier society.
The Academy of Visionautics supported in finding and implementing innovative solutions
They came to the Academy of Visionautics to tackle these issues, to find innovative and creative solutions and to gather strength in order to implement their changes. What they found in the workshop was free creative space and a inspiring, artistic surrounding, workshops, coachings and expert consultings to further their projects and strengthen their personalities and all kind of group activities to share experiences, give feedback and gather confidence.
Strengthened personalities tackling challenging projects
The following examples give an impression of the participants and the range of challenges that have been worked on during the workshop:
*Emina from Bosnia, living in Sweden, is setting up a wool business for Bosnian shepherds who are burning their wool because they don’t have a market to sell it.
*Jennifer, a British activist from Carribean-Russian heritage, uses the principles of the Earth Charter and her own experience as an ethnical minority to help youth with migration backgrounds to gather perspective and confidence.
*Mark from the Netherlands is creating a business of ecological skis produced in local self-organized units.
*Elena from Italy is setting up a car-pooling system in the polluted and jammed Rome.
Working on vision and implementation
In the first half of the workshop, the participants worked on understanding the problem and their own value systems, creating a vision and creative solutions. In the second half they worked on the strategy of implementation, gathered expertise for their projects and practised to spark others with their ideas.
Spreading the new ideas and gaining supporters
The ideas and projects were presented on a public event, the “Vision Exhibition”, that gathered interested persons, potential mentors, partners and stakeholders as well as radio, press and television.
