Origins
An idea emerged. What if there was a fun event, something like a fair, that sets up for several weeks in one region after another? What if it attracts large and diverse audiences? And what if after this event, those who are working for a new future in that place discover a deeper collaboration amongst themselves, and a considerable jump in the numbers ready to roll up their sleeves and get involved? What if the gap in public will was given a good nudge toward the tipping point?
Ingredients
The advice of 250 North American leaders was sought. Their consensus, "If people are to respond to the fair with meaningful action, three key ingredients are needed."
- Stirring and inspiring people's innate creativity,
- Practical vision of the future in terms of the everyday stuff of life,
- Strong encouragement for people to connect immediately to follow-through learning and action.
Universarium has three corresponding components. Two components travel from region to region. The third is created by every community before, during and as follow-through action after the fair.
- Universarium Dome - immerses in science's amazing new understanding of the universe, from "Big Bang to Big Brain".
- Front Lines - takes visitors to the cutting edges of what lies ahead where they see specific pieces of the future already being created...new materials, for example, from which clothes and cars and buildings can be made sustainably.
- Shift into Action - builds collaboration within the new civil society, introduces practical methods for everyday application of sustainable practices, gets people directly involved in the challenge of inventing their own future.
Universarium is being developed by the Ecologos Institute, a registered Canadian nongovernmental organization with charitable receipting capacity in Canada and the United States.