[P2P-F] P2P and Landscape of Change

Thu Dec 29 01:09:11 CET 2011

(was Re: [P2P-F] 3 days to go ... important announcement on bauwens
participation in mailing list and p2p curation)

Thanks Michel

I'll forward your email to Filipe and also send you his email address. I'm
surprised you're getting negative feedback (I confess there is too much on
P2P for me to read all of it, so I just dip in when titles catch my eye).
I'd have expected strong positive feedback for you as it seems to me that
P2P stuff is so much "of this time".

*Your work and Landscape of Change*

As well as your influence on my thinking, I'm enormously grateful to be
able to refer to your clear explanations of various changes and trends as
backup to the ideas I'm sharing in a project I'm calling Landscape of
Change. I started work on it last year in response to a Panorama programme
called "Finished at Fifity" - but although that was the catalyst the
Landscape of Change project has much wider vision and relevance than a
single target group of people over fifty who are looking for work.

Landscape of Change is about reflecting on (and responding to) change as it
is impacting on people's lives, making sense of those changes in the wider
context, and then applying those insights in a practical way. From our
changed perceptions and insights in the workshop group we look at an
approach of "stronger together" - and what that means in practice. The
ideas I'm sharing make a lot more sense - and carry more weight - if I can
refer to background information such as your P2P work (including the recent
talks).  Your work does a lot to give me more confidence - the way I see
things is not just me being crazy.
*
Background to Landscape of Change*

I started Landscape of Change because I was outraged by advice that was
given in The Finished at Fifty programme to four people who had been made
redundant and were trying to reposition themselves in the world of work. I
thought they were being very wrongly advised (unhelpfully and potentially
destructively), and so I decided to develop something more "realistic".
(NB I do have credentials on the topic of being out of work and what it
does to people.)

As I see it, for some people (who are losing their jobs now or not able to
get a first one), it is as if a tsunami has hit their "usual world of work"
situation and they find themselves suddenly washed up on an island
somewhere. These people get into "writing CVs mode" - they send off a
succession of letters in bottles in the hope of reconnecting with their old
"world of work" - not understanding the way that world more or less
vanished in the waves that washed them to the island. However some of the
other people washed up on the island take a different approach and decide
to forget the old "world of work" place, explore the new land, and make
what they can of it. How this story ends of course depends on who is on the
island, what resources they can lay their hands on, and how well they
collaborate. I want to encourage people to explore the new land rather than
keep on putting letters in bottles. I get angry with "powers that be" who
keep pushing people to try harder to make their way back to the traditional
world of work as if no real deep changes are happening.
*
Landscape and overlaps
*

 Obviously I can't explain all the Landscape of Change details here. I just
want you to know enough about it so it can be included in your P2P thinking
as appropriate. It may even overlap in some way what you are planning do
soon or in the future (I have no idea what that is). At the moment I'm in
pre-launch mode. I've developed some materials for workshops, and tried
them out with various people - although not with my real target groups yet.
The basic workshop is designed to shift people from old ideas about work
etc and get them to see some of the key patterns of change - so they are
more ready to live with uncertainty. and react in new ways, in what you
might describe as a P2P world - and what I describe with words like
"collaboration".

*Need for follow up

*I decided that my preparations couldn't just stop at creating workshops -
there needs to be something to follow on - and that could take a lot of
time and effort to nurture properly. Having sowed the seeds related to new
approaches and collaboration during the workshops - and knowing how
important it is that people are not left in isolation looking for jobs that
don't exist - I want make it easy for people to join "collaboration groups"
after the workshops (or create their own new ones).  I've now got ideas for
how these groups might develop and what they might do. Even if I can't
offer local groups I need to at least offer some kind of online group for
people to connect with - I'd like to offer more if I have some resources.

*More about collaboration groups*

Another reason I want people to be able to take part in collaboration
groups is because others will benefit as a result of what the collaboration
groups achieve. People who are not spending all their time as wage slaves
are a great resource, and there is much to be done in building our shared
future. We can't afford to waste people. However I want people to take part
in collaboration groups because they want to. The last thing I'd want is
for collaboration groups to become some kind of compulsory government
scheme for anyone who is claiming any kind of unemployment benefit. I would
want to avoid that kind of image and compulsion. (If necessary I'd rather
promote a collaboration group model at the opposite extreme - quite elitist
- something people might even try to join in during their spare time
despite still having a traditional regular job.) These are purposeful
collaboration groups.

Obviously I don't want to impose any ideas, and it's best for people to
come up with their own, but it's a kind of "safely blanket" feeling for me
to know that if people did want some ideas - even if just as a starting
point for discussion - I'd have something to hand. Also if there are not
enough people at the end of a workshop to make a collaboration group happen
without support then I need to have at least something to point people to.

*First steps*

The Dadamac meetup group that I started recently could now serve as a first
contact point for anyone who's been to a workshop and wants to connect with
some kind of collaboration group. The people in that group are mostly
people who helped me with feedback on the workshop materials - so they are
familiar with the Landscape of Change basics.

Given there is at least that starting point for anyone who wants to connect
with a collaboration group after a workshop I could start to run workshops
properly in the New Year - and hope to get other people running them too.

I'm not sure if I'll look for funding to help launch the Landscape of
Change (workshops and collaboration groups). External resources could
accelerate its uptake and development. Or maybe I'll just let it emerge.
I've got various thoughts and am meeting with some of my collaborators on
Friday to explore some options.

*Rewards*

The "rewards" for people investing time and effort in collaboration groups
seem fairly obvious to me - but that's because I'm thinking from a P2P kind
of viewpoint. I also look at many kinds of reward that people get, other
than money, through being part of collaboration groups - build up of new
networks of trust, evidence of collaboration with others, skill
continuation and development, social and intellectual benefits, possibility
of making things happen locally that you've not had the time or team to
make happen previously, etc.

This may be done while working on projects purely for social good and for
no financial reward, or on projects that are being paid for at a commercial
rate, or some kind of hybrid.

Despite recognising all kinds of rewards and value benefits beside money it
remains true that  we all do need to cover our material needs, and that is
a challenge given the way things are at present. It's okay to look forward
to how things may play out in a P2P world, but for now getting access to
all we need for our material needs tends to require "a mix of new and
traditional approaches" - which is one reason why I really appreciated the
way you explained new approaches to work in London recently - especially
the relationship with people/organisations who would be expected to
contribute financially.

*Sharing*

As time goes by I hope to make all the Landscape of Change workshop
resources available online for others to use (but ideally some benefit
should come back if the resources are used commercially). I'd want to put
up explanatory notes as well for people running workshops, not just give
the diagrams that we have.

 I'm not sure how it will work out, but I feel I need to share as much as I
possibly can, and yet there are financiaI hurdles to overcome. Just
creating the resources and setting up the meetup group has involved
financial costs - and of course lots of time invested as well. I guess it
is all part of the practical experiment of building the kind of
collaborative future we believe in - as usual I'm learning by doing.

*Progress reports*

I don't know how much time I'll find to share how things are progressing -
so if anyone is interested it might be a good idea to join the Dadamac
meetup group - http://www.meetup.com/Dadamac/ - even if it is just to lurk
there. That is where workshop follow-up collaboration groups news should
gather as things start to happen.

Pam

On 28 December 2011 14:23, Michel Bauwens <michel at p2pfoundation.net> wrote:

> thanks Pam, much appreciated ... I must say one of the additional
> motivating factors was the negative feedback I have been receiving lately,
> so it is always pleasant to get some kudo's as well. In any case, I have to
> focus more for a while on making an income for the family.  I'm very
> interested in learning about Felipe's experience!!
>
>
> On Wed, Dec 28, 2011 at 9:15 PM, Pamela McLean <pamela.mclean at dadamac.net>wrote:
>
>> Dear Michel
>>
>> Whatever you are doing in 2012 I wish you well with it all.
>>
>> Now is probably a good time to express appreciation for all I have
>> learned thanks to you -  both through the p2p foudation and also directly
>> from you - so - Thank you Michel.
>>
>> BTW I note you may be in Brazil later. In the spirit of open-ness I share
>> the fact that one of the members of Dadamac meetup
>> http://www.meetup.com/Dadamac/ - Felipe - spent a year in South America
>> visiting local grass roots initiatives of various kinds and thinking how
>> best to share information more widely about things that work well. When I
>> met him he was recently back and in London trying to share what he had
>> learned. I could put you in contact if his interests seem to overlap your
>> own.
>>
>> Pam
>>
>> On 28 December 2011 12:11, Michel Bauwens <michel at p2pfoundation.net>wrote:
>>
>>> Dear friends,
>>>
>>> an important announcement, in 3 days, I will provisionally retire from
>>> the p2p-f mailing list.
>>>
>>> Material conditions make it impossible for me to continue 'curation as
>>> usual', as well as efforts in broader community building and dialogue. From
>>> January to April, I will be working intensively on a very demanding
>>> privately-funded research project, then I have a late spring lecture tour,
>>> and will likely spend 6 weeks in brazil, mid-may to the end of June.
>>>
>>> Curation will be sharply curtailed but I will continue tagging as a
>>> normal activity, undertaken for the research project. Depending on
>>> available time, I will continue, on a much lighter regime, Facebook and
>>> Scoop.it. Twitter will continue to alert new blog and wiki items, as an
>>> automatic feature.
>>>
>>> The blog will continue and I have devised a system with Franco, see
>>> http://p2pfoundation.net/P2P_Blog_Planning_Resources, but I will at
>>> most be able to spend half a day a week on it, so input from the community
>>> will be essential. I will aim for one personal editorial a week.
>>>
>>> Feel free to suggest items for the following permanent rubrics:
>>>
>>> (bear in mind we may not be able to publish as intensely as the plan
>>> below suggests)
>>>
>>> Published on alternative days
>>>
>>>    1. P2P Blog Movement of the Day<http://p2pfoundation.net/P2P_Blog_Movement_of_the_Day>‎
>>>
>>>    2. P2P Blog Person of the Day<http://p2pfoundation.net/P2P_Blog_Person_of_the_Day>‎‎
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>    1. P2P Blog Essay of the Day<http://p2pfoundation.net/P2P_Blog_Essay_of_the_Day>
>>>    2. P2P Blog Book of the Day<http://p2pfoundation.net/P2P_Blog_Book_of_the_Day>
>>>
>>>
>>> Published every day:
>>>
>>>    1. P2P Blog Video of the Day‎‎<http://p2pfoundation.net/P2P_Blog_Video_of_the_Day>
>>>    2. P2P Blog News of the Day<http://p2pfoundation.net/P2P_Blog_News_of_the_Day>
>>>
>>> Important,* I will not read the mailing list for at least 4 months
>>> starting January 1, so if you want me to see something, it's important to
>>> cc.*
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  -
>>> http://blog.p2pfoundation.net
>>>
>>> Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss:
>>> http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation
>>>
>>> Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens;
>>> http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> P2P Foundation - Mailing list
>>> http://www.p2pfoundation.net
>>> https://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
> --
> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net
>
> Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss:
> http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation
>
> Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens;
> http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens
>
>
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