24.03.2020
PREAMBLE
Dear all, current and old acquaintances and friends, feel free to join us in an international oriented group (https://www.facebook.com/messages/t/2789231531172828), and also feel free to leave at any point without misunderstanding.
The reasoning behind this "initiative" is obvious; the current state of emergency the most of us are currently going through.
The most of you don't know each other but this shouldn't be an obstacle for exchanging correspondence and views on how each of us is addressing this extraordinary "new way of living". Do not neglect that we also met in extraordinary periods of our lives, i.e. Erasmus student exchange, Athens 2004 volunteers, IAPSS students network, EU traineeship programme, and/or other circumstances, mostly in Greece (Thessaloniki and elsewhere) and Cyprus.
Hence, let's positively alter this nova Modus Vivendi, let's fight isolation via expressions of solidarity, and interchange of serious and soul-healing stories, devastating and hopeful news, in inter-personal and (inter)national level !!
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12.05.2020
In Greece and Cyprus we are also getting out, step be step, from the lockdown era. Statistically, there is a pandemic and/or other (economic) crisis, coming back and back, every decade. I guess, after this is over, we will have ten more years of "normal" life, so let's get the best of it :)
Vasilis Kiliaris
In Greece and Cyprus we are also getting out, step be step, from the lockdown era. Statistically, there is a pandemic and/or other (economic) crisis, re-visiting humanity every decade. I guess, after this is over, we will have ten more years of "normal" life, so let's get the best of them 🙂
On another level, during lockdown I "discovered" the potentials of hackathons, for people with background other from the IT sector. I am currently working with a Team of active Citizens and professionals, developing a Platform-Project titled #OurVoiceMatters.
For those who were brave enough not to quit from our messenger group, I wish to inform that we are open and actually need more individuals, with IT or other background, backgrounds, to join our team.
In two sentences, our vision is to "update our democratic system to the current technological era ... allow(ing) ordinary citizens to shape the post-virus world through a collaborative and deliberative platform that is simple to use".
If you are available or would like to learn more on this, please visit our webpage:
https://devpost.com/software/ourvoicematters
Furthermore, contact me directly for more information on this project.
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25.04.2020
JOINING THE TEAM #OurVoiceMatters channel-project.
Thank you dear Emilie for the inclusion in this Team :slightly_smiling_face: I have read the project proposal and the afore messages. Very well said. Especially the questions part for newcomers and everybody else of course. Though already a lot have been registered in each ones Devpost account, we could enhance the information with special reference to the "#OurVoiceMatters" channel-project.
On my part, I have had a more than 2 years experience as the Coordinator of the EU Cyprus Volunteers” Team of Supporters of the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) "Invest in Education - Cyprus" (InvEd Initiative). Inter alia, I was member of the core team in organizing and participating in three major events and of course for securing the necessary number of supporting signatures on the said Initiative.
Attached you can read in due time a part of my work as a credential of what could be my input in this Project.
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25.04.2020
LOOKING FOR TEAMMATES for the pan-European Hackathon #EUvsVirus via DEVPOST
My profile: https://devpost.com/vkiliaris
Being a former activist, in political participation and invest in education initiatives and projects, I am looking forward to my re-activation, through the current EUvsVirus project, with a view in implementing practical and on the field methods and actions that will further enhance citizens' participation and role in politics, economy and society and make reality the transition into the deliberate democracy model of Europe and the world at large.
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24.04.2020
COMMENT-INTERVENTION to the pan-European Hackathon #EUvsVirus
Εverybody can understand your excitement for implementing this well noted and positive initiative. Nevertheless, we would like to see this more seriously, since the time being the world is suffering, people are dying, too many are infected and many more are in quarantines and locked down in their places, which not everybody have the luxury to resident in big houses and villas.
Please try not to downgrade this hakathon into one more political show on the web ...
Addressing the hosts of this project, Matt C Smith and Yrja Oftedahl
EUvsVirus Author respond:
Vasilis, you're absolutely right! This is far from a laughing matter. We're really sorry that you felt that way. We feel deeply for everyone who is suffering right now, it's tragic what is happening. And we feel very grateful for everyone who is doing their job out there protecting us, and on the other side, for every one who is willing to participate, despite the catastrophic situation that is happening around all of us. The challenges in the hackathon are targeting the problems that surfaced because of covid. And the most wanted domain was health & life. This is a proof that it's not taken lightly. That participants feel the need, and are proactively trying to improve and support the health system. It's brining people together in the most incredible way in order to build solutions and improve our future. And there's people who had been working almost 24/7 for several weeks now, to make this project succeed. We take it completely seriously, but we do it with a smile, because sometimes that's the only way not to crash down.
If you'd like to know more, you're welcome to see more detailed explanations of the domain challenges here: https://euvsvirus.org/challenges/ Stay safe #StrongerTogether
MyReply:
I appreciate for your respond and can imagine and understand by my own experience the pressure and sacrifices you undergo to make this project evolve.
I just believe that is different to do this with a smile and positive attitude and differently appears on the web, i.e. the way you perform the introduction and hosting the panels reminds a talent reality show.
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23.04.2020
INTERVENTION in the #DelphiEconomicForum (crowdcast) Event titled: "Up for grabs? Disaster diplomacy and other tools of influence in Southeast Europe at the age of #Covid_19" AND REPLY-COMMENT to Stagiaire colleague Diana*
In the international arena, the fact is that the #USA and the five major #European states, suffer a huge blow from the #pandemic with a heavy toll of victims, the highest officially registered in the world. On the other hand, number of countries, e.g. #China and #Russia, where liberal democracy is absent or not well established, announce much lower accounts on the real situation on the ground.
However, western powers, leaving a power vacuum in disaster diplomacy for eastern powers, in a matter that can be handled with basic anti-pandemic policies (internal production of masks and gloves for own use and for donation-exports, keeping social distance measures, changing unhygienic culture and following basic sanitation type behaviours), are missing the opportunity to positively influence the integration in their sphere of interests of a number of countries all over the world hit by the COVID-19, especially in the western Balkans and beyond.
[...]
Στο δε ημεδαπό πολιτικό πεδίο, η επιστροφή της μικροπολιτικής αντιπαράθεσης στα κοινά με σουρεαλισμό αναδεικνύει την επιστροφή στην "κανονικότητα", ήτοι της επίτευξης ευθυγράμμισης της καμπύλης κρουσμάτων και θυμάτων ένεκα της #πανδημίας και δη της επικείμενης δρομολόγησης σταδιακής άρσης των μέτρων προστασίας και κοινωνικής αποστασιοποίησης του πληθυσμού σε #Ελλάδα και #Κύπρο, που ορθώς επιβλήθηκαν εγκαίρως για τον περιορισμό της εξάπλωσης της πανδημίας #κορωναϊού, στον Ελληνισμό εν γένει !!
* Thanks Vasilis for expressing your view. There are different hypothesis on what's going on. Not easy to understand for simple citizen. I am just questioning. Whether this virus was created in a lab? Whether it's naturally appeared? If the 1st case is yes, who and for what purpose (pharmaceuticals -vaccine promotion, general fear spread to make a market for many other future 'products', 'war' among different economies, long term countries debts and way to make some changes 'hiding' behind this virus crisis etc..). If the 2nd case is yes, we all should pose question of how to continue to live. The earth is showing significant disbalance threading ourselves. Time to come back to sources, pay attention to life cycles everywhere, outside as inside ourselves. In any case, what's happening is disbalance and reaction is needed. Just would be great to understand a real cause. Any other thoughts or hypothesis? Would be interesting to hear
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23.03.2020
A Messenger Group: https://www.facebook.com/messages/t/2789231531172828
Dear all, current and old acquaintances and friends, feel free to join me in this international oriented group, and also feel free to leave at any point without misunderstanding.
The reasoning behind this "initiative" is obvious; the current state of emergency the most of us are currently going through.
The most of you don't know each other but this shouldn't be an obstacle for exchanging correspondence and views on how each of us is addressing this extraordinary "new way of living". Do not neglect that we also met in extraordinary periods of our lives, i.e. Erasmus student exchange, Athens 2004 volunteers, IAPSS students network, EU traineeship programme, and/or other circumstances, mostly in Greece (Thessaloniki and elsewhere) and Cyprus.
Hence, let's positively alter this nova Modus Vivendi, let's fight isolation via expressions of solidarity, and interchange of serious and soul-healing stories, devastating and hopeful news, in inter-personal and (inter)national level !!
Please also feel free to ADD people we met once upon a time
Following the afore preamble, let me at first wish that everybody is doing well and healthy!
27.03.2020 Β.Ε.Κ.
#StayHome and #MoveWithSafety
