In response to the plight of Medialab-Prado and their own Manifesto, the P2P Foundation and the Commons Strategies group have redacted an open letter in support of this essential project. Please read and share.

The P2P Foundation offers its voice in support of MediaLab Prado, an exemplary project of collaborative, commons-oriented co-working in Madrid, Spain, now under threat of sale by the local government to a large corporate interest.

As a publicly accessible media lab, with an open, transparent and distributed organizational structure, they have provided and nurtured a venue for the co-creation of innovative ideas and work practices. They have attracted and specifically encouraged the participation of a diverse and far-reaching group of individuals, communities and enterprises, with a forward-thinking model of productive and highly regarded, groundbreaking projects with a worldwide profile. While the situation in Europe continues to create precarity in the lives of ordinary people, we believe that there should be more, rather than fewer, initiatives promoting collective efforts in overcoming the imposed limits of austerity through creativity and collaboration.

At present, MediaLab Prado is a great, scalable, prototype for a partner state institution and a lab for breaking the dysfunction between social and institutional power.We urge the Ayuntamiento (City Government) of Madrid to reconsider its proposed sale and takeover of the space, renovated and developed at great public expense for public use, now positioned for corporate takeover. 

Signed:

On behalf of the Foundation for Peer to Peer Alternatives,

Michel Bauwens

James Burke 

Jean Lievens

Stacco Troncoso

Kevin Flanagan

Eimhin Shortt

Dorota Mar

Helene Finidori

Michael L. Hartsell

On behalf of the Commons Strategies Group,

David Bollier

Silke Helfrich

Michel Bauwens