Sofa so good

By Andy Marks

What’s your sofa like? Is it wide and spacious, and firm enough to offer a good night’s sleep? Have you ever dozed off safe in the knowledge that long spells aboard your sofa are a decent alternative to your bed? If you answer yes, then you could make a great host.

Do you love travel, but find staying in hotels too expensive and more importantly too disconnected from the people and the cultures of the place you are visiting? If you answer yes, then you sound like an ideal surfer.

We are talking CouchSurfing, an international non-profit network that connects travelers with locals in over 230 countries and territories around the globe.

It is a beautifully simple idea. People offer their sofa to travelers, with some planning and vetting beforehand to try and get a degree of compatibility and hopefully make everyone’s experience as good as possible. The people who set up CouchSurfing realise the connections and bonds you make, either as guest or host, increase the number of interesting people and possibilities in your life allowing you to learn about other cultures and perspectives. And bringing down the cost of travel allows more rich connections to be made. 

With nearly 2 million successful surfs or host experiences in thousands of cities around the world, it is considerably more than a directory, as one of the seasoned surfers testifies “CouchSurfing is the best thing to happen to travel since the airplane. I’ve stayed in well over 100 homes of complete strangers through this site and have had the time of my life.”

So pick a city, pack your bags, and ride the wave.

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