National Park City Crowdfunder

There has been a great deal of progress on Daniel Raven Ellison's campaign for London to become a National Park City.

 This will be launching in July, and Daniel has started a Crowdfunding campaign to ensure that as many Londoners as possible know about it. Why not support the project with a small donation.

Dan Raven Ellison's TEDx Talk

Dan Raven Ellison, my friend and Geography Collective / Mission:Explore / Explorer HQ colleague was in Switzerland last month doing a TEDx talk on the theme of exploring...

This is well worth watching... Several ideas to use straight away.... particularly the idea of 'polar exploration'.

What is the future of Local ?

Here's Dan Raven Ellison looking moody and magnificent, and buying some bread, in a short film made in association with TED Conversations. Dan will be speaking at a TEDX event in Lausanne in March.
He asks a question about the impact of globalisation on our lives, and what the future of LOCAL is...

#futureoflocal

What do you think local means ?

For example, how local is the meat in this ad ?
70 miles ! That's not local for me....
What about your local regional TV news at 6pm in the evening ? I get news about Northampton and Southend... not really interested in that to be honest...



There are some  interesting responses already on the TED page

Why not check out the INTERDEPENDENCE mapper on National Geographic...
Or order your MESHU, which is an interesting idea.

Dan Ellison: Emerging Explorer

I can finally share some news I heard about a few months ago, but which has now been made public...
Daniel Raven Ellison, friend and colleague at the Geography Collective has been named as one of National Geographic's 2012 Emerging Explorers.

The press release is here.
Dan is given the honour alongside other 'visionary young trailblazers' around the world.

The 2012 Emerging Explorers are U.S. cyborg anthropologist Amber Case; U.K. digital storyteller and zoologist Lucy Cooke; U.K. behavioral ecologist Iain Couzin; Mexican underwater archaeologist Guillermo de Anda; chemist Yu-Guo Guo of China; conservationist Osvel Hinojosa Huerta of Mexico; U.S. pilot and educator Barrington Irving; conservation biologist Krithi Karanth of India; Swiss crisis mapper Patrick Meier; U.S. archaeologist Sarah Parcak; U.S. data scientist Jake Porway; U.K. guerrilla geographer Daniel Raven-Ellison; U.S. archaeologist Jeffrey Rose; engineer and renewable energy advocate Ibrahim Togola of Mali; and archaeologist Daniel Torres Etayo of Cuba

Dan's full profile is HERE


Guerrilla geographer Daniel Raven-Ellison brings the spirit of adventure to geographic education, allowing people to see the world — and the field of geography — in new and surprising ways. Guerrilla geography challenges people, especially children, to explore the world around them, engaging in creative play, making new discoveries and forming community connections. Through technologies that allow users to share their experiences digitally, guerrilla geography not only educates but also inspires young people to explore their world in ways that stretch their minds and bodies, and motivates them to educate others and take action in their own communities. His Urban Earth films demonstrate guerrilla geography in action. He has walked across 13 cities, taking photographs every eights steps and editing them to create films to reveal new perspectives on how to experience cities. His program/website, Mission:Explore, and a series of award-winning kids' books of the same name encourage youth to go on adventures to learn about the world. 

This is great news and very well deserved....