[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":330},["ShallowReactive",2],{"content-body-free-cities-awards-2025-winners":3,"transcript-free-cities-awards-2025-winners":329},{"body":4,"extras":328},[5,28,69,77,96,105,122,141,182,190,207,222,262,270,293,301,320],{"_key":6,"_type":7,"children":8,"markDefs":23,"style":27},"a6adb3db69eb","block",[9,14,19],{"_key":10,"_type":11,"marks":12,"text":13},"5836ee329797","span",[],"Prague, 31 October 2025. The ",{"_key":15,"_type":11,"marks":16,"text":18},"cbb519be60c2",[17],"c604541574a6","Free Cities Conference",{"_key":20,"_type":11,"marks":21,"text":22},"28aec5defac8",[]," opened with the Free Cities Foundation presenting three awards: one for a builder at sea, one for a builder in Honduras, and one for the man who has spent two decades explaining why any of it matters.",[24],{"_key":17,"_type":25,"href":26},"link","\u002Fconference\u002F2025","normal",{"_key":29,"_type":7,"children":30,"markDefs":62,"style":27},"9665cf163502",[31,35,40,44,49,53,58],{"_key":32,"_type":11,"marks":33,"text":34},"d8d5bb75814c",[],"The 2025 winners, from left: ",{"_key":36,"_type":11,"marks":37,"text":39},"d013db59dcaf",[38],"4e85e8b8f0be","Joe Quirk",{"_key":41,"_type":11,"marks":42,"text":43},"92894c759324",[]," (Storyteller Award), ",{"_key":45,"_type":11,"marks":46,"text":48},"0737849de378",[47],"24134913292f","Massimo Mazzone",{"_key":50,"_type":11,"marks":51,"text":52},"d99b0891f82d",[]," (Humanitarian Award) and ",{"_key":54,"_type":11,"marks":55,"text":57},"aaf72ca9d2d6",[56],"51321d84b60e","Mitchell Suchner",{"_key":59,"_type":11,"marks":60,"text":61},"aa2401fe0945",[]," (Innovation Award).",[63,65,67],{"_key":38,"_type":25,"href":64},"\u002Fpeople\u002Fjoe-quirk",{"_key":47,"_type":25,"href":66},"\u002Fpeople\u002Fmassimo-mazzone",{"_key":56,"_type":25,"href":68},"\u002Fpeople\u002Fmitchell-suchner",{"_key":70,"_type":7,"children":71,"markDefs":76,"style":27},"513c1ff3bf5e",[72],{"_key":73,"_type":11,"marks":74,"text":75},"04a3f761b0c6",[],"This year brought our largest field of nominations yet. The categories changed a little to reflect it, with Innovation and Humanitarian joining Storyteller, and the jury had the difficult job of cutting each one down to three.",[],{"_key":78,"_type":7,"children":79,"markDefs":93,"style":27},"a8dd0a82c366",[80,84,89],{"_key":81,"_type":11,"marks":82,"text":83},"4d982a8022e6",[],"All three winners were announced on stage in Prague. Category descriptions and previous years are on our ",{"_key":85,"_type":11,"marks":86,"text":88},"486982a12397",[87],"b85250b9e9a7","awards page",{"_key":90,"_type":11,"marks":91,"text":92},"fc79da59dbff",[],".",[94],{"_key":87,"_type":25,"href":95},"\u002Fawards",{"_key":97,"_type":7,"children":98,"markDefs":103,"style":104},"31a75e3fb2d9",[99],{"_key":100,"_type":11,"marks":101,"text":102},"bc88a6d0e9a6",[],"Innovation Award: Mitchell Suchner and the Reef Resort seastead",[],"h2",{"_key":106,"_type":7,"children":107,"markDefs":120,"style":27},"556d309cda16",[108,112,116],{"_key":109,"_type":11,"marks":110,"text":111},"ea5a9a28c070",[],"Seasteading has spent a long time as a thought experiment. 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His team has also extracted lithium from seawater samples in the lab, an early step towards an ocean economy that produces something rather than only consuming it.",[139],{"_key":132,"_type":25,"href":140},"\u002Fprojects\u002Farkpad\u002Freef-resort",{"_key":142,"_type":7,"children":143,"markDefs":175,"style":27},"b801c999b8bd",[144,148,153,157,162,166,171],{"_key":145,"_type":11,"marks":146,"text":147},"74e16865f12e",[],"Also shortlisted: ",{"_key":149,"_type":11,"marks":150,"text":152},"5ab14af9d131",[151],"145831945375","Jordi Llonch Esteve",{"_key":154,"_type":11,"marks":155,"text":156},"bbaebc69a676",[]," and Satlantis, for a Nostr-powered social network and digital governance tools built for Free Cities; and ",{"_key":158,"_type":11,"marks":159,"text":161},"c0bd790d7f9c",[160],"f95c20638bcb","Patrick Hiebert",{"_key":163,"_type":11,"marks":164,"text":165},"2d2226bc0cd3",[],", for ",{"_key":167,"_type":11,"marks":168,"text":170},"0938bddae3d1",[169],"5fcdc55b4f2c","Veritas Villages",{"_key":172,"_type":11,"marks":173,"text":174},"1727eb3f6ac5",[],", the off-grid, self-reliant communities in Nicaragua and Panama running on independent energy, water, food and a bitcoin-based local economy.",[176,178,180],{"_key":151,"_type":25,"href":177},"\u002Fpeople\u002Fjordi-llonch-esteve",{"_key":160,"_type":25,"href":179},"\u002Fpeople\u002Fpatrick-hiebert",{"_key":169,"_type":25,"href":181},"\u002Fprojects\u002Fveritas-villages",{"_key":183,"_type":7,"children":184,"markDefs":189,"style":104},"a1bccde1f11a",[185],{"_key":186,"_type":11,"marks":187,"text":188},"b033037d4249",[],"Humanitarian Award: Massimo Mazzone, founder of Ciudad Morazán",[],{"_key":191,"_type":7,"children":192,"markDefs":205,"style":27},"f0c950866689",[193,197,201],{"_key":194,"_type":11,"marks":195,"text":196},"c07229117481",[],"The Humanitarian Award is for work that puts the tools of a Free City at the service of the people with the fewest options. ",{"_key":198,"_type":11,"marks":199,"text":48},"dc387a9a1dc5",[200],"3a8bba8e6684",{"_key":202,"_type":11,"marks":203,"text":204},"dc6dee6840e3",[]," built the first Free City for blue-collar workers, and largely paid for it himself.",[206],{"_key":200,"_type":25,"href":66},{"_key":208,"_type":7,"children":209,"markDefs":219,"style":27},"13cd953caf9d",[210,215],{"_key":211,"_type":11,"marks":212,"text":214},"a24f450a4ecb",[213],"3ac314087f9f","Ciudad Morazán",{"_key":216,"_type":11,"marks":217,"text":218},"0a963b16bec7",[]," sits near Choloma, in a part of Honduras where safety and stability are not assumptions. It now provides both, along with work, to more than a hundred low-income families, and it has done so through political and economic conditions that would have sent most investors somewhere easier. Several members of our Telegram community nominated him independently, which tells you something. He is, as one of them put it, an entrepreneur with real skin in the game.",[220],{"_key":213,"_type":25,"href":221},"\u002Fprojects\u002Fciudad-morazan",{"_key":223,"_type":7,"children":224,"markDefs":255,"style":27},"52e695202d79",[225,228,233,237,242,246,251],{"_key":226,"_type":11,"marks":227,"text":147},"d531e49e119f",[],{"_key":229,"_type":11,"marks":230,"text":232},"2bfdbc83535e",[231],"eac8a2c5ecac","Trey Goff",{"_key":234,"_type":11,"marks":235,"text":236},"d21feecc2843",[],", for his central role in ",{"_key":238,"_type":11,"marks":239,"text":241},"27fdee3a3e62",[240],"28f3ee0f0873","Próspera",{"_key":243,"_type":11,"marks":244,"text":245},"a877c66b8dbf",[],"’s development and in creating high-value jobs and upskilling Hondurans; and ",{"_key":247,"_type":11,"marks":248,"text":250},"d03241d96f29",[249],"be900e33c62d","Iván Dubois",{"_key":252,"_type":11,"marks":253,"text":254},"a5ea0c6a99a5",[],", for advancing pro-liberty reform in Argentina.",[256,258,260],{"_key":231,"_type":25,"href":257},"\u002Fpeople\u002Ftrey-goff",{"_key":240,"_type":25,"href":259},"\u002Fprojects\u002Fprospera",{"_key":249,"_type":25,"href":261},"\u002Fpeople\u002Fivan-dubois",{"_key":263,"_type":7,"children":264,"markDefs":269,"style":104},"73cbee8834d1",[265],{"_key":266,"_type":11,"marks":267,"text":268},"ba3f0c39ab81",[],"Storyteller Award: Joe Quirk, seasteading advocate and author",[],{"_key":271,"_type":7,"children":272,"markDefs":289,"style":27},"4f5f29178cf6",[273,277,281,286],{"_key":274,"_type":11,"marks":275,"text":39},"834dc2fa5be2",[276],"8bb533bc756b",{"_key":278,"_type":11,"marks":279,"text":280},"b1633c74d31e",[]," has been making the case for seasteading and Free Cities for so long that a good share of this movement can trace its interest back to hearing him do it. The Storyteller Award recognised the writing, the talks and the sheer energy he brings to a stage, and his record of converting sceptics, including, as his nominator enjoyed pointing out, the Free Cities Foundation’s own ",{"_key":282,"_type":11,"marks":283,"text":285},"d14576f6617a",[284],"0650a6889b6a","Timothy Allen",{"_key":287,"_type":11,"marks":288,"text":92},"bef459cf0199",[],[290,291],{"_key":276,"_type":25,"href":64},{"_key":284,"_type":25,"href":292},"\u002Fpeople\u002Ftimothy-allen",{"_key":294,"_type":7,"children":295,"markDefs":300,"style":27},"2f9fca84e82a",[296],{"_key":297,"_type":11,"marks":298,"text":299},"b0e356a3cf82",[],"The skill worth naming is that Joe argues from moral ground rather than technical detail. People remember the reason, not the schematic.",[],{"_key":302,"_type":7,"children":303,"markDefs":317,"style":27},"9f73b78cd463",[304,308,313],{"_key":305,"_type":11,"marks":306,"text":307},"638f63698557",[],"Also shortlisted: Yes Theory, for the Próspera documentary that reached roughly 2.5 million viewers in English and more than a million in Spanish while declining the usual exploitation narrative; and ",{"_key":309,"_type":11,"marks":310,"text":312},"c53986d8181f",[311],"378aac1f1c9d","Joyce Brand",{"_key":314,"_type":11,"marks":315,"text":316},"f88db22d07e7",[],", for her book Pioneering Prosperity and her steady stream of Substack articles that make these ideas readable for newcomers.",[318],{"_key":311,"_type":25,"href":319},"\u002Fpeople\u002Fjoyce-brand",{"_key":321,"_type":7,"children":322,"markDefs":327,"style":27},"d5b9d786d9eb",[323],{"_key":324,"_type":11,"marks":325,"text":326},"cbc109f1d4f2",[],"Congratulations to all nine nominees, and thank you to everyone who put a name forward.",[],{},null,1789233742556]