George Por's Posts - The Art of Hosting2024-03-28T16:13:08ZGeorge Porhttp://artofhosting.ning.com/profile/GeorgePor597http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2654152236?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1http://artofhosting.ning.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=1371qp1hr8uwo&xn_auth=noThe School of Commoning and the Campaign for Commons Literacytag:artofhosting.ning.com,2011-08-25:4134568:BlogPost:346372011-08-25T11:00:11.000ZGeorge Porhttp://artofhosting.ning.com/profile/GeorgePor597
<div><p>Here's an updated of the new phase of my work that I hinted at in my blog on <span><a href="http://artofhosting.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-art-of-hosting-the" target="_self">the art of hosting the transition to a post-capitalist, commons-based society</a>.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Since that blog entry, the School of Commoning got a new website, where you can learn about <a href="http://www.schoolofcommoning.com/content/source-document-school-commoning" target="_blank">our…</a></p>
</div>
<div><p>Here's an updated of the new phase of my work that I hinted at in my blog on <span><a href="http://artofhosting.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-art-of-hosting-the" target="_self">the art of hosting the transition to a post-capitalist, commons-based society</a>.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Since that blog entry, the School of Commoning got a new website, where you can learn about <a href="http://www.schoolofcommoning.com/content/source-document-school-commoning" target="_blank">our philosophy</a> and how interested people can <a href="http://www.schoolofcommoning.com/content/participate" target="_blank">work with us</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In this post, I just sketch out some key distinctions as to give us a chance to see <em>commons</em> and <em>commoning</em>not just a new word for something that we don't really need to consider as such because it's the same as communities of practice. No, it is not. As Martin Siesta summed it up:</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="p1">When I think of "commons" I think of shared resources, sometimes shared ownership and who have many common values, being in the same "community of practice" may be one of them. When I think of "community of practice", ... there are shared values, some are within a profession and some across. In some cases there is shared resources, not sure about shared ownership.</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1">So the difference I see is that with commons, in all cases there is a sharing of resources and often seeding ownership of resources and putting the whole first . A community of practice may or may not share resources and put the whole first.</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1">Here's what I'd add to it, from the pages of the <a href="http://www.schoolofcommoning.com/" target="_blank">School of Commoning</a>: </p>
<blockquote><h4 class="p1"><strong>What Is the Commons?</strong></h4>
<p class="p1">It has many definitions and one of our favourites is this: “The Commons is building social relationships in such a way that all those things we need to reproduce our livelihood will be shared in a fair way, and managed in a sustainable way,” as <a target="_blank" href="http://p2pfoundation.net/Silke_Helfrich">Silke Helfrich</a> said at the 1st International Commons Conference in Berlin, October 2010.</p>
<p class="p1">Another definition that inspires our work at the School differentiates two kinds of commons based on “common pool resources” and “public goods.” Professor<a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elinor_Ostrom">Elinor Ostrom</a>, who won the Nobel Prize for her work on the Commons explains the difference in this <a target="_blank" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXzbcgj9F54">video clip</a>. </p>
<p class="p1">The commons is all that and much more. According to Wikipedia, “The commons is the social and political space where things get done and where people have a sense of belonging and have an element of control over their lives, providing sustenance, security and independence. It gives voice to civil society and helps us to learn new social practices, imagine a political, economic and social system beyond capitalism or communism.” (Wikipedia)</p>
<p class="p1">Here’s another way of thinking about it, which influences the School’s work: “The commons is the basis of society, which is the connection of individuals to one another and the recognition of their interdependency. It is expressed in culture as a way of life.” (Blue Labour blog, 15 May 2011)</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1"><strong><a id="3" name="3"></a>What Is Commoning?</strong></p>
<p class="p1">There’s no commons without people commoning: commoners engaged in mutually supportive relationships of co-creating and protecting material or intellectual resources essential to their life.</p>
<p class="p1">In a broader sense, the art of commoning is one and the same as the art of living. It’s being fully engaged with life, choosing something we are passionate about and engaging with others to achieve more than any one of us could achieve on our own for a better life for everyone and a thrivable culture.</p>
<p class="p1">In a more specific sense, we can distinguish three scopes of commoning. (Hence the three waves in the SoC logo.)</p>
<ul>
<li class="p1">The ensemble of practices used by people in the course of managing shared resources and reclaiming the commons. So in its simplest form, "commoning’ is creating and maintaining something collectively" (Michel Bauwens).</li>
<li class="p1">Moving from the Me to the We, where people become capable to think, feel, and act as co-creative collective entities, without surrendering their individual autonomy.</li>
<li class="p1">Recognising the inherent connectedness of humanity as a whole, and having our individual and collective “centre of gravity” in a state of being, where we are not separate from it.</li>
</ul>
<p class="p1">Inherent to the identity of the School of Commoning is strengthening the practices of all three ways, and stewarding the evolution of a “commoning” framework that connects them. We work with our members, learners, associates, clients, and other stakeholders, helping them reaching their aspirations, no matter in which wave of commoning they want to manifest them.</p>
</blockquote>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1">One more piece of news for those of truly action-oriented. On August 18, we launched a <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/CommonsCampaign/" target="_blank">Campaign for Commons Literacy</a>, with the webmastering help of <a href="http://artofhosting.ning.com/profile/BenjaminAaronDegenhart" target="_self">Benjamin</a>, and financial support from <a href="http://artofhosting.ning.com/profile/JayStandish" target="_self">Jay</a>, <a href="http://artofhosting.ning.com/profile/MartinSiesta" target="_self">Martin</a> and others. We are very excited about the campaign because its challenges are high, <em>and</em> so is the potential of our network of friendships to meet them.</p>
</div>the art of hosting the transition to a post-capitalist, commons-based societytag:artofhosting.ning.com,2011-06-12:4134568:BlogPost:244072011-06-12T05:07:02.000ZGeorge Porhttp://artofhosting.ning.com/profile/GeorgePor597
A post-capitalist world is not only possible but millions engaged in the various organizational and social transformation movements around the world are actively working on the transition to it. One of the most potent emerging visions of that new world is a commons-based society.<br />
<a href="http://www.commonslearningalliance.org/content/towards-commons-based-society">http://www.commonslearningalliance.org/content/towards-commons-based-society</a><br />
<br />
It's a vision that tremendously inspires me and I…
A post-capitalist world is not only possible but millions engaged in the various organizational and social transformation movements around the world are actively working on the transition to it. One of the most potent emerging visions of that new world is a commons-based society.<br />
<a href="http://www.commonslearningalliance.org/content/towards-commons-based-society">http://www.commonslearningalliance.org/content/towards-commons-based-society</a><br />
<br />
It's a vision that tremendously inspires me and I joined with friends to work for. That's why you saw me less active, in the last two years, in the AoH community. During all that time, I didn't loose my connection with AoH as a cherished approach to developing authenticity, courage, and shared meaning, in various settings. I've been also waiting for and supporting the maturation of the social movements t o the point where they can take full advantage of such social technologies of collective intelligence and freedom as presencing, communities of practice, art of hosting, world cafe, and appreciative inquiry.<br />
<br />
That time has now come. This blogpost will be part of my attempt to nourish a closer relationship between the social movements and technologies of liberation. (I mean liberation from all obsolete systems and structures that cripple our highest potential and causing unmeasurable human suffering, environmental degradation and wasting our collective resources.)<br />
<br />
One of the projects I co-initiated is the School of Commoning, a London-based commons education group.<br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/SchoolOfCommoning">http://www.facebook.com/SchoolOfCommoning</a><br />
<br />
The title of our next workfop is #SpanishRevolution, and the Commons Here and Now. It will be dedicated to experiencing commoning and understanding the current Democracy Real mobilizations in Southern Europe as seeds for the transition to a commons-based society. It will be held at SOAS University on June 24. For more information about it and to register, please visit the event's Facebook page:<br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=220375597981035">http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=220375597981035</a><br />
<br />
It will be a fun-filled collaborative learning event, and a good opportunity to start discovering what it may take to host the transition to a commons-based society.<br />
<br />
If you are not in London but have friends here and this message inspires you, please pass the event's URL to them.<br />
<br />
Looking forward to read your comments and questions about anything that this update evokes in you,<br />
<br />
george<br />
<br />
p.s. on a more personal note:<br />
I'm in hospital recovering from an open heart surgery's complications. I don't have access to my digital photo. When I will, I will post it.