Hammam Days 22 > 24

Local Competitions

"Creatives" as change agents, FAQ

Since the vision of this site is ‘crowdsourcing places for creatives’, it may be beneficial to further clarify what the word ‘creatives’ means, as it relates to this site.


What is this site’s definition of creatives?
It’s stated in detail here, but it is essentially the cultural creatives, creative class and the renaissance generation (rengens), all of which have their own self-titled books. In a nutshell, it includes anyone willing to invest in making a difference (cultural creatives) and/or anyone in the creative industries (creative class), acknowledging we live in a period of (ie tremendous opportunity for change)(rengens).


Are the creatives a demographic?
No. It’s a psychographic. It often gets associated with demographics simply because some demographics tend to share many of the same psychographics as creatives. There is no demographic that is excluded, but the perception is often just the opposite. The most compelling evidence that demographics are not excluded is the fundamental commitment to attainability/affordability and diversity.


What are the psychographic characteristics?
The words associated with creatives as far as this site is concerned: Risk taking, original, diverse, attainable, independent, unique, authentic, imaginative, inventive, innovative, yet resourceful, practical and problem-solving. It’s about doing and implementing, in other words, creating, rather than just conceptualizing. In other words, creatives are change agents.


Why the creatives distinction at all?
Because change is hard, and you can’t do it without change agents leading the way. Not everyone can lead, but following or supporting doesn’t mean you’re excluded either. Supporting is a collective form of leadership, and its extraordinary effectiveness is witnessed by crowdsourcing. You need both.


http://sustainablecitiescollective.com/Home/29776?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Sustainable+Cities+Collective+(all+posts)&utm_content=Twitter  

Say NO – UNiTE

Say NO – UNiTE
Say NO – UNiTE to End Violence against Women

Say NO – UNiTE to End Violence against Women is a global call for action,
launched in November 2009, on ending violence against women and girls. It is presented by UNIFEM as a contribution to advance the objectives of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s campaign UNiTE
to End Violence against Women through social mobilization.
UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman is the Spokesperson of Say NO.

Based on country data available, up to 70 per cent of women experience physical or sexual
violence from men in their lifetime. It happens everywhere – at home and at work, on the streetsand in schools, during peacetime and in conflict.

Violence against women and girls has far- reaching consequences, harming families and

communities, stunting human development, and undermining economic growth.
Everyone has a role to play in combating this global pandemic; the time to act together is NOW.

Say NO aims to trigger and highlight actions by individuals, governments and civil society partners. Actions can range from reaching out to students at schools, to volunteering at local shelters,
advocating for legislation or donating funds towards programmes that protect women and girls
from violence.

Every action will be counted to showcase the global groundswell of engagement that exists on the issue.

The initial target is to reach 100,000 actions by March 2010 and 1 million actions in one year.

Say NO builds upon the momentum generated during its first phase when
5,066,549 people signed on to a global call to make ending violence against women a top priority worldwide.

Heads of States and Ministers from 69 Governments and more than 600 Parliamentarians

have added their names to Say NO since then.
Working through traditional as well as online networks and social media,

Say NO engages participants from all walks of life.

A range of web-based and other tools available on saynotoviolence.org supports partners in their advocacy efforts, highlight stheir work to a global audience and inspires others.

In line with the Secretary-General’s campaign framework that calls for an increase in funding for the multi-lateral UN Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women, Say NO encourages donations for the UN Trust Fund, which supports local and national programmes catalyzing change on the ground.

Say NO - UNiTE to End Violence against Women is an expanding global coalition of individuals, organizations, governments and the private sector to realize a vision that is ambitious, but must never be impossible – a future that is free from violence against women and girls.

Let us count you in – take action to end violence against women now.

http://saynotoviolence.org/about-say-no 

I Am Not a Feminist

I Am Not a Feminist

Posted by DJ Nelson on February 18th, 2009

Why is it that when women say anything that indicates that they have a brain and wish to be treated accordingly they have to add “I’m not a feminist but…
I realize some may find my question a bit hypocritical because I’ve been known to say that I don’t call myself a feminist, however that’s because I rarely label myself as anything. 


I don’t want to be placed in a box, but if you want to call me a feminist I won’t be offended. I don’t feel the need to preclude my statements with “I’m not a feminist” as if it’s some ugly, dirty, sinful word.


If not wanting to be considered a second class citizen makes me a feminist fine!


If being disgusted by the sexualizing and objectification of girls and women makes me a feminist great!



If being able to speak my mind when others are being treated unfairly makes me a feminist excellent!


I think there’s a big misconception that in order to call yourself a feminist you have to believe in every single thing that others who call themselves feminists believe in. This myth is perpetuated by leadership in certain organizations who appear to believe that they own claim to the word feminist 


“if you aren’t down with all of our causes then get out our club!”.


Perhaps there is a patent or trademark that I am not aware of, but if I want to support certain movements and not others I don’t really see a problem with that. Things get accomplished when we work together, not when we try to divide ourselves based on some invisible scale of superiority.


In short, I’m all about women’s empowerment. Whether that means women feel empowered to be mothers, wives, CEO’s, sports stars, or bread bakers; I don’t care, as long as women know that they have a choice, and their choices are valid. I don’t care what your life choices are, as long as you respect that since you have choices, others should too. 
(Ladies, we’ve got to work on that!)


If that makes me a feminist then I don’t mind. If I don’t meet the feminist criteria, that’s fine too. But I’m too busy working towards a cause then to get caught up in semantics. 






http://www.alldivamedia.com/blog/2009/02/18/i-am-not-a-feminist/#F 

Center for Sustainable Technology - Mario Cucinella

Center for Sustainable Technology - Mario Cucinella

The Sustainable Technology Center (Center for Sustainable Energy Technologies - CSET) in Ningbo, China is building the first zero-emissions in that country and is an original design inspired by Mario Cucinella Architects in appearance by light screens east.

With an area of 1,300 square meters the 5 story building has an area for visitors, research laboratories and a special section for master's courses. The building is divided vertically in a very natural environment, using a wide field and a nearby stream.

The volume increase is fully visible skin covered by a double glass patterns that evoke some buildings in the area. With a very dynamic and twisted, this center was designed with a high efficiency bioclimatic design, with proper guidance and with a large opening in the sky thought as a generator of light and ventilation which are distributed to all floors of the building uniformly.

It also includes alternative systems for power generation, and photovoltaic cells for power, an internal system of gray water recycling and geothermal energy which is present to heat and cool the interior floor pavement.

Recall that China, with about a figure close to 1,300 million people, is a country that supplies coal as the main source of energy, which in turn mean tons and tons of annual emissions released into the atmosphere.  The CSET is designed to reduce coal use in saving approximately 449 tons and 1081.8 tons of carbon emissions in 25 years.

The spaces within the building have been configured to support a number and ventilation strategies, as a demonstration of alternatives to conventional systems. Has also been designed to meet the daily and seasonal variations in the climate of Ningbo, to minimize the need for heating in winter and cooling in summer, promoting natural ventilation in spring and autumn when environmental conditions permit. The building is well insulated therefore incorporates internal thermal capacity floors and walls, ventilation and a glass facade to the south. During the summer when it is both warm and humid, it is necessary to de-humidify and cool the air supply, and power for this is provided by the photovoltaic system.

The photovoltaic system will be used to provide artificial lighting and small power office equipment such as computers, fax machines, etc. During the period of maximum sunlight will be enough energy generated from the photovoltaic system to run other teams, like the elevator and mechanical ventilation and chilled water systems. If extra power is not used, is stored in batteries or transferred to the nearby sports center.

http://www.arquitecturacritica.com.ar/2009/09/centro-de-tecnologia-sustentable-mario.html 

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Dwelling in Beauty

Casa no Geres, designed by Porto-based Correia/Ragazzi Aquitectos, has received its fair share of international awards and exposure, but we cannot help but show it off one more time. This is the first project by Gracia Correia and her new Italian partner, Roberto Ragazzi. It is a bold statement that hides nothing.

This is also a house that is easy to love from certain perspectives and from others; it looks quite unsuitable for its surroundings. From some angles, the house seems like an accident, some kind of a mishap with transportation containers and building materials. One part of the building is buried inside the hill while another sticks out over the river. It appears about to teeter off the hill at any moment, just waiting to land in its final resting place in the river.

The owners, Mica and Eduardo Pinto Ferreira, have been Correia's clients for more than a decade, and gave her carte blanche to create their dream house on the 5,000 square-meter site by the Cevado river - as long as no trees were cut and the 60 square-meter house (maximum allowed footprint for the site) was made of concrete. The house is located in Peneda-Geras National Park, along the Spanish border in northern Portugal, so the environment and its inviolability were crucial and the rules strict.

But looking out from the inside, the awesome beauty of the home becomes apparent. The simplicity of the structure, the openness of the views and the calm balance of the elements seems to speak the same language as the bleak surroundings. Nature has a way of being beautiful even when it is not, and this house knows that secret.

The warmth and proper scale of the building become even clearer when the illuminated house is viewed at night. It may look like it landed from some other planet, but it appears to be right at home now. - Tuija Seipell

Enjoy the rest of coolhunter :)

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