Magazine
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Rethinking mobility to design cities for humans
INTERVIEW with Max Schwitalla. How can we transform our cities through small-scale solutions, mobility hubs and citizen participation, putting sustainability and quality of life at the center ?
EN Interview -
What became of the projects developed at POC21? Meet with the teams who are building a zero carbon and zero waste society.
ZOOM. In the summer of 2015, Ouishare's teams embarked on a big adventure: bringing together designers, engineers and scientists in a French castle to prototype a zero carbon and zero waste society. During 5 weeks, 12 sustainable technologies were developed and an international community of innovators was created. 4 years later, we wanted to know what happened next: what was the impact of POC21 for the teams that worked there? Where are they now? What are their next steps? An encounter with those who are preparing for a post-carbon society with low tech.
EN Inside Ouishare -
Making sense of what's next: Holding space for change in times of Climate Crisis
Leading scientists give our civilization something between 18 months to twelve years to implement the far-reaching changes that could limit the current climate emergency. Across generations, people engage is mass protest and young people feel justifiably betrayed. In this complex context, how do we relate to the notion of “changing society” that has echoed through Ouishare’s mission since the beginning, and where do we go from here?
EN Inside Ouishare -
How to use art to unlock urban imaginaries and public spaces
The modern city has long been thought of as a machine, a device that must respond mechanically and efficiently to the needs created by car traffic or housing. On the contrary, we believe that cities need to be evolving, living systems and that public spaces can be welcoming places and sources of creation. We discussed the topic with Dan Acher, artivist at Happy City Lab, Camille Bonazzi, journalist and vice-president of Noise La Ville and Pascal Le Brun Cordier, artistic programmer and head of the Master 2 Professional Cultural Projects in Public Space.
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Innovative partnerships and territorial anchorage: Transforming GRDF into a zero carbon platform for societal impact
This collaboration was initiated as part of an ambitious mission: increasing GRDF’s (Gaz Réseau Distribution France, a gas distribution company) green gas or biogas proportion in its infrastructure network to 10% by 2030, compared to it’s 0.1% today. This mission aimed to connect GRDF with actors of the ecological transition, who are commonly under the radar of most of the gas companies today, with the aim of creating value for local territories.
EN Case study -
How neighbourhood social networks can help communities and local businesses thrive
In the small state of Vermont, residents log on to Front Porch Forum, an online service, to ask for recommendations for a plumber, or to borrow a ladder, or to discuss the school budget. Unlike other social media, however, postings are aggregated and sent as a digest typically once a day. So members read postings from their neighbors only after they have been reviewed first by Front Porch Forum’s team of moderators. Michael Wood-Lewis, a founder of Front Porch Forum, spoke to Ouishare about the platform’s role in building community, increasing social capital, and, most recently, its take on Big Tech.
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How emerging forms of civic engagement are shaping the future of our cities
We met Joke Quintens to talk about new forms of citizen collaboration and how we can accelerate change-making for the common good.
EN Article -
Why we need to address the digital divide if we want to foster more democratic societies
Digital divides mirror social inequalities. Fostering inclusion and participation can not only lead to better digital services but ultimately more democratic and just societies.
EN Article -
Supporting a city in the design of a third place
In early 2018, we supported the city of Marmande and the Office of Tourism of Val de Garonne in the design of a hybrid place dedicated to the future of festivals in an industrial wasteland spanning 40,000 square meters. The design phase was aimed at defining the conditions for feasibility and success metrics of the project, to launch a community and put forward an operational plan for the next phase. Abandoned for almost close to a decade now, this wasteland is now set to become a burgeoning center of creative industries.
EN Case study -
Designing solutions to energy insecurity with those most concerned
A Ouishare team accompanied the Rexel Foundation, to co-design responses to energy insecurity with those most concerned. The second step was to activate a community that could experiment with these solutions.
EN Case study -
In times of collapse - The keys to economic system change
Since founding Ouishare eight years ago changing the economic system stayed central to solving the biggest problems of our time. In 2019, buzzwords like Sharing Economy, Collaborative Economy, Circular Economy, Feminist Economy or Wellbeing Economy have become mainstream but the challenges have become even more pressing.
EN Article -
LEX Barcelona: Learning how the sharing city of tomorrow is being designed, implemented and shaped today.
From November 12th to 15th four facilitators from Argentina and France joined for an unique Ouishare Learning Expedition (LEX) around the Smart City Expo World Congress and Sharing Cities Summit in Barcelona.
EN Case study