We are putting together a comprehensive toolbox to help you organise your own community-innovation projects.
In the mean time, this is the short version of the approach we are implementing ourselves:

• organize via local community activities and new social media. Previously to starting the TEALcenter project (ref. www.tealcenter.org), the Made with Love Projects foundation organised 7 festivals with more than 365 workshops. We also set up 2 communities on Facebook with close to 8.000 members.
• reach out to local authorities and other partners to find a common infrastructure to meet and cooperate. In our case we set up the TEALcenter project with support from the Flemish government so we could use a circular building for our activities. We built the prototype as an open source project so you too can benefit from our research, ref. www.tealcenter.org
• if the local authority is unable or unwilling to contribute, you can consider alternatives such as renting a place, crowdfunding for a TEALcenter or another type of community building, organising online and occasionally meeting at innovative festivals (such as Burning Man, the Body & Soul Festival etc),...

Social media can be a tool for mobilising people to participate in your well defined projects.
It is best to start small and then grow your network.

In our case, we still need:

• a dependable supplier of (second hand) solar panels (the standard TEALcenter requires around 6 kW of solar power capacity)
• support in helping us to finetune the solar battery
• technical and artistic help for making and installing TEALcenter components
• people who would like to participate in the community garden
• people who can help with upcycling the circular furniture and other infrastructure
• educators, new media experts, software programmers
• financial contributions to pay for everything, including
  • the infrared heating system: 2.500 €
  • the rainwater harvesting system: 1.800 €
  • the community garden: 7.500 €
  • the recycled greenhouse (in safety glass): 3.750 €
  • balance to be paid for the TEALcenter (in production now): 15.000 €
    
    

If you have the possibility to make a contribution to our project, please contact:
Garsett Larosse
Made with Love Projects
mwl@telenet.be