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Not conferences specifically, but more spaces where EAS work and gather in general, like offices, hubs, etc., but I guess in some sense conferences would also fall into this category, yes.
Hi Martin, thanks a lot for the comment & thanks for the clarification on the topic, Peter!
As you stated, less abundant funding has already started to negatively impact some EA offices and this trend will probably continue in the months/years to come.
The agenda is still very much in the making, but having time and space to get together to think about how to spend resources wisely and focus on creating spaces that carry the most potential to support the community seems to me like a valuable exericise, especially given the financial situation.
Also, I would be very interested in finding out how others have dealt with the funding situation as there might be many lessons to be learnt across different types of spaces and expertise.
Hey Max, thanks a lot for the response! I don't think I generally disagree with any of the points you are mentioning above.
It is important to stress we are not proposing people move to Sandusky, especially at this stage it is about providing a place to run retreats, come and work remotely for a few weeks/months, run fellowship, focus on getting some deep work done while being able to take part in what Sandusky has to offer. This means people from abroad might still be able to come and take part (I, for example, don't have US citizenship).
Long term, I would love to work on projects to establish hubs outside of the US (being Czech, I see the benefits of having a thriving EA community outside of the US!). This project, however, is a great way to learn about setting up such places, knowledge I will be able to use when working on future projects. For me, this project is as much about learning as it is about Sandusky as a place in particular, which provides a great platform to test ideas. We are hoping to document the process to create a 'hub-creation package' of some sort to help make such projects run more smoothly every time a new one happens.
I hope this explains my thinking a little bit, your comments definitely got me thinking, thanks a lot for bringing them up! Would be happy to discuss this further on a call if you thought that might be helpful.
Hi Max, thanks a lot for this comment!
I generally agree that there need to be hubs located outside of the US, and that possibly, this needs to be prioritized. However, I strongly disagree with the premise that we need to choose any single location for an EA hub and reject all others. I think that working on multiple types of hubs in different locations is the way to go. If there are communities within the US who might want to support an EA hub that's easily accessible, yet outside of the core EA hub locations, I fully support this. And if you aren't a US citizen, you can come and spend a few months in the US without a work permit, I don't think my post suggested we want people to move there forever or to immigrate to the US in order to come and utilize the space.
With that said, I am all for supporting efforts to create hubs outside of the US though and appreciate you stressing this out.
Haha, thanks a lot, will fix this!
Hi Adeel, no, this is an in-person event happening in Oxford, UK!
Great!
Hi Sawyer, thanks for this question! We are in touch with Fønix and think these are both valid approaches in moving the realization of shelters forward.
We believe there is great value in getting together at SHELTER Weekend while being mindful of the fact that there will most probably be different organisations and approaches pushing shelters forward in the future. Ulrik has been warmly invited to come to SHELTER Weekend!
This is the event I already mentioned in my previous post & I would strongly encourage anyone interested in working on shelters to apply!
We are in contact with other initiatives working on shelters and believe the SHELTER Weekend will be a wonderful opportunity for all the parties interested in shelters to come together.
Please don't hesitate to reach out to any one of us in case you have any questions!
I think more and more regions & cities are either setting something up/have already done so/looking at ways to do this in the future. I have heard of SF initiatives as well as other major cities in the US & Europe. Exciting to hear NYC hub is on its way too!!
Thanks a lot for sharing this, I really enjoyed reading the post and will be implementing some of the tips!
Hi Peter, thank you for the comment! I am actually planning to watch this very soon and am really curious about what I can learn from it, would love to chat about it later!
Thanks a lot for this Erin! I give that a listen for inspiration & will post updates on this if/when I decide to go for it.
Thanks a lot, that's exactly the type of thing I might want to check out. I did not know about them, will dive deeper into what they do! I like the clarity of their web design and resources!
Hi Darren,
Thanks a lot for reaching out and for the comment. I have followed this line of thought (Architect as Developer basically) a lot at uni and it explains quite well my interest in architecture. It feels like architects spend most of their energy on a little percentage of everything that gets built, while the majority remains neglected or at the mercy of developers who care solely about profit. Often the middle ground is missing (where you are being mindful of the cost-effectiveness of different decisions, focusing on things like quality of public spaces and design elements that make good communities, that ultimately decide whether people feel good living there, have meaningful relationships or whether the place is safe etc.). I will DM you and am happy to chat about this in more depth!
Btw I designed and taught two online courses on architecture and public spaces for Czech high schoolers, all based on Jan Gehl's 'Life Between Buildings' (the 1st link you sent, and an awesome read), incredibly rewarding to see students get out there and engage in their communities
https://edgeud.co.uk/ten-perspectives-on-architecture-teaching-students-how-to-reclaim-their-cities/
Thanks for the videos, such an inspiring watch, I could not agree more with this. Shaping neighbourhoods, public spaces and communities has been my interest in architecture since high school and I have done a lot of work related to it. Before starting to get more interested in EA-related projects, my plan was to focus my career on placemaking in cities, and I am definitely hoping to remain active in this in whatever way I can. Interesting to think about how to use these lines of thinking to maximise the amount of people that can benefit from them, or whether coworking or living spaces where EAs hang out can be designed more in a way to maximize community health.
Thanks for the comment! Fair, this might be true. My thinking was that you probably end up focusing on things like HEPA filters, UVC disinfection, antimicrobial coating of surfaces or other interventions that might be easy to retrofit in existing buildings. I actually need to do more digging to see how effective can these get and whether now would be a good time to focus on them given the momentum post-covid, and if there are interesting groups currently working on this.