About six years ago I had the opportunity to attend a conference in Botswana focused on governance reform and civil society. At the time there was a lot of excitement about the countries progressive environmental stand, the role of women, and youth engagement. I was especially happy to have met young activists from Pioneers of Change, a group of social entrepreneurs and reformers out of Johannesburgh, South Africa. Anyway, I hitched a ride back to SA with them and along the way was introduced to the idea of “the Hub.”

The Hub is a great idea: a coworking environment for emerging social entrepreneurs to work while minimizing their overhead. And what’s best about it, Hubs are a place to share ideas, get feedback, and thrive socially where you might otherwise find yourself a bit isolated as a creative. Hubs are an answer to the question, where can I connect with other creative people when I don’t have a typical 9-5 job?

Since that bumpy, non-stop, illuminating gambol through the chaparral-like terrain of southern Africa, I’ve long thought about how I could translate my love for creative environments, community learning, and supporting emerging entrepreneurs. My answer is, [blank] Space.

In a nutshell the idea is to build an incubator for emerging creative enterprises in Vermont within a framework of community engagement and learning. I’ve put together a prospectus (downloadable .pdf). If you like what you’re reading, please reach out – I’d really value creative ideas and energy! You can sign up for alerts here and follow the effort on Twitter here.

Thank you!

lars