I can’t believe I’ve only just spotted this. It was uploaded way back in June. Amanda, aged 10, explains ColaLife on behalf of the Buckminster Fuller Challenge. I need to send Amanda an AidPod kit!
Thanks Amanda 
ColaLife makes it into the Buckminster Fuller ideas bank
15 February 2011 By Leave a Comment
ColaLife has made it into the prestigious Buckminster Fuller Challenge Idea Index which was published yesterday (14/2/11). Our entry is here. This is the second year running that we have been featured and last year we made in to the semi-finals.
The email informing us of this development said:
We admire your commitment and truly believe that the solutions to our intractable problems lies in the hearts, minds and synergies between those of you on the front lines of what Fuller called comprehensive, anticipatory design. This design approach crosses disciplines, transcends conventional process and gives us the tools, perspectives and strategies to take on and solve once and for all the global problems before us. Bucky called himself a comprehensive anticipatory design scientist – we think this pretty much sums you up too.
Which is nice
How are you going to buy food?
1 May 2010 By Leave a Comment
Food parcel distribution. Image credit: British Red Cross
As the day approaches when I give up my day job (4/6/10) to concentrate full-time on ColaLife the excitement is building but this comes with a degree of anxiety especially among family members. Jane, my partner in life and ColaLife, is channelling her anxiety into researching and applying for appropriate funding to get us underway – so she’s effectively full-time already.
We had a set back this week when we heard that ColaLife did not make it from a semi-finalist to a finalist in the 2010 Buckminster Fuller Challenge (BFC). JenJoy at the BFC broke the news gently saying:
While your project was not selected, the jury was quite impressed with your work and all of the semi-finalists and we wish we had the resources to award prizes to everyone. Getting this far is no small feat! If there is anything we can do to help you further your work outside of direct financial support, please let us know.
So we will be following that up and wish all the finalists the best of luck. But, on the very bright side we have also just heard that we are through to the final interview stage for a ‘Level 2 UnLtd Award’. We’ve applied jointly and if we are successful this will give us £15,000 towards our living expenses to help us get the next phase, the implementation phase, of ColaLife off the ground.
So, Mum, in answer to your question, ‘How are you going to buy food?’, I’m not quite sure but the UnLtd thing looks quite promising! Oh, and if that fails I’ve just had reassurance from a friend collecting for Children in Need that the neighbours will bring some around.
ColaLife features on Buckminster Fuller blog
27 April 2010 By Leave a Comment
Image credit: Tim Dench
Please show your support by commenting on the ColaLife blog post on the Buckminster Fuller Fellowship blog. It’s dead easy. You can do it anonymously and you don’t have to register. Let’s see if we can create a bit of a buzz while Buckminster Fuller decide who’s in the finals!
Thanks.
ColaLife is a Buckminster Fuller semi-finalist
17 February 2010 By 2 Comments
Spot the ColaLife imagery in the collage above
It was announced last night (17/2/10) that ColaLife is through to the semi-finals of the global Buckminster Fuller Challenge. This is brilliant news. It’s exactly the sort of recognition we need and yet again raises the credibility of the ColaLife concept. It’s time to move on from the very positive campaigning stage to actually make trials of ColaLife happen. Every single ColaLife supporter needs to take some of the credit for this. We would not have got anywhere without the huge numbers of supporters on the Facebook Page, the Facebook Group, Flickr, Twitter and . . . . It was ColaLife supporter, Maria Ana, who alerted us to the challenge – thanks Maria Ana.
The Buckminster Fuller website says:
The thirty semi-finalists currently under consideration have undergone a rigorous review including an interview with the individual or team behind the strategy. They were advanced from a pool of 215 entries that were submitted in Fall 2009. The titles, entrants names and a 50 word summary of their project is listed below.
Congratulations to all of the Semi-Finalists and everyone who entered this year’s Buckminster Fuller Challenge. Those who have opted to have their work published will be featured in the Idea Index in March.
The press release is here (PDF).
So what do you think of our chances?
In true ColaLife style we will now increase our expectations. We entered the Buckminster Fuller Challenge with the aim of getting this far. Now we want to win!
