Wed 21 November 2018, 18:15 – 20:30 GMT

Makespace Oxford: 1 Aristotle Lane, Oxford OX2 6TP, United Kingdom

REGISTER HERE

Building upon Shareable’s years of experience covering the ‘sharing ecosystem’ and the 137 model policies and case studies curated for the new book, “Sharing Cities: Activating the Urban Commons,” Tom Llewellyn, strategic partnerships director of Shareable, will show how the real sharing economy is already connecting people together, empowering community-led disaster recovery efforts, and working under the radar to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Tom Llewellyn is a lifelong sharer, commoner, and storyteller who travels the globe inspiring and empowering communities to share for a more resilient, equitable, and joyful world. He’s the Strategic Partnerships Director for Shareable.net, executive producer and host of the podcast documentary series The Response, and co-editor of the book “Sharing Cities: Activating the Urban Commons”.

Following the presentation, attendees will participate in an interactive ‘World Café’ style discussion, working together to evaluate Oxford by exploring the state of things, the available resources, the needs of residents, and what the steps might be to meet those needs together.

This workshop is for anyone interested in exploring how we might activate Oxford’s urban commons together to address some of our city’s most pressing needs. Please bring your enthusiasm, ideas, and any examples of projects you’re already aware of to share and connect with others.

This event is in partnership with the Solidarity Economy Association, an Oxford-based organisation supporting the growth of the UK’s solidarity economy through education, research, and awareness raising projects. The solidarity economy is made up of grassroots organisations, informal meetings, local community groups, co-operatives, associations and networks of organisations in every sector of our economy. They have been created to meet a need within their community, or broader society, that isn’t being met by our mainstream economy, or because those needs are being met in unethical or unsustainable ways. These initiatives all share a set of values that include equal decision-making, equity, sustainability, pluralism, and solidarity, and they are working towards a just and sustainable world, one that puts the real needs of people and our planet first.

The post Sharing Oxford – Activating our Urban Commons with Tom Llewellyn appeared first on P2P Foundation.

The post “Sharing Cities” Book Shows Variety of Urban Commoning appeared first on P2P Foundation.

Nithin Coca: In 2009, the world hit a watershed moment. For the first time in human history, a majority of people were living not in rural areas, but in cities. Since then, the growth in cities has only accelerated, and the United Nations estimates that 66 percent of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2050.

A new report, “Rethinking the City,” by the Ireland based Complexity Labs, an online platform for research and content on complex systems, argues that we’re undergoing a period of urban transformation that requires us to develop new, technological systems for managing, organizing, and designing urban environments. Their findings are summarized in this video.

Cities, by their very nature, are incredibly complex. Change often happens faster than officials can react — leading to problems like informal settlements, inadequate services, or high rent and gentrification.

In fact, cities might not even be the right framework to think about urban areas anymore. In February of 2016, Parag Khanna’s TED Talk on megacities showed how the growth connectivity meant that clusters of cities were bound together. In many parts of the world, however, there is little coordination across megacities and regions due to our outdated institutions.

Complexity Labs argues that the dominant system for managing cities — an industrial era centralization and bureaucracy — is not able to scale to the challenges of rapid urbanization. At the same time, the decisions cities and megacities make today will impact the global economy and environment well into the future.

One of the structural changes that the report authors call for a shift towards distributed systems and peer-to-peer interaction, arguing that technology and online platforms for coordination will allow for distributed scale in ways that was not possible before.

We see this happening already around the world as Sharing Cities in which both formal and informal networks allow residents to share resources, knowledge, and take part in local governance, are developing innovative ways to address urban challenges. For example, in Berlin, Germany, food sharing is connecting farmers, foragers, and residents to reduce waste and build community across the city. In Gothenburg, Sweden, the digital ridesharing platform Skjutsgruppen has 70,000 members sharing vehicles and rides via a nonprofit network. Other places have started involving citizens directly in policymaking — Taiwan created ride-share policies after receiving input from residents. In the U.S., people in Oakland and Boston are taking part in participatory budgeting projects. Shareable’s new book, “Sharing Cities: Activating the Urban Commons” has a number of case studies and policies of similar initiatives around the globe.

As more and more people move to cities, and put stresses on existing institutions, the future of megacities depends on the growth of genuine Sharing Cities, platforms, and a more collaborative economy. It’s time to rethink cities — and rethink how sharing can scale through the use of technology.

Header image of Tokyo by Steven Diaz via Unsplash

The post How to Rethink the Cities of the Future appeared first on P2P Foundation.

Economic inequality. Political instability. Environmental crisis. These are challenging, divisive times. But there’s a strong movement of people who are strengthening their communities by creating tangible, replicable solutions based on sharing and collaboration. All around the world, there are countless stories of people working together for the common good — stories of people launching energy cooperatives, developing open-source platforms, starting participatory budgeting projects, setting up community gardens, making neighborhood food pantries, building cooperative arts spaces, and so much more.

Since Shareable was founded eight years ago, we’ve published thousands of stories that explore how people are creating these kinds of innovative, community-based solutions in almost every sector of society, and how cities are developing policies that support these sharing initiatives. We’ve reached millions of readers, catalyzed thousands of projects, and even started a few movements.

While we’ve come a long way, we have so much further to go. Every day we hear of incredible stories of people solving problems together, but we don’t have the resources to cover them all. But now, more than ever, we need to document these stories — not only for inspiration or upliftment — but to show that there are real solutions to many problems facing the world today.

We’ve started this process with the publication of our latest book, “Sharing Cities: Activating the Urban Commons.” This collection of 137 case studies and policies showcases how city residents around the world are using commons-based strategies to meet their basic needs, including housing, food, transportation, and energy.

This work shows that not only is another world is possible, but that the building blocks of it are already here. Please help us tell more of these underreported stories. We rely on the support of readers like you for our high-impact solutions journalism. Click here to contribute!

What does your donation mean to Shareable? 

In short, everything. Last year we launched our Three-Year Strategic Plan, which has already helped us become a more focused and impactful organization.  But we have a long way to go. A key point in the plan is to establish Shareable as a financially resilient organization by 2020. This crowdfunding campaign is a big step toward that goal — with your help Shareable can grow and thrive.

Aside from the lasting success of Shareable, your donations will go towards these projects in 2018:

• A new website to grow our readership and engage our core community more effectively.

• Additional coverage of solutions coming from the global south and unrepresented communities.

• A distributed, community-driven book tour. We’ll equip our community to organize book events around the world.

Our goal of $100,000 is ambitious, but so is Shareable.

Please join us in our mission to create a more resilient, equitable, and joyful world. Consider making a tax-deductible donation to Shareable — we have several giving levels and sponsorship options that make donating as easy as possible.

Thank you for your support, from Shareable’s core team,

Neal, Joslyn, Tom, Ambika, and Chris

FAQ

Is Shareable a nonprofit organization?

Yes. Shareable is a fiscally sponsored project of Tides Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Where will my name be listed as a contributor?

We will post the names of all contributors (who haven’t requested to be anonymous) on this contributor’s page. We’ll be updating the list regularly, but it may take a few days for your name to appear.

What are the gifts and when will I receive mine?

A link to download a PDF version of “Sharing Cities” will be sent to the provided email within two business days. The Kindle/iPad version and physical gifts will be shipped or emailed by 12/15/2017. The one-on-one consulting can be tailored to personal or business related topics based on your needs. All physical gifts are made using recyclable materials through union affiliated or worker owned companies.

Speaking of the “Sharing Cities” book, what is it all about?

“Sharing Cities: Activating the Urban Commons” showcases policies and case studies from more than 80 cities in 35 countries that embody the spirit and practicalities of sharing. To read more about the book click here.

How do I donate by check or wire transfer?

Here are instructions if you prefer to pay by check or wire transfer.

I can’t complete my donation because the form will not take non-U.S. phone numbers. What do you recommend?

If you have a problem entering your phone number, you can use this alternate number: 222-333-4444

How can I participate other than making a donation?

You can share this link with your friends, family, and other networks. We are constantly looking to expand our reach to people and would greatly appreciate your help in sharing our work with more readers.

Have a question? We’ll post answers here.

Click here to contribute at Shareable.net!

Thank you to our campaign sponsors!

Shareable gratefully acknowledges its sponsors. Sponsorships in support of Shareable are governed by our Sponsorship Policy. Interested in sponsoring Shareable? Please select one of the options listed on this page or email [email protected].

Photo by Daniel Wehner

The post Share to Transform Cities for the Common Good appeared first on P2P Foundation.

Chris Rankin: On Wednesday, Sept. 13, we celebrated the launch of our new book, “Sharing Cities: Activating the Urban Commons” and crowdfunding campaign, at the Embassy Network house in San Francisco, California. We are grateful to everyone who joined us for a fun and inspiring evening. It gave us a rare opportunity to connect with supporters — old and new — in person, and witness just how much support exists for our work. The Embassy Network, which not only offers shared housing, but provides an avenue to share ideas and connect with people around the world, was the perfect venue to introduce the book — a global, crowdsourced effort. We’d like to thank our board member Tony Lai for graciously offering the beautiful venue.

At the event, Shareable’s executive director Neal Gorenflo and board member Laurie Schecter reminded us of the vital role Shareable has played in leading the sharing movement. If you missed the event, you can still watch their talks on Shareable’s Facebook page. We were joined by 50 friends, raised over $11,000, and nearly sold out of the early release version of the book. We are not done though. We have a goal of raising $100,000 in 60 days and are calling on our readers to support Shareable. A donation to Shareable is more than a tax-deductible gift — it’s a way to elevate our platform to allow essential voices to be heard and inspiring stories to be shared. Shareable’s storytelling is essential to individuals, community groups, and policymakers who use our reporting as a manual for creating a more resilient, equitable, and joyful world.

Our goals of our crowdfunding campaign are to:

• Build a new website to grow our readership and engage our core community more effectively.

• Provide additional coverage of solutions coming from the global south and unrepresented communities.

• Host a community-driven book tour. We’ll equip our community to organize book events around the world.

To make a donation to Shareable, learn more about the projects we have planned in 2018, and obtain a print copy or e-version of “Sharing Cities: Activating the Urban Commons” please click here.

All photos by Ambika Kandasamy

The post Launch Party for Shareable’s New Book and Crowdfunding Campaign appeared first on P2P Foundation.

Wolfgang Hoeschele: The establishment of a carbon-neutral energy system requires massive investments in infrastructure such as wind turbines. Because distributed energy systems do not fit the business models of the old energy utilities, they continue to invest far too little in this sector. Meanwhile, many individual electric power consumers are interested in investing in renewable power infrastructure, but these investments are too large and require a level of expertise too advanced for individual households to be able to support them. How can consumers take matters into their own hands?

Wind cooperatives allow multiple households to pool their funds to collectively build one or more wind turbines. As co-owners, they make investment decisions and negotiate the terms with operators of larger electric networks. An urban example of this is the Middelgrunden Wind Turbine Cooperative, formed in 1997, which partnered with the Copenhagen municipal utility to build 20 wind turbines of 2MW capacity each, off the shore of Copenhagen. Københavns Energi, the municipal partner, has since then merged with several other companies to form the private energy company DONG Energy. The cooperative owns 10 of the turbines, while the other 10 are owned by DONG Energy. Over 8,500 people who mostly live in or around Copenhagen own the 40,500 shares of the co-op. The cooperative is organized as a partnership, and each partner has one vote, regardless of the number of shares. One wind turbine is a “children’s wind turbine” — shareholders have had their children vote on their behalf and thereby participate in the decision-making process, learning how to organize a sustainable future as cooperation between people.

The cooperative benefits from the support of the Danish association of owners of wind turbines (founded in 1978 as Danske Vindkraftvaerker, later renamed Danmarks Vindmølleforening). This association has successfully lobbied the national government to create favorable conditions for the expansion of wind energy. In part due to its activities, cooperatives accounted for around 50 percent of Danish installed wind energy capacity in the 1980s to early 1990s, and 20 percent of installed capacity today.

Results:

• The wind turbines were completed by 2001, and the output of the cooperative’s turbines has been varying from 40-45,000 MWh in the last several years.

• This is one of many examples in Denmark of wind power being produced as a result of the collective efforts of individuals interested in wind power.

• There is high public support for wind power in Denmark, due in no small part to the fact that ordinary people, not just some distant shareholders, are direct beneficiaries.

Additional Resources:

FEASTA report on Denmark’s wind cooperatives

Middelgrunden cooperative bylaws

English translation of Danish Promotion of Renewable Energy Act of 2008

This piece is an excerpt from Shareable’s upcoming book, “Sharing Cities: Activating the Urban Commons.” Keep an eye out for the public release of the book this summer. 

Photo by Stephen Braund

The post Danish Energy Cooperative Lets Consumers Collectively Build Wind Turbines appeared first on P2P Foundation.