Of the many suggestions for the next EVOKE, I’ll call attention to four:

Agent Ninmah, a Hero already, hopes for better teacher support: tools for example that make it easier for classrooms to play (following the trail blazed by our Hero Agency Chengyuan High School). And Agent Gabriel Martin seconds her request with a good teacher-friendly wish list of his own.

Agent Samuel Freilich is a Hero for his Season 2 recommendations, especially I think (a) getting politicians to play and (b) getting us closer to an epic win state!

Agent Elizabeth DiMola is a Hero for inspiring us with her idea of EVOKE 2.0 played for real in communities worldwide, maybe using Ushahidi as a platform.

Agent Sarah Shaw Tatoun is a Hero for her thoughtful analysis about the difficulty of balance in the open classroom that is EVOKE.

And d’oh! I almost forgot! Agent Richard Smyth’s popular EVOKE: Season 2 – The Comic.

The other outpouring we’ve seen of course: THE EVOKATIONS. These are proposals by Agents that put the lessons of EVOKE into action. If you want to be uplifted (and you do), search for them. Two I’ll mention: the inspiringly crowdsourced OUR FARM and Agent David Dewane’s Library initiative. Which he sums up so well in this drawing!

We thank everyone that’s working on an Evokation, and encourage them to take that energy forward!

How do you handle a crisis? Agent Abby Krieger knows from experience – you don’t judge people – and she’s a Hero for sharing that wisdom for LEARN7. And a different experience sparked Agent Soni Pitts to connect the connective power of Ushahidi with crises in her hometown. And Agent Ryan Friedrich is a Hero for his simple vision of a sustainable future: one that avoids negative-sum thinking.

I found quiet heroism in three personal stories: about indaba, from Agent Brian Chatterton; about women empowering women, by Agent j m; and Agent Hafie Yillah’s very simple vision of food security in the year 2020 that I hope is as true as ever: “I am eating a meal that myself and 8 other individuals helped prepared. We are all of different backgrounds, but each of us has come together for the common goal of feeding one another.”

And with that, I let go of something I have never actually held in the first place: the power to make people Heroes. The heroism people show here, much of it unassuming and some of it unremarked, far outweighs any authority I may have seemed to have.

Said another way: “It has been very inspiring to me to see so many people willingly take on the learning, acting, and imagining that EVOKE has asked of them — and to watch what has unfolded. I know I’ve only seen the tiniest part of it, and still it astonishes me.” Thanks, Agent Ninmah, for your words, speaking truly what is in my heart.  – Calida, with Mita and the entire EVOKE team

WEEK 10: Heroes To The End

WEEK 9: Real Life Heroes

WEEK 8: Heroes of Living Knowledge

WEEK 7: Resilient Heroes

WEEK 6: Heroes: Hear us sing

WEEK 5: Heroes: Making money better

WEEK 4: Heroes: Blue is the new green

WEEK 3: High-Energy Heroes

WEEK 2: Heroes of Food Security

WEEK 1: We can be heroes

EVOKE’s ninth challenge is networking in a crisis. LEARN: Agent Teresa R is a hero for her first-person account of contracting malaria and the constraints of fear. Agent Chris Ke Sihai , a hero already, adds his experiences from when SARS arose in Taiwan. Agent Jeremy Laird Hogg is a hero for his insights about using text messages both to gather information and to prevent panic. LEARN AND ACT: Agent Miaomiao Huang is a hero for putting her lessons from the Wenchuan earthquake to work in her earthquake preparedness dark site. ACT: Agent Margie Alsbrook, already a hero, calls attention to the issue of maintaining best information in crisis dark sites, so that they will be fully ready if crisis strikes. IMAGINE: Agent tasneem alloo is a hero for her step-by-step vision of successful community action if a killer flu appears in Zambia.

The eighth challenge is to preserve indigenous knowledge. Agent Pradip Dey is a hero for his up-to-the-moment reporting on the situation and stakes for indigenous knowledge, a report that resonated with many agents. Agent Paul Allison is a hero for connecting local knowledge to global problems, starting with students gathering very local knowledge in a park in Queens NY. Agent Thinkwell Ndhlovu is a hero for recording what he knows about the sacred rocks in the Matopo Hills. And Agent Paul Holze is a hero for his question: what if indigenous knowledge is actually subverting the truth?

Chengyuan High School

Special recognitions: the Agent Collective at Chengyuan High School are heroes for their enthusiastic approach to the Missions; check out their work! Agent John D. Boyden is a hero for his steady, positive encouragement of other players and good works. And
Agent sunnydupree is a hero, period.

EVOKE’s seventh challenge: creating urban resilience. Agent Thys van der Veer is a hero for focusing us on the planning principles for the new mobility city. EVOKE’s sixth challenge: gender equality. Agent Edoardo Simone Paluan is a hero for posting this graph about the extent of gender inequality.

EVOKE’s fourth challenge: secure clean water. Agent Vivian Volirakis is a hero for finding Carry5, an organization that not only walks a mile in the shoes of others, but carries water while doing it. Second challenge: food supply. Agent Gilford T Hapanyengwi is a hero for imagining vividly what sacrifices the unthinking pursuit of secure food might cause.

And don’t forget that if you want to pursue that great idea, EVOKE encourages Evokations.

Finally, to all you agents who are working on your missions, and on changing the world by changing yourselves, EVOKE’s hat is off to you. I see real courage going on, and real dedication to change. You are forging a fantastic legacy by May 12. New agents – there is a Rest Stop for you! Check in there if you’re wondering what to do, want to say “Hello EVOKE!” or just need a lift. And Agent Gabriel Martin is a hero for creating it for you (and so is Agent Buffy B for (among other things) helping Gabriel keep the WELCOME sign lit and the coffee fresh). – Calida, for Ronald, Mita, Ken, Simon, Josh, Nathaniel, Chelsea and the rest of the EVOKE team

For TEACHERS: Agent Chris Ke Sihai wants to start EVOKE 1.5, a site that teachers can use after EVOKE is officially over. If this is something you would like to use, let him know. For all of us: Agent Shakwei Mbindyo urges us to join the Davos conversation about Visions for Africa: let our voices be heard!

LEARN8: Agent Meira Datiya is a hero for reminding us that the best knowledge is that we arrive at ourselves, from various and primary sources and through honest inquiry.

ACT8: Among a very very crowded field of EVOKE superhero symbols, I’ll highlight two: Agent Ana Maria Luiza Barbuta of Iceland is a Hero for her Tribal Labrys (right). And the ever-resourceful Agent PJE is a hero for her handcarved mother symbol. You should look at them all, though: one way to start is by searching the EVOKE Evidence for “symbol” (or for “symbol1” to reveal the original Symbol Challenge by Agent Ninmah). And if your symbol is not in there, get busy and add one!

LEARN7: A Hero already, Agent Claudia Flores Saviaga offers this great suggestion on how to use Ushahidi: to monitor fair elections. ACT7: Agent Reid Falconer continues a long line of successful mission actions and earns his Hero badge with his SMART LIVING campaign.

IMAGINE6: Agent J.J is a hero for his vision of gender equality 2020.

ACT5: Agent happyseaurchin is a hero for his macro-scale microfinance game – all you need are 10 friends, 10 quid, and a month. And speaking of Agent Ninmah, she’s a hero this week for either her startling IMAGINE5 vision of an alternative currency in the year 2020 or for her discussion-sparking ACT3 post on the mysterious human-powered sewing machine 2.0, take your pick!

ACT4, ACT3: Agent Gillian Robinson of South Africa is a hero for finding Cynthia Koenig and the Water Roller, a device that helps people get the water they need with less energy.

LEARN2: A Hero already, Agent Patricio Buenrostro-Gilhuys deserves recognition again for the weekly blog roundups he sends to his friends, which always contain some excellent, often overlooked, ideas… and for this well-presented and extremely thought-provoking idea for making food production as resilient as the Internet.

LEARN1: Agent Elora Ramirez is a hero for her post reminding us what in the end is the deepest thing we share: stories.

QUIET TIME. As we enter our last two weeks of EVOKE, gamerunner Ken urges us to reflect on the learning that we’ve sparked and will continue to spark, and urges us to forge a worthy legacy in the time that remains. Some words to consider, taken from this exchange:

In my opinion that is one of the obvious learning aspects of [EVOKE]. If you get a bunch of people together, all coming from diverse backgrounds, with both different and similar goals, they are bound to have feedback which will inevitable contribute to the game. I think one of the questions is, how will each player of the game, improve the game simply by playing it? There is some responsibility for the programmers, developers, etc. But, the real responsibility to change the game, lies in the people playing the game. One doesn’t have a successful community by telling someone else to fix the community. One has a successful community because each and every person IS the community. As you both have mentioned, it is a work in progress and a living organism. For it to exist in a state of perfection would be, unnatural. Evoke must evolve, as part of its nature. The people playing Evoke, must also evolve, for that is the only way Evoke can.

Thank you, Agent Catrina Cuevas, for your wise words.

– Calida, for Mita, Ronald, Batandwa, Nathaniel, Ken, Simon and the rest of the EVOKE team

Are we doomed? Agent Iron Helix is a hero for his reasoned, thought-provoking treatise on the grand flows of civilizations and societies (or, “why I’m a doomer”) that’s sparked some great discussions and ideas. Agent Ezra Ho is a hero for his alternate view: in 2020, a world beyond consumerism, which has embraced a Resource-Based Economy.

Are we up for a challenge? Agent Julio Cesar Corona Ortega, a hero already, has a great challenge: the world-changing gory MMORPG. Agent Chris Ke Sihai is a hero when he challenges EVOKE to help dislodge good ideas such as Jane Chen’s Embrace for preemie babies from old production models and put them into the hands of mothers everywhere. Both these challenges are great ideas for Evokations and you (yes, you) are invited to join in!

Can we get to the next level in global health? Agent Reema is a hero for urging us to walk a mile with the feet of someone who has no shoes, calling attention to the health problems that shoes prevent. Agent Alexandra Chauran is a hero for her IMAGINE idea, a vision of how investments in prenatal health care pay off. And Agent opelo kuda ndikimbela is a hero for her ACT idea, asking children for their wisdom on issues such as HIV/AIDS.

Can cities survive? Agent Reem N Bsaiso is a hero for her blueprint for instilling resilience into a community, starting with communities in Jordan. Agent and Mentor Vinay Gupta (Hexayurt Project) is a hero for his excellent video on Urban Resilience. And among the scores of agents who have posted well-researched and well-imagined reports about the resilience of their communities, Agent Roger Briggs is a hero for his disaster preparedness ideas for Wichita, Kansas, USA.

Can we get to the truth of “food security”? Agent Margie Alsbrook is a hero because she questions the various, even contradictory ways we talk about “food security.” Agent Lana Lovasic is a hero for her photos showing local food resilience taking place: making natural pesticides and fertilizers and low-cost farming in South Africa. Agent Benjamin Michael Jones is a hero for confronting the dilemmas of localized food in a tourism-fixated world, and similarly Agent Tanja Jauk is a hero for her start on open, honest questioning about the food situation where she lives in Austria.

Can we spark great improvement in gender equality and freedom? Seems we can. Agent Recania Burger is a hero for taking simple, direct action to empower girls in her community. And Agent Gilda Lorena Arias, a hero already, deserves mention again for this ACT photo on empowering women.

What is up with that money thing anyway? Agent Murray Sterley is a hero for his vision of the future of money: keyed to human capital, not to profit. Meanwhile, Agent Iyamuremye Jean de Dieu, a hero already, ponders the true meaning and consequences of development in Rwanda.

Things like water and energy – can I really make a difference? Agent NANGAR SOOMRO is a hero for accomplishing two ACT missions at once: saving water and saving energy by rethinking how water gets heated where he lives in Pakistan.

I’m just starting EVOKE! Can I still make a difference? Apparently yes. Agent Tanya P. has made one post, but she’s a hero because she’s shared what it takes to be positive and why that’s so valuable.

I’m just starting EVOKE! Who’s doing good work? Agent A.V.Koshy is a hero for collaboratively putting together a list of interesting agents (also see his Autism Evokation). This list tends toward the intellectual; for a fuller spectrum of EVOKE’s good works, you might start with the Heroes List on the EVOKE Leader Cloud. Plus it must be said: EVOKE is far, far bigger than these lists put together! I encourage you to make your own discoveries.

And finally, Can you Win The Planet? Agent Alexandru Ragalie is a hero for the Save The World Lottery, a great Evokation idea.

“This is one of my favorite EVOKATIONS so far,” says Simon, our resident Evokation enthusiast.

Again, we acknowledge the Unknown Heroes of EVOKE: the people who are setting their own goals and challenges and meeting them, the people who quietly (perhaps) are giving to the collective intelligence and wisdom and taking away individual insights. Our hats off to you – Calida, for Nathaniel, Simon, Mita, Gene, Ronald, Batandwa, Ken, Chelsea, Lauren and the rest of  EVOKE

In Week 6 EVOKE looked at the situation with women’s rights and gender power over the globe, from the horrors of abuse (as reported by Julio Cesar Corona Ortega in breaking the cycle of violence) to disempowerment in terms of education and access (reported by Evo in her post about empowering women through media).

Agent Claudia Flores Saviaga is a hero for her report on gender politics in Mexico, which several gamerunners found to be insightful about the nature of entrenched problems with achieving gender parity. Agent Robyn Stegman of the USA is a hero for taking action on Mission 6 and raising money for Dhamma Moli and its mission to thwart human trafficking.

Mission 5: Money – the Controversy Continues. On top of her many bulletins about initiatives in Grahamstown, Agent Kirsten Moore of South Africa is a hero for her post about barter and the Local Exchange Trading System, which is sparking a very interesting discussion about the value of money; Agent Rahul Dewanjee of India is a hero for his contributions here and in many, many other economic and financial discussions. In the face of fiscal adversity, Agent Rebecca Gillman of the Philippines heroically researches and establishes the becbuck. And Agent Turil Cronburg, a Hero already, provokes much thought with her ideas about Nature’s Gift Economy and her own week-long action to reap its dividends (here’s her wrapup).

Missions 4 and 3: Water and Energy. Agent MoE (Stefano Cieri) of Italy, a hero already, inspires with his posts about Dr. John Todd and the biorepair of environments with Living Machines, and his vision of Human Rights Day 2020. Agent Yumna Moosa of South Africa is a hero herself for connecting with Trevor Mulaudzi, the hero she’s shadowing, and opening the door to a collaborative clean water project, Clean Shop! Agent Julio Cesar Corona Ortega is a hero for the workable, viable twist he adds to solar power.

Missions 1 and 2: Social Innovation and Food Security. You can be a hero even if you are just starting out. Agent Emma Clarke of Australia is one for her thoughtful post about “don’t fight culture” – including the one you’re in. And Johan Sundqvist of Swedenis a hero for his action supporting a local ecobox: getting his food from local sources and connecting to the land.

Agent Samiran Roy is a hero for establishing the EVOKE Ongoing Projects Thread, a place where any EVOKE agent can find a summary of the projects that agents have started – a fantastic place for newcomers in particular to get started with their collaborations to change the world, as well as a way for all agents to share ideas and constructive criticism with the project runners.

Agent Ursula Kochanowsky is a hero for her Evokation idea,  her forthright call for help and her courage through this challenging process. To me, Ursula is showing exactly what an Evokation is all about: an idea, collaboration, courage and spark.

And let’s acknowledge right here the Unknown Heroes: the people with great ideas, helpful comments and generous spirit, who have made great contributions – those who haven’t yet appeared on these pages through no fault of their own.

Finally, this is brilliant: Agent Justin Miyamoto is a hero for getting us to collectively and collaboratively write and perform the EVOKE song(s). (Justin’s got complete instructions.)

I urge all EVOKE Agents to give this a listen and contribute if you can; it’s for a cause we can all get behind.  – Calida, for Nathaniel, Mita, Chelsea, Ronald, Simon, Ken, Josh, and the rest of the gamerunner team

To introduce yourself to the questions about money, there’s no better place to start than these questions: How many Evokians did you earn today? How will you spend them? Agent Mark Mulkerin of Singapore is a hero for starting up the First Bank of Evoke, an experiment that’s generating a fascinating exchange about the core ideas of money (be sure to read the comments…).

Want change to start now? Are you ready to put money down? Many agents pursuing this week’s mission discovered the microloan website Kiva. Agent Riko Kamachi of the UK is a hero for (a) starting an EVOKE group account on Kiva that’s selecting causes and raising money for them right now, and (b) becoming passionate about the potential to connect and the discussions it raises.

And a pair of visions about money: First, the shape of things to come? Agent Holly Lufele of South Africa is a hero for imagining fraud-preventing banking cafes in Johannesburg in the year 2020. Second, smart money? Agent João Carrapa of Portugal is a hero for sharing Money Traces: Before we spend it, will we be able to know what our money will support?

Mission 4: Agent Amy Kate Payne is a hero for acting about water issues: she’s getting involved with a local eco-sanitation group in Malawi.

Mission 3: Energy. Agent Aamel is a hero for his video from the year 2020 about energy needs and solutions – and he reminds us that middle-school students are engaging with EVOKE and bringing their own particular energy and vision to our quest to change the future.

Mission 2, Food: Agent Hafeni of Namibia is a hero for showing us a local food security effort, UMTHATHI.

Mission 1, Social Innovation: Agent Michael Mansourati of Canada is a hero for putting this idea so well: ‘By empowering the people you help with the skills you teach them, you’re telling them “You have the knowledge, help us fix the problem” as opposed to “you have the machine, do what it’s supposed to do.”‘ Read his short post. And Agent Amber Sofia of Australia is a hero for sparking a great exchange with Wonderment, Inc.

Quest hero: Evidence is more visible, but don’t neglect the Quests: they are perhaps its heart. Agent Cynawynn of the USA is a hero for her response to a very challenging Quest5: she describes her Pivotal Moment.

Agent Alex Stovell of the UK is a hero for launching a great dialogue with his imaginative challenge: Defeating The Dragon. Among the many respondents, Agent Shane M. Wheeler of the USA is a hero for, among many contributions, his spark about using cellphones as a way for EVOKE to extend its reach, “slaying the dragon one text at a time.”

Last, I’ll again refer you all to Agent Wintermute’s post “What Are You Evoking?” It continues to be a touchstone for the many cool ideas and projects that agents have underway. It’s a great place to see what EVOKE is all about. Among the latest in a list of intriguing ideas: Ursula Kochanowsky is developing Insta-Gardens, Rama Rao and Turil Cronburg are working to create differently abled work for differently abled people, and Benny Faibish is aiming to create a technology-sparked mindshift. Read the comments, seek out collaborators or add a project idea of your own! – Calida, for Josh, Ken, Mita, Chelsea, Batandwa, Ronald, Nathaniel, Simon and the rest of the team

Water security: “What is clean water?” Agent Turil Cronberg is a hero for asking that deceptively simple question; she’s sparking a conversation about art, chemistry, carnivorous plants and more. Agent Ternura Rojas is a hero for her stand that water is a human right and her plan for action. And Agent Charles Fiertz is a hero for his striking spark of an idea to meet the Imagine challenge of World Water Day 2020.

Energy: Agent Omri or something is a hero because not only did he have original ideas about wind turbines and wave energy and solar, he took the next step: he brought them to an engineer for a reality check. This is how stuff happens, folks: someone not only has a (potentially) great idea but puts that idea out there. What happened, you wonder? Do any of his ideas have merit? Has Omri solved the energy crisis? Find out here.

Food Security: Agent Michele Baron is a hero over again for mentoring Agent MAK on a local resilient community gardening project. Read for some in-depth experience with xeriscaping and permaculture principles.

Social Innovation: Agent Aron Neu is a Hero for applying lessons from EVOKE immediately to his current passion: countering climate change. And if Agent Omri or something weren’t already a hero, I’d be tempted to make him one because he wants to follow Douglas Adams, who, although dead, would otherwise appreciate the humor of the gesture!

Finally, we end with two quotes. One is about frustration, de-motivation, and being overlooked:

“I almost quit this week… Why? Well there’s a whole bunch of reasons, all tangled up, but what it fundamentally came down to was that I had written a couple of posts which had gone virtually un-noticed. Sounds silly, but I had put a lot into them… It felt like the honeymoon was over. I’d been here from the start but the sheer volume of new posts and new people was drowning out my ‘voice’.

Anyway, once I got over myself a little, I started thinking about all those other posts and people, about you, reading this now, and wondered how many others there were, either here for a while or just joined, who had gone un-noticed. There are a small number of people who have been sifting back through the post reel, gently encouraging others with their comments and trying to highlight strong posts… I had been doing some of the same, but I resolved to do more of it. A funny thing happened then – the people I had left notes of encouragement for started reading those posts of mine that were gathering dust, and they started leaving me comments and encouragement too. The circle was complete and my ‘mojo’ was back .

Beautifully put. I’ve hacked it up for brevity; you should read the whole thing. If you want to be a hero to someone, right now, there’s how. Thank you, Agent Alex Stovell.

The second quote I read some time ago, and haven’t been able to forget:

My fav secret: think like a child – “children have no limit to their thinking” – Paul Polak via Nextbillion. Why do I believe in this secret?

A child’s brain is completely new and open so as Social Innovator should be open minded and crystal clear in his objectives and solutions…

When you give two chocolates to a child, it takes all the two. Eats one of them immediately and holds another one for later time. Similarly, a social innovator should find innovative solutions to immediate challenges and future foreseen challenges.

When a child is hungry, it never waits for anyone but start giving its signals. Similarly, a social innovator should address the challenges all the times by means of continuous innovations rather than relying upon a single innovative solution.

A child never takes critics ( as he doesn’t know what a critic is?) and keeps its determination level very high so achieve the target, say to get a chocolate from his mother. Similarly, a social innovator should never be down by critics. Be positive and keep its energy and determination to the highest possible level.

Again, I’ve shortened it; you should read the whole thing. Thank you, Agent S KUBERAN and all you heroic and childish thinkers out there. – Calida, for Simon, Gene, Ken, Mita, Nathaniel, Batandwa and the rest of the team

“I am an energy efficiency obsessive.” When an Agent begins a blog post this way, you know you might be in for something good. Agent NickDutch of the UK is a Hero for his series of blog posts about thermo electric generators, devices that use the temperature difference between two areas to generate electricity (or cooling). TEGs open up a world of possibilities for “energy scavenging” especially in off-grid sub-Saharan Africa. And participate in his First Evokation on TEGs or his Second, a local effort focused on wood pellet technology – plus great-to-know ideas on a wide range of energy topics in his blog stream.

Hybrids: it’s not just for cars anymore. Agent Karamveer Lalh of Canada is a Hero for reporting on his team’s hands-on 9th grade experiment to create a hybrid solar/wind power generation device. Here’s the data, here’s the hybrid generator, here’s it powering up batteries and here’s the very rough potential real-world implications.

Energy is where you find it. Agent Per Jonsson of Sweden is a hero for imagining capturing devices right in downtown Manhattan – and for launching an outpouring of helpful ideas, resources and encouragement from fellow Agents with a thoughtful analysis of the potential weaknesses of his own idea.

Agent Jan Lampe’s bike-powered MP3 player cuts right to the heart of this week’s mission: powering a familiar device in a new (and greener way). Jan’s a hero this week for this and for his guidelines on growing the network.

People really do not want others to go hungry. Food security, our Week 2 mission, continues to inspire much of the EVOKE network to action. Among a storm of ideas and energy, first Hero: Agent Gilda Lorena Arias of Paraguay (who says she has no talent for growing plants) discovered what she does have a talent for: growing community support for gardens by simply asking people in her community for help. Second, our Heroes are the authors of the remarkable collaborative SEED Evokation: Agents Crystal Bellar, Wintermute, Claude Raines, Nick Heyming, Michele Baron, John Tsangaris, Amos Meeks and Stefano Cieri being the founding members of teamSEED (there are undoubtedly more by now). As Nathaniel Fruchter described the SEED project: “We are seeing EVOKE members basically plan out an EVOKE peace corps mission to Sierra Leone. They weren’t stingy with the planning. This could be huge.” Kudos too to the many Agents who have  supported them with an outpouring of ideas, connections and resources. As Agent Yumna Moosa said: “This looks wonderful… Please make it real ”

Third, Agent Nick Heyming is a hero (again): watch how his Gratitude Garden idea builds on the contributions of many agents and leads to the Gratitude Garden Evokation, then join in!

Fourth hero: where food cultivation is concerned, Agent Iyamuremye Jean de Dieu of Rwanda challenges us to close the loop.

What happens to the EVOKE network after 10 weeks? Agent Radhika Darbari of the UK answers this question with EVOKE Forever, a collaboratively run multiplatform social network to keep agents in touch all the way to 2020 and beyond.

And finally, let’s return to our Week 1 mission of social innovation. We welcome new players who are just starting with EVOKE as well as encourage those who are moving through the missions at their own pace. You are heroes as well! This week, I was struck by these discerning words: “Who really needs the solution I have and where do they live? I fear that a large part of my thinking has been characterized by polarizations that are false, seeing that if I looked closer, I would find that amongst the places where I thought problems lie, some people actually do not need my solution.” So says Agent, Hero and friend Oluwadamilola Akinwale of Nigeria.

And if you are new to EVOKE, or otherwise wondering what it is really all about, Agent Damilola has imagined it all very clearly for you, right here. Odaro!  – Calida for Mita, Simon, Gene, Nathaniel, Josh, Ken, Yemisi and the rest of the superplayer team

PLANTING A SEED – Agent Shakwei Mbindyo of Kenya and Agent Kath-Ning of the USA. Shakwei set off a roaring discussion this week with her simple real-world question about crop choices: should Kenya grow for export (and thus for money) or grow to feed its poor and hungry? (Or you might say, “One Food May Hide Another.”) Her “food miles” question has opened us all up to experiencing how complexly this decision is interwoven into further questions of ecology, economics, energy and culture. In simple counterpoint Kath-Ning reminds us to pay attention to the seasons, to nature, to who and where we are, and plant some hope for the future.

AVERTING A CRISIS – Agent Dmitry Petrov of Ukraine and Agent Jasper of Holland. With a stroke of imagination bold yet possible Dmitry imagines a hunger-free world: one in which we don’t need animals or mushrooms to convert cellulose to food. With an array of statistics Jasper alerts us to a looming fertilizer shortage, one that could have devastating consequences in developing nations. Well done Dmitry and Jasper, we like “outlier” ideas.

FIGHTING HUNGER LOCALLY – Agent Mario in Mexico and Agent Grace Ave. of the USA. Mario takes action: look at the pictures, he’s started his own urban farm. Grace Ave. describes how to leverage people like Mario into a “People’s Grocery” – more than just production or distribution, a complete system that honors food and the people who grow it, taste it and are nourished by it.

TOKYO, THE COMPLETE PICTURE – Agent Patricio Buenrostro-Gilhuys of Mexico accepts the final award this week for his ensemble cast. Patricio shows us the story behind the comic, one that stars the strengths of 20 other members of the EVOKE Network. Says Patricio: “I am learning so much from The Garden Earth Project I am sure we will be somehow working together in 2020.” And Agent Ninmah comments, “I love the way it shows that we are already a network here in EVOKE, even after just two weeks, with a wide variety of complementary skills and knowledge.”

Which lead us to three final quotes:

In her evidence about Cuba’s organic green revolution, Agent Fatima Sadan of South Africa says “we see how, out of urgent necessity, communities can collaborate and produce remarkable results as a team or collective. Where differences are eradicated by common concern… through the process of collaboration do we find other things that bring us together which fuels those that drive the project to continue it for lifetimes.”

Agent Jenn builds on this, imagining a world where the EVOKE Network makes sure the Tokyo Food Crisis never happens. “My hope for 2020 is that there is no need for the Evoke network to help Japan. I’m hopeful that the work we do in 2010 (and later) will prevent the conditions that created the famine in the first place. Food shortages typically don’t happen overnight, and if they do, it’s often symptomatic of unsustainable agriculture practices. My hope is that in the next ten years we, as social innovators, become more connected and proactive, and work together to tackle issues before they become crises.”

And a last thought: if you’re new to EVOKE you can’t do any better than to follow Agent Ayala Sherbow’s cogent advice. Ayala says that (with help from Elastika) these are “my own thoughts on how we can help each other be the best ‘players’ and therefore change agents that we can be.” Thanks, Fatima, Jenn, Ayala and everyone – and see you all on the network. – Calida