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TBY: What is Ivili.org?
JS: It's a new social network aiming to make it
easier for people to discover, share and develop simple,
sustainable and easily adaptable solutions to life and
work. Currently it's a growing magazine of videos
featuring everything from how to make your own solar
cooker or start a permaculture garden on your rooftop,
and now I am focussing on spreading the word and getting
as many members on board so that it becomes a self
sustaining network for people to share experiences,
solve problems and develop new solutions. We already
have members in India, Africa, Asia, Australia, America
and Europe and growing daily.
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shot of ivili.org home page
TBY:What inspired you to start ivili.org?
JS:One day early last year, while travelling to research my
new book
Clean Breaks - 500 new Ways to see the world, I
came across a brilliant, innovative way of heating water
sustainably in a lodge in South Africa. it was cheap,
low-tech, easily replicable and it worked. But, after
visiting 25 more countries, and nearly 150 more places,
I never saw anything like it again. Elsewhere, I had
similar experiences, where people had clearly worked
hard, expending time and money to develop a locally
appropriate solution, and then got on with the million
other things they had to do. It got me thinking - what
if there was a way of sharing these environmentally
friendly, grassroots solutions, of helping one another
across a global network, of learning from each other's
mistakes and so on?
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350.org's International Day of Climate
Action is October 24th. Ivili aims to have 350
videos of simple, sustainable solutions up by
then (we currently have
211). If you can add a
video, post a
blog, or just
contact us with a story you think we should
feature, you'll be helping us reach our target.
Thank you. |
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Your comments here:
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TBY:How
would Ivili.org be different from a dedicated group on
Facebook or similar social networking platforms?
JS: There's no way for people to engage in poking, no
sharing music, no chatting about Man united versus Barcelona
or playing scrabble online. Ivili isn't a way to waste time,
but to save it. We're focused on the solutions and nothing
else.
TBY: What do you think is the future of
ivili.org?
JS: It's such early days that it's impossible to say for
sure. So much of this depends upon how our members use the
site and what becomes most useful to them. I've already
discovered loads of other people out there with similar
goals, all eager to help, share and promote what we are
doing. I'm particularily excited by the potential of video
sharing though, as it crosses language barriers enabling us
to bring stories of what is happening and guidance about how
to implement these solutions in your own life to people all
over the world.
What I'd like to see is us developing it to be able to be
shared across mobile phones, so that even without an
internet connection it would still be accessible. In much of
Africa for example people are going to have mobile phones
that can access the internet far more quickly and widely
than they are going to have stable deskbound broadband
networks.
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"Ivili.org is a free and
evergrowing library of tools, solutions and
inspirations for sustainable living. Whether you are
looking for advice on sustainable living, such as
growing food in your garden using permaculture
techniques or generating your electricity in a more
ecofriendly way; or if you want ideas and
inspirations for community projects that might work
in your own area; or are keen to volunteer on an
environmental project but don't know what's out
there; or perhaps you are a funder looking to
support essential work in an area you are passionate
about, then Ivili is a unique place to start looking
for what you need as it only focusses on bringing
you sustainable solutions from all over the world.
Furthermore, if you are involved in or know of
something you think should be on here, all you have
to do is sign up and you can add it in. |
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