Where do you want the next Dinacon to be? Know a cool forest makerspace somewhere just itching to have 150 weirdos come through for 4-8 weeks? Let us know!
The Digital Naturalism Conference (www.dinacon.org) is an experimental conference about exploring new ways of interacting with nature!
The conference occurs every couple of years in new locations around the world. For 4-8 weeks we join a local partner to host field biologists, interaction designers, engineers, artists, and anyone simply interested in exploring new ways of interacting with nature.
It is a collectively self-funded event with an emergent structure based on just 3 simple rules. Participants must:
- Make Something
- Document it openly
- Get two other participants to review their project
Other than that, participants are free to explore and collaborate however they wish.
Host Partners
Importantly, in each Dinacon, our organizers team up with a local host partner
- 2018, Thailand: Tasneem Khan and Yannick Mazy’s Floating Community Bio Makerspace, the Diva (www.divamarine.com)
- 2019, Panama: Adopta Bosque ( Adopta Bosque - ADOPTA ) and Dinalab (www.dinalab.net)
- 2022, Sri Lanka: Dreamspace Academy
- 2025, Indonesia: Sea Communities (https://www.seacommunities.com/)
The host partner creates a true partnership with the improvised community we develop there. We don’t do “Olympics” style “partnerships” where the burden (and expenses) fall on the host organization for the “opportunity” to welcome its guests. Also the local partner is not merely providing just logistical or hospitality services, but all the members are invited to be active dinacon participants as well.
In fact, Dinacon was originally created to find
- an alternative to the exploitative relationships that can be happen with international gatherings and
- channel money that would normally be spent with international hotel conglomerates directly to local community organizations.
For example, in our 2025 conference, our international participants sent $97,300 USD directly to Sea Communities for their organizing, housing, and logistical work (on top of an estimated 50k+ more spent in the local community).
Role and Responsibilities of the Host Partners
The ideal host partner is an organization already doing cool things with their nearby environment and community. Their core role is to build connections between nearby nature and people and the new visitors that will be joining. Dinacon partnerships have spurred collaborations lasting many years.
The host partner will also be key to working with us on these main challenges
- housing
- local transport
- translation services
- bureaucratic and governmental services
- logistical services
- field trips and activities
The Ideal Site
The ideal Dinacon site is
- a place with interesting nature that the participants can freely explore. (land or water is great! both is amazing! Dinacon spots are generally semi-outdoors!)
- a place that offers multiple levels of accessibility. (Choose your own level of adventure: Participants don’t necessarily have to bushwack for hours to get there. Options for more difficult explorations can exist for those who desire, but there are plenty of options for more casual exploration)
- a place with a campus we can build things. (Dinasaurs usually build mobile or improvisational art and science labs around the headquarters)
- A place with infrastructure goals. (We like to make things that will last beyond our little visit, and our community is able to channel lots of resources and talent to help build art and science makerspaces)
- Places with minimal visa issues. (Governmental borders present a type of global apartheit that restrict people’s movement based soley on where they happened to be born. We like hosting our conferences in places that are easier for all of our friends to be able to join us!)
- Places with minimal expenses. (Our conferences are self-funded by the community, meaning the participants pay what they can to help fund the infrastructure and logistics happening along with scholarships. Though are community is strong, it generally hasn’t been the wealthiest, and international participants generally are only able to contribute around 500-2500 each)
Recommend a Partner!
If you know of a place that you think would be cool for this, or you represent a place that you think would make a great partner, please fill out this form and let us know!