Fab Lab Athens = FAB LAB ATHENS is an active node of the Digital Fabrication Laboratories network Fab Labs, that are a platform for cooperation between people and organizations from different countries around the world. Further Information “FAB LAB ATHENS is a platform for the development of Digital Fabrication Technologies. Fab Lab Athens explores… Continue reading
Mailpile’s crowdfunding success for a secure, open source, encrypted email service
Via Stacco Troncoso: Good news all around: with a few days left on their funding campaign, Mailpile has exceeded its funding goal for the development of an alternative web-mail application with enhanced encryption and safety features. Led by an Icelandic team of open source veterans and privacy advocates, Mailpile aims to provide a secure, open… Continue reading
“Partnership not protest”? Networked slum dweller organisations go beyond protest politics
In Reducing Urban Poverty in the Global South we highlight five interventions, each of which follows a broadly similar approach. They invest in building up neighbourhood groups able to improve the lives of people in informal settlements — places where people lack secure tenure, running water, sanitation and waste collection. And these neighbourhood groups are… Continue reading
Scotland’s exemplary Renewable Energy Policy
Republished from Cynthia Shahan: “The Scottish government is setting an economical and environmental standard for the world. I believe every government should model programs to meet this country’s standard. Its new program encompasses compassion, retains economic empowerment, and offers kindness to Scottish citizens. This program reaches out to those in poverty with environmental arms. “The… Continue reading
Allen White on the Vision of Corporate Redesign for Social Purpose
What would a corporation look like that was designed to seamlessly integrate both social and financial purpose? Corporation 20/20 is a new multi-stakeholder initiative that seeks to answer this question. Its goal is to develop and disseminate corporate designs where social purpose moves from the periphery. Watch this very interesting interview here, and for more… Continue reading
On Democracy in Economics and the Marketplace
Excerpted from John Restakis in ch. 1 of Humanizing the Economy: “Polanyi’s thesis on the market and its relation to society has not been without its critics. His critique of market society and of capitalism also led to a rejection of the market itself as a means of realizing democratic ideals. In this I would… Continue reading
Essay: A New Political Contract for Digital Democracy
* Article: Digital Democracy: A New Political Contract. By Thomas Leif Olsen. (this is a version without notes) Thomas Olsen: “This paper argues that a ‘digital-political evolution’ should not base itself on what politicians can offer their voters, but on what voters can offer their politicians – i.e. their vote. Only then will peoples’ concerns… Continue reading
Selected Citations on P2P Spirituality
You can find the source of the citations here: * Dana Klisanin on Transception “It is not surprising then, that as our sphere of concern expands (i.e., from the personal to the global-planetary) we are creating technological means through which to address those concerns. Transception, described as, “Internet technologies fused with moral concerns,” is one… Continue reading
Problematizing and untangling the concept of ‘competition’
Via From Chapter 11 of Creating Good Work, Theme: going beyond the ‘culture of contest’, from competition to cooperation: “The “culture of contest” that results from this is becoming increasingly maladaptive in an age of ever-increasing social and ecological interdependence. These maladaptive consequences can be seen in the growing disparities of wealth and poverty within… Continue reading
Towards Commons-Enabling Infrastructures (2): some examples / answers …
Second part of a report by Silke Helfrich on what was said and thought on this issue during the Commons and Economics Conference in Berlin last May. “To, both, show where we are at and show what’s possible, here are a few alternative approaches (practices) to infrastructures: 1. Guifi.net – „the open, free and neutral… Continue reading