ABOUT
The Open Co-op is a multi-stakeholder cooperative.
We organise events and run projects to help create decentralised collaboration at scale.
The Open Co-op has two different types of members: friends and family. Our friends include a global network of inter-related organisations and projects but it’s our family of Doers that run things, because The Open Co-op is a DoOcracy: an organisation in which those that Do decide what gets done.
As the name implies, we’re an open organisation, and everyone is welcome. We run open finances, make open source software and develop and promote open protocols.
Members of The Open Co-op aspire to, and are working towards, our shared vision of a collaborative, regenerative economy. The regeneration of nature, and the creation of sustainable systems to support a thriving, equitable, decentralised society is our goal; our shared purpose.
Recognising the value and power of small teams and micro solidarity, The Open Co-op does not seek to become a large, centralised organisation but to network together, and help create and support, a diverse community of small, decentralised groups.
The regeneration of nature, and the creation of sustainable systems to support a thriving, equitable, decentralised society is our goal.
Our current mission is to catalyse collaboration at scale.
Our current mission is to catalyse collaboration at scale, by which we mean: To connect and unite everyone who recognises the fallacy of neoliberalism and the urgency of the climate crisis into a positive global movement, working together to develop the tools, technologies and social conditions to manifest positive systems change.
In order to achieve this, and to stimulate the new economy we are developing into existence, Members of The Open Co-op family observe the cooperative principles (obviously), and commit to contribute time, or some other value to the mission, every month. Nobody polices these contributions, the record of them will either be there, in the open, or not.
Join us and help create the world we all know is possible.
Nobody else is going to do it for us, especially not our governments. If we want the system to change we have to create a new system which makes the present system obsolete.
Our work covers:
New ownership
models
to provide equitable access to the organisations and resources we rely on.
New governance structures
to provide democratic methods to steward our collective endeavours.
A new
narrative
to underpin these new systems and replace the ‘money rules all’ mentality.
we design Network coordination systems
To help people discover, connect with and co-create the collaborative, regenerative economy.
A new way to build and manage interoperable directories
and maps via decentralised profiles.
A co-op of co-ops that flips the standard data model
via inter-coop marketing and promotions.
we build Commons infrastructure
To provide collectively-owned, surveillance-free, open source tools for collaboration.
Open source email, messaging and collaborative tools powered by renewable energy.
Open source meeting and conferencing tools,
powered by renewable energy
we promote Economic change
By highlighting the solutions, and developing the tools, to power alternative economies.
Awareness raising project highlighting the work of Fuller and Riegel to promote our most powerful tool for change, money.
A UK network and open source directory, matching and notification system for mutual credit payments.
In order to collaborate effectively at scale humanity requires a decentralised coordination system to manage our collective endeavours.
We are working towards this goal via a concept we call…