Cristiano participated as a speaker at the event during the last week of May in Berlin. His presentation, entitled “Care for Fish”, took place on May 28 in the makerspace area, where he talked about research methodologies in marine protected areas and the work with fishing communities in northeastern Brazil, developed through the LMI Tapioca project.

The re:publica24 Event

re:publica is one of the main digital technology festivals in Europe, bringing together a cross-section of digital society, including professionals from economics, politics, business, hacker culture, NGOs, media and marketing, as well as bloggers, activists, artists and social media experts. The event took place between May 26 and 29 this year.

During re:publica, various stages and stands hosted a wide range of talks and presentations on topics such as internet rights, freedom of expression, the use of artificial intelligence and other relevant subjects. In addition, the event included a games area and a makerspace, which complemented the technological nature of the festival. The makerspace presented various projects, from the production of a portable coffee maker to permaculture initiatives.

GIG and the Makerspace

The Global Innovation Gathering (GIG) is a community involving innovation centers, makerspaces, hackerspaces and other grassroots innovation communities, as well as innovators, creators, technologists and change agents. During re:publica, GIG was responsible for organizing the makerspace and its programming.

In the makerspace, various talks, interactions and workshops were organized with participants from all over the world, especially from the “Global South”. The experience provided the opportunity to get to know a wide range of projects that use free methodologies and software to produce solutions in various areas, as well as important networks. It was impactful to see the possibility of discussing free technologies and their applications again in a world in crisis, something that has become less common in Brazil due to current survival demands. The experience was enriching and exciting, learning about various initiatives from dedicated people.

My perception of GIG and re:publica can be defined as an event that brings together people engaged in working together to solve various problems, using design, technology and other skills that improve community life.

Cristiano lopes

Featured projects

• Permaculture Living Lab: Open source technological solutions for sustainable food production.
• BrailleRap Bhutan: Replication of an open source braille printer.
• From Laughs to Courts: Multifaceted uses of AI in the Global South.

Visit to the Leibniz Institute of Aquaculture

After an intense week at re:publica, there was a visit to the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, organized by Silvia Wargaftig, advisor to the Brazilian embassy in Berlin. The visit provided an opportunity to exchange ideas about possible collaborations between Tapioca’s Brazilian partner universities and German universities, as well as aquaculture and its processes. During the meeting, a tour of the institute was given by Professor Dr. Werner Kloas, who explained his sustainable aquaculture project with pirarucu, African catfish and tilapia. We also discussed the possibility of Brazilian fellowships at the institute, which has an ambitious sustainable aquaculture project using filters and pumps to clean and aerate the water, as well as the aim of making the system more autonomous in the future.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to the Brazilian embassy in Berlin for their support, and to GIG for opening the doors to present the work done in the northeast of Brazil. I would also like to thank the Tapioca Project for their fundamental support.