Pop! There it is

By Dagmar Hoogland 

This post is about an intiative a dear friend from Capetown is involved in. It’s called Greenpop and is so simple and so great!

This is how it works:

You donate a tree (or ten) and Greenpop will plant it in under-greened schools, creches and community centres.

Or, if you like to be more actively involved, you sign up as a volunteer, meet up one free morning, put on your gloves and start digging. Then planting. Then stepping back and voila, another tree is planted on the South African needy grounds.

The chosen sites have local people who will care for the trees, especially in their early years so they can get well established and flourish.

Call it  a TREEVOLUTION; In three months Greenpop has planted almost 2000 trees in under-greened schools around Cape Town, and they are continuing. Urban greening is positively linked to community upliftment and improved pride of place. Through beau-tree-fication and community involvement, South Africa’s grey areas can get greener.

Check out their site here to see how it works and all the different sorts of trees you can choose from. Do you fancy Wild Olive, Wild Peach or what about a Camphor Bush? Besides all the information needed to take part or make your donation there is a list with facts. I especially like fact nr. 15:

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is NOW”

‘Nuff Said

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