The Table of Free Voices is an ambitious experiment in bringing over a hundred of the most important thinkers, scientists and humanitarians in the world together, and creating a dialogue between them and a global public.

Photo credit: Dropping Knowledge

Dropping Knowledge, the non-profit organization behind the Table of Free Voices describe it like this:

On September 9, 2006, 112 of the world's most compelling thinkers, artists, writers, scientists, social entrepreneurs, philosophers and humanitarians from around the world will come together in Berlin, Germany, as guests of dropping knowledge.

Seated around the worlds largest table in historic Bebelplatz square, these inspiring individuals, renowned for their lasting creative or social contribution, will engage with 100 questions out of the thousands donated to dropping knowledge by the international public.

Using dropping knowledge's question-rating system, the public identified 500 questions as those most likely to initate open dialog on a social topic of most relevance to them. This group of questions will yield the final 100 Questions — representing a truly global sampling of cultures, themes and ideas — to be asked at the Table of Free Voices and beyond.

Dropping Knowledge's primary goal, then, is to "support global knowledge sharing", and in their transparent efforts to make this so, they are going to make the countless hours of recordings of the Table of Free Voices available copyright free in a variety of digital formats. It is already possible to download a range of inspiring, powerful videos from their media downloads section.

In this one minute video introduction to the project, Dropping Media offer a beautiful, copyleft invitation for one and all to get involved with the project. If you would like to support this awe inspiring project, there are a number of things you can do to help, from volunteering your time to donating your question.

Source: Dropping Knowledge

The first Table of Free Voices event will take place in Berlin, Germany on Saturday, September 9th. It promises to bring a unique and never before seen collaboration between global participants in an ongoing dialogue about the things that really matter to us.

Read more elsewhere:

• Dropping Knowledge Web Site
• Dropping Knowledge Official Blog
• Alianz coverage
• Green Bloggers Article