Happy New Year's Eve, everyone! It's been a whirlwind of a year in the Zu-niverse, and I wouldn't have it any other way. In this edition of the newsletter, you'll find some highlights -- a portion of the energy and momentum our movement saw in 2024 -- as well as upcoming events because no, we're not slowing down. ✊ I also think it's time to revamp the Zuzalu newsletter in the coming year. I've enjoyed keeping this mailing list alive with your submissions, and appreciate the surprising number of silent readers.

Subscribers and submissions have been gated to those that attended Zuzalu and ZuConnect, and I think it's time for both to change to reflect how our movement continues to grow and diversify. Next year, I'd like to make the newsletter more open: for people to subscribe and submit content to share. I've also chatted with some folks about incorporating more diverse forms of media. If you're interested in joining forces to revamp the Zuzalu Community Newsletter in 2025, please reach out! 🤗 Without further ado, your 2024 Retrospective.

What would you like to share about your 2024?

I've been a nomad for 7 years and had a couple good friends that I meet in different countries. I'm blown away by how fast the Zuzalu community has become integrated, and integral, to my life and soul."

"LottoPGF v1 just launched! To start using it you can check the docs (docs.lottopgf.org) or use this decentralised launcher and player frontend: ottoslottos.eth.limo. If you just want to try your luck and support an upcoming popup city you can play ETHiopia's lottery on: https://eth-iopia.xyz/lotto Happy New Year from Otto 🐸"

"2024 will be remembered as a growth year in my books. I'm particularly proud of myself for becoming a PhD candidate in ZK <3 Thank you 2024, looking forward to 2025 🙏"

"A ZK community just ran their own $500 prize on viaPrize without any assistance from our team! We are thrilled to see the platform reach a point of autonomous use. In our journey making viaPrize easier to use, we learned to let customers pay with credit card and forward those payments to the business as crypto. We now offer this as a service at normie.tech! On to the next adventure :)"

"Castalia, a DeSci-focused pop-up city, took over Mexico this Nov/Dec. The event focused on onboarding normie scientists, connecting with local web3 communities, and hacking on DeSci projects. Highlights included Plague Hunt (Pokémon Go but for diseased trees🤔), a Christmas Posada and of course the tacos! There will be a bigger event in Mexico in Q3---join the TG to stay updated: https://t.me/CastaliaCity"

"In 2024, Zuitzerland has blossomed from an idea into a bold experiment for a permanent network state and society sandbox, inspired by Switzerland's 700-year history of decentralization. In September, we gathered 35+ governance pioneers for 10 days in Interlaken to co-design Zuitzerland's next steps, shaping a vision for a frontier governance sandbox in Switzerland. Just before Christmas, we secured (🤞) our permanent village location, setting the stage for our first full-scale event in 2025. Zuitzerland 2025 will be focused on seeding long-term communities and bringing Zuitzerland's longer-term vision to life with our residents. Curious about what's next? Join our X Space this Friday at 6 PM UTC, where we'll share what Zuitzerland 2025 holds and how you can be part of this journey!" "ZuTech day was a special moment spanning the many pop up experiments in Chiang Mai this fall. Builders across the archipelago came together to discuss open source and decentralization software values, and opinions and ideas proliferated on both the abstract and technical levels. As many of us collaborate on projects remotely, this no-gadget IRL day was a unique opportunity to connect face to face with friends and colleagues we've gotten to know over the past years in the Zuzalu technology ecosystem." "I like where this is going."

Reflections

What is a recent technological or scientific advancement that excited you and why?

• Binius, finally completed my blog post on it! https://0xmilica.com/post/binius/
• I recently learned that baths in Japan have a "reheat" function so you can stay nice and cozy while u soak for hours without needing to add hot water and overflow. Revolutionary What are your hopes for Zuzalu in 2025?
• I would like to see all of us in Montenegro again, where it all started :)
• More 6+ week events. More property purchases. More love

*Anything else? *

• Sending love to my Zuzalu people <3
• We are in the process of closing on 2 more houses in the network bringing the total to 4 by end of 2024. If you're interested in buying a house and joining our village then contact the Pirate King.

📣 *Previous Townhalls ** 📣 December Zuzalu Community Townhall: Video Recording & AI Notes*

December Zuzalu Software Townhall: Blog & Audio Recording

🔧 Join the conversation and build with us on the Zuzalu Software Matrix server**.*

*Ecosystem TG Channel Roll Call*

• Zuzalu Catalog by 4Seas
• Popup City Updates by Chance Note:The "Zuzalu Official Announcements" channel from Montenegro (at least on my end) has no link for newcomers to subscribe to. Also worth considering a more open forum for sharing announcements in the new year.

Upcoming Events

1. Luma calendar** **- Subscribe for Townhalls and add your own events
2. Vitalia Forever 2025 (January 6 - March 3, 2025)
3. Zu-Grama (January 5 - February 16, 2025)
4. ZK Village (February 16 - March 2, 2025)
5. Crecimiento (March 2025)
6. ARC Austin (March 2025)
7. Ipê Village (April 22, 2025 - May 22, 2025)
8. Zuitzerland (May 1, 2025 - June 16, 2025)
9. ZuCity Detroit(May 2025)
10. ZuAfrique(May 2025)
11. Edge Esmeralda 2 (May 24, 2025 - June 21, 2025)
12. ZuCity Japan (September 2025) Also check out netso villages, a "Nomad's list for Popups" created by Chance at ZuThailand!

Have a wonderful end to 2024, and see you in Zu next year! 🎉🍀💕

Veronica