021

Arte Útil archive nr:

021

Initiator:

Christopher Robbins, John Ewing, Matey Odonkor and Carmen Montoya (since 2009).

Location:

Ghana, Cuba, El Salvador, Serbia, Mexico, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iran, Kosovo.

Category:

social

Users:

Ghana ThinkTank staff including Christopher Robbins, John Ewing, Matey Odonkor, Carmen Montoya, and citizens.

Maintained by:

Ghana ThinkTank staff and participants.

Certification:

implemented

Duration:

2006 - ongoing

Christopher Robbins, John Ewing, Matey Odonkor and Carmen Montoya (since 2009).
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Ghana ThinkTank

Description:

Founded in 2006, the Ghana ThinkTank is a worldwide network of think tanks creating strategies to resolve local problems in the ‘developed’ world. Ghana ThinkTank collects problems from developed countries, primarily the US and UK, and then seeks solutions from think tanks located in the developing world. The network began with think tanks from Ghana, Cuba and El Salvador, and has since expanded to include Serbia, Mexico and Ethiopia. Some of these actions have produced workable solutions, but others have created intensely awkward situations, as different cultures' assumptions about each other are played out.

Goals:

To collect problems from developed countries and seek solutions from think tanks in developing countries. Solutions are then played out in developed countries.

Beneficial Outcomes:

Exploration of the friction caused by solutions that are generated in one context and applied elsewhere, while revealing the hidden assumptions that govern cross-cultural interactions.

Images:

Ghana ThinkTank. Courtesy of Rafael Benito.
Ghana ThinkTank. Courtesy of Christopher Robbins.