Visual artists continuously create new joint work through Portals. Through Portals, American painter Titus Kaphar and Iranian sculptor Yousha Bashir created a joint collage, part of which addressed the challenges of co-ownership.

## SPACE10 is a research and design lab on a mission to create a better everyday life for people and the planet.

Compound 13 Lab is a space for experimental design and learning. Our programme introduces design and media tools, audiovisual technologies, 3D design and digital fabrication to disadvantaged, marginalised citizens who because of their socio-economic status do not normally have access to these resources. The materials and resources of Mumbai's recycling industry are the starting point for learning and teaching about ecological design and living solutions. The Lab offers young people access to these technologies through an experimental making space where issues of work, waste and survival in the 21st Century can be explored.  At the Lab, young people are placed at the centre of their own learning. They co-design and develop a bespoke [‘living curriculum’](https://www.compound13.org/pedogogy) that responds to their issues, addresses their needs and aids their future goals. The Lab is an emergent ‘maker space’ and takes up residency within Dharavi, an area of Mumbai that might be described as one of the largest informal aggregations of (re)maker and (re)manufacturing spaces on the planet. 

Gaza Sky Geeks is a central pillar of Palestine’s tech ecosystem supporting startups, gig economy workers, and aspiring software developers.

Gilman is an all boys prep school (K-12) in Baltimore. Amar introduced the Portal to approximately 60 teachers from all different grades to how the Portal works and how they can incorporate it into their curriculum. The Portal is to be active max 12 hours a week for 9 months.

In an eye-opening conversation, 42 high school students from St. Albans School of Public Service in Washington D.C. met with a group of ambitious activists on the frontlines of the climate movement in East Africa to learn more about the climate situation on the ground and how the rapidly growing youth population is fighting for environmental justice. This was the first time St. Albans held their summer program virtually which allowed organizers to include voices from distant parts of the world.   “I am a victim of climate change. Most African people are victims of climate change,” said Elizabeth Gulugulu, a youth organizer from Harare, Zimbabwe advocating for indigenous solutions to environmental problems. She explained that as her city has been experiencing drought for the past seven years, the lack of rainfall has devastated people who rely on agriculture and forced her community members to travel long distances each day to fetch water for drinking, cooking, and cleaning. While many of the activists were awakened to the reality of climate change behind these natural disasters in their higher education studies, they faced pushback as their communities remained uneducated. “When I first started organizing it was something very new in my country; my community didn’t understand what I was doing,” said Vanessa Nakate, a climate activist from Kampala, Uganda, fighting against deforestation and for renewable energy. “In my country, so many people are still in the dark when it comes to climate change. They can't connect it with the root causes like the fossil fuel industry.” The activists discussed the importance of working with policy-makers to enact systemic change, and the challenges they face as young pioneers at the forefront of a movement.  “Without government action, people are trapped in a system where they cannot be sustainable,” Vanessa said. “But in Uganda, youth organizations are seen as a threat to the government.” The activists shared about the struggles of not being taken seriously in the eyes of decision makers and the perseverance it takes to continue doing their work regardless. Despite these challenges, these activists have taken matters into their own hands, making strides in environmental justice in their countries and around the world. Elizabeth and Vanessa’s activism have mobilized youth and trailblazed movements, garnering both local and global attention. Other activists like Partick Muvunga from Nakivale, Uganda and David Kinzuzi from Kigali, Rwanda have taken to upcycling plastic materials into construction materials and other environmentally friendly products as a means of making change. One St. Albans student asked about how students in the US can uplift the voices of people in East Africa that are directly suffering from climate change and work together to take action. “What's missing in the climate movement is collaboration,” Elizabeth responded. “We have many good initiatives happening, but we are not coordinated; we are not working together.” In small breakout rooms, students engaged more intimately with the activists, diving deeper into ideas close to their hearts. They discussed opportunities for collaboration, imagined a future they would build as future policy-makers, and shared social media accounts to stay in touch moving forward. Both the climate activists and students left the conversation inspired and energized to continue pushing for change, but this time, with new allies in the fight. “I know at the end of the day, persistence really wins,” Vanessa said. “If we continue with the climate strikes in my country and collaborate with other countries across the world, leaders will have no choice but to speak up. Not just speak up; they'll have no choice but to take action.”

Our Portal in the Primary co-working space in Manhattan connects colleagues to counterparts in San Francisco.

Our Portal at the Reeperbahn Festival facilitated global musical collaborations.

Portals regularly connect students and dancers at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs to performers in Kigali, Rwanda to collaborate, and explore the intersection between dance, addiction, and mental health. Alongside performance, participants discussed their own experience with dance and mental health, and probed the concept of performance as a means of therapy.

Shared Studios collaborated with Johns Hopkins University to bring together students in Baltimore, Beirut, and Gaza through virtual-exchange “hackathons.” Students form teams through the portal and work as one unit to solve a problem related to public health. The hackathon teaches participants transferable design skills as they tackle challenges facing refugee communities in Beirut and Gaza, emphasizing cultural literacy, teamwork, and design thinking.

The Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) was the country’s only all-female orchestra. Through Portals, ANIM teachers and students perform and collaborate with counterparts around the world.

The Global Poetry Consortium and Birch Wathen Lenox Schools partnered with us to launch a Global Poetry Festival. Each morning, Shared Studios connected global poets with K-12 students at BWL for a virtual poetry experience that helped students learn about the power of poetry, interdisciplinary thought and writing.

The IMF installed Portals at its IMF/World Bank Spring Meeting, where leaders of industry gave real, practical advice to female business owners and innovators spanning four continents.

The Inter-American Foundation invests in community-led development across Latin America and the Caribbean.