Destination: Community

For the past six years, I have enjoyed the challenge and opportunity to work in civic sustainability research and design. It has been fulfilling and edifying, but I see a variety of obstacles preventing me from feeling like I'm actually contributing. I don't feel like we're "moving the needle" fast enough, as professionals in conference rooms like to say.

Because of the obstacles I see, and the sense of urgency I feel, I have decided to leave the security of structure, salary, and benefits of the office. I know there are more meaningful contributions I can make away from my desk. So, in autumn of 2020, I will head into Latin America in search of community driven projects with direct social and environmental impacts and I will document the stories I find. The current working title of my project is Destination: Community.

The purpose of this approach is to build collective momentum, and I can't do it alone. Would you consider supporting my work?

My travels will begin in the Southwestern United States and take me overland through Mexico, Central America, and South America all the way to Tierra del Fuego. I will document my travels and the community stories and projects through a variety of different media, including a web docuseries, travel blog, and the installation of community-designed public artworks. Once I identify a clear and compelling storyline, I will write a television pilot and a book based on my experiences. I have a variety of concrete and potential collaborations identified through my networks in the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. I anticipate that as word of my mission spreads I will add many more communities in other countries to this list. In preparation for the trip, I am also identifying fellowships and artist residencies to apply to along the way.


What problem is this project trying to address?


Through my professional experiences I have encountered several clear problems with our prevailing professional approaches to community engagement and environmental sustainability.

The first problem is the incremental nature of charitable giving and grant-based foundation support. Foundations with limited overall resources can invest in very few of possible grantees and are often giving less support than is requested and needed. These grant dollars usually provide resources for temporary solutions instead of the creation of new on-the-ground capacity. Many community organizations have become dependent upon the much much-needed aid they receive. The process of chasing the dragon of funding oftentimes compromises mission, vision, and values to ensure survival. It is not the fault of the foundations, which are largely operating altruistically, but rather that charitable work is not valued by and incentivized through our economic structure. On the other hand, there are a lot of people who have made more money than they need but have no clear idea of how to use it as a tool for change. Without truly understanding what we’re contributing to, most of our collective ‘charity’ amounts to nothing more than well-meaning but poorly informed do-gooderism. To break this cycle, communities require self-sustaining capacity to address their own unique needs. When solutions are built authentically in place, social dynamics are re-established and build organic momentum. I believe we need to empower people from the bottom up.

The second problem is the inaccessible and polarized quality of the sustainability conversation. Most of the work done in the field is technical, or academic, or both. The publications I have contributed to have been industry-specific and full of jargon, or otherwise propose innovative solutions that remain unfunded. The work is also unnecessarily divisive. Because of its technical content, top-down qualities, and environmental values, it can be alienating to both underserved or undereducated groups and to more conservative audiences. These are the groups most likely to be impacted by issues like environmental justice and the widening economic gap. Stories unite us and, since these issues impact us all, I believe we need to broadcast the stories in a different way to make them accessible and valuable to everyone.

The third problem is the demoralizing effect that the centralization of resources has on people, places, and the planet. This presents barriers to entry for many people to make meaningful contributions, most of whom are too busy just trying to survive. The inequitable allocation of resources impacts the way we talk about economy and employment. This is because the structures of industry and governmental incentives do not support living wage or high paying jobs in traditional or emergent fields with lower environmental impacts. So we get stuck talking about coal mining but this confuses the issue since there is enough immediate financial capital and innovation to create and support sectors that could regenerate our ecosystems and communities. New solutions require us to position our diverse resources in more innovative ways. We all have something to offer and collective contributions bring us closer together. We must create more collective and bottom-up solutions because a status quo model based on centralized financial capital is not solving our problems.


What is the purpose of this project?


The purpose of my leave is to explore community driven solutions and regenerative futures, to document innovators and innovations working from the bottom-up, and to tell these stories. This is a listening tour and a platform for intentional contribution. It is not the rambling trip of the voyeur, but rather the pilgrimage of the inquisitive practitioner. I will document topics like food security, the share economy, acts of kindness, pop-up and temporary solutions, art projects, social practice, land and resource management, biodiversity and ecology, public health and education, social entrepreneurs, and more. In so doing, I hope to fundamentally change the way I contribute and to create accessible, fun, engaging, informative, and provocative work along the way. I hope and believe the communities I work with will benefit from my contributions and from the network I bring. My own networks will benefit from opportunities and connections they might not otherwise have encountered. I will benefit—professionally, personally, and spiritually—from the challenges and opportunities that the unknown requires.

But I can’t do it alone. In fact, the point of the work is to do it together. This project requires start-up capital in order to be successful. My draft budget covers overhead to initiate the project and minimal operating expenses for the first year. I have invested in a mobile office space and sometimes living quarters to get me where I need to go. It’s a 1994 Toyota Hiace van that comes straight from Japan with 4x4 and a lot of personality. These vans are dependable, sturdy, and simple to work on. It even has a right-hand drive to help me see the world from a new perspective. To make the van safe, secure, and comfortable for this kind of overland journey requires some mechanical improvements. Also, the cab needs to be converted into a living quarter and workspace. For those of you who know about or follow threads dedicated to overland travel, mobile and remote work, and the van life movement, you know these improvements don’t come without a cost. But they do create vehicles that are worthy of the challenge, and capable of doing the work.


Would you consider supporting my work or becoming a project partner?


Additional thought: If you are interested in making a larger contribution, I invite you to please reach out to me personally so that I can avoid losing 2.9% of the contribution to the transaction service fee associated with this platform.  Your contribution will still be logged toward my fundraising goal.

Please visit www.studiodaybreak.com for information about the van, the project, my work, and to contact me. 

Thank you!!