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by ElliotJDavies
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AI safetyAnimal welfareBiosecurityBuilding effective altruismCareer choiceCause prioritizationCommunityEffective givingExistential riskGlobal health & developmentPhilosophyPolicyFarmed animal welfareMoral philosophyWild animal welfare
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As the year is nearing its end, it would be good to crowd source achievements made by Effective Altruists this year, and collect them into a single thread.

What got done in 2022, to to make the world safer or better, for animals, people or future beings:

How many mosquito nets were distributed? What organisations got founded? What papers got published? What incubation grants where made? How have organisations scaled up? What laws got passed?

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David M

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Robert Wiblin's slide deck for his 'good news' talk at EAGx Australia (July 2022) has some good content.

From this talk, I'll highlight:

  • Animal corporate campaigns really were working.
    • As of May 2022, 980, or 88%, of companies globally had fulfilled their commitment to stop buying caged eggs, which equates to over 100 million animals out of cages.
    • There had been a concern that companies wouldn't follow through on their commitments, and some have delayed here and there. But seems like there's also a reasonable level of success
  • Giving What We Can is accelerating again - I just checked now and they're on over 8,060 full pledges, versus 6,621 at the start of 2022. With $3 billion pledged, it's becoming its own quirky sort of megadonor.
  • Alvea: full speed ahead on vaccine innovation. It was running pre-clinical trials in mice and sheep within 60 days of its founding in 2021, and aims to produce a platform for developing vaccines cheaply and scalably so that they can reach developing countries faster.
  • Open Philanthropy launched programs in two new cause areas (the first in five years): South Asian Air Quality, and Global Aid Policy
     

ElliotJDavies

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CE Incubated 5 Charities in 2022: 

  • Center for Effective Aid Policy- identifying and promoting high-impact development policies and interventions.
  • Centre for Exploratory Altruism Research (CEARCH)- conducting cause prioritization research and outreach.
  • Maternal Health Initiative- producing transformative benefits to women’s health, agency, and income through increased access to family planning.
  • Kaya Guides- reducing depression and anxiety among youth in low-and middle-income countries.
  • Vida Plena- building strong mental health in Latin America.
ElliotJDavies1
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This is great! Do we know who wrote this?

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Lorenzo Buonanno🔸
See https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/oGdCtvuQv4BTuNFoC/good-things-that-happened-in-ea-this-year. It was written by https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/users/shakeel-hashim-1, Head of Communications at the Centre for Effective Altruism  
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David M
Maybe a social media manager for EVF or CEA, I don’t know if there is such a person.

iamnotalawyer

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In 2022 two substantial stately homes were bought.

Wytham Abbey (built 1480) - bought in July 2022 for £15m (~€18m). Justification for purchase here: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/xof7iFB3uh8Kc53bG/why-did-cea-buy-wytham-abbey

Hostačov Chateau (founded 1297)  - bought in late 2022 for ~€4m directly with FTX money. Justification for purchase lower down same thread: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/xof7iFB3uh8Kc53bG/why-did-cea-buy-wytham-abbey?commentId=KWnqd6Hw5BdEbeKD3&view=postCommentsNew&postId=xof7iFB3uh8Kc53bG#uwPswQEgHfiHPpJv8

Neither had been announced, only uncovered in press reports, after which EA leaders came out to assert that they were going to announce them later on (detail in the threads above).

These are very real achievements made by Effective Altruists this year. The planning, time and monetary investment alone are impressive. As such, they should be put forward alongside others.

RobertJMoore-4
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For the people downvoting/disagreeing with this comment: 

Do you think these weren't achievements, per se? Why not? 

Do you disagree that they should be listed as achievements, and as such are inappropriate for this list? If so, under what conditions if any should community-building efforts be counted as EA achievements?

Do you disagree with the characterization of them as "stately homes"? That's a fair terminological disagreement, and I would agree that's misleading terminology as they're not intended to be permanent living quarters (AFAIK). Given the possibility of other explanations, however, clarification would be appreciated rather than or at least in addition to the silent downvote.

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ElliotJDavies34
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From my perspective, I was looking to celebrate all the fantastic work being done to help the worlds most vulnerable beings. The billions of factory farmed animals. The millions of people living in extreme poverty. I wanted to celebrate all the people thinking compassionately about other people, and taking sacrifices, with their own income, or their life's work, to help others. 

So, I would have a preferred an alternative universe where  negativity was not posted here, in this specific thread. Feel free to  discuss the issue on the many forum posts around that topic. 

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RobertJMoore
On one hand, I think that's a lovely and important sentiment. This community does get bogged down in certain kinds of criticism and theorizing, and likewise can miss out on recognizing the good achieved.  On the other, ignoring "controversial achievements" is... well. A rather slippery concept; what's controversial to one might be great to another.  Thank you being willing to respond with actual words and not just voting.
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