Burning Man Sees Role as Global Catalyst for Creative Culture and Social Entrepreneurship

Burning Man 2011 is now in full swing, as the organization behind the event seeks to spread its philosophical approach to creative community building around the world.

The week-long annual assembly of thousands of participants in the middle of the Nevada desert is now in its 25th year and this year's event began yesterday with the art theme: "Rites of Passage".

As a rite of passage for the organization, Burning Man's new, or additional, orientation as a vehicle for social change and entrepreneurship provides an obvious connection with the theme. The event known as a place for radical self expression and radical self reliance now becomes a catalyst for radical, global, cultural community building.

Burning Man's new vision for itself as a catalyst, called the Burning Man Project, was announced in a series of press releases over the past number of months.

The project's endeavours will tap into BM's unique body of know-how and experience, gained over decades of creative community building of both the practical and conceptual sort. The physical and logistical challenges alone of bringing tens of thousands of people together to live, create and share in the middle of the empty desert, putting up and tearing down "Nevada's fifth largest city" are easily imagined. One of the ideas of the project is that the knowledge gained from this work gain be applied in many communities around the world where similar challenges are faced. Since the Burning Man settlement, Black Rock City, is built from scratch each year and removed without leaving a trace, a multitude of basic issues such as food, water, shelter, sewage, refuse, communication and transportation are dealt with.

The Burning Man Project has six pillars: Art, Civic Involvement, Education, Culture, Philosophical Center and Social Enterprise. Each of these related areas are being addressed from the standpoint of the "ten principles" of Burning Man. All of which is elaborated in plenty more detail on the links given.

Burning Man Live Webcast

To see Burning Man right now, there is a live webcast feed here. The soundtrack on it is from the BM radio, BMIR.