By Christian Siefkes, Johannes Euler, Gunter Kramp and Nikolas Kichler
An idea for unifying commons-based projects in a self-organised solidarity economy that’s easy and convenient to join
[This article is also available in PDF format. / Diesen Artikel gibt es auch auf Deutsch.]
The ideas presented in this document are based on an open space session that took place in April 2016 during the spring meeting of the German Commons Institute. The session was initiated by Gunter; further participants were Britta, Christian, Hannes, Nikolas, Sarah, and Sunna.
This document has been written by Christian, Hannes, Gunter, and Nikolas together with Stefan T. It has been translated by Justin and Christian.
Context: Which Problems Are We Trying to Solve?
There are various intentional communities that practice a shared economy (e.g. Twin Oaks in the US or Niederkaufungen in Germany). However, few people are attracted to living in such communities and the barriers to entry are high. Reasons for this include the necessity of sharing so many spheres of life with the same group of people, often causing long and tedious discussions. (A new community member described the experience as “like getting married to 70 people at the same time.”)