Logos Circle Nairobi #5

Circles
1

  • Date: 18 May 2026

    Location: Online (Google Meet / Applewood Adams)

    Luma Registrations: 26 Attendance: 11, All returning.
    Languages: English

    Circle Steward: waka

Participants

The session brought together returning community members, ncreatives, educators, and technical builders from across Nairobi’s growing Logos-aligned network; writers, artists, developers, storytellers, and governance-minded participants interested in civil tech education. As the first fully online session in the current sprint cycle, the format enabled participation from members previously unable to attend in-person.

Shared Interests

  • Civil Tech Education for Kids

  • Storytelling as a vehicle for digital sovereignty

  • Comics, games, and interactive learning systems

  • Community-led governance and collaborative creation

  • Open-source culture, privacy, and decentralized technologies

Event Structure

Time: 19:00–21:00 EAT (extended slightly due to active deliberation)

Agenda

  1. Community welcome and steward update

  2. Final narrative submissions and pitches

  3. Deliberation and collective voting

  4. Initial worldbuilding and story development

  5. Assignment of next-step responsibilities

Topics Discussed

1. Final Narrative Deliberation for Sovereign Kids

The central objective was to select the foundational narrative direction for the Sovereign Kids comic and game initiative. Participants revisited story concepts proposed in Session #4, including:

  • Hero’s journey structures centred around young digital rebels.

  • Contrasting dystopian vs sovereign societies.

  • AI-controlled systems versus human autonomy.

  • Alien or symbolic antagonists representing surveillance and centralised power.

  • Community-led technological resistance and education.

  • Privacy goggles.

  • Much more…

Discussion focused on balancing accessibility for children, educational value, cultural relevance, long-term storytelling potential, and simplicity of execution for an early-stage project.

The volume and quality of submissions exceeded what could be finalized within the session. Rather than forcing a rushed live vote, the community agreed to conduct voting asynchronously via Tally, giving participants more time to review narratives carefully. The Sovereign Kids universe will initially accommodate multiple stories and perspectives within the same comic framework, allowing different contributors to experiment with narratives, characters, and themes.

2. Community Governance Through Creative Process

A significant portion of the session reflected on how the storytelling process itself mirrors Logos principles. Rather than relying on a single author or top-down direction, the group adopted a collaborative worldbuilding process where:

  • Narrative ownership remains distributed

  • Community consensus guides major decisions

  • Contributions can emerge from multiple disciplines simultaneously

  • Creative iteration remains open and modular

The group acknowledged this may move slower than centralised production pipelines, but agreed that preserving collaborative legitimacy and community authorship is strategically important.

3. Initial Worldbuilding Session

The session shifted into practical development work. Participants began outlining core world mechanics, character archetypes, emotional tone, potential educational moments, and opening scene concepts. Several members volunteered to continue refining character design, narrative structure, lore documentation, educational framing, and visual concept references. The group also discussed testing future concepts directly with children to ensure the material remains engaging and accessible.

Outcomes

  • Narrative direction confirmed: The community selected a unified narrative direction for the Sovereign Kids initiative, marking a transition from exploratory discussion into active production.

  • Async voting agreed: Community vote to be conducted via Tally to preserve broad participation and avoid rushed decision-making.

  • Multi-story framework adopted: The Sovereign Kids universe will initially support multiple stories and contributors within one comic framework.

  • Roles emerging: Participants began defining creative responsibilities and structuring collaborative workflows.

Next Steps

  • Consolidate the selected narrative direction into a formal story brief

  • Organise dedicated writing and worldbuilding sessions

  • Visit children-focused organisations in Nairobi to gather direct input on story selection and test early concepts with young audiences

  • Explore lightweight tooling and collaboration infrastructure for the creative workflow

Logistics & Learnings

What Worked

  • Online format increased accessibility for remote participants

  • Structured async voting process helped the community converge without pressure

  • Combining discussion with active working time maintained momentum

  • Creative collaboration across technical and artistic disciplines remained strong

Challenges

  • Recent protests and concurrent events across Nairobi affected coordination and attendance

  • The Circle had originally planned an in-person gathering but shifted online at short notice

  • Volume of submissions made it difficult to complete a live vote within the session time frame

  • Online moderation made it harder to manage overlapping discussions

Ideas for Future Sessions

  • Introduce smaller thematic working groups between main Circle gatherings

  • Build a shared repository for story assets, lore, and educational references

  • Host sessions specifically focused on children’s feedback and usability

  • Experiment with collaborative visual whiteboarding during online meetings

1 Like