The Story Of Foundation is a platform for scientists, artists, philosophers and educators interested in positive social change through informal education and learning. It brings stories from academia into the public eye, promotes interdisciplinary collaborations (between science and humanities), and provides inspiration to the youth (empowering them to be critical and solutions-oriented). The wider philosophical benefit is to make interdependence visible. By transforming our ways of knowing, learning and acting together, we gain the means to face complex interdependencies. Establishing this platform enables these wider benefits by fostering multi-perspective thinking, mindful inquiry, and understanding complexitycritical for the 21st century.

The Story of Foundation has taken shape in large, free and public learning festival initiatives like The Story of Light and now The Story of Space. The first major event organized by us was The Story of Light, in 2015 in Goa. The event was deemed a success, based on parameters to do with the feasibility of the event and founding of the platform. The theme of our next festival in November 2017 is Space, which will be followed by The Story of Mind in 2019. We engage artists, designers, researchers, and educators to create learning opportunities around broad themes in the form of public installations, workshops, live experiences, talks, panels, and screenings, and invite large public audiences to interact with these opportunities. While the format of festivals is our starting point, we would like to expand into establishing residencies (for various communities) and transdisciplinary research programs in the next four years. Also expanding into smaller, more focused initiatives, where members of our foundation formulate and drive smaller projects like workshops and other community-driven initiatives that stem from The Story Ofs vision, in the space of informal learning and education.

Overall, both for The Story of Light and The Story of Space, we hosted and are about to host a number of workshops in the area of capacity and knowledge building some of our key targets here are teachers and children. From The Story of Light - Light Art: Stop Time with a Stroboscope & Photosensitive Art - Cristina Olivotto founder, Sterrenlab in 2011. In the first workshop, Stop Time with a Stroboscobe held at the Goa Science Center, participants built a stroboscope and took pictures of moving objects with simple off-the shelf components paired with a digital camera. This workshop was directed towards children. In the second workshop, participants learnt about the scale of objects by creating a story with photosensitive paper. With the help of sunlight, common objects turned into magical blue shadows, all that was needed was the imagination to make beautiful compositions that take advantage of the properties of light. To be hosted at The Story of Space Citizen Science Lab - Pedro Russo Using space data to tackle local societal challenges The term citizen science is used when scientific work is performed partially or completely by volunteers; usually non-experts. The idea is to learn to interpret real satellite data using Python. The applications of these interpretations are immense in management of resources like minerals, forests, fishing etc; traffic management, climate and weather mapping et al. Juggling and Science Claudia Sodini Juggling is seen as a circus skill or a performing art; but what most people dont know is that it is very useful for scientific research. It is complex enough to have properties relevant to science, but simple enough to be modelled. It can be used to give insight into the co-ordination of humans and from there into robotics. The facilitator hopes to establish a fertile ground for discussion where questions emerge from the pool of participants, here are some examples which will get the dialogue going- such as - Is it possible to juggle a Newton pendulum? Is it possible to juggle a Newton pendulum? Is centripetal force a jugglers friend or not? Can I juggle the mathematical site swap sequence of my date of birth (12101977)? Is there more juggling in science or more science in juggling?

The Story Of Foundation is registered under The Societies Registration Act 1860 since November 2014 and is a volunteer driven initiative. We have adopted the basic framework of Sociocracy as a way of working together to be a flexible, collaborative, and spacious learning platform. Sociocracy or a 'deeper democracy' is a process that facilitates collaborations and equity in influence among team members. The idea is to bring consent and decision-making to all members of our organisation, taking hierarchy out of our organisation's work ethic and structure. Policy decisions are made with the consent of those they most directly affect. Consent is defined not as agreement, but as no objections. Policy decisions are delegated to circles composed of all members of a decision-making body a department, team, workgroup. In meetings of the circle, all members function as equals and elect their own officers: a chair, a facilitator, and a secretary/logbook keeper. Day-to-day operational decisions are made by the operations leader within the policies established by the circle and the larger organization. The operations leader is an equal member of the circle. Rounds in which each person speaks in turn, are used to maintain equivalence in a meeting. They balance the discussion giving each person the opportunity to speak and to ensure that everyone participates in decisions. Each policy decision is reviewed annually. Some will be quick, others extensive. Evaluations include evaluations of individuals in their roles as circle members. Transparency is essential when all members of an organization are involved in decision-making and expected to take a leadership role in their own development and that of their circle. All data in a sociocratic organisation except for proprietary or security information, is open to both employees and customers/clients/members. Good decisions require full information. Partnerships are a strong format of how we support ourselves and stay afloat. We are working hard to take partnerships to likeminded initiatives, individuals, and the local government, so we can achieve our long-term goals with further reaching outcomes. India, as our base has a deeply tainted system - for us one of the key goals and strategies is to work against recurring obstacles and pressures that come from this environment. Our team has strong ethical fabrics as individuals, which resonates in the work we do for the Foundation. The diversity in our backgrounds is an added bonus and support as we move forward in forging our identity.

- International Year of Light, 2015 - Sirius Interactive - Radioactiv Entertainment - OML (Only Much Louder) - Government of Goa - Goa Science Centre - Entertainment Society of Goa - The Open University - Leiden University - TIFR - Tata Institute of Fundamental Research - Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology - National Institute of Design - Goa University - Japan Foundation - Italian Institute Cultural Centre - Fundao Oriente - Alliance Franaise - Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council - Polish Institute - Consulate General of Israel in Mumbai - Singapore International Foundation - National Arts Council, Singapore