Hello Annie and Friends,
Phoebe Moore, Michel Bauwens, and I with Salford University are hosting
a workshop on Media Ecology in Manchester, November 3rd.
First of all, thank you so much for the work you are doing, and in
getting the word out about how destructive our manufacturing techniques
are. I look forward to working with you and my affiliated communities to
solve the issues you raise. Thank you for your years of study and activism.
You and your team will be very interested in the second half of our
workshop, which involves the emerging field of open manufacturing, a
general manufacturing discipline that encompasses the whole of
ecosystems involved in materials and processes, from people’s needs to
how this affects the globe as a whole.
Like you, we work and advocate transparency beyond the ‘golden arrow’ of
consumption, by ensuring all knowledge is adequately represented, so
that we can better care for ourselves, individuals and communities. I
believe a great way to begin having community involvement is to
understand how our stuff is made and to have satisfaction in making it
ourselves. Fab labs and Hackerspaces are beginning to express just how
easy it is to make things, and if we can share just how empowering that
is, we will begin to want to learn where our stuff comes from, where the
materials come from–and while sharing how we make–finding what
materials are good or harmful, how to make the processes cyclical or
nurturing, where to find materials and the tools to form them, and how
we can further enrich our local communities face to face and globally by
sharing this information on the web.
I hope you and your team consider adding related workshops and
conferences to your resource section of the website, beginning with our
workshop on Media Ecology in Manchester, so our active audiences better
know where to meet face to face and share the ideas to solving the
problems expressed at Story of Stuff.
Here is the link to our flyer graphic:
http://media-ecology-workshop-09.googlegroups.com/web/mediaecologies09univ.jpg?gda=mL6LLksAAACdoIFWnGa7vLJJTxdPkui---ULbv1gNNXmqwGdJMtSb2PGTQZIC1uC2NJM8-XH42SXZhHqfPoK2Vj-uORX3ugtBkXa90K8pT5MNmkW1w_4BQ
Our speaker line-up is full from what I understand, but we will have a
developmental talk after the presentations, so you are very welcome to
contribute to this discussion in person or virtually in this way. We
will have more details on how to participate virtually at our official
website hosted by Salford University.
Official Workshop Portal
http://www.espach.salford.ac.uk/sssi/p2p/programme.html
Wiki Workshop Document
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ATsf-IaJ1pQxZGcyanpkZnRfMjc1aGN2YzdnZ2Q&hl=en
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ATsf-IaJ1pQxZGcyanpkZnRfMjc1aGN2YzdnZ2Q&hl=en
This will give you and your team an ability to network with those very
sympathetic to the problems addressed at the Story of Stuff. I hope we
might get involved in some way in showing people what they can do to
solve these materials and process issues and what groups are solving
them in a second documentary that describes the solutions to the
problems addressed.
We are discussing these issues at the open manufacturing discussion
list. So you may want to add a discussion list section as well with
related lists so people can get involved in that way.
Open Manufacturing Discussion
http://groups.google.com/group/openmanufacturing
Thanks again for the work you do. I hope we might collaborate in some
way soon.
Yours,
Nathan Cravens
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