DWeb Camp Cascadia Program and Schedule
We are all creating this event together! Find ways to participate — take part in unconference, take part in workshops and activities, and share your talents, relax, enjoy, and be in the moment.
Featuring two days of unconference to jam on emergent topics such as decentralization, composting, wikis, content technologies, immigration, old and new AI, archiving, food production, collaboration, Salt Spring communities, future memories, civics, and solar punk speculative fiction!
High Level Schedule
The full schedule is coming soon.
Thursday July 30th
Arrive on Thursday, pitch your tent and set up camp.
Friday July 31st and Saturday August 1
Camp opens on Friday.
For Friday and Saturday, expect
- Amazing programming
- Unconference
- Fun in the evenings
Sunday August 2nd
Field trips and open mic
Monday August 3rd
Pack up
Leave camp better than we found it, see you next year!
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Friday, August 8
11AM
Visit Salt Spring Island Museum
Visit the Salt Spring Island Museum at entrance, the small historic building with the white picket fence has an excellent collection of artifacts. They are open on Friday August 8th from 11 AM to 3 PM. No admission charge.
12PM
Gates Open
Campers are welcome to arrive and start setting up their tents.
4PM
Camp Welcome and Opening
DWeb Camp Cascadia Camp Welcome. Our weekend begins with a land acknowledgment and shifts into introducing this year's theme, code of conduct and house keeping. Make the most of the next three days of connection, conversation, and collaboration in nature and around shared meals.
DWeb Principles and Global Node Weaving
Explore the core values that shape the decentralized web —technology for human agency, distributed benefits, mutual respect, humanity, and ecological awareness. Mai grounds the DWeb Principles in real-world context, asking how they show up in community tech, governance, and practice. The DWeb is more than a tech stack—it's a growing global community with diverse roles to play.
Saanich-Gulf Islands Welcome
We’re honoured to welcome Elizabeth May, Member of Parliament for Saanich–Gulf Islands to the first-ever DWeb Camp Cascadia — taking place right here in her riding. Elizabeth is a tireless advocate for environmental stewardship, grassroots democracy, and community-driven change.
6:30PM
Dinner
8PM
Music Jam
Bring an instrument or borrow one. Calling musicians to gather, decide on a format (covers, free jam), and communicate about what everyone wants to get out of the session. Take turns choosing songs, making time for socializing, and most importantly, relax, be supportive and inclusive of all musical abilities and have fun!
8PM
Local-first Hack Night
Let's get started with building local-first webapps that work offline and run on our local network.
Saturday, August 9
7:45 AM
Hatha Yoga
Start your day with Yoga for the Soul. Mats provided.
9AM
Breakfast
10:30AM
Software Unplugged: An Introduction to Local-First
Local-First software ("LoFi") is an approach to software that boasts many advantages over the cloud, from enhanced privacy to improved collaboration without relying on the network or a specific host. This promises more user agency, lowers barriers to entry, and adds new degrees of freedom, but comes with new constraints and challenges. In this talk, Brooke will explore the state of LoFi today, what we can learn from its successes, and what comes next.
11AM
Democracy In Action
Exploring what democratization looks like in practice—from activism and civic participation to solidarity and digital literacy. Through small group dialogue, participants will reflect on power, equity, and the tools we need to build more inclusive systems. Join us for a grounded, action-oriented conversation on doing democracy together.
12PM
Sharing Space, Sharing Lives
What's possible for sharing space for our DWeb community? A community talk exploring how we co-inhabit land and infrastructure—from communal homes to open tech labs to forest cooperatives. We'll hear from existing projects and ask what's possible, together, including the future for DWeb Camp in Cascadia.
12:30PM
Meshtastic Demo
Get hands-on with a few different meshtastic radios and learn how they work. Dive into the world of off-grid communication with a hands-on introduction to mesh networks using Meshtastic devices. This session explores how low-power, peer-to-peer tools can enable resilient, local-first messaging—ideal for remote camps, community organizing, or disaster response.
12:30PM
OpenCivics Community Talk
Salt Spring Island Local Civics talk on the SSI community commons and civic activation and innovation efforts.
1PM
Lunch
2PM
Unconference
Co-create with two days of unconference. In true decentralized spirit, campers propose and decide the agenda and topics —anything you want.
4PM
Discovery Night
Discovery Night is your opportunity to showcase your DWeb project & discover what others in the community are working on. We welcome all types of decentralized projects, whether you're building a tech solution that helps build a more open, resilient, and equitable internet or making community-driven DWeb initiatives happen like cooperative housing, urban farming, or local resource sharing systems.
4:30PM
Lightning Talks
Democratizing Education in Every Country
NextGenU.org provides free education starting at the 1st grade level all the way to PhD. Come learn from the founder about this invention with global adoption and impact.
Decentralized Search
Decentralizing search - paths forward and my dweb exploration
This session explores search engine centralization, focusing on Google and three paths forward with varying degrees of centralization. The discussion is based on a term paper on Search Engines and Society, driven by a desire to understand the values behind decentralized web (dWeb) technologies. We’ll wrap up with space for others to share their own journeys or questions around dWeb and search.
Internet Archive Canada and YOU
Learn about the Internet Archive Canada's role in the global Our Future Memory campaign to secure digital rights for libraries and memory institutions and more.
DWebbify Your Content
Wondering how DWeb fits in with enterprise content strategy? What are CIDs? Come with questions, we'll give you answers!
6PM
Dinner
8PM
Dancing and More
Sunday, August 10
7:45 AM
Hatha Yoga
Start your day with Yoga for the Soul. Mats provided.
9AM
Breakfast
10AM
Regenerative Agriculture Forum
Regional farmers and land stewards share their lived experience with regeneration in practice—from food sovereignty and soil health to cultural reciprocity and intergenerational planning. Learn what it means to grow systems that heal land and community.
11AM
Open Social Web: An Open Conversation
We are living a transformative moment in the ways we socialize using web tools. The platforms are crumbling (yay!) but we need to invent and create the new ways. And that is where many players on the Open Social Web gets to action: the Fediverse, BlueSky and Nostr are some of them and we want to invite you to engage with their ideas.
11:30AM
Introduction to Hex.Camp
The Hex.Camp open source project is building software tools and web hosting infrastructure for individuals and groups to enrich their local communities. The core idea is a unique system for geographically organizing web sites, where each site is one of trillions of hexagons arranged on the world map. Combined with traditional and cutting edge web tools, communities can build online places to communicate, collaborate and archive. A non-profit governance model means that each community can be independent and self-reliant.
12PM
DWeb and Its Community Boundaries
The DWeb community has grown organically since the first DWeb Summit — with the publication of the DWeb Principles in 2021 defining the network's shared values — with now over 800 people who have participated or attended in DWeb events over the past 9 years. However, there have been some apparent rifts surrounding values alignment, leading to conflicts that may point to more fundamental fissures in the community. How do we reckon with differing ideological alignments, and balance the tension between DWeb being an open and dynamic space for dialogue and being a safe, trustful one of close affinities?
1PM
Lunch
2PM
Unconference
Co-create with two days of unconference. In true decentralized spirit, campers propose and decide the agenda and topics —anything you want.
Preserving & Reimagining Democracy: Navigating the Crisis, Co-Creating the Future
"A participatory workshop exploring the crisis of democracy and how emerging technologies like AI and decentralized systems can be harnessed to preserve and reinvent self-governance. Together, we’ll map challenges, imagine new democratic architectures, and co-create concepts that foster resilience, vitality, and collective agency.
4PM
Open Time
Choose your own adventure: swim, hike, nap, relax, or connect informally. This space is designed for you to care for your own energy before the next gathering.
Entelechy Eco-Village
Come tour of a local eco-village on Salt Spring Island!
Explore Burgoyne Bay
Let's head over to Burgoyne Bay to explore a sliver of Salt Spring's forests, boulders and perhaps go for a swim!
6PM
Poutine Party
Enjoy locally sourced falafel, salads, and kebabs - with Quebecois cheese curds at the red food cart
7:30PM
Open Mic and Closing
Express yourself—music, poetry, storytelling, comedy, performances, or something completely unexpected. Come celebrate community creativity under the stars, with a mic and a welcoming vibe. Don't be shy, campers are a friendly, encouraging bunch of people and light-heartedness is most welcome!
Monday, August 11
8AM
Breakfast to go and packing up
Pick up a breakfast to go at the Volunteer Center. Help each other pack up our tents and let's leave the site better than we found it.
10AM
Exit, thank you so much for being part of our inaugural DWeb Camp Cascadia!!
!