OPEN 2020 – Reinvented: Networked commons initiatives

But clearly everything has changed now… and a new calling question seems required.

Working with some of our platform co-op friends, who have also had events cancelled in their countries, we are now wondering… Could ALL the groups that are tinkering with platform co-op, new economy and commons building projects, come together to create an online event where we collectively figure out:

How to enable small groups to form, exchange ideas, define shared purposes, to collaborate effectively, and trade – within a global network of like minded commons building initiatives?

It’s clear there are too many disparate silos – and we could be more effective if we could achieve critical mass by coalescing around some platform, project or protocol… so that we ALL benefit from ‘the network effect’ – and a united ‘cooperative advantage’.

So, here’s the new plan:

Ahead of the June event:

We will run some webinars to highlight some of the existing networks, projects and protocols that contain elements of effective commons building initiatives.

On June 11th and 12th:

The dream is to come together in an ‘online world cafe’ – with multiple teams working in small groups via video and Docs – to achieve some consensus on what, where and how we will collaborate on an on-going basis:

To enable small groups to form, share ideas, define shared purposes and collaborate on commons building projects, as part of a global network.

We are specifically interested in encouraging collaboration and agreement on an open protocol for sharing the ‘purposes’ of and ‘updates’ from existing groups in order to aggregate and demonstrate the work of existing groups – to bring their efforts into harmony by revealing the ‘big picture’.

After the 11th and 12th June:

The objective is that we will have collectively agreed on:

• A protocol for sharing news and updates from our various projects, which can be aggregated to reveal the ‘big-picture’ of the networked commons initiatives
• A place, platform or protocol whereby anyone can form new groups, which automatically become part of the big-picture
• A standard set of tools for group collaboration – in order to keep things simple and avoid ‘channel fatigue’
• A standard process or structure for group collaboration – i.e. some basic principles of working

The ultimate objective is to make it easy for anyone with an interest in building a better world to:

1. Find the pre-existing groups that are already working on things they are interested in (to reduce “wheel reinvention”!)
2. Feel empowered to join pre-existing groups where they exist, or
3. Form new Chat Groups, or Working Groups (where they do not already exist) with their own shared-purposes defined by their members…

So that all our efforts are united as part of an ongoing networked commons building initiative.

All events are open to all people, until we crash zoom, and then we’ll split into smaller groups.

Follow us on Twitter or sign up to the newsletter for updates, or join The Open Co-op Loomio group to discuss ideas.

Collaborators and platform co-op friends who are supporting this evolving plan:

• Oli S-B
• Simon Grant
• Dil Green
• Jakub Lanc
• Ela Kagel
• Matthew Slater
• and more…

We look forward to seeing all your smiling faces online.