Friday 11 April 2008

Wave of Social, Green and Political BarCamps from Berlin to Tibet

When I first heard about BarCamps, I had a clear image of some bearded men with beers, hanging around a campfire. Very campy, but the idea of a BarCamp is hanging around for more reasons than campfire and beer.

BarCamps are a new phenomenon that are boosting a wave off grass roots social change through new media usage. Now the Bar Camp concept is implemented for a broader range of social issues. The barcamps started as an informal form of knowledge sharing in progressive use of computer technology, such as the development of open source internet applications. The methods used are connected to the informal hackers meetings and the Open Space methodology. According to BarCamp.org , a Barcamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. "It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from participants."

According to Wikipedia, The first BarCamp was held in California in 2005, in the offices of Socialtext. It was organized in less than one week, from concept to event, with 200 attendees. Since then, BarCamps have been held in over 31 cities around the world, in North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Australasia and Asia. In 2006, BarCampEarth was held in multiple locations world wide.

The BarCamps, either focussed on social issues or not, are a great and easy form to spread and exchange knowhow and come to new ideas and common vision.

Upcoming Social BarCamps:

Social Camp in Berlin, Germany
German NGO's, netfreaks and social innitiatives gathering in Berlin
GreenCamp in Frankfurt, Germany
meeting of LOHAS experts, green entrepreneurs and environmental activists
Lhasa Bar Camp in Tibet
Don't know how serious or underground that one is
BarCamp Caucasus
the largest new media and blogs event in the Caucasus, powered by Soros
BarCamp Asia in Bishek, Kyrgystan
MediaBarCamp Belarus / Lithuania
EcoCamp - Conversano, Italy
PolitCampGraz - Graz, Austria
CommunityCampBerlin - Berlin, Germany
CreativeCamp - Kilkenny, Ireland, Europe
Health2.0 Unconference Amsterdam - Amsterdam, Netherlands
Social Innovation Camp in London, UK

for more BarCamps in your area visit the BarCamp Wiki

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