From the eye of the hurricane to the chaos of change

I was leaving Berlin for my first Pioneers of Change Global Journey after a week in the eye of the hurricane. As usual, we have been moving fast working for the selfHUB. Wiebke, the initiator and president of self, announcing she will be leaving for 4 weeks in October (the busy season), having an amazing “Hub Experience” workshop with German-Israeli youth and starting to question my place and leadership style in the organization.

Arriving in Athens, I met up with Julie Cultivation Team mate from Denmark and have my first yummy Greek meal in the old town with some meaningful conversation to start with.

One day later, I checked into the big circle of 30 people from 15 nations with these questions:

• How does self-organising, self-selection or rotating leadership work in my work environment?
• How can we move from discussion to dialogue?

We built the community on day one by opening the space with the question “What do you need to feel at home here?” I joined Maria’s session in the open-air kitchen to learn more about Axladitsa’s Conscious Kitchen – others went gardening to harvest some beans for a nice Greek bean soup.

Settling into Axladitsa-Avatakia, I learned from Maria about guardianship at Axladitsa and wondered “How would a Guardian Council look like for self?” and in one of the next circles I spoke to what was brewing in me: “How do I move myself from leadership to guardianship?”

Moving into stillness with the group…before moving into action…learning: we don’t make things happen, we wait for the right moment…finding a rhythm…what is my next level of pioneering?…

Moving up the U, action-filled conversations followed:

• What’s working in Africa and what is my connection?
• How to connect an Art of Hosting for children with my project idea of “Future goes to School”?
• What are our key learnings in setting up Hubs in cities around the world?
• How to bridge the gap between my skills and my inner needs?

I checked out of the gathering overlooking the Aegean Sea from the skyspace circle: “My clarity is gone. And I stand in confusion to get ready for change. Who will ask me those confusing questions when I go back to my work?”

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More harvesting:

Harvest from Ria, Belgium

and Ria’s pictures

Harvest from Axladitsa-Avatakia

Harvest from Thomas, Brasil

The Green Design Festival Greece

Introducing Imagines special guests (PartIV)

Today: Matthias Scheffelmeier

Dear AIESECers and friends of AIESEC,

The world is changing naturally, but change never happened as fast and as dramatic as in today’s times. We are the 1^st generation of a truly globalized world – The problems? A lot!

The challenges? – Breathtaking! The solutions? – Up to us and others to be found!

The first step to change? – Inspiration!

Our session:

After discussing with you my guiding values and beliefs in life, I want to present you a project I started with friends of mine from Canada, the United Arab Emirates and the Philippines in 2005 that aims at using a movie we shot about the live of youth in the biggest township area of eastern Africa in Nairobi, Kenya to inspire people around the world to take action in their own communities. In order to extend our activities beyond showing and discussing the kenyan movie “Why should I care?” we founded an organization called DAMU that follows a vision of youth that activaly engages in society. Therefor we’ll also have the chance to talk about the model DAMU follows and criticaly discuss its vision, sustainability and financing.

Thanks for joining me – Im very much looking forward to get to know you all!

The organization: DAMU

DAMU comes from the Swahili language meaning lifeblood which represents interconnectedness. DAMU is the feeling of a bond stronger than friendship, deeper than kinship; that which one is most passionate about in life.

DAMU envisions a world where youth take an active role in society and have the support to lead successful futures.

Mission: We will achieve this by awakening the creativity and compassion of youth by helping them imagine an ideal world, and then connecting them with opportunities, peers and mentors that share similar passions.

How will we do this?

DAMU’s model is to Inspire, Connect and Impact the youth and communities we interact with.

Inspire. We aim to inspire youth through the use of social and motivational media, captivating performances, presentations, workshops and moving speeches.

Connect. We will connect youth to be a part of a global network of youth peers, professionals, organizations and mentors that are making a difference.

Impact. Our impact is measured by the expansion of youth committing themselves to the betterment of their communities, and degree to which private, and public partnerships are engaged in society.

Web:

Information about DAMU sessions: inspire-connect-impact.blogspot.com

Information about DAMU: globaldamu.org

Information about the DAMU asia tour: globaldamu.org/asia

Introducing Imagines Special Guests (Part III)

Today: Hinnerk Hansen – emersense

“Hinnerk is an idealist. He believes in a reality of passion, of wholehearted work, of action filled with meaning, of dreams transformed into action, of innovative solutions for a better world. Hinnerk is a pragmatist. He puts concern, energy, mind, heart and soul to work. He acts upon ideals and strives for valuable impact.”

Hinnerk is co-founder and managing director of emersense – an evolving social enterprise that is creating spaces and opportunities to foster profound innovations and entrepreneurial endeavors around societal opportunities and challenges. Enriching the initial focus of the venture on unique and innovative learning spaces, Hinnerk is currently expanding the offered portfolio and driving the establishment of the first physical space that hosts, enables and supports social entrepreneurs in Vienna.

Life and career path of Hinnerk can particularly be credited to his AIESEC  Experience on local, national and international level during his active membership from 2004-2008. Realizing the importance of “knowing what you are running for”,    it became a guiding philosophy for his endeavors to use his talents for meaningful actions with positive impact on society.

Hinnerk is 25 years old, lives in Vienna, Austria, and is about to graduate his master studies in Entrepreneurship & Innovation. His relationship, family, friends as well as regular sport, reading and travelling are important sources    of joy, energy and inspiration for  Hinnerk.