*child outreach programs – especially for summertime. The children can help tend the garden, and receive a meal and snacks they might not otherwise get at home. Especially if they are in a homeless situation.
*aquaponics – using a cheap fish like goldfish or an edible fish that can be cultivated, bred, then eaten. (Though the problem with edible fish is balancing water pH and temperature with the well-being of the fish.) Fish are a source of good protein, and their waste can be mixed with compost to create quality soil for outside gardening during warm months to up crop production. (In an aquaponics setup, it seems better to use lettuce rafts and trays of clay media in a closed system. This allows a year-round growing season.)
*community kitchen – a community kitchen program would allow people to can and preserve their own foods for later. It would teach life skills, nutrition information, and allow people to form bonds with their neighbors.
*community services – wifi hotspots, job search help, Rhino and 3D printers, computer education. A corner of a Cafe could have donated computers and equipment.
If everyone works together growing food and all sit down to a meal, there wouldn’t be a sense of inequality to the relationship. It wouldn’t be volunteers and disadvantaged. It would be a community of people eating together. I think that would be of great benefit to society.
]]>A few points:
The Fab lab concept should be expanded to include all forms of small-scale production tools affordable by individuals. This would include well-equipped home workshops with conventional machine tools, as well as intermediate-sized tools like the multimachine. This broader conception would coincide with the community workshops advocated by Colin Ward, Karl Hess, etc.
Local agriculture should place a premium on alternative water sources (esp. rainwater conservation with cisterns), edible permaculture landscaping, etc., for resilience against drought and other forms of climate change associated with global warming.
And adding a fourth category, housing, would fill a big gap in the overall resiliency strategy. It might be some kind of cheap, bare bones cohousing project associated with the Cafe (water taps, cots, hotplates, etc) that would house people at minimal cost on the YMCA model. Squats in abandoned/public buildings, and building with scavenged materials on vacant lots, etc. (a la Colin Ward), might tie in with this as well.
]]>Thanks for the support Michel. That content I boldly title ‘The Triple Alliance’ is developed here:
http://www.appropedia.org/The_Triple_Alliance
I dare call it the New Triple Revolution! Right now its the contemporary equivalent of scribbles on a napkin. I look forward to collaberating with you on writing it. From this idea set, I can see clearly things I would otherwise ignore in the many dimensions needed for abundant society.
I hope to see more ideas like these and the ways they are (can be) put to practice. We need applications now for this meltdown. What is presently in practice in Iceland? The organizational approach described in the Triple Alliance will come into greater demand as we continue to make our world more abundant.
Nathan
]]>It reminds me of David Braden’s proposal to constitute what he terms as Community Investment Enterprises.
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