Our Chinese experience in a snapshot

5 years ago (13.January.2018 - 12:48 CET) by alessandra

Chinese infoflag

Chinese infoflag

China was supposed to be a land of passage. It ended up being the final destination of our trip. We were supposed to spend two-three weeks three. We ended up spending one full month. We had planned to go to Beijing, Shanghai and then all the way to Lhasa. We ended up visiting Beijing and Shanghai as well as very rural areas in Hunan province, multicultural Gansu province, historical Xi’an in Shanxi province, and enchanting Jiangsu province.
If you have followed us so far, you will have expected this post with an attempt of a summary of our Chinese experience in seven questions. 

Tags: #Asia FW’17, China =, Travelling, Train exploration, Learning, questions, Answers, Sharing, Smiling, Roots, Connections, monastery, farming, SocEnt, huge, diverse, portable knife, beard, agriculture, club, smoking, internet, WeChat

Siamo Tutti Designers? ~ Are we all Designers?

5 years ago (11.January.2018 - 21:23 CET) by alessandra

Design thinking webinar

Design thinking webinar

For the first, but likely not the last one, this blog post is a video and is in Italian!

We presented 10 quotes about design and design thinking, the contribution design thinking can do to the Third sector, and  various ways to know more about design thinking (including our upcoming training course in Feb 2018).

 

Per la prima, ma probabilmente non l’ultima volta, questo post e’ un video ed e’ in italiano!

Abbiamo presentato 10 aforismi sul design e il design thinking, il modo in cui secondo noi il design thinking e’ utile nel Terzo settore e varie risorse per saperne di piu’ sul design thinking (tra cui il corso di formazione che terremo il 23-24 febbraio 2018 a Roma).

 

Tags: design thinking, design, Training, formazione, Roma, GlobalDev, Cooperazione Internazionale, innovation, innovare, imparare, Learning, beautiful, bello, purposeful, utile, functional, funzionale, sustainable, sostenibile

Are you ready for Christmas?

6 years ago (21.December.2017 - 10:08 CET) by alessandra

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Christmas is coming and the best way to celebrate on our blog is to give a big shout out to the wonderful social entrepreneurs and innovators we have met on our journey so far. We have collected gift ideas, events & initiatives and pieces of inspiration. Scroll down & enjoy this Christmas!  
 

Tags: Christmas, #Asia FW’17, Russia, London, China, gift, sustainability, ideas, creative, gogreen, Fun

Fresh Start Rotary Club - let's answer some questions!

6 years 1 month ago (8.December.2017 - 09:55 CET) by alessandra

ABCity.org at Fresh Start Rotary Club, Shanghai

ABCity.org at Fresh Start Rotary Club, Shanghai

Every Friday morning, a group of social entrepreneurs, mission-driven business leaders and other socially-minded people, get up early and meet to share experiences, thoughts and new ideas to make the world a better place. It's the Fresh Start Rotary Club.
Last week, we had the chance to be speakers at their morning session!
 

Tags: #Asia FW’17, China, Shanghai, Rotary, SocEnt, Social Impact, social enterprises, speech, questions, Answers, Research, green energies, state, religion, Inspiration, determination, Travelling, TravellingWithaPurpose, Food, urban, sport, transport

Fifty-five days, five countries and five alphabets

6 years ago (29.November.2017 - 06:42 CET) by alessandra

ABC on a street sign

ABC on a street sign

A few days ago, we reached Gansu province, China, and we were struck by the beauty of yet another alphabet that was unfolding in front of us. ABCity.org was born from our love for letters and typography, so we thought we should share some thoughts around this “beauty” we saw.

Tags: #Asia FW’17, China, Russia, Tibet, Mongolia, Berlin, Travelling, letters, alphabet, beauty, writing, language, difference, diversity, dialogue, exchange

Our Mongolian experience in a snapshot

6 years 2 months ago (14.November.2017 - 04:18 CET) by alessandra

Mongolia flag with assessment criteria

Mongolia flag with assessment criteria

A couple of weeks ago, we wrote that it was not easy to put our Transsiberian experience in writing and make a summary of it. Well, it's even less easy to summarise our Transmongolian one! Very dense, very much changing every day. From a Ger to an apartment on the highest floor in the middle of Ulan Bataar. From chaotic Ulan Bataar to silent Sainshand. From a cafeteria where you can only get rice after they pour huge quantities of a meaty sauce on it, to the BEST vegan food we had on our trip so far at Luna Blanca!

Tags: #Asia FW’17, Mongolia, Travelling, Train exploration, Learning, questions, Answers, Sharing, Smiling, Roots, Ger, games, house, traffic, desert, Connections

Our Russian Experience in a Snapshot

6 years 2 months ago (2.November.2017 - 13:09 CET) by alessandra

Experience Assessment on Russian flag

Experience Assessment on Russian flag

When travelling, it's good to observe, read, experience, absorb. As it's also good to stop and think back. It's not easy to put the first third of our trip in writing. But we liked the idea of making an assessment of our time in Russia. We used the same the criteria we had used to assess the 21-day’s Bootcamp we attended in August. Keep reading to see the result!

Tags: #Asia FW’17, Russia, Travelling, Train, exploration, Learning, questions, Answers, Sharing, Smiling, Roots

Small matters. And if it's tiny and it’s for housing, it matters more!

6 years 2 months ago (26.October.2017 - 17:06 CEST) by alessandra

ABCity.org + Tiny Houses University

ABCity.org + Tiny Houses University

Have you ever dreamt of living like a turtle? We have! Try to imagine it - no need to hunt for a flat, your house is already on your back. No need to pack your stuff when moving out, your stuff moves with you. No need to rent your place when being away for a long time or for good, your place comes with you. Wouldn't it great?! You don't need to be a nomad to agree. It's enough to have experienced some home-hunting when you went to study in a new town. Or when you relocated to follow family, a new job or your inspiration :-)

Well, a solution to live like a turtle while remaining human exists. It's called ‘tiny house’. Read more to know what it is about!

Tags: Asia FW’17, housing, houses, smallmatters, Travelling, Berlin, nomadic, design, architecture, youngpeople, creativity, SocEnt, urban, innovation, sociallysmartcities

Urban innovation for socially smart cities

6 years 2 months ago (25.October.2017 - 17:56 CEST) by alessandra

Eye building

Eye building

Urban innovation is one of the 3 areas we are exploring, along with ‘radical food’ and ‘sport for transport’.

Tags: Asia FW’17, Research, Travelling, nomadic, design, architecture, creativity, urban, innovation, sociallysmartcities

Vegan travelling, travelling vegans

6 years ago (16.October.2017 - 20:30 CEST) by alessandra

Vegan treats Ekaterinburg

Vegan treats Ekaterinburg

On World Food Day, we thought we should put in writing something that we are often asked and we often ask each other. Why are we vegan (including when travelling)?!

Tags: vegan, Travelling, Food, WorldFoodDay, questions, exploration, healthy, local, challenge