Merri-Bek Tech Volunteer Cohort (Winter 2024)

Learn the technical skills of web server operation for free, while helping with our mission to support local community groups, decrease climate emissions, and provide local resilience.

This winter, a group of volunteers will have the chance to participate in a free three-month program with local non-profit, Merri-bek Tech . To forward our goal of building local resilience for grass-roots and climate-ready tech infrastructure, we want to build skills across the local community and applicants will be chosen to represent the many faces of Merri-bek, rather than based on technical experience.

The program consists of a weekly session, with some structured learning workshops and some mentored project time. At the end of the program, volunteers will have had a chance to work on group projects that support independent web hosting at a local neighbourhood house. The theme of this cohort will be Wikipedia, and we’ll be working on tools to support hosting our own local mirror of Wikipedia, that is accessible even during a power outage.

As part of this, each volunteer will learn or practice skills including:

  • Using the Raspberry Pi
  • Command line Linux
  • Web server basics
  • Networking basis
  • Technical collaboration and project management

All equipment is provided, and help will be available from professionals with decades of experience in the industry.

Cohort 1 will be held on Thursday evenings, from 6:30pm - 8:30pm Commencing on Thursday 5th September, with the final showcase on Thursday 7th November.

The cohort will be held at: Sussex Neighbourhood House 7 Prospect St, Pascoe Vale

If you think you’d like to take part, please fill out this form .

This cohort will take place on the unceeded lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin nation.

Check out our course materials .