Stad in de Maak is an association set up to take on the redevelopment of vacant properties in Central Rotterdam, together with the local community. The association renovated six buildings, investing upfront the amount of loss the buildings were projected to generate for their owner, a housing corporation, in the coming 10 years. Stad in de… Continue reading
ETC Group, Biofuelwatch and Heinrich Böll Foundation have released “The Big Bad Fix: The Case Against Geoengineering”. The report warns that political and economic elites in key emitting countries are turning to geoengineering as a would-be technological fix for the climate crisis, at the same time they refuse to break with an economic model based on fossil fuels and high emissions…. Continue reading
Holo is helping to grow a more human Internet — where you control your personal data and choose how your applications work. With Holo, you share your computer’s spare capacity to help others connect to peer-to-peer apps. When people use the apps you host, you can get rewarded in cryptocurrency by the app’s creators. Connect… Continue reading
The Great Lakes Commons project has embarked upon an ingenious campaign to reimagine money, value and water protection by issuing its own time-limited “Currency of Care.” The bills are not likely to be used for commercial transactions. In a way, that is the point – to spark a new conversation about money, value, community and… Continue reading
A call for support from Oakland’s exciting Omni Commons project. The following text was written by Julian Francis Park. Click here to contribute. Julian Francis Park: Dear friends of the Omni Commons. We’re coming up on the first anniversary of collectively owning the historic building we inhabit thanks to your ongoing participation in the Omni…. Continue reading
Playing for Team Human today is Neal Gorenflo from Shareable.net. Neal joins Douglas to spread the word about Shareable’s latest resource, Sharing Cities: Activating the Urban Commons. Sharing Cities is an inspiring collection of 137 case studies and policies across a wide spectrum of issues that show how empowered communities are building citizen-run, democratic solutions… Continue reading
Cross-posted from Shareable. Ruby Irene Pratka: According to the World Health Organization, more than 420 million people around the world — including over 29 million Americans — have diabetes. People with diabetes are unable to naturally produce sufficient insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar in the body. Over 90 years ago, Canadian scientists discovered a way… Continue reading
So what might the commons actually achieve for you if you live in a city? How might you experience the joys of commoning? Check out Sharing Cities: Activating the Urban Commons, a fantastic new book that describes more than 100 case studies and model policies for urban commoning. Researched and published by Shareable, the book… Continue reading
Originally published at Platform.coop here are the notes from Trebor Scholz’s recent intervention at the Tenerife Colaborativa conference. If you read Spanish, you can download the introduction to platform cooperativism here. Trebor Scholz: It’s exhilarating to be here on the Canary Islands seeing this large group of people committing itself to building a more equitable… Continue reading
When an idea grows far beyond its original conception it can become the very enemy of the original idea. Just as Marx would have been horrified at Stalinism, Adam Smith disgusted by today’s capitalism, so proponents of Bitcoin’s ideals should now be distancing themselves from what Bitcoin is becoming. The economic arguments are pretty compelling…. Continue reading
When it comes to the internet, our connections are generally controlled by telecom companies. But a group of people in Detroit is trying to change that. Motherboard met with the members of the Equitable Internet Initiative (EII), a group that is building their own wireless networks from the ground up in order to provide affordable… Continue reading
Growfunding is celebrating its 5th anniversary! Time for a party – and a debate! Together with seven foreign civic crowdfunding-platforms, academics, city makers and you, we will be holding a debate on “the civic crowdfunding city”, or in other words: about the city we will be creating together via growfunding. Get your ticket for the conference! Time… Continue reading
A great collection of resources to defend net neutrality in the US. Reposted from Mashable. Matt Petronzio: Net neutrality is in jeopardy. It’s time for you to take action. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which is the U.S. government’s media regulator, is planning to completely scrap Obama-era rules protecting the idea that the internet should… Continue reading
Photo by alf.melin The radical experiment in community cryptocurrency, Faircoin, reached a milestone this week when the Faircoop assembly declared that it would sell and buy back coins from its members at parity with the Euro. This means that the cooperative maintains a pool of cash available for redeeming coins from active members who accepted… Continue reading
During the summer of 2017, I travelled throughout France. Now I am sharing the stories of the commons I met along the way, never knowing what I would find in advance. These articles were originally published in French here: Commons Tour 2017. The English translations are also compiled in this Commons Transition article. “Les Ateliers” in… Continue reading
The Commons Transition Plan describes the role and possibilities for the City of Ghent in reinforcing citizen initiatives. From March to June 2017 peer-to-peer expert Michel Bauwens conducted a three-month research and participation project in Ghent on the ‘commons city of the future’. The result of that research is this Commons Transition Plan, describing the possibilities… Continue reading