The program for the first half of 2019 is well underway. Because we’re eager to get started and reach out, we’re doing a pre-launch already: October 11th.

That happens to be during the World Commons Week

World Commons Week

From 4 to 12 October, people from all over the world celebrate the World Commons Week: a week dedicated to the study and practice of the commons. Exactly fifty years ago in October, biologist Garrett Hardin published his infamous Tragedy of the commons article in Science. Since then, many scholars have been very busy disproving Hardin’s pessimistic assessment of commons. Also in October, Waag’s Chamber of Commons will launch to carve out new practices, models and politics for the commons, in partnership with Commons Network, de Meent, Sustainable Finance Lab and OBA.

Chamber of Commons

The Chamber of Commons bolsters the interests of commons and commoners. Commons are shared resources managed by communities with an aim of assuring their sustainability and inclusivity. They foster bottom-up initiative and community self-determination, while keeping a close watch on the needs of the wider public. The mission of the Chamber of Commons is to raise public awareness on the commons, tickle the senses, and demonstrate new models through which the commons can address societal questions.

Politics of Nature

“Politics of Nature” is the first initiative to be invited to the Chamber of Commons to explore new ways of relating between humans and nature. Politics of Nature is a brand new initiative experimenting with democratic methodologies, game design and immersive tech, inspired by the ideas of Bruno Latour, Baruch Spinoza and the concept of the Cratic Platform. “In times of democratic and climatic decline, we will need to experiment with and practice new methods and methodologies for addressing difficult issues and respect the beings we co-exist with,” says Jakob Raffn, co-initiator of Politics of Nature.

The case – Amsterdam Rainproof

While Europe this summer has faced one of the most intense regional droughts in recent memory, for a city like Amsterdam the main problems are with excess water: downpours of rain that put the infrastructure of the city under severe pressure. The city has become more densely populated, more intensively used, and more heavily paved; at the same time, climate change brings more extreme weather.
Overall we need to develop a better relationship with water. “Politics of Nature” is a method, a game with which a stronger democratic legitimacy can be created in which not only people, but also plants, animals and buildings can raise their voices. It’s about increasing the number of affected actors in the networks and find consents for coexistence.

We hope to see you for an event dedicated to abstraction, warmth and multi-perspectives.

This edition will take place on Thursday 11th of October at  Waag, Nieuwmarkt 4, Amsterdam. Admission is € 5,-

Program:
16.00 Doors open
16.30 Welcome by Socrates Schouten (Waag, Chamber of Commons) and introduction to the case
17.00 Game round 1
18.00 Sandwich dinner
18.45  Game round 2
20.00 Plenary synthesis
20.45 Drinks

This edition of Politics of Nature will have a technological afterlife the 25th of October at the VRDAYS.

Photo by Luc Mercelis

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“The two could become rivals on many issues — but commons chambers should not be designed simply as contrarian mirror-like opponents of commerce chambers. The commons chambers have a more distinctive long-range challenge on which to focus: the rise of +N. (networks)”

Excerpted from David Ronfeldt, in the context of his TIMN theory (tribes, institutions, markets and networks):

“For generations, the concept of the commons has mostly meant natural commons — e.g., the clear air, clean water, and open land that even President Nixon once deemed a “birthright” of every American. Lately, because of the Internet and related digital technologies, the concept has expanded to include information and knowledge — the cyber commons. Whether and how to include other social matters — e.g., health, education, housing, public/civic infrastructure, insurance, law, etc. — is under discussion, along with ideas about whether to emphasize the contents of “the commons” or the practices of “commoning”. More debatable is whether to include social entrepreneurs (e.g., with “B Corps”) interested in marketing information-age products and services in post-capitalist ways; their activities may belong more in the market (+M) sector than a commons network-based (+N) sector.

Yet the concept’s revival has barely touched public awareness. U.S. political leaders and party platforms don’t mention it; nor do news and opinion shows on radio and TV — but for rare exceptions on rare occasions. For example, Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now, Thom Hartman’s The Big Picture, and The PBS News Hour often discuss commons-related issues, like those mentioned above, but I have yet to see them mention the revival of “the commons” idea or the prospects for a “commons sector”. Instead, pro-commons ideas are mostly advanced piece-meal by dispersed issue-specific civil-society NGOs (e.g., Sierra Club, Electronic Frontier Foundation).

Ferment around commons ideas is growing mainly on the Left (e.g., via The P2P Foundation) — but only parts of the Left. Awareness among Centrists is difficult to find, despite Elinor Ostrom’s winning the Nobel Prize, and Yochai Benkler’s writings about the advantages of “network-based peer production”. Interest on the Right is sorely lacking, held back by notions about “the tragedy of the commons” as well as by ingrained adherence to traditional public-private distinctions — though conservative concepts about stewardship, protection, and conservation could contribute to pro-commons ideas.

An advantage of the chamber-of-commons idea is that it looks ahead to the emergence of a sector of activity that will cut across all sorts of issue areas, political ideologies, and advocacy organizations. That the concept still lacks definitional clarity and public support is a problem — but it may also be an opportunity that well-designed chambers may help address and resolve.

My inspiration in 2012 for the idea of a U.S. Chamber of Commons derived partly from my adverse reaction to what had become of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (USCC), at a time when I was already wondering about the rise of pro-commons thinking and what that might mean for the emergence of a new network-based (+N) sector alongside the existing public (+I) and private (+M) sectors. My long-term vision became that someday we’ll see issues covered by media where representatives of both a chamber of commerce and a chamber of commons are asked to present their views and answer questions about some hot topic — in other words, a U.S. Chamber of Commons will achieve public parity with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

While that inspiration and vision are about Chambers of Commons serving to counter-balance the USCC and its affiliates, there is much in the USCC’s history that looks worth emulating. It was created by assembling dispersed pro-business forces (e.g., existing local chambers and businesses) around a national center in 1912, at the behest of President Taft and with the approval of Congress. The goal was to improve the representation of business interests in Washington; but motivations also included counter-balancing the increasingly well-organized labor movement. This new Chamber was deemed a “social welfare” organization worthy of tax-exempt status. And it was said to be an advisory organization, particularly to advise the government about business matters — though it soon became an advocacy organization as well. All those points — assembling and networking dispersed forces, creating a high-profile national center, gaining recognition from Executive and Legislative leaders, serving significant advisory (and advocacy) roles — amount, I’d say, to a few historical “lessons” for developing a network of new Chambers of Commons.

A key development for the USCC’s history was the “Powell memo” (authored in 1971 by Lewis Powell, a prominent corporate lawyer, whom President Nixon placed on the U.S. Supreme Court a little later). In this memo, Powell argued that “the American economic system is under broad attack” by anti-business forces. So he laid out a sweeping strategy for defending and advancing American business interests. One consequence was the creation of influential new pro-business think-tanks, media, and advocacy networks.

According to two analyses,

“Though Powell’s memo was not the sole influence, the Chamber and corporate activists took his advice to heart and began building a powerful array of institutions designed to shift public attitudes and beliefs over the course of years and decades. The memo influenced or inspired the creation of the Heritage Foundation, the Manhattan Institute, the Cato Institute, Citizens for a Sound Economy, Accuracy in Academe, and other powerful organizations. Their long-term focus began paying off handsomely in the 1980s, in coordination with the Reagan Administration’s “hands-off business” philosophy.”

“Powell’s memo is widely credited with leading to an extraordinary transformation in public opinion about free-market economics, government regulation, and the efficacy of government. The transformation resulted from the creation of a loose network of business people and advocacy organizations that organized around the ideology of unfettered free market economics.”

So, that may be another another historical experience worth emulation. If/as a U.S. Chamber of Commons takes hold, it may benefit from someone writing its own kind of “Powell memo” —a variant designed for pro-commons (and pro-social) rather than pro-commerce actors.

And indeed I have come across progressive calls for a new “Powell memo” — notably by an analyst who wrote several times about the USCC during 2015-2016: Anthony Biglan (co-author, The Nurture Effect: How the Science of Human Behavior Can Improve Our Lives and Our World, 2015).

Here’s what he concluded in two posts about social and cultural evolution:

“So let this be my Powell memo. If you don’t like where the evolution of capitalism has taken us in the past forty years, join with others who share your understanding of what humans need to thrive and build a super-coalition of individuals and organizations working to influence public understanding, public policy, and direct action.”

“There is no shortage of organizations that can contribute to our evolving in this direction. What is needed, however is higher level selection of a super-coalition of organizations just like what Lewis Powell advocated for the business community.”

That fits well with TIMN. But notice that his call for a new “super-coalition of individuals and organizations” is focused on building a broad-based progressive movement to correct the adverse effects of capitalism. Moreover, by now I’ve seen many calls for creating progressive new organizations and coalitions, and most have similar emphases on countering capitalism. Some even note a need to counter the USCC specifically (e.g., Gar Alperowitz, as noted in an addendum to my 2012 post on the commons). In other words, all these progressive proposals are far more about reforming +M than building +N.

Yet, if TIMN is valid, what will prove strategically wiser is for some innovations — Chambers of Commons in particular — to be focused primarily on building +N sectors, and tangentially on rectifying what’s gone wrong with capitalism and its +M sectors.

As I stated in a comment at another of Biglan’s posts:

“My point, as I argue elsewhere, is that America is entering a phase of cultural evolution that will add the “network” level to the foregoing. A cutting-edge for this new phase appears to be clustering around new (and old) ideas about “the commons”. Thus an innovation that I would urge adding to your list is for a network of Chambers of Commons, including a U.S. Chamber of Commons. If viable, it could help generate the kind of new “super-coalition of organizations” you favor, in order to help propel the rise of a “network” sector and counter-balance actors like the Chamber of Commerce that reinforce aging “institutional” and “market” practices. I’d wish for a Powell-type memorandum on behalf of a Chamber of Commons.”

While a U.S. Chamber of Commons might emulate the USCC in such regards, the purposes would be different, as would governance, sponsorship, membership, audience, and areas of interest. The two could become rivals on many issues — but commons chambers should not be designed simply as contrarian mirror-like opponents of commerce chambers. The commons chambers have a more distinctive long-range challenge on which to focus: the rise of +N.”

Photo by stevendepolo

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Here’s an updated from our friends at the Chicago Chamber of Commons submitted by Steve Ediger.

Chicago Chamber of Commons

On October 10, 20 participants assembled at the ICA-USA Greenrise in Uptown Chicago for two workshops to a) discuss what we mean when we talk about commons and b) create an action plan for assembling key Chicagoans by May 1, 2016 to form Chicago’s Chamber of Commons.

During the day it became clear that the many perspectives in the room meant that defining a Chamber of Commons was a complex task. Steve Ediger and Michelle Halle Stern co-facilitated the workshops. Participants engaged in deep conversation, and, based on feedback received, everybody felt that it was a productive use of their time. This report documents the outcomes of the proceedings and maps a path to the founding of Chicago’s first Chamber of Commons in May of 2016.

Consensus Workshop

In our consensus workshop, we asked and answered the question, “What do we mean when we talk about Commons?” To set the context, we discussed The Commons Short and Sweet, an article by David Bollier. With this article, participants gained an orientation of traditional and modern frames of the term commons, how commons can only be defined in conjunction with commoners, a community that has come together to manage a commons, how enclosure of commons results in dispossession, and that new structures and law is needed to promote commons and their preservation. The discussion was lively, and the participants welcomed this preamble to set the stage for our discussion on commons.

After setting the context, participants began individual work by listing their ideas about the meaning of commons. Then they split into pairs and shared ideas, picking out their most well-expressed ideas. Michelle Halle Stern facilitated collection of these and pairing them into linked ideas. Subsequently all of the ideas were brought up and clustered into groups. We ended up with six clusters of ideas, covering all of the unique thoughts that the participants had about the question, “What do we mean when we talk about Commons?”

This was the final work product of the consensus workshop. The table on the next page documents the outcomes in text.

We would invite you to consider this as an early starting point in defining what we mean when we talk about Commons. This was a brainstorm, not a study group, and ideas the participants came up with in one session. We all started at different places and not everyone had done much study about Commons. Additional writing on a definition of Commons can be found in “Commons Transition Plan”. David Bollier has a rich bibliography on his site.

Action Planning Workshop

In the afternoon, we went into action and planned how we might get a (symbolic) 200 key Chicagoland commoners out to an event in May of 2016 at which we will found Chicago’s first Chamber of Commons.

We started with a context, starting with the work that we had done in the morning around defining Commons and asking the following questions:

1. Why do we need a chamber of commons?
2. What does the chamber of commons do?
3. We know that 20 people will not do this by themselves. We need to engage others, that’s what we want to plan. How do we get the 100-200 key people in the the room to plan the opening of Chicago’s first Chamber of Commons?
4. When should we target for that workshop?

We reviewed the background and current events that are taking place globally

1. International Events
   1. Les Temps des Communs, a celebration of the commons in Francophone places
   2. Somero 2015*, a commons gathering in Spain *the site is safe; just ignore the warnings
2. National Groups & Websites
   1. CommonSpark
   2. On the Commons
   3. Shareable
   4. Great Lakes Commons initiative
   5. Commons Transition Plan
   6. p2pFoundation
3. Events leading up to this event

1. Cooperation2015
2. On the Table

After establishing a context, we started considering our plan.First, we imagined a Victory celebration when we’ve gathered the (symbolically) 200 key Chicagoland commoners in the room to found Chicago’s first Chamber of Commons.

Someone commented, “The 20 people in this room will put together a team of 200 and 20,000 will know about it.”

Then we reviewed our Current Reality in relation to that Victory. What strengths, weaknesses, benefits & dangers exist in our current situation that will lead to or inhibit success?

These powerful images grounded our victory in our current situation, both positive and cautious.

We reviewed our imagined victory in light of our current reality and made a Commitment, with consensus as a group. Here is our commitment:

“By May 1st, 2016, we will understand the Commons Transition Plan, clarify the message, define the Chamber of Commons as a model with scope, outcomes and needs, and design a call to action, including process checks that brings our neighbors and co-creators together to found Chicago’s Chamber of Commons.”

With our commitment in hand, we brainstormed and clustered the Key Actions that it will take to accomplish our goal of assembling the (symbolic) 200 key Chicagoland commoners to found Chicago’s first Chamber of Commons by May 1st, 2016. Here is that image.

The clusters represent teams, which broke out into small groups to consider their tasks, add any missing items and come up with a name that represents the work they will do. When there was an imbalance of self-selected membership, two of the teams, Stakeholders and Outreach decided to merge and we ended up with 4 teams, Core, Plan/Execute Commons Kick-off, Civic Engagement, and Educate.

The teams then assigned (loose) dates to their tasks and put them up on a Calendar (below)

Here are the tasks as defined and calendared.

It took a long time for the group to reach consensus on the Commitment and by the time we got to Coordination, looking at the calendar and tasks to identify incongruities among dependent tasks across teams, we were almost out of time. Whether, or not, we had true consensus remains to be seen as we execute tasks. Two items came up that I (Steve) as a facilitator, thought were problematic. 1) One participant thought that we should be going two rounds, a build up to the next meeting in May and then another build-up to the founding of the Chamber of Commons the meeting after that. 2) The education team has a schedule that is too late for civic engagement. Since most of the issues at this event arose around a lack of education before the event, this might pose some problems downstream. [NOTE: Speaking personally, I see the risk and believe that it does not jeopardize the timeline significantly; however we should work closely with the Educate team to ensure no slippage.]

Finally, we Resolved to move ahead with this. In fact, several members from different teams have communicated they are moving already.

The post Chicago Chamber of Commons Event Report appeared first on P2P Foundation.

The coming together of commons-oriented projects seems to be intensifying.  Even as the Le Temps des Communes festival in dozens of Francophone cities convenes thousands of commoners, an organizing meeting for a Chicago Chamber of Commons in planned for Saturday, October 10. (You can register for the event here.)

This idea has been kicking around for a while – see this 2013 blog post  – but it seems that the folks in Chicago are serious about making it work. They want to foster deeper collaboration among the many groups focused on shared ownership, the collaborative economy, co-operatives and other mutual-benefit initiatives. The organizers say they want to “connect social entrepreneurs, L3C’s, B-Corps and other enterprises focused on triple bottom line, sharing-economy approaches to commerce and community development.” People involved with economic transformation, environmental protection, community life and culture are also invited.

The day will start with a consensus workshop that will try to come up with a shared definition of the commons. This will be followed with discussions for startup plans for a Chicago Commons, which organizers hope will be the first of many Chambers of Commons across the nation and globe.

In May, Huffington Post writer Sally Duros wrote a piece about the envisioned Chamber of Commerce in which she quoted Michel Bauwens, founder of the P2P Foundation:

“The old way is this. Here’s a problem. We need resources to solve that problem. We create a hierarchy to direct resources at the problem,” Bauwens says.

“Here’s another way. There are enough people in the world with time, skills and energy who would be willing to work to solve that problem. The new solution is to create a commons and a platform that allows people to self-aggregate and collaborate to solve that problem.”

Here’s hoping that the organizing meeting is productive!

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Reposted from Shareable; Ambika Kandasamy takes us through some of the best sharing events happening this fall.

Are you deeply plugged into the sharing movement or simply curious about how the sharing economy works? Whether you’re a veteran of the movement or a newcomer, the sharing events happening around the world this fall are bound to spark ideas for new ways to engage in the collaborative economy.

We’ve pulled together our top 10 sharing events — both large and small (out of a very long list) — taking place this season. Interested in cooperatives, permaculture, skill sharing, free and open software, and/or the commons? We have something for you.

We’re proud to partner with terrific organizations and individuals globally to support the first four events on this list. We hope to see you at one or more of these exciting gatherings!

1. Shareable Labs

Please join us at Shareable Labs from Oct. 7-12 in Gijon, Spain. Co-presented with Las Indias Cooperative, Free Software Foundation, the Spanish Department of Defence, and other groups, this innovative event begins with a seminar on sharing cities and a GNU social camp. This will be followed by a three-day conference focusing on restoring local production with P2P, sharing cities, creating community resiliency, and financing the future of P2P. Read about last year’s event here.

2. IASC Urban Commons Conference

We hope you make it to the IASC Urban Commons Conference in Bologna, Italy. The two-day conference, which starts on Nov. 6, will offer thought-provoking discussions on the urban commons and urban governance.

3. Mountain View Skillshare

Swing by the Mountain View Skillshare on Sept. 26 for an afternoon of hands-on workshops and stimulating conversations. Some of the classes offered at the event, which is hosted by linkAges TimeBank in partnership with the City of Mountain View, include urban beekeeping, drought-tolerant gardening, and time-baking.

4. Platform Cooperativism: The Internet, Ownership, Democracy

On Nov. 13, check out Platform Cooperativism: The Internet, Ownership, Democracy in New York City for “a coming-out party for the cooperative Internet.” Learn about why owning is the new sharing here.

5. Western Worker Cooperative Conference

Like cooperatives? Check out the Western Worker Cooperative Conference that runs from Sept. 20-23 in Berkeley, Calif. Learn how to launch a cooperative and how to enhance communication among coop members, among other key topic areas. RSVP here.

6. Building Resilient Communities Convergence

From social permaculture and community organizing to local currencies and economic resilience, the Building Resilient Communities Convergence has an array of skills-building workshops. The four-day event, which kicks off on Oct. 8, will be held at the Solar Living Institute in Hopland, Calif.

7. Call for a Chamber of Commons

Picture used with permission from Cooperation 2015 conference in February, 2015

If you’re in Chicago on Oct. 10, stop by The Institute of Cultural Affairs (USA) for a meeting on creating an outline for a Chamber of Commons in the city. More details here.

8. Sharing Day Nijmegen

Live in the Netherlands? Consider attending Sharing Day Nijmegen on Oct. 24 for an exciting day of learning how to share food, transportation, skills, and housing.

9. Neighborhood Economics Conference

The Neighborhood Economics Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio, centers on reimaging the current economic structures in place. The two-day conference kicks off on Nov. 17. Find more details and register for the conference here.

10. OuiShare Fest Barcelona

The OuiShare Fest in Barcelona, Spain, focuses on the collaborative economy. Beginning, Nov. 19, the event will run for three days, and will provide a platform to discuss how companies and public institute can operate in the collaborative economy.

If you’re organizing or attending conferences, courses, or other events that focus on sharing in your city, please add it to our events calendar — we’ll help you spread the word!

Lead image courtesy of Flickr user Alan Levine.

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