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What on earth do artists & hackers have in common?

We have noticed that many of the most talented hackers do not come from typical Computer Science & engineering backgrounds. A foundation in Computer Science and a familiarity with basic security concepts are essential but besides that, it takes a creative, analytical mind willing to explore unchartered territory.

This realisation gave birth to the Greenbridge Space idea. Our vision is to use this space as an incubator where people interested in information security and people with a creative arts background can meet. We see tremendous potential in introducing these two communities. We've done something similar, at a much smaller scale, in the past.

What kind of artists do you book, and what is the deal like for artists?

Anyone and everyone is welcome to play. Musicians, specifically, should be ok with a lofi, subdued sound. Please check the Specs for details. We don't have a drumset and the acoustics of the space are not suitable for bands with proper drumsets. You are welcome to play a tambourine, darbuka or djembe!

We are a donation-based venue; all donations received during an event go directly to the performing artist(s). As a small, independent operation, we cannot, unfortunately, guarantee a minimum reimbursement, or cover transportation costs. What we can guarantee is accommodation, warm welcome and treating our guests the best we can.

What's the motivation behind the Greenbridge mentorship program?

There is a massive shortage of human resources in the Information Security field. While this is so, employers are still reluctant to hire people without experience. The result is that there is a large number of talented cybersecurity enthusiasts with strong skills and potential who have nevertheless been unable to penetrate into the Cybersecurity market. The mentorship program is our attempt to change this state of affairs and help create a more accessible Industry by shifting candidates towards a more desirable curriculum and employers towards a different mentality in relation to remote junior hires.

Who qualifies as a junior?

Anyone who wants to work in information security and has no professional experience. It is not essential to be a young person to qualify as a junior. Some of the best juniors are people who have worked different jobs for decades and got interested in cybersecurity late(r) in life.


How long does it take on average to complete the curriculum?

It varies enormously depending on your current skills and on how much time you are willing to invest. Having said that, most juniors need between three and six months to go through the material.

It is our humble opinion that students should create a slow work plan spanning several months, and avoid the temptation of rushing into the project like a tornado. We have noticed that when people are impatient and push too hard, they are more likely to learn superficially, make mistakes, dislike the whole process and burn out early.

It is important to note that the curriculum has been created for students to use, but it is not necessary to follow everything in the recommended order or complete every single item. Greenbridge mentees are welcome, in true hacker spirit, to adjust the material to fit their personal circumstances and make things work for them.

How does all this connect to Animal Welfare?

We feel that the way we treat nonhuman animals is one of the most significant pitfalls of our era. There are plenty of resources on the web in relation to animal welfare, should the reader want to further read up on this matter, but we’d like to note that the animal welfare we are more interested in supporting is in relation to farmed animals. An excellent starting point, not just on Animal Welfare, but on many urgent, important issues of our times is Effective Altruism.

Our stated commitment is to financially support Effective Altruism's Animal welfare Fund: in our first three years of operation, we donated 22,000€ to them. But we are very open to contributing to Animal Welfare via other ways, such as research projects and innovative ideas which somehow use information security techniques to help alleviate animal suffering. Hit us up with your ideas!


Why does your website look amateurish?

Greenbridge is DIY. We rolled the website ourselves from scratch in pure HTML/CSS. It doesn't look like the majority of websites out there but we feel that it contains all the information necessary, it's lightning fast, and in *BSD spirit, it runs in every conceivable device in the history of the universe.

In a more general sense, we try to keep a grassroots approach on everything related to Greenbridge and do everything ourselves on a next-to-zero budget. This means that web design, graphics, templates, legal, web development, communication, networking, SEO, research, writeups, promotion, procedures and everything in between are all done by a handful of people in a DIY and rather primitive manner. We believe in doing things slowly and organically in order to build foundation at the beginning of most projects, including this one.

How did the name Greenbridge come about?

"Green bridge" is another name for a wildlife crossing, a structure that allows animals to cross human-made barriers safely. Furthermore, "green" is a word often used to describe amateurs, new joiners and beginners of all sorts. It occured to us that Greenbridge is a suitable name for an organisation helping out "green" hackers and artists while supporting animal welfare.

How does Greenbridge make money?

Through security consultancy services provided by Stelios and through donations from generous individuals like yourself, dear reader. All our financial data is open and available for inspection in our reports page.

Great stuff! How do I get in touch?

Choose your poison: hackerspaces, bewelcome, mentorcruise, facebook, instagram, LinkedIn or e-mail.