Snowball Effect
This week, we began preparing the Snowball Effect exhibition at PAS.
The truth is that I was familiar with the project and some of its initiatives, but I was really impressed by the quality in which they were documented. It’s a project that documents and collects initiatives working for the common good, creating a poster with great images of each initiative, and adding a QR code that leads to a testimony and a brief explanation of the purpose. The initiatives are easy to replicate because many of them don’t require significant resources to start. That’s why the project is called Snowball Effect — anyone can take the idea to their context, neighborhood, city, or country, and grow its impact, starting to work for the common good without having to reinvent the wheel.
I truly believe the exhibition is very inspiring because it showcases projects from different corners of the world, and they meet certain criteria for scalability and impact. This will probably be the first time many people hear about these initiatives, which could make them reflect on the impact potential of replicating an idea. Or maybe it will make them realize they can also be change agents, or even better, it might plant the seed for a new idea or a version of one of these initiatives that could change the lives of many people in another corner of the world.
We’ve framed 15 projects to start, and just seeing the vibrant colors of the photographs in the space is very pleasant and sparks curiosity to get closer and take a look. We will also print translations of the audio in Spanish for those who don’t understand English, so that it becomes a permanent exhibition. This is an important first step for our coliving because if we want to turn it into a university in the rural area, having these documented success stories with academic rigor is a solid foundation for the project.
With the movement of people from different countries and the international environment at PAS, the idea feels even more promising. I have no doubt that someone will connect with one of these initiatives and decide to replicate it, or share it with a friend or someone who works in something similar. This exhibition will create cross-pollination, where ideas and people travel, conversations about projects and initiatives will emerge, deep discussions will take place, colivers and visitors will be educated and inspired, and social innovation will be promoted to tackle the great social and environmental challenges.
We discovered Snowball Effect thanks to Jorge Jaramillo, who is driving the project in Spain to spread the word and make it replicable in different places, especially in universities. When he visited us a few weeks ago, he brought some posters of the projects, and when Lulu saw them, the idea for the exhibition began to take shape. After that, Lulu participated in an online workshop with one of the founders to better understand the design of the experience. We also took the opportunity to call a meeting of the Cantabria Impact Network, to share these ideas and initiatives with people in the region’s entrepreneurship and social innovation ecosystem, to start the conversation, to provoke thought in our surroundings.
I think that, while other people have collected and packaged success stories in different formats like podcasts, blogs, books, or entrepreneurship master’s programs, this format seems fresh, accessible, complementary, and inspiring. It’s something worth experiencing, and it allows you to travel the world without leaving the place. The photographs, the stories, the narrative, the melody of the project, and the short length of the audios make it very dynamic. I’ve already started sharing some initiatives with people who have similar ideas.
And you… Are you willing to visit the exhibition and become a pollinator?
