Communities

Met with Arthur Bull, Executive Director of the Saltwater Network today and learned about this bi-national organisation that “supports community-based marine management in the Gulf of Maine region”. Many of the issues that the Saltwater Network and the six resource centres address are similar to those that we want to look at for our Commons.

The stated principals of the network show an understanding of the problems …

WHEREAS, the nature of the threat lies not in a single simple factor, but in an overwhelming complexity of factors: transport and accumulation of land-based pollutants, loss of physical or legal access to the ocean, overpowering economic forces acting independent of biological realities, unsustainable fishing practices, increasingly massive and remote regulatory bureaucracies, and isolated model-driven science

.. and the actions are concrete and local:

• Supported two existing marine resource centres
• Helped four new resources centres to get started
• Given funding support, through a mini-grants program to local organizations
• Provided bursaries for staff from participating organizations to attend learning opportunities related to community-based management
• Co-sponsored two Gulf of maine study tours: one that took representatives of Aboriginal and non-native fisheries organizations from Yarmouth to Cape Cod, sharing their knowledge and experiences, and learning about community-based management work in communities that they visited, and and a tour on community-based clam management.
• Helped to bring several new grantmaking foundation into the Gulf of Maine region, both through Saltwater Network, and directly to local community groups
• linked the resource centres by regular conference calls, and a workshop on developing sustainability strategies
• Built collaborations with capacity-building networks and organizations in other regions and countries

There is much here to learn and it’s great to know that this network exists in our region.

This week I will commence working on the business plan for our Commons. My intention is to start with individual conversations, based on the original premise of three interdependent components of the Commons – cultural, work & environmental. Pragmatically, we can most likely build our Commons so that it offers one important element for each of the three components. The Commons will be a catalyst to our growth as a community, but it cannot be all things to all people.

My hope is that the Commons will become a place from which we can create alternative working models for how we live, work and communicate. Taking some inspiration once again from Robert Paterson, the Commons will show us alternatives to dependence on large corporations for jobs, to the import of fossil fuels and to the mass media for our self-expression:

I am beginning to think that this may be the great work – to build the alternatives rather than to try and reform the existing system.

I have some initial ideas and am putting them here so that the online community can engage in the conversation as well. As I’ve mentioned, the business plan is essential in order to secure the funding (not confirmed) and make these ideas more concrete. It will also elaborate on two themes; the long term vision of a sustainable, knowledge-based community and the creation of the first elements as expressed in the physical infrastructure of the Commons. Thoughts around the physical infrastructure include:

• Space for teaching and learning that can be used by all of the community (free and/or rented)
• Free, public access to the Internet (wired & wireless)
• Member restricted access to workspace (like the Queen Street Commons)
• Various meeting spaces, some open and some reserved
• A key element that is not available to individuals or small groups that would make a significant difference to that community:
  • Environmental (e.g. labs, computing power, green building showcase … )
  • Cultural (e.g. a kiln, a bronze casting foundry, exposition space … )
  • Work (e.g. video-conferencing, quality printing … )
  • All (e.g. research chair on-site, community kitchen, renewable energy … )

As we figure out what we want to build we have to determine how all of it will work together and how we will be able to finance the operation once the first Commons building goes up. That’s why I’m not even looking at where we will build until we know what we want to build. I’ve bookmarked resources that may inform the Commons business plan and would appreciate any other recommendations.

As I mentioned, we are moving ahead with the idea of The Tantramar Commons, and the next step is to develop a business plan. Guy Kawasaki’s Zen of business plans, is a perspective that suits me well. I’ve used his short pitch format for business models before and find it’s a good way to focus, not just for investors, but for funders of non-profits.

My aim is to develop a plan for the longer term viability of The Commons. If we are economically sustainable, then we have a good chance for government investment in the necessary physical capital. This is a different perspective than that of a business start-up that has to show a return on investment on its capital. It’s more like the rationale to build interstate highways 80 years ago. We are creating some common ground for knowledge-based organisations that are not focused on short-term profits. One of our aims is to have a culturally, environmentally and economically viable community. Our Commons will be an investment in a garden plot, and members will decide what they plant and care for. The exciting aspect will be the opportunities for cross-pollination. Fiftyty independent organisations, all generating wealth in some way, stand a better chance of survival than one company employing 50 people. The commons is about productive living, not jobs.

Of course, we have to make money and pay the bills. However, The Queen Street Commons is evidence that a work commons can function. Our cultural commons needs to provide the kind of infrastructure that will support early-stage artists and crafts people and help them develop into viable enterprises. Perhaps some form of common teaching and learning space would do it. The environmental commons already has some potential renters but it may also need common space for shared activities. Access to free highspeed Internet seems to be a desirable common good for anyone who visits or stays at the commons, as our connectedness to the rest of the world is essential for our prosperity. Anyway, there are lots of ideas.

I’ve started to collect online resources and examples of commons and bookmark them. I’d appreciate any other information, especially experiences and similar initiatives. I know that there is a group in Halifax considering the creation of a commons as well. I’m sure that we’re not alone, as almost everyone I speak has realised the limitations of our current economic structures in supporting meaningful and productive work.

Over the past few years, I have been influenced by some thinkers and innovators who believe that business as usual won’t address our needs for life and work in the next century. The open source software movement, Natural Capitalism, Dave Pollard’s work on the Natural Enterprise, Robert Paterson’s Going Home essay and the creation of the Queen Street Commons have all influenced my thinking and now my actions. I’m glad to say that what was once was only an idea is finally getting closer to reality. That is the creation of a new model for a sustainable community – The Tantramar Commons

After two years of discussion and observation we now have an opportunity to fund the creation of a Commons. We know that any initiative of this sort must be financially sustainable but we also know that our community and world must be environmentally sustainable and that a dynamic culture is essential for growth as a community. Therefore, our Commons, a cooperative endeavour, will be founded on three interdependent pillars: an environmental commons, a cultural commons and a work commons.

The core of the environmental commons will be based on the Atlantic Wildlife Institute. AWI promotes learning and awareness about the direct links between environmental health and human wellness through its work in wildlife rescue, rehabilitation, and research. Having recently completed a learning centre in nearby Cookville, at AWI’s 120 acre facility, we are now looking at constructing a new facility in Sackville for our research and networking initiatives. Other environmental organisations have already expressed an interest in joining or participating.

Photo: AWI Learning Centre

The cultural commons will reinforce organisations such as local galleries and Mount Allison’s faculty of fine arts. It will provide a focal point for artists and artisans with space for demonstrations and education, integrating cultural expression into the fabric of the community. Several local artists have shown a willingness to support this commons.

The work commons will be based on the lessons learnt by the Queen Street Commons, and here is a quote from their website:

Two hundred and fifty years ago, at the dawn of business, everyone worked at home. People found it convenient to spend the day in the close company of others who shared their common interests. One of the first venues was Lloyds Coffee House. Friends aggregated into booths and then into partnerships with each other. Those who wanted to do business with these “syndicates” wandered around the floor. From this simple beginning arose the world’s most effective insurance business.

Today more and more of us also work from home. While the Internet offers us some community, we can feel isolated and we often find the costs of basic infrastructure expensive. In addition, we miss by our social isolation, the synchronicity of opportunity that arises from meeting regularly in person. Many of us also work in sectors, and on ideas, that are still in their infancy. We are therefore vulnerable to the no-sayers and to the mainstream. This type of work needs the protection of social space where we develop amongst ourselves the trust, the community and ultimately the power, to take these ideas into the light of day.

Why do we need a Commons?

We are witnessing a shift in how the world works, as we move out of the Industrial age into the Internet age. Today, the manufacturing sector, our major source of wealth for the last century, is shrinking, much as the agricultural sector shrank 80 years ago. At some point in the future, knowledge workers will outnumber manufacturing employees. However, knowledge workers are different from the salaried employees that we have become used to for the past 80 years.

According to the authors of Nine Shift, knowledge workers:

• Are paid by their outcomesa and what they produce; not by the time they put in.
• Knowledge Workers bring something unique to the organisation for which they work.
• Their value is not in being like other workers, but in being different.
• Knowledge workers have a marketable set of skills.

In the near future, knowledge worker incomes will be a major source of revenue for many municipalities. Most knowledge workers will be paid by organisations from outside of the area. This income will be a net input of revenue into the community, as opposed to money that just changes hands locally. However, these knowledge workers will have their choice of where to live, and cities and regions will start to compete for them. Therefore, we need to develop our community infrastructure so that it is attractive not just for work, but as a healthy environment that also provides cultural stimulation.

To foster inter-sectoral cooperation, we need some common and neutral ground where we can start to have conversations and develop real understanding. This will be necessary to overcome traditional power relationships, especially for those who feel under-represented in our current political and economic structures.

I think of the Commons as a garden where members can plant and grow what they want, in a fertile environment that also encourages cross-pollination. The Commons will become a diverse community eco-system that will be more sustainable than the traditional factory or business. If one organisation in the Commons fails, it will not bring down the entire structure. Compare that with a mill closing in a similar small town in New Brunswick.

What do we hope to accomplish?

• The Tantramar Commons will be a focal point for the new Wildlife Emergency Response Network, which will bring in visitors, researchers and more like-minded organisations.
• It will be a home for non-profit organisations where they can concentrate on their programs.
• The Commons will be a welcome place for innovative start-up businesses.
• It will be an intersection for dialogue between sectors, such as between local farmers and environmentalists.
• Working from the Commons will allow the network effect to exponentially increase the power of each member.
• It will be a showcase for Green technologies at a local level.
• The Commons will provide more work options for our youth – a place to try out new business models in a supportive environment

I’ll be posting much more about the Tantramar Commons [a working name for now] as we develop the business model and the plan. I appreciate the support of many community organisations and individuals who have helped with this initiative and would like to recognise them, once I have their permission to do so.

Jay Cross recently sent everyone in his Informl Unworkshop (thanks, Jay) a copy of Naked Conversations – how blogs are changing the way businesses talk with customers. I didn’t find a lot that was new, but this is the kind of book to pass on to others who want to know more about this “blogging thing”. The authors are evangelists but they give a fairly balanced point of view.

I found that the section on culture, comparing blogging in France, Germany and China had some interesting insights. My favourite parts were the anecdotes about specific people blogging, especially in non-Internet fields, like the tailor at English Cut. I’ve been keeping my own list of small business bloggers, but I haven’t come across many new ones lately.

The book is a fast read, which appears to be how it was written and published, and will be a review for any dedicated blogger. You may want to purchase it as a record of where we were in 2005.

The main message I found in this book was that, if hyperlinks subvert hierarchy then blogs subvert corporate business as usual.