🤔 In times of social and environmental uncertainty, building refuges becomes a paramount necessity for collective life. We are not only talking about physical structures, but about those places —geographical, cultural, or emotional— where creativity, diversity, and shared memory find shelter against the inertia of an accelerated world. As the philosopher María Zambrano reflected: for something new to be born, there must first be a space, a realm of welcome and care where life can unfold in full.

🤲🏼 Sustaining these ecosystems of freedom against energy crises, rural depopulation, or the lack of healing spaces is a transformative challenge that requires the active support of society.

🗣️ LCitizens are not passive spectators of present hardships; they are the living force capable of safeguarding the autonomy of projects that nourish the common good. Today we present three initiatives, as diverse as they are necessary, that are fighting from different territories to keep their spaces of creation, gathering, and collective sovereignty open. From a historic film school seeking clean alternatives so its stories are not silenced, to rural youth resisting by organizing their own intergenerational celebration, to a community dreaming of establishing a natural sanctuary in Southern Europe.

Support for the International Film and Television School

🇨🇺 In San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba, the International Film and Television School (EICTV) has been embodying a pedagogical utopia under the motto "learning by doing" since 1986. Founded with the support of the Foundation for New Latin American Cinema, this world reference welcomes over 100 students from more than 30 countries each year, who live together and create cinema alongside active industry professionals. However, the severe energy crisis affecting the island threatens to paralyze this vibrant space of human and artistic training. Continuous power outages instantly halt post-production computers, endangering classes, academic schedules, and the completion of student audiovisual projects. To face this emergency, an experienced management and teaching team —led by Susana Molina in General Direction, Jerónimo Labrada in Academic Direction, Lázaro Llanes in Economic Direction, and María Julia Grillo in Academic Coordination— has designed a renewable energy autonomy plan divided into three phases.

❤️ Supporting this first phase of the campaign is crucial to safeguarding audiovisual education and protecting a unique Ibero-American cultural heritage. Raising an immediate €15,000 will allow for the installation of portable power stations with solar panels and batteries, guaranteeing a minimum of 8 continuous hours of electricity. This will keep three color grading suites operational and provide essential support to editing suites, ensuring the completion of student project masters without loss of data. In a global context where access to film education is expensive and exclusive, EICTV stands as a multicultural, inclusive space giving voice to women, LGBTQ+ individuals, indigenous communities, and low-to-middle-income backgrounds, ensuring their narratives are not silenced by economic circumstances.

👥 Keeping EICTV’s screens lit means defending a diversity of perspectives in global cinema. Your contribution to this campaign will directly purchase the solar technology needed to protect the learning and creative hours of dozens of young filmmakers. Be part of this sustainable solution and help ensure that no story is left in the dark for lack of power.

👉🏼Collaborate with EICTV here

43rd Edition of Festa dos Botes de Arzúa

🤗 Festa dos Botes is not just a summer date on the calendar, but a true feeling of community belonging born in 1982 in rural Galicia. Arising as a direct response from local youth in Arzúa to create a space of their own, the celebration marks its 43rd edition in 2026 thanks to the tireless, selfless work of the organizing committee, formally established as the Asociación Xuventude Arzúa. Over four decades, the event has evolved from traditional heifer runs to a diverse cultural landmark featuring pillow fights ("peileas de almofadas"), "peitadas," a craft market, children's activities, and a historical t-shirt exhibition recovering local memory. For this edition, the organizing team has expanded the program to two days featuring 16 regional and national artists, shutting down the national highway to welcome visitors from all around.

🏡 Sustaining Festa dos Botes means reclaiming the mobilizing power of youth in rural areas, turning towns into living spaces of resistance against oblivion and depopulation. The initiative stands out for its intergenerational focus, engaging everyone from children to elders in workshops, tournaments, and exhibitions throughout the year. Moreover, the association is driving important social change by promoting gender equality within festival leadership, opening organization roles to women in a festival that was historically 90% male-dominated. This assembly-driven work ensures an enthusiastic generational handover so popular culture remains a reason to gather.

🤗 Making an independent, grassroots festival in the heart of Arzúa possible relies on our collective breath. By adding your contribution to this crowdfunding campaign, you directly help fund the infrastructure and concerts of an event open to the entire community. Help us keep rural youth enthusiasm alive and weave community in inland Galicia.

👉 Support the 43rd Festa dos Botes here

A new Radical Faeries Sanctuary

🧚🏻‍♀️ Tucked away in a valley between the mountains of southern Granada, three hours by direct bus from the city, lies a 12-hectare natural territory where Hadas del Sol gatherings have been held since 2018. After eight years of continuous connection to the land and over 20 gatherings at Valle de Sensaciones, the land owner has offered to sell the valley to the community for €108,000, trusting their ability to preserve the magic of the space. To manage this non-profit collective property, the Asociación de las Hadas del Sur de Europa was fully reconstituted in 2026, backed by the OrganizHadas and an open assembly that overwhelmingly supported the purchase.

🌈 The importance of this project lies in establishing the second Radical Faeries sanctuary in Europe, meeting the growing demand of a community that has outgrown Folleterre, the continent's only existing sanctuary located in France. Unlike Folleterre, which must close from November to April due to cold weather, Andalusia's climate and water from Sierra Nevada will allow for a year-round refuge. This sanctuary is a safe, intergenerational, physical space for queer people worldwide, designed as a retreat from an unstable, fast-paced world to rest, heal, experiment with collective living in connection with nature, and expand their authenticity. Additionally, the community has already raised €15,000 to cover legal fees and taxes, ensuring every euro donated goes directly toward acquiring the land.

✊🏻 Joining the collective purchase of this valley means planting a sanctuary of healing and freedom for this generation and those to come. Your contribution, no matter the size, is a decisive step toward making this second European sanctuary a reality and protecting a natural environment from speculation. Join the support network and help ground this refuge of love, respect, and nature in Andalusia.

👉 Donate to the Radical Faeries Sanctuary here

What about you? What are you interested in?

😙 At the Platoniq Foundation we are dedicated to disseminating innovative democratic initiatives that add value for citizens, as well as to promoting crowdfunding for projects with social impact through our platform Goteo.org. Join us at our events and continue promoting democratic transition and collective empowerment.

🥰 Join this transformation! Let the social and solidarity energy flow, because in a seemingly devastated world, we can still build change. Donate to our campaign and participate in the new version of Goteo.

See you in the next newsletter! 😜

That's as far as we go. We hope this newsletter has encouraged you to keep walking towards the society of all and for all that we are gradually approaching. See you next time!