A VivaCity new year

By Andy Marks

In the spirit of VivaCity, here are some tips on how to use your city in a new way in a new year.

Twinkle twinkle

Find the darkest part of your city and star gaze, parks are good. Turn your lights off and look at the Dark Sky Society and the International Dark Sky Association

Grow some food

Mint for a cuppa, tomatoes for your sarny, alfalfa in an old jar, or if you are feeling a tad more adventurous have fresh eggs from a clucking companion. Very satisfying indeed.

Pass on a beloved book

Leave a favorite novel of yours in a public place, but first sign it up to bookcrossing Set it free and see how many hands it passes through.

Free your food

Go dumpster diving and salvage perfectly good food thrown out by food retailers. If that is too much to stomach you can get fantastic tips on how to make the most of your edibles at Love Food Hate Waste

Have a dinner party and charge your guests for the privilege. Give your takings to charity, and have a friend host it the following month. In a year that’s lots of great soirees, and a load of cash raised for good causes.

Walk and talk in your city

Walk in an area you don’t know too well or at a time of day you are not usually out. Take friends with you; everyone has to find out one piece of local info about the area.

What do you see?

Give a young person a camera. Ask for a picture a week for 10 weeks, print the pictures out and give them back to the young snapper. See how the mwelu foundation do it.

Be a cloud inspector

Look up and contemplate those little fluffy clouds. Go one step further and join the Cloud Appreciation Society Before you know it, you, like us will find having your head in the clouds addictive. Protective clothing optional. 

Honesty is the best policy

Sell something delicious using an honesty box and let us know how you get on. Can the collective masses of city dwellers be incorruptible? We think so.

why vivacity

This is the century of the city.

Over half the world’s population now live in cities. This is projected to rise to three-quarters of all people in 2050. With population increases, this means 6.75 billion of us will be city dwellers, an increase of 3.75 billion from today. As the future success or failure of mankind lies in cities, new ways of using them are needed.

The city represents an incredible paradox. We have never been closer together physically, but we have never been further away from each other emotionally. At vivacity we celebrate city movements around the world that change and re-define the way we interact with and use cities. Whilst cities cannot cope with the numbers now and the resultant strain on the world’s natural resources and eco-systems are already painfully evident, we believe that human spirit and endeavor will overcome, as it has done before.

vivacity promotes city movements that are connecting people & creating new types of communities. They are typically low impact, highly sociable, enabled by technology, using public and private spaces in new ways and empowering people to act locally.

vivacity promotes new ways of feeling alive, new ways of being invigorated, and new things to be a part of. We call it grassroots stuff in the city. We hope you get involved and share your experiences with us.

who we are

Andy Marks vivacity founder and editor

Social entrepreneur, lecturer, writer and curator, Andy Marks is an agent of positive social change practicing at the intersection or fault-line of business, society and culture. Andy is the founder of research and consultancy network Salad Worldwide, an advisor to some of the world’s leading companies on Corporate Responsibility and an advisor to a number of non-profit organizations. Andy is an expert on grass roots city movements, and a founding partner of an upcycling enterprise launching in 2010.

Julian Broadhead contributor

With a background in advertising, branding and corporate responsibility, Julian works with blue-chip companies from a wide range of industries and sectors, advising on strategy and new ways of connecting with people. He is currently developing a number of new opportunities in the environmental sector, with a particular emphasis on making environmental action more accessible.

Shane Solanki – contributor/distributor/carburettor/carbon-ara

Artist, writer, performer, producer and director, Shane’s first short film was commissioned by the BBC and directed by Peter Cattaneo. His first record was produced by Mercury Prize Winner Talvin Singh. He worked for years to forge the unique identity of independent record label Ninja Tune. We at Vivacity like to think of him as a grass roots detective, covertly operating under the pseudonym of the Last Mango in Paris; imagine him skulking around the world in a beige macintosh, recording and documenting our shift into a society where social responsibility and public creativity are norms.

contribute

become a vivacity scout

As more and more of us live in urban areas, individuals and communities can feel overwhelmed and isolated by the sheer intense-city of it all.

However we at vivacity believe that human spirit and endeavor will overcome as it has done so many times before. That is why we are celebrating movements around the world that are changing and re-defining the way we interact with the city. We would like to hear from you about grassroots movements or activities that bring people together face to face and use cities in new ways. The more original and imaginative the better.

Please email us describing a movement you would like to see on vivacity using a maximum of 300 words. info@vivacity.me