impactmania students from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) and Italian students from Messaggero Veneto Scuola have been collaborating since last December.
“The goal we establish is to create connections that last a lifetime.” This is the message that Paksy Plackis-Cheng, Senior Fellow of Research and Media at UC Santa Barbara, has given to the students in the first online meeting on the second of December, summarizing in one sentence the spirit of this international collaboration: the comparison between cultures and experiences, providing benefits that can lead to human progress.
Equality, diversity, and democracy? impactmania has been covering and connecting with people who drive cultural, social, and economic impact for the last five years. The launch of Digital Nomads — featuring people from 22 countries! — concludes the 2019-2020 impactmania internship program at the Art, Design & Architecture Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).
COVID made many of us DIGITAL NOMADS overnight — through the means of technology working location independently. It will take collaboration to create a more equitable world — acknowledging and celebrating the positive impacts of those across sectors, industries, and cultures is critical.
People have a really one-sided view of what's happening in the world. That breeds polarization. Plus, when they want to do something, they feel hopeless. They think, “I can't. What am I going to do?” They don't know there are people making a difference, let alone connecting with the people who are driving change.
For the new impactmania and UCSB program: Human Mind and Migration (HMM), we are featuring migrants who have been contributing cultural, social, and economic wealth and health to their adopted countries. Add your migration story to the HMM program: www.hmm.ucsb.edu. [...]
I didn't go personally because of the virus and being cautious of that. But also because of my status — it could be more dangerous and risky for me in case the police stops me. If that goes on my record it will affect me and my citizenship eventually. I thought about all those things. It was really stressful. I felt like I wasn't doing enough; I wanted to do more.