why we exist
Popcorn was an idea born out of the will to make the world a better place through invention.
Ideas are what separate humans from the rest of the natural world. Our ability to solve problems, craft tools, invent things, and organise ourselves. It’s what allowed us to survive and evolve into the society we are today. Ironically, human ideas are why the climate crisis now exists. Inventions like the internal combustion engine, agriculture, plastic, were then married to an unsustainable growth model driven by corporations, and now at global scale are scientifically proven to cause adverse events like global warming, resource depletion, and mass extinction. Humans need to restore balance to our atmosphere, natural resources, habitats-those critical things on which our survival depends, and do it fast.
Our new ideas now need to be focused around surviving our old ones.
We have a vision we would like to share. Methods to get us away from extractive technology, to upend the corporations that are burning the planet for money, that incentivise people to care for land and sea, to grow plant trees and grow food, to slow down and take care of ourselves. Many people would prefer this life to the one they have. We require people at all levels in society for a movement toward sustainability. We need the engineers, the business owners, the designers, the politicians, the activists. It is possible to solve this crisis if we work together.
the origin of popcorn
Popcorn started in 2011 as a collective with a vision to coalesce the best minds in design and engineering for Aotearoa. Hanna joined forces with three product designers from the BizDojo community because she supported design-led thinking and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Over a year, the team took Medicine Mondiale’s POD Incubator from an idea to a physical prototype. From there, original members worked on other design projects together informally.
Popcorn has since transformed from a design collective to consultancy, and now as an agency that invests, supports, and educates around impact. Showcasing what is possible when smart, passionate people work together in a meaningful way. It has methods on how to initiate a venture, how to coordinate and mobilise teams, and how to manage and fund the resources so they are able to survive.
Popcorn is attempting to now seed a shift in the way we go about climate solutions. So many passionate people attended the climate march in 2019. Yet only a handful of meaningful changes arose. This is not enough to overcome the threat of climate change.
There is massive potential lying dormant in the community. The hope is to activate and empower this talent, the social entrepreneurs, the activists, the creatives and inventors. and build new capability with it.
If Covid-19 taught us anything, it is that the future is here today, and radical global change is possible. It is now the time to take Popcorn learnings out live to the community. We don’t have the time to do otherwise.
If you are keen to join forces, please engage us at one of our channels, (web, social, or directly to popcorn.innovators@gmail.com)