RootSpace envisions a sustainable knowledge-based economy and society in Lebanon, the West Asia/North Africa (WANA) region, and the world. RS implements strategic projects to promote the soft skills (creative problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration), key concepts (social innovation, social entrepreneurship, sustainable development), hard skills (science, tech, open source dev't, project mgmt, business development), and structural supports (research, info dissemination, best practices, org/biz support & tools, social venture investment & support) to fuel widespread systemic change for sustainable social and economic development.
• RS focuses its work in developing & post-conflict communities and countries, and builds connections between developing and developed nations.
• RootSpace currently hosts the following groups in the RS shared-office in Beirut:
- Association for Volunteer Services (AVS; www.avs.org.lb)
- Arab Initiative to Foster a Culture of Volunteering (www.arabvolunteer.org)
- DevIneMedia (Development in eMedia)
- Heartland Alliance (Beirut office; www.heartlandalliance.org)
- Hibr.me (www.hibr.me)
- Human Rights Watch (Beirut office; www.hrw.org)
- International Crisis Group (Beirut office, www.crisisgroup.org)
- Mideastwire.com (www.mideastwire.com)
- T&E Consulting (startup consulting group focusing on conflict resolution and disability issues)
Plus the following individuals and activities:
- Sean Lee Teaches English (on Sunday mornings)
- Samer Azar (green construction/development startup)
- Soha Frem (educational and NGO consultant)
Interested in joining us? Contact us.
Here is a great opportunity to showcase innovation coming out of the WANA (West Asia/North Africa) Region ... the World Bank's upcoming "Innovation Fair: Moving Beyond Conflict", April 12-15, 2010. Applications are due March 7, but the sooner you get them in the better! Projects will be voted on by site users, and that public support will be one of the criteria used to determine which projects will get funded! Get your project(s) up early, and try and spread the word to get people to go visit the site and vote!
4SITE Forum closed on Nov 18, 2009.... and was a great success and a great start on that journey. Participants came from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Canada, and Dubai, with great discussions about a variety of topics. All info and the schedule are still up at www.4siteforum.com, and we are already working on next plans, and next steps... including 4SITE 2020, an exciting initiative to promote and support social innovation and social entrepreneurship throughout the WANA (West Asia/North Africa) region.
Videos of the speakers will be up soon... the last thing that remains to be said is a special thanks to all the partners, volunteers, speakers, and sponsors:
Baraka Group (UAE) was our key strategic partner in the initiative.
4SITE Forum Cedar Sponsors included: Cisco Systems, Maktoob, and Bayt.com (our exclusive online recruitment partner)
4SITE Forum Gold Sponsor included: Aramex
4SITE Forum Silver Sponsor included: Collabora.co.uk
4SITE Forum Startup Sponsor: YallaStartup
Business Community Partner: Zawya
Media Partners: Jeeran, InteractiveME, Forward Magazine (Syria), Hibr.me, Lobby Innovazione, and Imprese e Startup
RootSpace is working in collaboration with several key partners to organize 4SITE Forum: Investing for Sustainability | Innovation | Technology | Entrepreneurship, November 17-18 in Beirut.
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+ Acrobat + Etherpad (+ other cool tools)