The SERC Manual is part of the Public Lab Press, a project to distribute written works from allies and community members and organizations.

To paraphrase William Gibson, "The social emergency is already here, it's just unevenly distributed."

In emergencies like hurricanes and tsunamis, emergency response centers exist to coordinate evacuations or provide services like temporary housing, food, and water. We want you to join us in re-imagining response centers to take on the real and pressing social emergency that we are facing today.

In 2017, Design Studio for Social Intervention created Social Emergency Response Centers (SERCs) to help people understand the moment we're in, from all different perspectives. Since then, over 20 SERCs have happened in 16 months, nationally and internationally.

Co-created with activists, artists and community members, SERCs are temporary, pop-up spaces that help us move from rage and despair into collective, radical action. SERCs are continuing and growing---a people-led public infrastructure sweeping the country from Boston to Utica, MS to Atlanta, Albuquerque, Washington DC, Chicago, Orange, NJ, Hartford, CT, Canada and Serbia... They are popping up in homes, community centers, schools, colleges, churches and conferences. SERCs function as both an artistic gesture and a practical solution. As such,they aim to find the balance between the two, answering questions like: How will we feed people--and their hunger for justice? How will we create a shelter--where it's safe to bring your whole damn self? What will reconstruction--of civil society--look like?

Interested in running your own SERC? This SERC Manual has everything you need from timelines, supply lists and suggested budgets. All it needs is you, a friend or team to get the ball rolling.

The SERC manual is now available through the Public Lab Press here

SERC is a project by the Design Studio for Social Intervention.and we are excited to be sharing SERC Manuals through the Public Lab Store to all of you! For technical assistance on getting started, or a SERC Kit, we'd love to hear from you! Contact us anytime at serc@ds4si.org