Continuing our coverage of the Lucas Plan as a precursor to Design Global Manufacture Local, this article explores “what the Lucas Plan could teach tech today”. By Felix Holtwell, republished from Notes from Below.org “We got to do something now, the company are not going to do anything and we got to protect ourselves”, proclaimed… Continue reading
In this special guest post, Miguel Martínez tells the story of five “strands of commoning” in Florence, including the Nidiaci Garden and Park, a commons-managed space focused on children. The City, the Commons, the Flower On June 7th, a small event, highly symbolic however for all of Europe’s historic centres being turned into Disneylands for… Continue reading
What are the political implications of meeting the established human right for everyone to enjoy an adequate standard of living? In short, it necessitates a redistribution of wealth and resources on an unprecedented scale across the world, which is why activists should resurrect the United Nations’ radical vision for achieving Article 25. The Universal Declaration… Continue reading
Join the P2P Foundation‘s Michel Bauwens and LabGov‘s Elena De Nictolis for this special event on Urban Commons Transitions. The event is organized by our colleagues at Oikos.be and the following text is taken from their website. June 8th 2018 19:30 – 21:30 Location: IHECS Brussels School for Journalism and Communication, Stoofstraat 58, Brussel, Brussel, België… Continue reading
This is a beautiful essay penned by our colleague George Pór. It is well written, informative and reflects George’s life’s work. George Pór: My decades old quest for higher meaning reached a new phase with the question, “what is the pattern that connects awakening to our highest potential in individual, organizational,and social life?” I felt if I could discover that pattern, I’d be able… Continue reading
Grassroots Innovation Movements, by Adrian Smith, Mariano Fressoli, Dinesh Abrol, Elisa Arond and Adrian Ely This book, in the STEPS Centre’s Pathways to Sustainability series, looks at how six grassroots innovation movements around the world have developed and what challenges they face. Download the Accepted Manuscript of Chapter 1 (pdf, Open Access) Innovation is increasingly invoked by policy elites and business leaders… Continue reading
Nigel C. Gibson: On March 19, 2005, in a scene reminiscent of the anti-apartheid struggle, 750 Black shack dwellers barricaded a major ring road near the Umgeni Business Park in Durban, fighting the police for four hours.1 The shack dwellers had been waiting patiently for Nelson Mandela’s historic 1994-election promise of housing to be realized. The houses,… Continue reading
Article by Patrick van Zwanenberg, Mariano Fressoli, Valeria Arza and Adrian Smith: Around the world, people are changing how things are made and how knowledge is produced, by involving more people, opening up data, and sharing skills and insights with these activities across communities, countries or continents. Experimentation with radically open and collaborative ways of producing knowledge… Continue reading
Derek Wall. Elinor Ostrom’s Rules for Radicals: Cooperative Alternatives Beyond Markets and States (London: Pluto Press, 2017). I’ve known Derek Wall for some time as a friend on Twitter, a fellow admirer of Elinor Ostrom, an Ostrom scholar, and an official in the Green Party of England and Wales. This is not my first introduction to him… Continue reading
Cross-posted from Shareable. Adrien Labaeye: Here’s the problem: Internet access has become an essential part of life. However, many still cannot afford it. There are also growing concerns that internet connections could be unilaterally cut by Internet Service Providers at the request of public agencies. How do we ensure everyone has internet access? Here’s how one… Continue reading
The current rhetoric around the blockchain hints at problems with the techno-utopian ideologies that surround digital activism. A blockchain is essentially a distributed database. The technology first appeared in 2009 as the basis of the Bitcoin digital currency system, but it has potential for doing much, much more—including aiding in the development of platform cooperatives…. Continue reading
Agriculture 3.0 describes the increasing implementation and promotion of digital technologies in agricultural production. Promising more efficient farming, higher yields and environmental sustainability, AgTech has entered the mainstream, pushed by the EU, international corporations and national governments across the world. Increasingly, serious questions are raised about the impact of such market-oriented technologies on the agricultural… Continue reading
If you’re looking for good, accessible resources on Holo and Holochain, you’ve come to the right place. Up above you’ll find a video presentation by Nancy Giordano (the slides are below). Additionally, we’re republishing a post by Matthew Schutte on Holo’s impressive potential. Nancy Giordano presents Holochain from P2PF Holo: The evolution of cloud computing… Continue reading
Thirty-eight years ago, a movement for ‘socially useful production’ pioneered practical approaches for more democratic technology development. It was in January 1976 that workers at Lucas Aerospace published an Alternative Plan for the future of their corporation. It was a novel response to management announcements that thousands of manufacturing jobs were to be cut in… Continue reading
It’s summertime and the beggars are back to Oslo’s parade street Karl Johan. Quite many of them are coming from Romania, but there are native Norwegians as well. I’m really happy for them, as they make us uncomfortable and force us to reflect about what kind of sick economic system we have subdued our self… Continue reading
At Pontio, in North Wales, a new Masters by Research in Relational Design(#api_MRRD) helps you make a positive step-change in a live wellness project for a region. One project scenario: performance equipment for professional arborists. In hundreds of cities around the world, mayors and citizen groups are planting trees – to provide shade, reduce ambient heat,… Continue reading