I put a short post up a few days ago in an online group I’m in, with the above image and this brief description:
superhero school. center for disruptive innovation. continuous learning zone. collective intelligence. live/work startup incubator. community center. hackerspace. makerlab. autonomous zone. permaculture and sustainable food production. cooperatively owned communications infrastructure. resilience. r&d lab. a place for creative troublemakers. hudson valley. i want this to exist.
It blew up to over 100 comments in less than 48 hours, with many people sharing their own thoughts and plans and existing initiatives to create similar things in their areas. I was inspired! Is this an idea whose time has come?
If you take a look around the world right now, you will see that this is already happening. Everywhere. You can see it in the themes of the ‘sharing economy’ ‘collaborative consumption,’ and the maker movement; in physical locations like hackerspaces, fab labs, and co-creation spaces. We see it in chaordinated events, in barcamps, innovation camps, unconferences, workshops, and maker faires.
It is happening in a new blendings of continuous learning/education/entrepreneurship – check out the KaosPilots in Denmark, the Unreasonable Institute in Colorado, Maison Notman in Montreal, Blackbox in Silicon Valley, General Assembly in New York City, the Knowmads in the Netherlands, West Lexham in London, Team Academy in Finland, and the Hubs across 5 continents and 26 cities.
For strategies in environmental sustainability, local resilience, and self-reliant living, look to the Mycelium School, Friends of Gaviotas in South America, Gaia University, the Center for Alternative Technology in Wales, the Eden Project in Cornwall, and Schumacher College in South Devon.
For full-on experiments in intentional living, look to Damanhur in Italy, Findhorn Foundation in Scotland, Twin Oaks in Virginia, Tamera in Portugal, the kibbutzim in Isreal, or live/work artists’ spaces like AS220 in Rhode Island. Current ideas to launch such initiatives are floating in the noosphere as well – look to Lion Kimbro’s “The Plan,” or the “House of Rethinking” by Until We See New Land.
All of these examples inspire me to believe that we are reaching the tipping point, where we’ll accelerate the construction and deployment of these epicenters for disruptive innovation, creativity, imagination, healing, and Becoming. Gathering together and creating the world we want to live in. Getting linked. Now.
The particular location pictured above which has captured my imagination is right here in Beacon, NY, an estate vacant for 12 years now, sitting on 63 lovely acres of property. It is less than an hour and a half train ride from NYC, and surrounded by nature, the Hudson Highlands, the Hudson River. It’s not isolated out in the desert somewhere, not a rejection of civilization, but embedded within it.
It brought into focus for me all the conversations and theories I’ve been having in the clouds of the future, and grounded them down into something that could be a reality.
And this is simply a location near me… but couldn’t it be in any number of places? There are a nearly limitless amount of charming, historic buildings everywhere.. sitting vacant and aching to be retrofitted for something useful.
And there seems to be no shortage of passionate people eager to roll up their sleeves and implement these ideas on the ground, share their successes and failure, and spend time being human together.
Could aspects of the above initiatives be rolled into a bold experiment in social evolution?
A live/work campus with elements of a university, Plato’s Academy, an ashram and a monastery. A place to feed your mind, body and soul.
Where people express what their humanity means to them through art, technology, music, experiential learning, sustainable practices, aesthetics, and togetherness.
An action-orientation of prototyping, experimenting, risk-taking, rapidly iterating, and propagating what works. Incubating startups and projects. A collaboratory to bootstrap local and regional solutions to our most pressing ‘wicked problems.’
I can see something magical forming just over the horizon, and it makes me ask:
What will happen when these types of locations begin to integrate into a global network?
What happens when we have real trust networks that transcend boundaries, and share the information and resources to aid us all in a higher function civilization?
How will these globally networked creative economies interoperate and build wealth together?
Can we open source the models so they can spread and morph as quickly as possible?
What is the role of complementary and local currencies within these networks?
What does it look like when we engage in commons-based peer production and build towards shared infrastructures?
What does a balanced model look like where both individual and group interests are being served?
How will this improve the quality of our lives and our communities?
The world is only becoming more tumultuous and complex, and there is no one to “save us.”
We need to cultivate superheroes and create the world we want!
Can we build it now?
emergent by design 
yes. bravo. exactly what we’re doing. eclectic combo of all the above. Ed as vehicle to social change..
Wow, the inspiration! Let me add a few subjective answers to your questions,
What will happen when these types of locations begin to integrate into a global network?
They will cherish diversity and resilience while accelerating learning from each other.
What happens when we have real trust networks that transcend boundaries, and share the information and resources to aid us all in a higher function civilization?
A philosopher once said, “On the day we can fully trust each other, there will be peace on Earth.” My question is how can we accelerate the steps to get there?
How will these globally networked creative economies interoperate and build wealth together? To me, this looks very much like an ecosystem of doing business with a special due diligence before striking a deal or buying/bartering/collectively consuming products.
Can we open source the models so they can spread and morph as quickly as possible?
Rhetorical answer: Do you know blogging? I believe being open sourced is a core part of enabling the trust network. Secrets cause friction.
What is the role of complementary and local currencies within these networks?
Same as “commercial money”‘ reduce friction in trading in ways legal tender can’t.
What does it look like when we engage in commons-based peer production and build towards shared infrastructures? Here you are really asking for live examples. Someone help, please.
What does a balanced model look like where both individual and group interests are being served? Oh the diversity! I cannot and will not prescribe a model or criteria, but by their fruits and by their lively growth and resilience we shall know them when we see them.
How will this improve the quality of our lives and our communities? I second this call to imagine and dream. Yes how will it feel? Visualize your version of it and find your tribe to improve away…
The world is only becoming more tumultuous and complex, and there is no one to “save us.” ??? We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. SOS – save ourselves, there is no need for one to save us. Actually, the very offer may raise suspicion.
We need to cultivate superheroes and create the world we want!
Fully with you on that. Superheroes emerge given a safe space and some tender nurturing and loving challenges.
Can we build it now?
Would I ever ask you a rhetorical question? Co-creatively, Bernd.
🙂
xo
junto actually jump started us on this trek to offering an alternative means to college admission and employer resume..
and the premise of future of money and contact.. are what we see as the result.. if we free up people from assumed validations.
can’t thank you guys enough – esp Bernd and Venessa – for teaching us so much along the way.
it is coming. no doubt.
I like the ideas, examples and the avantgard thing is just a necessity. I want to make a complementary proposal, since we do not have the time and the billions to fund some 1,000 new schools for (elitist?) “super heroes”. We need accelerated transformation into the mainstream of lifestyle and education (from 5 to 90, from kindergarten to LL learning). Some months ago I reflected the possibilities.
My basic assumption is, that without scalable transformation of the mainstream lifestyle we will be lost. There are too much marginal projects – we need scalability:
The concept of planet schools. Efficient global change.
http://socialforesight.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/planet-schools-global-change/
http://planetschool.net
Emjoy!
hi WS, thanks for the comment.
i’m not sure what you’re talking about when you say “we do not have the time and the billions to fund some 1,000 new schools for (elitist?) “super heroes.”
i read through the links you provided and it sounds as if we are describing a similar concept, so i guess i’d turn your statement back to you as a question.
also, to your statement on ‘elitist superheroes’….. it’s a tongue in cheek statement. as Lois puts it in the comment below, we live in a world of repressed closeted superheroes. every person who wakes up in the morning with a passion inside of themselves to manifest something great, then turns off that urge and goes to “work”…. that is a superhero waiting to be cultivated. i want to be a superhero.
the point isn’t to bicker about whether we call it a school for the Planet, a school for Superheroes, or a school at all.
it’s a call to action for those who are ready to step forward and actually *do*, instead of try and convince others to adopt their “thing.”
– venessa
If there is anything I can *do* to help please let me know. What are the road blocks that are keeping you from materializing this idea? Shoot me a couple problems and I’ll see if I can work them out. It’s amazing what a fresh pair of eyes can see. Currently I’m trying to organize a philanthropy workshop in Pittsburgh PA. You can check it out on craigslist under volunteers, titled “Project Smile” It’s my seed project for something bigger. What the bigger thing is, I’m not sure because it won’t be me that creates it. Think of this for a minute; if you want to build a castle you’ll need a whole crew of different trades and so it will be for what I dream of. The twist being that the builders will be those who are to live in the metaphorical castle. I’m new to practicing philanthropy on a level hire than mere kindness so any helpful advice and constructive criticism will be used and appreciated.
Venessa,
Wow oh wow. Coming together in new ways is the only way to solve seemingly insolvable problems. More than just creating new ways forward, collaboratories deepen our humanity, bring meaning to work, and joy to the process.
We live in a world of repressed superheroes. In my research and work on corporate rebels, these closeted superheroes tell me they are afraid of retaliatory bosses, think “experts and gurus” know might know more than they do. BUT they’re ready to stand up in a big way, because they old ways don’t work. They want more participatory leadership and collaboration approaches at work. They yearn to be able to slow down to talk about questions that really matter vs. speed brainstorming. But most of all they want to make a difference and improve things. Not for recognition or financial benefit, but simply because it’s the right thing to do.
For 15 years I’ve been driving by this historic home, now for sale, and I want to buy it and turn it into a collaboratory, creative retreat center, a place where people can step out for a few days to step into creating possibilities. http://emerson-estate.com/
Maybe there should be U.S. tax credits for these new types of collaborative solution centers?
Thanks again for your post. Would love to meet live sometime.
Very cool Venessa;
It’s a pretty big shared fantasy with many acolytes (ever-ever land?), up against diminishing pragmatisms of ‘why the H not’.
Capital and commitment still being the tallest apparent hurdles, but a healthy joint (or better, crowd/coop) effort can go far over both. Maybe also a sticking point in the definition/characterization of such projects from a more traditional economic standpoint, as far as what consistent goods/services are available to a larger support and exchange community for sustainable currency.
We are moving towards awareness of and tools for the more qualitative value markers that could be flexibly applied to a space and set of programs such as this (Community Supported Awesomeness?), and yes ‘tax’ support in some fashion could come in time, but at the moment forging new avenues with a sharp business acumen is still some distance to travel for many, and can potentially undermine the collaborative ethos.
So yes, time for heroics! I’m actually crafting a business model today and going to look at a fab 2000 acre parcel 5 min from my back door as ground zero for a replicable ‘Gaia Village’ startup cluster…off-grid future-groovy pop-up eco-nexus production, demonstration and exploration station.
My approach puts interactive story/wisdom streaming as the core commodity, and I’m still crunching through sound strategies to monetize that. It even sounds corrupt to speak of it thus, but honestly attention and engagement are the basis of exchange and we could all stand to learn and play the PR game far better…recognizing that as interfaces improve, we’re approaching a true ‘metacurrency’ value ecology with growing support for commons.
Would love to bounce more thoughts in a little ad hoc working group on Supercenter (rib-shot to Walmart) incubation. Pick/point a venue!
thanks ben.
we should definitely keep the conversation going. is there a listserv or working group started somewhere yet? i know there are tons of conversations going on everywhere around different aspects of this stuff….. it would be nice to have a ‘centralized’ source of information about it, but then everyone is resistent to feeling like they’ve been subverted by some bigger umbrella entity. i’m not sure how to get around that issue.
what do you want to do? google group? fb group? wiki? where shall the discussion go?
Would be great to dive into something bespoke like http://communitytools.info but at this point perhaps a good open lightweight thought/doc tracker like epic.io would be comfy?
I will see what I can put together for quick prospectus and invite. Most interested in finding/developing scalable ownership and funding models, maybe just a running list of active projects and proposals, plus key considerations for anyone thinking of initiating such…
just came across this PDF by the Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto –
How to Create World Changing Shared Spaces – http://s.socialinnovation.ca/files/Rigour_How_to_create_World-Changing_Shared_Spaces_.pdf
here’s a few other free downloads from them – http://socialinnovation.ca/sssi
Doesn’t this issue itself cry out for a solution to be built…why not a program that can recognise all of these conversations and provide a centrality through connecting the distributed conversations in one place. This is surely possible. Isn’t Paul Hartzog talking about this kind of programming as interoperability, and isn’t there a school of programming developing from Christopher Alexander’s work with next-gen programmers? Lets get this stuff going…open everything…and hash-tag everything!
Thank you for your interest Venessa. Yes, there are strong parallels, and the concept of a “planet school network” is meant as a complementary proposal to building new schools in brick and mortar. We need to transform the curricula of the existing educational system as fast as possible. Politics evidently is not capable of the transformative powers our time needs. The idea is to be very inclusive and radical in change as much as possible. Why that? To maximize the impact of transformation. Today a friend pointed me to a collection of facts he gathered:
Up to 270 species are driven extinct every day ….
There´s 6x more plastic than phytoplankton in some part of the oceans. …
More than 12 million hectares of productive land are lost due to desertification every year. ~Size of South Africa every decade. …
You know all that.
http://everydayrobots.de/2011/10/14/what-we-needs-is-us-only-better-and-now/
and …
“The new figures for 2010 mean that levels of greenhouse gases are higher than the worst-case scenario outlined by climate experts just four years ago.”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/3/report-finds-worlds-carbon-emissions-jumped-6-perc/
So, nothing really relevant happens on a systemic scale up to now … Read the media. The headlines imply that the main concern is going back to growth and avoiding by any means to stop the “economical engines”. Very reasonable in the boundaries of the reference system.
In my perspective the root cause of the passivity of a majority is not, that we first have to understand, that we are all one, making spiritual progress etc. though this might be very helpful (and mindfulness is part of the solution; see my mind map http://planetschool.net). The root cause is the continuity of the hyper-consumerist lifestyle and the absence of new model lifestyles for the _masses_.
Epicenter for disruptive innovation
As a foresight guy I am very accustomed with the “innovation mantra”, and disruptive innovation is essential for the “big correction”, but this alone will not do it. We need the radical switch of the “innovation system” to sustainability and social/cultural innovation. New models, spreading. CoCreatr said this too.
The _realisation_ of the insights is as much important as to have another epicenter of innovation. Structural and institutional innovations are a very hard business, but they are key.
I am on your page with liberating “repressed closeted superheroes” as you say. But due to the limits of the planet the “training for a rather de-materialised lifestyle” is desperately needed too.
This all fits together. If there is anything original in my insight driving the “planet school label” it is that really _everyone_ can join it, (I might say “can download the app”, since schooling can be rather ubiquitous these days) no matter what her/his political and religious views are. To be part of the solution, the plainly necessary transformation into the smart green democratic economy, nothing more, nothing less. This new economy seems to be the only viable form after the industrial system is collapsing. Many people want to be part of the solution and doing a lot of little steps into the new. We should have low entry for all 100% – and just avoid the entrance barriers of “totally new world views”, which are sometimes connected with alternative school concepts.
Pragmatism instead of eschatological excessive demand … On the mentality level we need not to create a Homo novo, but just level up from “economical rationality” to “ecological rationality” – as an US ciitizen, an European, an Indian, as a rich, as a poor etc. “Planet school” as a proposal for a social and open brand is just intended to be as neutral and consensual as possible.
willi –
this is the phrase from your comment that resonated with me:
“new model lifestyles for the _masses_”
this is what i am really talking about.
i was hesitant to use the word ‘school,’ because it’s not really an educational institution that i’m picturing. it’s a social experiment in a different way of *being*.
i am turned off in many ways by the thoughts of ecovillages, intentional communities, or these types of images because in my mind they seem to swing either to the side of being cult-ish, where you lose your personal agency and autonomy in the service and interest of the collective (which i don’t personally agree with), or you fall to the side of the kumbaya woo-woo let’s all just get along and be one with the universe thing.
disclaimer: i’ve never lived in an ecovillage or intentional community or visited one. the closest i’ve come is retreats i’ve done at ashrams or yoga centers. i’m just trying to express the *feeling* i get when i think about the idea of bringing people together to model a new way of life. (Jonestown, anyone?)
so it’s safer to call it a school. but it’s not a school.
it’s a wormhole.
it’s a physical place that is always there, that is integrated into the surrounding community, but could also function as an independent node, if it had to. it’s a place where we are modeling the behavior of the world we want to see exist. where people can come, immerse themselves in it, and take what they want away from it. come to fill the well. come out the other side transformed, revitalized, motivated, energized.
i’m so passionate about it because i want it for myself. i want to feel like there is a place near me where i can go to both get invigorated as well as rest. i want to be around other people who ‘get it’ and want to shape the future together, and get things done.
at the moment, this mostly exists for me across the various social networks online, or in fleeting weekends where i have to wear my body down to fly out to some city and attend a conference, to hopefully have those precious moments during the breaks and after hours to bond with people. i’m tired. and not enough progress can be made in a weekend.
i just feel really strongly that we need time together. and beyond “coworking.” what about “co-creating”?
i’m sitting here at the coffee shop in my town as i write this…. and here we all are on our computers, all isolated in our togetherness.
i imagine something different.
i have really enjoyed the ride so far, establishing a presence online, making connections around the globe, getting opportunities i wouldn’t have dreamed of. but i feel restless and want more.
novelty went a long way for me for a long time. now i’m looking for depth.
i haven’t really found a way to duplicate online the meaning and trust that comes from physical proximity and shared experience, and so that is the environment i want to create. i want it for everyone, and i want it for myself. i know my life would be enriched by it because my fondest memories are those that were shared.
so my question to myself is how can i most boldly, transparently, unapologetically, and authentically live the life i want, and invite as many people into that vision to do the same.
Venessa: one way to get more of the shared experience is through Art of Hosting gatherings. http://www.artofhosting.org/home/ Really powerful — and sometimes magical — way of bringing people together to talk about meaningful issues.
This “open source” participatory leadership approach can be used for almost anything: community issues, business situations, policy rethinking. My goal is to transform the nature of leadership so this creative, caring and collaborative approach becomes a standard for how we work.
Venessa, that is a great convergence! You say “so it’s safer to call it a school. but it’s not a school.” In the mind map I tried to avoid the term school for it’s narrowness too and call it not schools but “network of learning places” in branch no. 3 about the “structure”. http://www.mindmeister.com/106237621/planet-school-the-idea/
I strongly believe in the power of new habits and patterns, so there can be a “situational emergence” of a “planet school” on every place on earth, whether tech mediated or by “the will to learn and teach” of 2 or more human beings. We are all “planet students” and can always switch to be “planet teachers” – this are just very liquid roles.
Just to imagine: Use case 1: Any coworking place around the world, any meetup space can connect to the “hub and spirit of planet schools” … starting a lesson, downloading a free course or explanatory video, bonding with people, starting a project. You only need the “label” and the infrastructure for networking and knowledge flow … all elements are there in abundance, but they are not connected to an “organized whole” – with encouraging and incentive mechanisms. Use case 2: Think of immersive learning with AR, which can be the transparency technology for decision making and for adhoc organizing in the near future – the boarder between learning and information processes are bluring (see micro learning). Ok, there are enough tech enthusiast about e-learning out there, so the challenge is to balance the manifold methods.
In the end the human presence and personal development is decisive, not the tech. See the mind map. It is no accident that you find the “human skills” on the top of the branch no. 5 “what to learn”: The first sub branch reads “live and love”. It consists of 7 “skills”, including e.g. “contemplation”. The second branch there is “create and give” – including co-creation http://www.mindmeister.com/106237621/planet-school-the-idea/
The vision in a nutshell is:
Planet schools re-design learning – why?
to re-design feeling and thinking – why?
to re-design real doings.
And “planet school network” (under whatever name) is conceived as a “mindset + infrastructure” to strengthen esp. the first stage of the transformational chain.
I want to fully agree to having more than this “global infrastructure” and have real places and physical buildings dedicated to the “right thing”.
As you say it: “that is the environment i want to create. i want it for everyone, and i want it for myself. i know my life would be enriched by it because my fondest memories are those that were shared.”
And quoting your words: Let us …. “invite as many people into that vision to do the same.”
This comment of yours makes your article much clearer to me. You might know that I am rather critical of buzzwords, phraseology and the sorts. Especially your disclaimer on ecovillages and intentional communities is enlightening (to me). I completely understand – and share – the desire to have a place as you describe.
And I am feeling lucky to experience semblances of that in the scientific community. When a multinational team of a wide range of backgrounds, cultures, ages sits together mulling over data, designing experiments, debating findings, theories, concepts … the drive, the atmosphere, the creativity makes the room light up – sometimes 🙂
do you have any idea how much the building costs to purchase and maintain? how many folks it could accommodate?
the building’s beautiful.
i think they want like $8 million for it. not sure about accommodations… over 100 probably
Amazing post! By way of contrast, I recently read a statement by David Coleman, who is central to the project of developing national core educational standards, that kids need to grow up and understand that “nobody gives a shit what you think,” that they just need the knowledge and skills to give employers what they want, shut up, and do what they’re damn well told.
It’s nice to see there’s an emerging community for networked learning in which it matters very much what we think.
Re Willi’s comments, I think the point of all this is that, because of such things as modular design, ephemeralization, bottom-up control of resources by the people using them, full utilization of Hayekian distributed information, distributed infrastructure, etc., self-organized learning networks don’t *need* billions. The facilities for publishing a newspaper, a radio station, music studio, etc., used to cost millions of dollars. Now they cost under $1k. We’re approaching the point where a few $k worth of homebrew CNC tools in a garage can do what a multi-million $$ mass production factory used to do. And self-organized learning nets, likewise, will be able to do what used to require (at least supposedly) enormous physical plants and multiple layers of prestige-salaried administrators with doctorates in education.
As for the “superheroes,” I second Venessa: they aren’t necessarily the kids that are currently put on the college/honors track from middle school on. They’re the “mute, inglorious Miltons” out there who currently aren’t even recognized by the system because they’re not resume-building little Lisa Simpson types, who are more interested in actually learning about stuff they think is important than passing a test on what some authority figure behind a desk thinks is important.
Nice,
I hear you Vanessa, and not only you, I hear the human in you and sure enough its the same human in all of us.
I’m currently learning how to make waves, big ones, having surfed chance long enough for chance to put me where I could see the present was going anyway. Its nice and now I’m looking into how to build projects that span the globe and millions of cash-shaped units. Its amazing whats available if you know how to tap it. I’m not sure about how it is in America, but the funding budget in Europe is pretty phenomenal. There’s also development funds that can cordinate with programs in other world regions, developing and developed.
Changing the world to suit ourselves is not what we really want though.
Yesterday I had a deep dark day, the world was ominous and full of evil, or at least that’s what I thought…too much Max Keiser and various other tales of woe, however funnily clothed. I wondered if it was right to be here (Northern Italy Scholarship in EU Project Development) and if anything good could actually come of it. Can you build a white house of black bricks I wondered, what use is all this cash if its born of, in short, the darkest in everything. It was a moments doubt, and I’m glad of it, we learn from darkness…someone said that enlightenment consists not in creating bodies of light, but of making the darkness conscious. Looking at the world there is so much will to control, and we would do well to remember that that is the wrong way. It got comic at one point, ‘Playing God is to adults as playing with matches is to children’ and ‘ There’s a big difference between being ‘on fire’ and burning the house down.’
Today I read something you posted on twitter and this brought me the full round back to my senses. I realised that the world is not evil, its just ignorance, people just don’t really understand the why and how of things and so can’t act accordingly. The bit in “wave riders needed” at the end of the article where it mentioned that due to the fact of all things being self-organizational the greater part of human effort-the attempt to impose order-is a useless and destructive work of futility…this had me laughing my ass off. I realised that I’m alright, and that the world is ok too…just a bit ignorant. We have work to do, but we shouldn’t just find a nice place where we can form a niche and let the rest blow the world to pieces, the world is kind of dependent on our thinking right now. Not on ‘us’ but on the way of thinking and the way of formalising action that we are getting a taste of.
I suggest to anyone thinking along these lines to get active, go find out how to make a change and make it happen. Actualise, and remember will is not volition, some of you know the tests where the subjects are told to push the button to move the slide onwards, but in fact the button does nothing and the slide moves forward in reaction to the brain signal significant of their will- they are shocked to find the slide movement predicting their pushing the button and fear the slide will move forward twice. Dancers know this, in that mindfullness, or mindlessness, there is no choice, just action. A friend today said,
“If the cap fits, wear it.”
Best thing I heard all day!
And so I’ll keep going down this route and I’ll bring this mode of thinking and being as far into European and international infrastructure as possible. I advise others to actualise, and remember: ‘The reason things don’t go according to plan is because they are planned in the first place’. You don’t have to be going somewhere to get somewhere.
Keep going, maybe see you en route to who knows where…
Just another example for your list. This one is here in the socialist state of Massachusetts: Sprout. http://thesprouts.org/
oh awesome! it’s less than a 4 hr drive for me…. i will have to schedule a visit for the spring, looks really interesting. thank you!
I really like the direction on this idea. And the ambition suits you well. Follow your heart.
Do it.
This will be hard and you will learn much along the way.
There are many other efforts that seem similar but I think you are reaching for something that has not been done before. You are aiming to launch a balanced place from which to launch other balanced initiatives. Not just business or social ventures or spiritual development or making or sustainable agriculture, but all of the above and more.
The world needs places where we can learn to balance all the important values and activities that make up the kind of world we think possible.
yes, exactly
a wormhole for metasystem transition
Also of significant relevance and merit is this gov-supported program in the UK, which I know the software builders would like to expand and adapt in other countries/contexts:
http://www.theplacestation.org.uk/
And guidance on perhaps the most stable appealing cooperative ownership model for re-commoning from private interest, Community Land Trust:
http://smallisbeautiful.org/clts.html
As for scalability, that’s exactly why I’m focused on compelling media/storytelling to subsume the cultural narrative with persuasive evolutionary fitness modeling purveyed through familiar, convenient and accessible channels, with a graduated kind of emotional ‘buy-in’ engagement framework (metacurrencies…).
Some notable programming at: http://www.tribewanted.com & http://www.villagesos.org.uk/
thanks for these links, ben
I applaud you for being so open with your hearts desire and with the questions you are asking yourself.
That building is amazing perfect and as we saw will need tons of work.
How can we be and refashion ourselves together? How can we create community
of real depth and trust without losing our selves and while encouraging our differences?
You’re asking great questions openly and getting engagement so you are starting right here to build some of the depth you want.
I explore doing this stuff through shows as you know but I’m game to show up and work at one of these places too.
Con voi Venessa and all. This is a wonderful topic and I am really appreciating all the comments. Here at Damanhur, education and personal research are very important. I am including a link to the Damanhur Education website which talks in detail about our school system: http://www.damanhureducation.it/index.php?lang=en
If there is any additional information we can provide about our educational system or any other part of Damanhur, just ask! We can be reached via email ufficiostampa@damanhur.it or our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/damanhur.ms
thank you, yvette. i would love to come out and see the temples of humanity one day soon….
We would love to have you! The Temples of Humankind are something you have to see with your own eyes.
We also travel to various cities to give presentations, courses and concerts. If you are interested, contact me via the email above.
Con te!
I have been hoping for something innovative as well for the mentally challenged. A place that would be self-sufficient, environmentally sustainable. We need a new model for the future living centers for the mentally challenged. We need to provide well-being, sense of purpose, self-esteem and enjoyment to the challenged adult. We need it to be Green and environmentally conscious; a model and asset to the community. Also, we need a place that will perceive the challenged, as a asset instead of a burden.
Essentially, it doesn’t matter if you are brilliant, have emotional or behavior problems or mentally challenged we must look at a new model for the future for education, innovation and rehabilitation.
Thanks Venessa – so glad you mentioned Team Academy in your article. This place is so awesome. I really was overwhelmed what I saw when entering the spot back in August 2008 coming from an Ultimate Frisbee tournament in Amsterdam at short notice, and invite. You’ll find some thoughts on my experience there and what has since emerged from it into being on my blog.
Coming back from a meeting with a professor in architecture who is researching in the area in which innovation and wisdom grow perpetually. I appreciate very much the work of Peter Block and Lynda Gratton on the question what are the necessities of innovation hot spots, or spoken in simpler terms: vivid communities 🙂
ooo – ‘vivid communities’ – i like that!
Hi Venessa,
Firstly – Thanks for a deeply inspiring article and for the shout out for West Lexham.
Secondly- in answer to your question- we ARE building it!
We are grounding this vision, which so many of us share, into reality at West Lexham.To experiment with the joining of so many dots, the integration of so much amazing work, we will be creating a microcosmic experience at West Lexham and scaling out from there, In the last month we have forged an amazing partnership to unfold an event which will take place between 1st-5th June at West Lexham, drawing together a constellation of collaborators from all the above areas to experiment with LIVING IT:
“A live/work campus with elements of a university, Plato’s Academy, an ashram and a monastery. A place to feed your mind, body and soul.
Where people express what their humanity means to them through art, technology, music, experiential learning, sustainable practices, aesthetics, and togetherness.
An action-orientation of prototyping, experimenting, risk-taking, rapidly iterating, and propagating what works. Incubating startups and projects. A collaboratory to bootstrap local and regional solutions to our most pressing ‘wicked problems.”
We call it a convergence, we will be sharing more details very soon as the delicate early incubation of something which will be joyful and challenging, beautiful in its complexity, that will occupy the paradox between unity and individuality, connection and self-actualisation is still under way.
In February of this year we will be gathering together all who are drawn to cocreate this convergence with us. The creation of this event will be an organic process and a big part of the experience- it’s beginning now with a core community who share a vision, which we will be expanding by degrees through a cyclical process of convergence, connection, divergence and outreach.
With regards to scaling out, our intention is for the experience we co-create to set the framework for the future direction of West Lexham and our programme of events and activities, and to build a network of collaborators and extend out to join the dots between our space and the myriad other spaces who are hosting this work, forming the global network and community you refer to:
“What will happen when these types of locations begin to integrate into a global network?
What happens when we have real trust networks that transcend boundaries, and share the information and resources to aid us all in a higher function civilization?
How will these globally networked creative economies interoperate and build wealth together?
Can we open source the models so they can spread and morph as quickly as possible?”
West Lexham is now, and will be always an open source project, we intend to literally write the book, along with anyone who wants to join us on this journey, and spread it widely for others to take from our experience whatever helps them to move forward.
If you would like to help us co-create this convergence experience, bring to life the vision you lay out above and spread it across the globe, please do connect – lucy at westlexham dot org.
Thanks again for your inspiring words and for crystallising this growing momentum so beautifully 🙂
thank you, lucy. i’d be very interested to be updated about your progress and hear advice/suggestions about how others can get similar things off the ground. for instance, what were the first key partnerships you had to form (or collaborators to get on board) before the vision started to ground?
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currently reading Margaret Wheatley’s Walk Out Walk On… very resonating with this convo…
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“What does it look like when we engage in commons-based peer production and build towards shared infrastructures? Here you are really asking for live examples. Someone help, please.”
I have an example of what comes from commons based peer living. I worked for a summer at a remote lodge in Alaska where all the staff lived in shared cabins on site. We had around 30 employees all within a 4 year age group that shared 10 cabins. They surrounded the commons area which consisted of one kitchen, one living room and bathroom and showers. There was a guy’s bathroom and girls with 2 toilets, 3 showers and 2 sinks. So to say the least we had to learn how to share with complete strangers. Living in close quarters we didn’t stay strangers for long. In too many places people live next to each other for years without knowing one another. Living with common areas, it’s impossible to hide your true self. You might not even know your true self until living with common areas. Some of the lessons learned were; first impressions aren’t always right, everyone has some good in them to offer, and sharing is better than having your own. I could fill a book with the benefits that come from living, working, and playing as a community but I’ll just sum it up in a handful of words: acceptance, inspiration, sensation of freedom, caring, family, connection, acknowledgment and gratitude. To me nothing in life has ever felt so right.
“What will happen when these types of locations begin to integrate into a global network?
What happens when we have real trust networks that transcend boundaries, and share the information and resources to aid us all in a higher function civilization?”
ErgoFlow is what happens. ErgoFlow is a world portal, peer to peer ‘google’, as big as google but nothing like it, (and no doubt there will be more than one, who knows how many, when it takes off) and neo-transcendent life network.
I also made up a definition or the word ErgoFlow (so its not just a business idea.)
The definition of the word ‘ErgoFlow’ is authentication. It is ‘working solution’ in response to a ‘manifest problem’ due to a ‘situational confrontation’ that is designed to create ‘perpetual formulas.’ Perpetual as in lasting, but it can still adapt to Flow-centric paradigms.
I want to help build this kind of thing… perhaps the ‘first’, since there are puesdoprototypes out there it would seem, then go to school in it, and start my own business using it. No Joke.
I got a lot I could contribute. That can my part of my Operation: Incubation, the second step of Operation: Mass Inception. (The first being, well Operation: Bailout.) This could help to make the transition to a much better world.
Even it better, dare I say, it will be the transition. I understand there are lot of other people and movements being the transition as well, its all related and connected.
I am a pioneer. I want to do this… even better, lets do this. I’m not just talking the talk, I will walk the walk.
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