[Foundation-l] Fwd: Wikimedia Foundation: invitation to the iCommons Summit - 23-25 June, Rio

Dear members of the Wikimedia Foundation, I'm very pleased to extend a very warm invitation to you all to attend the annual iCommons Summit taking place this year in the heart of free culture - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - from the 23rd to the 25th of June. We're hoping to have very strong participation by the Wikimedia Foundation in the event - along with communities from Creative Commons, Science Commons, Ubuntu, open access and others. This year's Summit is set to be one of the most exciting events for creative and knowledge commons pioneers from around the world and is structured around three major themes: 1. Tools. Developing effective, relevant tools to assist other creators, authors, scientists and researchers to develop and showcase their creativity and innovation. 2. Policy. Strategies to ensure international, regional and local policy fora that are conducive to the development and nurturing of the commons. 3. Practice. Learning from the experience of others to develop effective models for the development of open content in societies around the world. The goals of iCommons are to build the Summit into a launch-pad for global cooperation around commons projects and to provide an open, creative space for practitioners to learn from best case practices and to showcase new ideas. With iCommons' strong institutional partnerships, we will continue to nurture these alliances throughout the year, providing the tools and spaces for commoners to build on the friendships and shared experience of the event, and building a united global commons community. The three-day program will have a mix of formal presentations, roundtable working groups, practical workshops and community-driven program slots that enable participants to gain strategic insights and practical techniques as well as play a critical role in shaping the emerging global commons movement. With keynote speakers including Larry Lessig, Jimmy Wales, Joi Ito and James Boyle who will inspire participants with a vision of a living, thriving commons, to members of the expanding iCommons community showcasing their ideas and inviting participation in key projects, this year's Summit is proving to be a must-attend for anyone engaged in the growth and development of the digital commons of the future. We sincerely hope that as many Wikimedia Foundation members can attend as possible - and I look forward to receiving your suggestions for presenting the work of the Foundation at the event. I will send more details when we launch the website later this week, but please diarise in the meantime :) Best wishes, Heather. -- Heather Ford Acting Executive Director: iCommons