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The world is changing rapidly, advancing at an exponential rate, and the problems we face in our hot, flat, crowded world cannot be solved from the level of thinking that created them. What we need is a way to develop self-directed, innovative individuals who can navigate a rapidly changing landscape. Holistic, systemic thinkers with the self awareness to gain new skills and grow as the world grows. Individuals pursuing their calling instead of punching a clock. Instead we have institutions that breed dependency, conformity, and simplistic thinking; the result is many young people unhappy and ill-prepared to face the future.

We believe the solution requires a radical redesign of the current system, versus trying to reform a system that is creating the exact results it was designed to create. And we believe Innovation Underground (IU) is part of the solution.

IU is a three-pronged approach that allows young people to take greater control of their learning, and their life, and creates an infrastructure to support a new kind of collaborative learning and doing in which individuals pursue personal and collective interests, projects, and ventures:

• Educational and life coaching that helps young people find and follow their passions, develop necessary skills, and access resources
• An online community portal that connects young people to resources, projects and others on this path
• Local community centers (e.g., Bonnell Building Project) that provide face-to-face opportunities for learning and collaborating

For a detailed overview of Innovation Underground and the three prongs, see Prezi presentation below.

Our Mission

To create a community, with virtual and face-to-face components, of primarily young adults who:

• Are interested in exploring, experimenting with, and becoming a model of, leading-edge approaches in all areas of life - governance, technology, business, education, agriculture, community, etc.
• Initiate/participate in projects and communities of interest/practice in one or more of these areas
• Broadcast needs, share ideas, share resources, learn from each other, support each other, work together on projects, and build a knowledge base, e.g., of leading-edge frameworks, inc. P2P, noded network, permaculture
• Have access to a variety of resources and modalities within and outside of the community, e.g., communities of interest/practice, online and local classes, books, mentors, internships, learning/life coaches, learning vacations
• Have access to funding for both learning and startup projects

Core Organizing Principles

Everyone is unique in terms of their interests/passions, learning style, process, etc. and is here to express their uniqueness. In response to a culture and structures (e.g., institutions) that do not support uniqueness and individuality, we want to create a culture and structure that does. Specifically, the current factory-model education system is designed to churn out more or less identical 'products' in support of societal and professional efficiency; we want to create a culture and structures that support each individual developing their unique talents and interests. Another limitation of the current education system is that takes most or all of the educational choices (what a person learns, from whom, how and when) away from the learner; we want to create a culture and structures that give these choices back to the learner.

As best articulated by Michel Bauwens, a new model of coming together as a network to learn, work, make decisions, etc. is emerging that is more effective and efficient than more traditional models and structures. This network is 'organized through the free cooperation of equals in view of the performance of a common task, for the creation of a common good, with forms of decision-making and autonomy that are widely distributed throughout the network.' We want to incorporate as much as possible the principles of the P2P model into how IU functions.

INNOVATION UNDERGROUND PREZI PRESENTATION (click arrow)