The Coronavirus and the Need for Systems Change, Pt.1 The Coronavirus pandemic raises many questions about public health, global diseases and the way we produce and distribute cures and treatments. Who pays for the corona vaccine and how? How is that innovation organised? Who profits? Commons Network has been an advocate in this domain (‘access… Continue reading
The DLT4EU program is about to launch its Call for Applicants. The applications will be possible from 14th April to 6th May and links to the registration of online interest form will be soon available on this website. To register interest and be considered for applying, teams must apply before 6th May 2020 (11:59pm GMT)…. Continue reading
“No economic interest, under no circumstance, can be above the reverence of life.” – Manfred Max-Neef, Chilean economist, 1932 -2019 A national conversation has begun which is alarming, yet also familiar. It talks about costs and trade-offs, losses and accounts. It is a conversation about human lives framed in the language of economics. A recent… Continue reading
Dear Readers, Before the Corona outbreak, and with the help of Jose Ramos, the lead editor of an upcoming book about cosmo-local production, I had been reviewing the literature on historical rhythms and cycles to set the stage for the current ‘chaotic transition’ and ‘what comes next’. In short, I have come to two important conclusions: society moves… Continue reading
The Internet Archive has taken the brave step to release 1.4 million books online, arguing that public libraries are now closed. Unsurprisingly, the reactions from the publishing industry haven’t been too charitable. The following is republished from the Internet Archive. Last Tuesday we launched a National Emergency Library—1.4M digitized books available to users without a waitlist—in… Continue reading
The pandemic now sweeping the planet is one of those historic events that will change many basic premises of modern life. Let us act swiftly to deal with the emergencies, but let us also seize the opportunity to think about long-term system change. If there is one thing that the pandemic confirms (in tandem with… Continue reading
“May you live in interesting times“. A curse once assigned Chinese origin, now thought to be apocryphal, it’s deceptively mild until you realize you have no resistance to a novel, viral load of interestingness. We feel like we can’t blink, yet our eyelids are getting very heavy. We’re anxious, grateful, bewildered, hopeful, overwhelmed, empathetic, angry,… Continue reading