CO-CREATING THE FUTURE WE WANT

 

With more than half of humankind now living in cities, and the number of urban residents growing by nearly 73 million every year, cities are major contributors to climate change, but they are also remarkable engines of evolution, centers of diversity and hubs of creativity.

“No segment in the society can match with the power, idealism, enthusiasm, and courage of the young people.” 

– Kailash Satyarthi

In recent years we have seen the rise of an international movement of urban youth, who are demanding immediate action to prevent further global warming and climate change.  These young frontrunners have demonstrated their ability to set the agenda, but setting the agenda is not enough.  The next generation must be supported with the skills and tools they need to solve the pressing global problems that are threatening the planetary ecology and our human society.

City-Transformers strives to address this need – and we are not alone. Frontrunners from different walks in life have joined the initiative on a voluntary basis, to help us develop new ways of learning and new ways of engaging citizens in urban communities. Our shared objective is to create a new kind of matrix, where young digital natives and change-makers from all around the globe can meet to share ideas, learn from each other – and solve global problems together.

The learning experiences we want to provide are all geared towards helping people of all ages to transform their personal passion into impactful, collaborative actions for the greater good.

Virtual Reality is an important element in the matrix, because it allows for the benefits of face-to-face communication and physical interaction, to be combined with the benefits of not having to share the same physical space. In virtual reality we can collaborate across borders without traveling, and work together across disciplines, to unlock the latent potential of our collective creativity and imagination.

Our strategy is to establish a virtual community center – connected to a network of real life hubs.  The first hub has been established in Copenhagen in collaboration with Youth Island and Copenhagen City’s Department for Sustainable Development.

Change the story – change the world 

The City-Transformers initiative is inspired by “Imaginal Cells” in caterpillars. Inside the deteriorating body of the caterpillar, a new kind of cell starts to emerge. In the beginning they are kept down by the immune system of the caterpillar, but as they start to connect, communicate and share information they grow in numbers. Clustering in community, they devise a plan to create something entirely new, and out of the decay arises a great flying machine: a butterfly, that enables the surviving cells to experience the world from a whole new perspective.

This is an inspiring story that illustrates what we can accomplish together. If we unleash our creative potential and start to collaborate across borders, we can create a future that works for everyone.