The Summit for Practical Utopians was a weeklong summit of ideas that was designed to integrate utopian thinking into our everyday lives. Thirteen planners created an app (now in beta) that allows participants to choose new pathways through their day to day, and shift their thinking and practice in community with others.

╰ The Detrainer App ╮

The Detrainer App (beta) is here!

For iOS
As the Detrainer App is in a beta stage, in order to install it on your iPhone we need to register you as an official beta tester. Please contact us at kochta@nexgo.de and we’ll guide you through the registration process.

For Android
Download the Detrainer App (beta) to your device by pressing the button below.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us: kochta@nexgo.de

╰ About ╮

The term “Practical Utopia” reflects the desire for large scale changes to the current system of society by initiating the first practical steps towards these changes right here and now. “Practical Utopia” insists on the necessity of Utopia as an intellectual concept interlinking the fantastical and the pragmatic in bringing about social, political and artistic change.

The Summit was the last section of the Practical Utopia series. We invite you to join us as we notice individual decision-making and intervene directly in social interactions & social norms, playing with and challenging how we relate to each other and the world.

╰ Past events ╮

The Retreat @ Red Cables

Welcome to The Retreat! Besides enjoying our time away from NYC, we will facilitate conversations around specific themes, including: How can we unlearn and experiment more with routines and behaviours embedded in our social interactions? How does urban space shape our social interactions, both overtly and subconsciously? How do we make the “normal?” The concrete outcome of the retreat will be a collectively-designed app that outlines a 6-day de-training program to use with our social interactions and daily routines.

Date: Saturday, 7 July 2018 – Sunday, 8 July 2018
Location: Red Cables, Brookfield, MA

Participant Meetup @ The Armory

Time to meet and greet with the participants of the Summit of Practical Utopian. Let’s check up the latest experiences, exchange ideas and edit old exercises and create new ones. No need to sign up. Free entry.

Date: Wednesday, 11 July 2018
Time: 7 – 9 PM
Location: The Armory, 67 4th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217

Closing Picnic @ Central Park

Come celebrate your new practical utopian muscles with all the participants of the Summit of Practical Utopians at a picnic in beautiful Central Park, Sheep Meadow. Culture Push and YKON will supply some snacks and drinks, and you can bring something share! Please RSVP so we can bring enough for all. Once you reply, we will send any special instructions before Saturday.

Date: Saturday, 14 July 2018
Time: 5-9 pm
Location: Central Park, Sheep Meadow, 1802 65th Street Transverse, New York, NY 10065

╰ Organizers ╮

The Summit of Practical Utopians is a result of an ongoing collaboration between Culture Push, and the Helsinki/Berlin-based collective, YKON.

YKON

YKON is a non profit art organization, that was founded as an artistic initiative and platform for exploring utopian fantasies and the political imaginary in relation to concrete sociopolitical structures and concerns.

Emerging from and working in the field of contemporary art, YKON merges the language and approaches of a number of disciplines, such as game design, scenario development, experimental education, dynamic facilitation, social architecture, and alternative economies. Apart from participating in exhibitions in biennials and exhibition spaces internationally, YKON regularly give lectures and talks on the topics of 'micronations' and utopian communities.
Culture Push

Culture Push is an arts organization that works with hands-on learning, group problem solving, serious play, and creating connections.

The mission of Culture Push is to create a lively exchange of ideas between many different communities; artists and non-artists, professional practitioners and laypeople, across generations, neighborhoods, and cultures. Culture Push supports the process of creating new modes of thinking and doing and serves a diverse community of creative people. The programs of Culture Push focus on collaboration and group learning through active, participatory experiences. Culture Push programs appear in many different locations, taking many different forms, and public presentations are low-cost or free, to give access to the widest audience.
╰ Sponsors ╮

The Summit of Practical Utopians was in part financed by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.