Alanna Krause met Dan Hassan in London, where he was speaking at an event in Hackney Wick about “DIY Social Movements”. Just as the light was fading, we walked along the canals looking for a quiet spot for him to share his thoughts about creating ‘economic space’ at Robin Hood Co-op. Most of us are… Continue reading
Every year since 2009, the United Nations has highlighted February 20th as the World Day for Social Justice in a bid to underscore the glaring inequalities that increasingly characterise the world today – from growing levels of poverty and rising unemployment rates, to various forms of discrimination on the basis of class, race and gender…. Continue reading
As you may know, Guerrilla Translation is launching a groundbreaking new project very much inspired by the P2P Foundation’s mantra of “What is light is global, what is heavy is local”, also present in our ongoing “Design Global/Manufacture Local” research project. We’re launching a new kind of publishing network, with a team of P2P/commons publishers… Continue reading
Is it really about stimulating the economy? Or is there some deeper, darker threat afoot? Remember those old ads showing a senior couple lounging on a warm beach, captioned “Let your money work for you”? Or the scene in Mary Poppins where young Michael is being advised to put his tuppence in the bank, so… Continue reading
The Spanda Journal is an open access peer-reviewed journal produced on a semi-annual basis by the Spanda Foundation. The Spanda Foundation, is “an international civil society organisation (ICSO) to catalyse sustainable long-term systemic change in consciousness, culture, education, health & environment, economics and research“. Their last special issue on “Creativity & Collective Enlightenment”, published in… Continue reading
Excerpted from David de Ugarte who distinguishes two types of such communities: “As there are two models of productive communities – one that sees itself as a “society of friends” and one that defines itself as a “collectivist germ” -, there are basically two models of community growth. In the “society of friends” model, the… Continue reading
“I’m less frustrated by people’s blindness to the problem than I am to their blindness to the solutions – by how easy it is to develop local currencies, to use alternative websites, to do simple investments in their communities rather than in far-flung mining companies. People don’t realise how much power they have. And that’s… Continue reading
Article cross-posted with the Blue Mountain Center. The disaster with Flint, Michigan’s drinking water, created by political leaders more devoted to fiscal austerity than the common good, illuminates why it’s important to think of our cities as commons–human creations that belong to all residents, not just the wealthy and politically well-connected. The commons itself means… Continue reading
Alanna from Loomio met up with Michel Bauwens in Berlin, while both were participating in a conference about “Capital for the Commons”. They managed to slip out for a few minutes so Michel could tell Alanna about his experience using Loomio with the P2P Foundation, which he founded. The P2P Foundation is a global network… Continue reading
In an editorial at the New England Journal of Medicine (“Data Sharing,” Jan. 21), Dan Longo and Jeffrey Drazen have coined an interesting new term: “research parasite.” In theory, the authors say: Data sharing is beautiful. But when you get down to all the practical details, it turns out to be one of those beautiful… Continue reading
A presentation by Noemi Giszpenc for the Platform Cooperativism Conference, NYC, November 2015. The following text is extracted from the Platform Cooperativism Website: Noemi Giszpenc is one of the founders of the Data Commons Cooperative, and the founder of the Regional Index of Cooperation, a precursor of the Data Commons. She is on the board… Continue reading
The environmentalist Michael Mielke just wrote to me the following, “We came back over-and-over to the realization that the climate movement must proceed through the several stages of grief to get to Acceptance.” I am happy to see the growing recognition of what he is talking about. The grief is essential in order to integrate… Continue reading
Below is an edited transcript of an interview and audience-led discussion with STWR’s Rajesh Makwana at the annual World Goodwill seminar in November 2015. The conference featured a series of presentations and talks conducted in London, Geneva and New York and covered a full range of spiritual, political, environmental and social issues. STWR’s overview of the… Continue reading
It seems that rather than ‘help’ the Global South by pushing its inhabitants (probably by means of crippling loans) towards achieving the same standard of living that we have in ‘developed countries’ (and thereby probably ensuring the complete destruction of the biosphere as fit for human habitation), the more optimal path is to enable people… Continue reading
The doings of Pope Francis have tended to be popular by default, but his Jubilee Year of Mercy is off to an unusually slow start. Pilgrims aren’t pouring into Rome as expected; media reports have been little better than dutiful. Fears of terrorism might have something to do with the pilgrim count, together with the… Continue reading
Learn more about Justa here: “JUSTA is a holistic network that connects indigenous artisans, global designers, and sustainable projects. We connect artisans with self-sustaining development, creative expression, and holistic empowerment within family and community. Our design project, Global Just Designs, connects conscious consumers with original, upcycled, neotribal designs that bridge indigenous tradition with contemporary sustainable… Continue reading