One of the pragmatic solutions supported by the P2P Foundation is the CopyFair license, which combines free knowledge sharing, with a demand for reciprocity for the commons’ base, in case of commercialization. Coopify is an example of such a license, developed by the Coop des Communs in France, and association which works on commons-cooperative convergence… Continue reading
It might come as a surprise – but something innovative is happening in Hull. Hull is one of those cities, like Swindon and Slough, that’s long been the butt of jokes – like the one about the guy that typed ‘Hell’ instead of ‘Hull’ into his Sat-Nav, but still got there – it’s not that… Continue reading
The first run-through of the REMODEL programme in which 10 Danish manufacturing companies go through an 8-week design-sprint to explore new business strategies based on open source principles has begun – and we are now three weeks in. What have we learned from their journey so far? This is part of a serious of blogposts… Continue reading
It’s striking, when curating an event about future possibilities, just how persistent old forms of life are. Take the idea of the “new nationalism”. Just before the financial crash of 2008, the consensus was that globalisation was mutating, if not dissolving, the nation. The best that nation-states could do was adapt to planet-scale forces of… Continue reading
Zahra Davidson: Enrol Yourself is a social business that aims to redesign lifelong learning by harnessing the power of peer groups. It all began when my good friend Roxana Bacian felt stuck in our jobs and started having regular conversations about the kind of learning and development we wanted to participate in – and couldn’t… Continue reading
Back in the 1970s, with unemployment rising and British industry contracting, workers at the arms company Lucas Aerospace came up with a pioneering plan to retain jobs by proposing alternative, socially-useful applications of the company’s technology and their own skills. The ‘Lucas Plan’ remains one of the most radical and forward thinking attempts ever made by workers… Continue reading
Creative workers in the so-called ‘passion industries’ are likely to have no control other their artistic work, experience precarity, and be poorly paid. While artist co-operatives have a long history, Stocksy, a multistakeholder co-operative, are combining an inclusive legal structure with a globally distributed membership. Jonny Gordon-Farleigh: Stocksy United is a stock photography multistakeholder co-operative launched… Continue reading
Cross-posted from Shareable. Adrien Labaeye: Here’s the problem: The internet was initially built as a peer-to-peer network, but commercial interests changed it into a highly market-driven system over time. Domains are one reason for this change. Top-level domains such as .com and .net became resources that were used to make a profit. In the past couple… Continue reading
In my previous post, I explained why we need to change incentive structures if we want to build companies that are a force for good in society. There are several ways to do this. At Sharetribe, we’ve opted for a structure called steward-ownership. In this post, I’ll dive into the background of the model, how… Continue reading
In this extract, from a text originally published in Truthdig, Chris Hedges examines why the Silicon Valley elite is so keen on installing a Basic Income… while never questioning their power, privilege or toll on the Earth. For more opinions on this subject (good and bad) please check out our special category page on UBI…. Continue reading
These 9 experiences have been selected after an evaluation process of all the initiatives that applied to our Open Call. 32 of them are portrayed in the Atlas of Utopias. The evaluation was carried out by a multidisciplinary and multinational team of evaluators. The goal of the voting is not to put one experience above others; there… Continue reading
Finally, a designated global event to celebrate the commons and explore it in serious ways! The International Association for the Study of the Commons – the academic body founded by the late Professor Elinor Ostrom and other scholars – is helping organize World Commons Week from October 4 to 12. At many locations around the world, commoners will host… Continue reading
This article, the latest installment in the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Series co-sponsored by YNPN and NPQ, was originally published by NPQ online, on January 5, 2018. Used with permission. Megan Hafner and Elizabeth Ramaccia: Far too many young people in the United States today are growing up without tangible examples of people impacted by a… Continue reading
Introduction Sam DeJohn: Recently, Pablo Soto Bravo, Madrid City Council Member, computer programmer and the city’s lead for public engagement, spoke at an event in New York on “Restoring Trust in Government” on the occasion of the United Nations General Assembly. “Why should we trust government,” he asked, adding “the people don’t trust governments…they’re right not… Continue reading
We talk about making ‘communities stronger’ and creating a ‘fairer economy.’ But these approaches are still struggling to significantly impact our society and economy — 80% of the UK’s freelancers are living in poverty, Black African women earn 19.6% less than White British Men, 27 pubs are closing every week as part of a wider… Continue reading
Rob Hopkins tells the great story about the Belgian city of Liege, with an exemplary series of food transition projects. It was originally published in Rob’s blog: Imagination Taking Power. Rob Hopkins: Something really amazing is happening in Liége in Belgium. I was last there 4 years ago, where I gave talks and did meetings in… Continue reading