Juanjuan Yin's Posts - Urgent Evoke2024-03-28T10:57:53ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYinhttp://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2209262589?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1http://www.urgentevoke.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=1v7kfnb9yhk66&xn_auth=noLEARN10 - Mission 10: The future of EVOKEtag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-06-29:4871302:BlogPost:2362062012-06-29T11:10:45.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p><strong>WHICH great challenges and social problems should the EVOKE Network tackle next?<br></br></strong>I think it's important to start changing the education in many countries. The future of a country builds upon its children. It's important to teach them moral standards and rules and not let them become corrupt politicians or political leaders. Educational concepts can be created and adapted to a certain country. It can include steps on how to make the country better and how to achieve the…</p>
<p><strong>WHICH great challenges and social problems should the EVOKE Network tackle next?<br/></strong>I think it's important to start changing the education in many countries. The future of a country builds upon its children. It's important to teach them moral standards and rules and not let them become corrupt politicians or political leaders. Educational concepts can be created and adapted to a certain country. It can include steps on how to make the country better and how to achieve the goal from an educational perspective.<br/><br/><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>WHERE in the world should the network try to build up new EVOKE communities?<br/></strong>Everywhere. The network shouldn't be limited to just a group of countries. It should be built throughout all countries on earth. Networks and communities need to be coordinated. They will share ideas with each other and create a concept on how to make the world a better place. <strong><br/></strong></span><br/><strong>WHO would you encourage to play Season 2?</strong><br/>Mostly young adults, but also college students. As I've mentioned before I think it's important to obtain and maintain proper education in a country. Young adults these days are not very reliable when it comes to making the world a better place. Many of them haven't thought about the future yet. Therefore it is important to show them the issues the world and their countries have. The younger someone gets to know the social problems he's surrounded by, the sooner he might start trying to change and heading towards a brighter future for him and the world.<br/><br/> <strong>HOW would you change the game for Season 2?</strong><br/>I would chose missions which affect the player directly. In season 1 many missions were about the 3rd world or places with much bigger social problems than Germany. Growing up in Germany it was sometimes kind of difficult to come up with solutions for a mission which took place on the other side of the world. Even though I was familiar with poverty, starvation and women rights, I often felt distant completing a mission. There were times when I felt powerless because I wasn't sure if the donation I made will actually help the people. This is why I think that some missions should take place in the environment the player grew up in. That way it is easier for him to think of a possible solution and he can maybe see the change at first hand.<br/><br/> <strong>WHAT new tools would you want as an EVOKE agent?</strong><br/>An online chat would be a nice addition to the game. Forums often only offer asychronous communications whereas a chat allows you to discuss directly with other EVOKE agents. It would also be nice to be able to quote certain sentences of a blog post or to comment on a certain idea directly instead of posting a general comment.<br/><br/> <strong>WHY would you come back for a second Season? What more would you want from the experience?</strong><br/>As I've mentioned before I'd come back if the missions included more social problems of my own environment. It would be nice to have an opportunity to actually help my own city and country.</p>LEARN9 - Mission 9: Coming to Terms With Uncertaintytag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-06-24:4871302:BlogPost:2354542012-06-24T09:35:40.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p>I picked "Coming to terms with uncertainty" since sharing uncertain information is the root for every crisis communication. The information is uncertain because it's not possible to see an exact outcome within a short span of time. Which is why it is very important to decide on the information you want to deliver to others. It's your responsibility to share valuable and correct information (even if they're uncertain) in order to prevent confusion and panic. This blog post covers 4 different…</p>
<p>I picked "Coming to terms with uncertainty" since sharing uncertain information is the root for every crisis communication. The information is uncertain because it's not possible to see an exact outcome within a short span of time. Which is why it is very important to decide on the information you want to deliver to others. It's your responsibility to share valuable and correct information (even if they're uncertain) in order to prevent confusion and panic. This blog post covers 4 different aspects of gathering and sharing uncertain information: Conflicting and uncertain information, 3 different uses of information in an outbreak, news in a pandemic, mathematical modeling results.<br/><br/>It is very important to understand that there's always uncertainty in information regarding pandemic outbreaks. Unless science can tell you about the exact development of a disease, every information includes uncertainty of how the virus might develop in the future. It is important to understand that uncertainty exists and it's not a bad thing to share. It is also important to label information as uncertain instead of seeing it as a fact and share false information with the public.<br/><br/>Information have 3 different uses in case of a pandemic outbreak:<br/>1. The information is important for scientists to advance the science. Scientists are responsible for not making any strong statements until they know, or think they know, what’s going on.<br/>2. It’s important for public health workers, who also base their work on the science, to make a response. It is important to have a guilty until proven innocent standard. Action has to be taken before all the evidence is in. The reasons are obvious: There are delays in getting samples to labs, delays in getting results, delays in getting enough data/samples to be certain.<br/>3. Finally, there is the work of public health communication. If first responders want to have some hope of containing an outbreak, they will have to respond to false alarms.<br/><br/>Sharing news during a pandemic outbreak can trigger all sorts of damage, economic and otherwise. Announcements to the public must be cautious and must emphasize the possibility that things are better than they seem, given at the same time that actions must reflect the possibility that they're worse than they seem.<br/><br/>In order to reduce uncertainty mathematical models can be used. What mathematical models to date have done is to model how transmission of the virus might be blocked, examining how changes in contact patterns or changes in the course of the infection would alter the epidemic.</p>IMAGINE8 - Mission 8: Playing outside instead of spending time onlinetag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-06-15:4871302:BlogPost:2342732012-06-15T18:13:17.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p>How many kids play on a playground instead of sitting infront of their computers these days? More and more children are starting to play online games and chat with their friends via instant messengers. I doubt the numbers will decrease throughout the years since the number of online games increase monthly, sometimes even daily. Kids these days depend on their personal computers and one day they won't be able to live without them.<br></br><br></br>This online world will expand within the next 100…</p>
<p>How many kids play on a playground instead of sitting infront of their computers these days? More and more children are starting to play online games and chat with their friends via instant messengers. I doubt the numbers will decrease throughout the years since the number of online games increase monthly, sometimes even daily. Kids these days depend on their personal computers and one day they won't be able to live without them.<br/><br/>This online world will expand within the next 100 years. The number of online games will increase infinitely. New types of social networks will be born. People will change from Facebook to other platforms and expand their social connections. There will be new online innovations I can't name yet. These innovations will keep people attached to their online devices. In 100 years, it will be impossible to live without being online and having a computer. Everyone will have online access with their smart phones/devices at any places they want.<br/><br/>But what would happen if electricity stopped for a day or two? Everyone will be cut off not only the online but also the digital world. How will the kids spend their free time if they can't access their online reality anymore? As an elder, I will gather them around and start telling them stories of my childhood. Stories of the games we played without needing a computer, games such as hide and seek, bingo, rope skipping, "Who's scared of the boogeyman" etc. I will teach them how to make a fire with wood and sing songs for them while playing the guitar. I will also read Harry Potter to them, a fictional character who I've grown up with.<br/><br/>This is what I imagine "indigenous" will become in 100 years. The digital and online world will take over almost everything. Children will be born into this world without knowing how to spend their times offline. They're surrounded by hightech machines. And someone needs to tell them that there was once a time when people survived even without having an online access of a computer.</p>LEARN8 - Mission 8: The Fijian mattag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-06-15:4871302:BlogPost:2341772012-06-15T17:16:48.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p><a href="http://www.kivu.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/fiji786.jpg12/03/fiji786.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="align-left" src="http://www.kivu.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/fiji786.jpg?width=150" width="150"></img></a> The traditional knowledge success story I want to tell you about comes from Fiji. It is about the most commonly used item in Fiji which is also known as the "grass mat", a mat woven by hand from <strong>pandanus leaves</strong>.<br></br><br></br>I found the story pretty interesting because it is about the usage of a natural growing material without relying on any machines. In this…</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.kivu.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/fiji786.jpg12/03/fiji786.jpg"><img class="align-left" src="http://www.kivu.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/fiji786.jpg?width=150" width="150"/></a>The traditional knowledge success story I want to tell you about comes from Fiji. It is about the most commonly used item in Fiji which is also known as the "grass mat", a mat woven by hand from <strong>pandanus leaves</strong>.<br/><br/>I found the story pretty interesting because it is about the usage of a natural growing material without relying on any machines. In this story no natural resources are put to waste and there are no environmental pollutions during the manufactoring process. <br/><br/>Pandanus trees are palm like, dioecious trees and most numerous on the low islands of Polynesia (where Fiji is located) and Micronesia. The tree is grown and propagated from shoots that form spontanseously in the axils of the lower leaves. Its fruit can float and spread to other islands without the help from man. <br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="http://www.kivu.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/fiji802.jpg"><img class="align-right" src="http://www.kivu.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/fiji802.jpg"/></a>There are different mats used for different occasions such as ordinary mats for house floors or special mats as wedding gifts etc. Mats made of pandanus leaves are used for walls and floors as well as for decorating purposes. Some of them have very detailed patterns and are very artistic looking.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="http://www.kivu.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/fiji827.jpg"><img class="align-left" src="http://www.kivu.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/fiji827.jpg"/></a>Before the weaving starts the leaves need to be scraped, boiled and dried in the sun. The dried leaves are gathered and split into long parallel strands. Once the strands are split they are lined up in criss cross patterns and the weaving begins. The leaves are slightly different shades and the ladies make sure to arrange them in a pattern they prefer. Most mats have highly decorative and brightly coloured wool.</p>ACT7 - Mission 7: Social networkstag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-06-14:4871302:BlogPost:2339192012-06-14T11:31:56.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p>This task was kind of difficult to finish. I tried to google and ask friends if they knew anything about the resilience plans of our city. But I couldn't find any satisfying answers. Upon reading blog posts of other agents I came across a pretty recent debate: Using social networks to communicate with each other. I couldn't believe I didn't think of the most recent and also one of the fastest method of expanding resilience nowadays.<br></br><br></br>It is a fact that facebook has been blocked in…</p>
<p>This task was kind of difficult to finish. I tried to google and ask friends if they knew anything about the resilience plans of our city. But I couldn't find any satisfying answers. Upon reading blog posts of other agents I came across a pretty recent debate: Using social networks to communicate with each other. I couldn't believe I didn't think of the most recent and also one of the fastest method of expanding resilience nowadays.<br/><br/>It is a fact that facebook has been blocked in Saudi Arabia and China. But why is that? Why would a country block a site which is merely made for staying in touch with your friends and collegues? It is pretty obvious that facebook has become a powerful tool for spreading news to thousands of people within a very short span of time. It is easy and free to use and has a simple tool controlling who you want to share the news with. Everyone can join the discussion of a specific news item and they can share the news with their friends and friends' of friends.<br/><br/>Unfortunately a tool as powerful as facebook can also be used for purposes which the government doesn't support, such as building up a rebelling group or gathering people for demonstration. But not wanting to turn your back against the government, it is useful and easy to learn. Many of my friends have a fb account. And many companies such as Bahn.de joined facebook as well. It is easy and fast to receive the latest updates and you can share their news also with other people. <br/><br/>I discovered a lot of news through facebook and I personally think it's one of the best news spreading sites online.</p>IMAGINE7 - Mission 7: Urban Resilience in Braunschweig 2020tag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-06-11:4871302:BlogPost:2333282012-06-11T22:00:17.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p>I believe that the fastest way of sharing information is to spread the news among big TV screens at crowded places. TV screens can always attract a person's attention and even if someone can't see the screen, he will still be able to hear the audio from the news. I can imagine everyone having an internet enabled mobile phone in 8 years. But it's not always possible to walk while looking at your phone, this could be dangerous when you're crossing a street as well. TV screens can bring the…</p>
<p>I believe that the fastest way of sharing information is to spread the news among big TV screens at crowded places. TV screens can always attract a person's attention and even if someone can't see the screen, he will still be able to hear the audio from the news. I can imagine everyone having an internet enabled mobile phone in 8 years. But it's not always possible to walk while looking at your phone, this could be dangerous when you're crossing a street as well. TV screens can bring the information to you without you putting much effort into retrieving it. This is why I chose a TV network based resilience concept for the future of Braunschweig.<br/><br/>Each TV screen uses a centralized database system which can be accessed through an online and authorized login. You can basically update the information shown on each TV screen, as long as you have a computer which is connected to the internet. The centralized databases enable non redundant information sharing. That way, you won't have to worry about duplicated information or errors within news updates. This system also offers an app for your personal mobile phone. You can chose to be updated even without being close to a TV screen.<br/><br/>Before setting up a screen, information needs to be gathered. It's important to know how many people actually walk past that place every day. It'd be a waste placing TV screens at rather empty places. Beside crowded places, they can also be set up in busses and trains. That way, people can already decide on the bus whether to go to a certain place or not.<br/><br/>The following map presents an example of how the TV screens can be placed within Braunschweig (Click on the map for a larger version):<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="http://kisuki.net/desktop/20120611215900898.jpeg"><img class="align-center" src="http://kisuki.net/desktop/20120611215900898.jpeg?width=500" width="500"/></a></p>LEARN7 - Mission 7: Local crisistag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-06-09:4871302:BlogPost:2327352012-06-09T12:21:02.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p>Braunschweig is the city I'm currently living in. It is a small and peaceful town which haven't had any unexpected incidents since I moved here. Since the weather is generally pretty stable in Braunschweig I can only think of 2 crisis which might occur: Sudden discovery of bombs from WW2 and breakout of an unexpected pandemic. I did experience the first crisis at first hand whereas the second one could happen in the future.<br></br><br></br><strong>Discovery of bombs from WW2<br></br></strong>During WW2…</p>
<p>Braunschweig is the city I'm currently living in. It is a small and peaceful town which haven't had any unexpected incidents since I moved here. Since the weather is generally pretty stable in Braunschweig I can only think of 2 crisis which might occur: Sudden discovery of bombs from WW2 and breakout of an unexpected pandemic. I did experience the first crisis at first hand whereas the second one could happen in the future.<br/><br/><strong>Discovery of bombs from WW2<br/></strong>During WW2 Braunschweig was attacked by Allied aircraft in 42 bombing raids. The attack on the night of 14/15 October 1944 marked the high point of the destruction. The air raid caused a huge firestorm because of which Braunschweig burnt continuously for two and a half days. Moreover, the attack destroyed more than 90% of Braunschweig's mediaeval city centre. It is therefore not uncommon for construction workers to find bombing leftovers from WW2. Not all of them are dangerous and need to be removed. But there are a few bombs which got dropped but never exploded. They can become a real threat to neighbouring residents for noone knows when and if they will explode and how much damage they will cause. <br/><br/>Until now residents had been warned beforehand and left their homes in time before experts started to examine the bombing leftovers. But what would happen if the bomb had to be removed right after it was discovered. There would be no time telling the residents to leave their homes. This is when the Ushahidi platform would come in handy. It could spread the word about the location of the bomb and the time needed for it to be removed. The information could be transmitted to a local radio or tv station informing the people about the bomb and telling them to leave their homes.<br/><br/><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Breakout of a pandemic</strong></span><br/>Since natural disasters seem to be unlikely to occur in Braunschweig, another possible crisis remains: The sudden breakout of a pandemic. In order to keep the damage of a pandemic as little as possible, it is important to inform the residents of the dangers as early as possible. It is also necessary to give them proper instructions of what to do next. This could stop them from panicking and making things worse. Spreading the word about the pandemic and giving further instructions could be done using the Ushahidi platform.</p>IMAGINE6 - Mission 6: Helping a family out of povertytag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-05-30:4871302:BlogPost:2318772012-05-30T13:32:19.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p>My parents and I donated $30 in total for this project: <a href="http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/a-hundred-friends/">http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/a-hundred-friends/</a><br></br><strong><br></br>"This project empowers local women to tackle poverty, improves education, and fights daily difficulties in their lives to bring a brighter future by accessing to income-generating work."<br></br><br></br></strong>Obviously I can't follow the flow of our donation and see its effect at first hand which is…</p>
<p>My parents and I donated $30 in total for this project: <a href="http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/a-hundred-friends/">http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/a-hundred-friends/</a><br/><strong><br/>"This project empowers local women to tackle poverty, improves education, and fights daily difficulties in their lives to bring a brighter future by accessing to income-generating work."<br/><br/></strong>Obviously I can't follow the flow of our donation and see its effect at first hand which is why I'm writing down my thoughts as a blog post: <strong><br/><br/></strong>Baibai is an ordinary Tibetan girl. In order to survive, Baibai's family relies on herding and farming. This is the reason why education has never been an option to her and her siblings. Her older sisters and brothers quit school after primary school because their family needed them and thus there was no time left for books and tests. All of her older sisters married young and never left the community or took a different path in life. But Baibai is different. She has a natural habit of being very curious. Ever since she discovered that there is an entire world outside of Tibet, her biggest dream has been to become a adventurer. But she knows that as soon as she finishes primary school she has to take the path her parents set for her, which is to help them herding and farming as it is their one and only source of income. <br/><br/>However, Baibai soon discovers that beside her curiosity for new countries, she also loves to create new clothes. Even her parents praised the hat Baibai made using old pieces of cloth and broken tools. One day in school Baibai learns about a new project of helping women to increase their income by applying their craft skills and talents at an outside market. This new project will employ 8-10 local women full time while providing training to improve productivity and a brand and logo to market their businesses. Suddenly Baibai realizes that she doesn't need to take the same path her siblings followed. She might be able to break out of the cycle of poverty!<br/><br/>Today in year 2020, Baibai has her own company and brand in Shanghai selling Tibetan styled clothes thanks to the new project started back in 2012. The project developed throughout the years and became one of the biggest women supporting projects in Tibet, lifting a lot of women and her families out of the poverty. Baibai made proper education possible for her younger siblings and also helped her parents to buy a better house in Tibet (she offered them to live with her in Shanghai, but they refused to leave their home town). She's married to a lovely young man in Shanghai and has 3 kids. Baibai did not only manage to break out of the cycle but also created a better future for her new and old family.<strong><br/></strong></p>ACT6 - Mission 6: Income-Generating Project for Tibetan Craftswomentag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-05-30:4871302:BlogPost:2317112012-05-30T12:50:54.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p>Being born in China I felt the responsibility to look for projects supporting Chinese women. Scanning through all active projects I came across this one: <a href="http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/a-hundred-friends/">http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/a-hundred-friends/</a> <br></br><br></br><strong>"Empowering a woman is empowering a family"<br></br></strong>This projects aims to equip local textile craftsmen with the necessary items, who would then be hired to create traditional Tibetan textiles.…</p>
<p>Being born in China I felt the responsibility to look for projects supporting Chinese women. Scanning through all active projects I came across this one: <a href="http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/a-hundred-friends/">http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/a-hundred-friends/</a> <br/><br/><strong>"Empowering a woman is empowering a family"<br/></strong>This projects aims to equip local textile craftsmen with the necessary items, who would then be hired to create traditional Tibetan textiles. 90% of Tibetan children do not continue education after primary school. Girls stay at home, herd, get married, stay within the community and repeat the cycle of poverty and poor education. Thus most women do not leave the community to find work.<strong><br/><br/>"This project allows local women to apply their craft skills and talents at higher scale in local and outside market, offering opportunity for local women to earn income for their families and enhance their skills."<br/></strong>This project will empower local women by providing income-generating works. It will be a self sustaining source of income for the entire local community.<strong><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="http://cloud.globalgiving.org/pfil/8123/pict_grid7.jpg"><img class="align-center" src="http://cloud.globalgiving.org/pfil/8123/pict_grid7.jpg"/></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><br/></strong>People responsible for this project have almost achieved their goal of raising $4000. I donated $10 and I'm happy to have brought this project one step closer towards its goal. In an effort to spread the word of this project I posted the link on my facebook profile, hoping for my friends to also take a look and maybe even take action. I asked my parents to donate as well and sent the link to all of my friends I have on MSN and ICQ and asked them directly to donate. Hopefully we can reach the goal together at the end of next month!<strong><br/></strong></p>ACT5 - Mission 5: Thermoelectric Power On Demandtag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-05-30:4871302:BlogPost:2315602012-05-30T12:17:51.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p>I own an Ipod which is why seeing the word "POD" on this site <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com">http://www.kickstarter.com</a> caught my attention. I briefly scanned the description and decided to support it by donating a dollar. What impressed me most is the idea of carrying renewal energy with me when I'm outside. Renewable energy concepts usually catch my attention since the earth is slowly running out of its natural resources. What people need most nowadays is to find out how to…</p>
<p>I own an Ipod which is why seeing the word "POD" on this site <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com">http://www.kickstarter.com</a> caught my attention. I briefly scanned the description and decided to support it by donating a dollar. What impressed me most is the idea of carrying renewal energy with me when I'm outside. Renewable energy concepts usually catch my attention since the earth is slowly running out of its natural resources. What people need most nowadays is to find out how to create clean and environmental friendly energy.</p>
<p>"The Tellurex tPOD1 is powered by tea candles commonly available throughout the world which can be made from green, natural, and renewable resources. When placed beneath the Tellurex tPOD1, these inexpensive candles provide the right amount of heat needed for the thermoelectric modules in the tPOD1 to generate around one-quarter watt of power."</p>
<p>The design could still need some more work. But I'm pretty sure once they gathered enough money for its further development the tPOD can become something big. Who knows, we might not need to rely on batteries anymore in the near future.</p>LEARN6 - Mission 6: Teen pregnancytag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-05-30:4871302:BlogPost:2318642012-05-30T11:18:53.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p>Teen precnancy<br></br>Teen pregnancy is one of Madagascar's severe issues. Girls as young as 12 or 13 years old get pregnant because they lack education and birth control. Often the birth comes with a lot of other difficulties such as travelling to far away hospitals, high death rates right after giving birth and post-birth infections leading to dangerous diseases and sometimes even death. UN Population Fund revealed that the Sofia region has one of the highest death rates in the country, with…</p>
<p>Teen precnancy<br/>Teen pregnancy is one of Madagascar's severe issues. Girls as young as 12 or 13 years old get pregnant because they lack education and birth control. Often the birth comes with a lot of other difficulties such as travelling to far away hospitals, high death rates right after giving birth and post-birth infections leading to dangerous diseases and sometimes even death. UN Population Fund revealed that the Sofia region has one of the highest death rates in the country, with 1 in every 10 mothers dying during childbirth. <br/><br/>Many mothers are still children themselves without fully developed bodies and not having the strength to give birth. They suffer from dangerous injuries during the birth process and are often rejected afterwards because of the smell and additional expense of soap and pads. Some of them can't afford going to the hospital and are forced to rely on "matrons" (elder woman in the village having knowledge of traditional medicine). Since matrons use traditional medicine they often give the girls very strong herbs. However, due to the strong effect of the herbs they can cause a shock reaction in the body.<br/><br/><strong>Solutions offered by UNFPA<br/></strong>In order to avoid dangerous side effects caused by herbs UNFPA offers to train matrons who are taught that a woman in labour should not see the sun rise twice. They also train community health workers and provide kits for delivery. UNFPA is trying to reach more women with birth control which has become one of the obsticles because many husbands don't want their wives to use birth control. In an effort to overcome this issue UNFPA has built a special clinic in Antsohihy where it supplies birth control options that last several months. They also focus on sexual education such as having discussions and showings movies about HIC, STIs, birth controls.<br/><br/></p>LEARN5 - Mission 5: Mobile paymentstag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-05-26:4871302:BlogPost:2311402012-05-26T14:21:27.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p>There's one thing beside money you hold close to you wherever you go. Yes, you guessed it right, it's your personal mobile phone. Building upon this fact, <a href="http://www.sapient.com/en-us/sapientnitro.html" target="_blank">SapientNitro</a> came up with a very detailed and interesting infographic about mobile payments in the future. The growing distribution of smart phones makes the development of mobile payment concepts even easier.<strong><br></br><br></br>There are 3 different types of mobile…</strong></p>
<p>There's one thing beside money you hold close to you wherever you go. Yes, you guessed it right, it's your personal mobile phone. Building upon this fact, <a href="http://www.sapient.com/en-us/sapientnitro.html" target="_blank">SapientNitro</a> came up with a very detailed and interesting infographic about mobile payments in the future. The growing distribution of smart phones makes the development of mobile payment concepts even easier.<strong><br/><br/>There are 3 different types of mobile payments</strong><br/><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2234220400?profile=original"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2234220400?profile=original" width="369"/></a>1. m-Commerce: This is probably the most common way of purchasing items online these days. You navigate to your desired item and online shop using the browser on your smart phone. After adding the item to your cart you follow the instructions on the website. This method basically just replaces your desktop PC and is often called standard web commerce.<br/><br/><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2234220351?profile=original"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2234220351?profile=original" width="386"/></a>2. m-Payments: Your credit card information is stored on your phone (via an app especially designed for this purpose). Prior to your purchase, you need to enter your pin. Tap your phone to the NFC pos and your information is sent for authentification. This method uses contactless and mobile app technologies.<br/><br/>3. m-Wallet: The third option doesn't require your credit card information but you to load funds to your phone. After scanning the barcode of the desired item, the amount is deducted from your account and the new balance will appear on your phone. This method aims to replace your full wallet.<br/><br/><strong>Using technologies of mobile phones, there are 5 possible mobile payment models</strong><br/>1. Contactless concepts aim to use NFC, RFID and FeliCs. Internet is not required for this model. These technologies are usually already implemented in most of the smart phones nowadays.<br/>2. When internet is enabled and available, mobile apps can be used for fast and secure payments.<br/>3. Beside mobile apps, preinstalled mobile browsers can be used for online payments.<br/>4. Non-smart mobile phone owners have the possibility to pay via SMS services.<br/>5. USSD is similiar to SMS but is quicker and has the ability to invoke commands with common codes rather than opening a messaging application.<br/><br/><strong>Challenges till mobile payments will be fully accepted</strong><br/>While many online shops are starting to develop their own mobile payment concepts, there are still a lot of concerns coming from the smart phone users. Most of them worry about privacy and they believe there is increased risk of identity theft and fraudulent activities. But there are also many smart phone owners who are looking forward to the day that most payments are done with mobile phone. They see it as more convenient than other forms of payment. <br/><br/>I personally believe that once developers can reduce the risk and privacy issues to a minimum, mobile payment will become one of the main payment methods in the future. It is fast and easy to use and saves a lot of trouble of going to your bank and physically take out cash to pay for your desired item.<br/><br/><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2234223610?profile=original"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2234223610?profile=original" width="500"/></a></p>IMAGINE4 - Mission 4: Using used instead of clean water to flush your toilet!tag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-05-19:4871302:BlogPost:2301612012-05-19T19:25:49.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p>It's March 24, 2020 and "Global Water Day". On this day founded 5 years ago experts composed a list of water saving methods. Even though GWD is still at its experimenting stage, a lot of people already choose to celebrate it by applying different methods to this special day. I want to introduce one method I came up with 5 years ago:<br></br><br></br>How many times do you flush your toilet every day? Have you ever been wondering why the toilet always uses clean (drinkable) water to flush down your…</p>
<p>It's March 24, 2020 and "Global Water Day". On this day founded 5 years ago experts composed a list of water saving methods. Even though GWD is still at its experimenting stage, a lot of people already choose to celebrate it by applying different methods to this special day. I want to introduce one method I came up with 5 years ago:<br/><br/>How many times do you flush your toilet every day? Have you ever been wondering why the toilet always uses clean (drinkable) water to flush down your business? Help the environment by saving water and use "second hand" water to flush your toilet! Stop wasting clean water after you do your business. Gather up the water you use to wash your hands, to take a shower, to wash your hair, to clean up your house in a tank and use this tank to flush your toilet!<br/><br/>It might request slightly more labor work to gather up and use the water instead of pushing the button on top of your toilet. But always keep in mind that you're improving the worldwide water crisis and setting up a good example to all people around you!<br/><br/><br/></p>ACT4 - Mission 4: Donating $10 for the Uganda Water Projecttag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-05-19:4871302:BlogPost:2303062012-05-19T19:06:50.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p>While investigating innovative water projects for mission 4 I came across the "Uganda Water Project". I briefly described their mission to provide safe and accessible drinking water using water tanks in Uganda (please check my "Learn" blog post of mission 4). Each water tank costs $3500 to build and install and can be used for more than 30 years!<br></br><br></br>I must admit that I've never donated any money to projects like this before. Which is why I decided to stop being selfish and finally…</p>
<p>While investigating innovative water projects for mission 4 I came across the "Uganda Water Project". I briefly described their mission to provide safe and accessible drinking water using water tanks in Uganda (please check my "Learn" blog post of mission 4). Each water tank costs $3500 to build and install and can be used for more than 30 years!<br/><br/>I must admit that I've never donated any money to projects like this before. Which is why I decided to stop being selfish and finally spend money on a good cause. I know $10 might not be much but it's a start. <strong>And if I can convince 350 more people to join me, then another water tank can be built in Uganda for the next 35 years!!!</strong><br/><br/>So guys, please think about it! Follow this link to donate: <a href="http://ugandanwaterproject.com/shop">http://ugandanwaterproject.com/shop</a><br/><br/>Donation video:<br/><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mWnX-HXSC40?wmode=opaque" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<br/><br/><br/></p>LEARN4 - Mission 4: Ugandan Water Projecttag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-05-19:4871302:BlogPost:2303852012-05-19T17:33:47.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p style="text-align: left;">While looking for innovative water projects I came across the project called "Uganda Water Project" (UWP). It aims at providing safe and accessible drinking water and other catalyst resources to communities in Uganda. UWP centers around rain water collection systems funded by donors wishing to have an individual connection to rural communities in the East African nation of Uganda. <br></br><br></br>It takes about 30 days to install and build a tank once the funds are…</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">While looking for innovative water projects I came across the project called "Uganda Water Project" (UWP). It aims at providing safe and accessible drinking water and other catalyst resources to communities in Uganda. UWP centers around rain water collection systems funded by donors wishing to have an individual connection to rural communities in the East African nation of Uganda. <br/><br/>It takes about 30 days to install and build a tank once the funds are deposited in the organization's account. However, the time span can be larger or smaller depending on several variables. Each system features rain water collection tanks holding up to 2600 gallons of water (~10 000 Liter tanks). The tanks are about 214 meters tall and 152 meters in diameter and cost $3500 each. Each tank provides drinking water for appr. 100 families or 500 students and has a 35 year lifespan.<br/><br/>Surprisingly, the rain water is safe for drinking without any treatments. Until recently UWP has been trying to find a treatment option that could be economically sustained within the limits of the typical Ugandan income ($1-$2 each day). They're beginning to introduce simple electrolysis units that convert salt water to chloride and make water treatment affordable.<br/><br/><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="http://ugandanwaterproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/007-uganda-water-web-200x300.jpg"><img class="align-center" src="http://ugandanwaterproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/007-uganda-water-web-200x300.jpg"/></a></p>IMAGINE3 - Mission 3: Tell a creative story about how you're celebrating a special day in the year 2020tag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-05-12:4871302:BlogPost:2292842012-05-12T13:05:29.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p>I'm sitting in the living room with my family and we're having Christmas dinner. The main light source comes from candles on our Christmas tree next to the table. The electrical light is darkened and you can hear soft music coming from the radio. Everything in our living room uses a power source we generate on our own (except for the TV). Each of us generates mechanical energy for the generator we keep in our garage. The converted electrical energy stays for at least a year before starting…</p>
<p>I'm sitting in the living room with my family and we're having Christmas dinner. The main light source comes from candles on our Christmas tree next to the table. The electrical light is darkened and you can hear soft music coming from the radio. Everything in our living room uses a power source we generate on our own (except for the TV). Each of us generates mechanical energy for the generator we keep in our garage. The converted electrical energy stays for at least a year before starting to lose its power. The costs for electricity decreased a lot throughout the years. We're planning on using the remaining money to buy a more energy efficient generator in a few years.</p>
<p>It would be great if we could have our own power supply for at least one part of our household by 2020.</p>ACT3 - Mission 3: Design a new way to power something you use everyday.tag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-05-12:4871302:BlogPost:2292822012-05-12T11:51:52.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p>The table lamp standing right next to me is the item I use everyday. It would be great if I could generate its power source on my own. I've read some of other Evoke members' ideas; the most popular one is to build a generator which can feed your lamp with electrical power. The basic idea is to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy. I came up with several steps which I think are important for building a generator:<br></br><br></br>Step 1: Collect data of my everyday life<br></br>What kind of…</p>
<p>The table lamp standing right next to me is the item I use everyday. It would be great if I could generate its power source on my own. I've read some of other Evoke members' ideas; the most popular one is to build a generator which can feed your lamp with electrical power. The basic idea is to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy. I came up with several steps which I think are important for building a generator:<br/><br/>Step 1: Collect data of my everyday life<br/>What kind of mechanical energy do I produce everyday? It is important to explore my daily physical movement. Which of my movements can be used as possible mechanical energy source? Here are a few ideas:<br/>- Walking up and down the stairs<br/>- Walking to college and back home<br/>- The flow of water of the toilet/when I wash my hands/in the shower<br/><br/>Step 2: Convert the mechanical energy to electrical energy<br/>For this step, I'll need help from friends who are familiar with electrical engineering. They can introduce me to some basic and theoretical steps of using mechanical power to make electrical energy. Together, we can work out a wiring scheme which can be used for the generator.<br/><br/>Step 3: Saving the energy<br/>I think this might be the hardest step. I have to find a way to save the energy for later use without losing its power. The generator should be able to keep the energy at its power level at any time. I can always attach the generator to the lamp when I need it and turn it off when I turn off the lamp.<br/><br/>This is what I think the most efficient way to generate power using your everyday life.</p>LEARN3 - Mission 3: Who else is inventing creative, sustainable ways to power our everyday lives?tag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-05-12:4871302:BlogPost:2292802012-05-12T10:40:16.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p><strong>Basic facts about India's electricity supply</strong><br></br>More than 65% of India's population lives in the countryside which contains more than 60 000 villages. Many of them are situated in rugged terrain and inaccessible locations. This is the reason why most of these remote villages are not connected to the national electric power grid. Some villages have a very irregular electricity supply whereas other villages have no electricity at all.<br></br><br></br>Innovator Manoj Sinha<br></br>Indian…</p>
<p><strong>Basic facts about India's electricity supply</strong><br/>More than 65% of India's population lives in the countryside which contains more than 60 000 villages. Many of them are situated in rugged terrain and inaccessible locations. This is the reason why most of these remote villages are not connected to the national electric power grid. Some villages have a very irregular electricity supply whereas other villages have no electricity at all.<br/><br/>Innovator Manoj Sinha<br/>Indian student Manoj Sinha grew up reading using a gas lamp or traveling to far away places for electrical supply. Due to his energy starved childhood, Manoj Sinha dreamt of bringing power to villages like his. His dream came true when he chose to participate in Dell's annual "Social Innovation Challenge" with his friends Ratnesh Yadav and Charles W Ransler. Their idea of using rice husk to produce electricity for villages placed first in DSIC 2008.<br/><br/>Rice husk power systems<br/>The idea was simple: Use rice husks, a renewable resource, to produce cost effective, clean, environmentally friendly and locally generated electricity. This idea minimizes difficulties associated with centralized power generation and its insufficient and low distribution. Today, villages get uninterrupted power for more than 10 hours a day by setting up a plant and using this unique green technology. Many households have been literally lifted out of darkness with this self sufficient power supply.<b><br/><br/>The success of HPS<br/></b></p>
<ul>
<li>Low cost power and affordable for almost all households in India.</li>
<li>Farmers have reduced irrigation costs by 45 percent.</li>
<li>Dramatically reduced cost/lumen-output ratio for households.</li>
<li>Productivity increases because fuel doesn’t have to be procured on foot from cities that are usually far away.</li>
<li>Ash from burning the rice husks can be used as fertilizer or as a low cost ingredient for cement.</li>
<li><p>More than 50 tons of CO<sub>2</sub> have been sequestered.</p>
</li>
</ul>ACT2 - Mission 2: Increase the food security of at least one person in your communitytag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-05-04:4871302:BlogPost:2277062012-05-04T15:58:32.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p>I think that it is difficult and kind of boring to increase the food security on your own. I would lack motivation to keep up with my work, especially knowing that I can buy food from a supermarket at anytime. This is why I'm planning on starting my own gardening club. I'll invite friends to join in order to set up and work on the garden together. We will plant our own fruit trees and vegetables. Once a year we will hold a "banquet" (probably a stand on a marketplace) with food from our…</p>
<p>I think that it is difficult and kind of boring to increase the food security on your own. I would lack motivation to keep up with my work, especially knowing that I can buy food from a supermarket at anytime. This is why I'm planning on starting my own gardening club. I'll invite friends to join in order to set up and work on the garden together. We will plant our own fruit trees and vegetables. Once a year we will hold a "banquet" (probably a stand on a marketplace) with food from our garden and invite people to have a small meal. This will also help us to gain new members who might be interested in growing his own food.<br/><br/>I'm currently also helping my parents growing vegetables and fruits in our garden. We have planted different Chinese vegetables (my grandma sent us seeds from China) and strawberries. Since summer is coming, I'm hoping to eat the strawberries soon.</p>IMAGINE2 - Mission 2: It's March 10, 2020. What are you eating for dinner?tag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-05-04:4871302:BlogPost:2277022012-05-04T15:32:03.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<div>It's 7 PM and I look out of the kitchen window. I see the trees in my garden and the last rays of sunshine shining through the leaves. I stand up and take another look at the trees I planted years ago. A soft wind drifts outside, making the leaves covering the signs I put up infront of each tree. Each sign tells me what kind of fruit the tree bears. I take a quick glance at the beds full of vegetables being ready to be picked and turned into delicious meals. I smile and think back when my…</div>
<div>It's 7 PM and I look out of the kitchen window. I see the trees in my garden and the last rays of sunshine shining through the leaves. I stand up and take another look at the trees I planted years ago. A soft wind drifts outside, making the leaves covering the signs I put up infront of each tree. Each sign tells me what kind of fruit the tree bears. I take a quick glance at the beds full of vegetables being ready to be picked and turned into delicious meals. I smile and think back when my family and I spent money and time to buy food from supermarkets. Those days are long gone, nowadays, it is common to make meals with the food from your own garden. No more food left overs in supermarkets because of miscalculated daily supplies. No more grocery shoppings with your car. Each family can feed themselves with food coming directly from their garden. Since we can supply ourselves with vegetables and fruits, most of the country's food are exported and donated to countries in need.</div>
<p><br/>"What are you looking at? The dinner is ready." My mom says and gives me a slight push towards the dinner table. I sit down and look at the happy faces of my family and parents who come visit us every weekend. "The tomatoes this year are gorgeous. Very sweet and juicy!" My dad tells us. I dip a slice of bread into the tomato soup and take a bite. "Oh you are right and you did a fabulous job on this soup, dad!" I say and smile at my father.</p>
<p></p>LEARN2 - Mission 2: What's the biggest food security challenge near you?tag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-05-04:4871302:BlogPost:2276482012-05-04T14:00:00.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p>Even though my current hometown lies in Germany, I decided to take a look at China's recent food security issues. I personally believe that China's food security challenges are more dominant than those in Germany. Partly because of the much bigger population and partly because of China's rapid development in economy and technology. After ungoing researches online I came across 3 major challenges China has to deal with in the present. I will then give a brief introduction to plant nutriomics.…</p>
<p>Even though my current hometown lies in Germany, I decided to take a look at China's recent food security issues. I personally believe that China's food security challenges are more dominant than those in Germany. Partly because of the much bigger population and partly because of China's rapid development in economy and technology. After ungoing researches online I came across 3 major challenges China has to deal with in the present. I will then give a brief introduction to plant nutriomics. Researches in plant nutriomics aim at innovative solutions for improving plant nutrient efficiency.<strong><br/><br/>Challenges China has to face regarding food security</strong><br/>1. (Obviously) one of the main challenges China has to deal with is to eliminate hunger. With more than 1.3 billion people, China is the world's most populous country. Thus avoiding undernourishment and starvation is one of the government's biggest and most important tasks. In year 2015, China will be one of the very few countries in the world that will have fulfilled the "Millennium Development Goal" of reducing the existence of hunger by 50%. Even so, it is a fact that during 2005 till 2007 undernourishment still affected 130 million people, most of them living in the countryside in central and western regions.<br/><br/>2. The second challenge is that of fullfilling the growing appetite of a population that is becoming richer and more demanding. China enjoys significant increases in the consumption of non staple foods such as meat, fish, fruits, eggs and dairy products. One of the possible reasons is the continuous rise of incomes, especially among rural residents, leading to an intensifying demand for non staple food.<br/><br/>3. The last challenge I'd like to point out is China's growing resource and environmental contraints, inhibiting its pursuit of growth regarding food supplies. Population pressure and urbanization have resulted in the loss of some of the country's best farmland. Since 1990, China has suffered a loss of about 8 million hectares of arable land. An additional challenge is China's serious shortages of water, which are getting worse steadily by the uneven distribution of existing supplies. In particular, Northern China, where much of China's wheat and cotton is produced, is severely deficient in water, thanks to the depletion of surface water supplies.<br/><br/><strong>Plant nutriomics</strong><br/>As mentioned above population pressure and environmental constraints have created great challenges on agriculture in China to explore innovative and effective solutions to its plant nutritional problems. Even though plant nutriomics is still at a rather conceptual stage, several efforts have been made aimed at increasing plant nutrient efficiency through a coordinated project on plant nutriomics. Future studies involving both national and international collaborations are needed in order to develop nutrient-efficient and high-quality crop varieties for China. Detailed article about plant nutriomics in China: <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2803557/">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2803557/</a></p>IMAGINE1 - Mission 1: Imagine your future selftag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-04-27:4871302:BlogPost:2263812012-04-27T20:51:54.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p>This is a pretty interesting task for I believe that everyone has thought about it at least once. As for me my future self has often come across my mind. I have two future selfs though, depending on how successful one of them is. The second future self only exists if the first one has achieved the set goals.</p>
<p></p>
<p>First future self: After graduating from college I work at different places until I finally find the job I truly like. I try to work as hard as I can and maybe get…</p>
<p>This is a pretty interesting task for I believe that everyone has thought about it at least once. As for me my future self has often come across my mind. I have two future selfs though, depending on how successful one of them is. The second future self only exists if the first one has achieved the set goals.</p>
<p></p>
<p>First future self: After graduating from college I work at different places until I finally find the job I truly like. I try to work as hard as I can and maybe get promoted. I have a lovely family and we're living in a house not too close to downtown but still close enough for grocery shoppings. We adopt a child from China and it grows up in Germany. I could also imagine me being in the States in 10 years.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Second future self: If I'm successful at my job I'll start investing in a project and help building schools throughout the world. I want to help children to have a proper education and to build a better future for them. There are too many children who can't afford going to school. I want to change this fact since this world depends on its children. I personally think that its the least thing I can do before I die (that is if I have the power and money).</p>
<p></p>ACT1 - Mission 1: Choose a hero to shadowtag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-04-27:4871302:BlogPost:2262992012-04-27T20:24:01.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p>The hero I chose is called Arvind Gupta. A brief overview of his work can be found on <a href="http://www.afrigadget.com/2011/04/12/retain-reuse-rejoice/" target="_blank">this site</a>. I must admit I wasn't too impressed when I first read of his idea of making toys out of trash. Don't children often use any kind of material in order to invent something they can play with? I remember doing that a lot when I was younger.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I went to his site to take a look at the toys he created…</p>
<p>The hero I chose is called Arvind Gupta. A brief overview of his work can be found on <a href="http://www.afrigadget.com/2011/04/12/retain-reuse-rejoice/" target="_blank">this site</a>. I must admit I wasn't too impressed when I first read of his idea of making toys out of trash. Don't children often use any kind of material in order to invent something they can play with? I remember doing that a lot when I was younger.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I went to his site to take a look at the toys he created and discovered <a href="http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/toys.html" target="_blank">this huge list of toys</a> (you can also find a very impressive list of books by Gupta). The instant when I scrolled down to the end of the site, I was simply blown away by the amount of details and creativity Arvind Gupta put into his creations. I think that he's one of the best innovators I've seen throughout the years. The fact that he only uses trash and common tools makes his inventions even more impressive.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Another pretty nice fact which caught my attention is this small part from Gupta's Wikipedia article: "Gupta's website holds instructions, including short video clips on YouTube, in a number of languages, for making hundreds of improvised toys, which he makes available freely without copyright restrictions." After reading his article I decided to look for him on Facebook and found <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arvind-Gupta-toys-and-books/304200697621" target="_blank">his page</a>. I'm now following him on Facebook in order to keep up with his future toys, books, videos and updates in general.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I must admit that I'm personally really looking forward to seeing more of his toys and creations.</p>LEARN1 - Mission 1: Learn the secret code of social innovationtag:www.urgentevoke.com,2012-04-27:4871302:BlogPost:2262912012-04-27T16:13:42.000ZJuanjuan Yinhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/JuanjuanYin
<p>After reading the 33 secrets, I think that each of them is important in its own way. They build upon each other, thus making every secret one part of a whole plan of innovation. This is why thinking about social innovations you should consider all of the 33 points instead of focusing on just one.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Being born into two different cultures (my parents come from China but I grew up in Germany) I think that "Don’t fight culture" is my favourite secret. My parents and I sometimes…</p>
<p>After reading the 33 secrets, I think that each of them is important in its own way. They build upon each other, thus making every secret one part of a whole plan of innovation. This is why thinking about social innovations you should consider all of the 33 points instead of focusing on just one.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Being born into two different cultures (my parents come from China but I grew up in Germany) I think that "Don’t fight culture" is my favourite secret. My parents and I sometimes fight over small matters. On the one hand they simply can't understand the state of mind I developed in Germany and on the other hand I'm not willing to accept their ways of Chinese thinking. I realized that it is very difficult to convince a person to adapt an innovation if it doesn't add to his cultural background. I personally believe that the cultural background is the main engine pushing someone's actions. People grow up within a special cultural environment. This environment forms the person they are today. Having an innovation opposing this environment can only end up in frustration and disapprovement. People would not be willing to step out of their familiar surroudings in order to adapt something they don't like/approve.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Having this said it is important to observe the culture and to learn its rules before coming up with any innovation plans. It is also important to keep in mind that innovations are supposed to help people and not to force them onto something new. This is why: Don't fight culture!</p>