New Community Paradigms

We are living in the midst of humankind's manifold crises, in a time of unprecedented change. Some call this era The Big Shift, Jump Time or The Great Transition. Out of the turbulence of this transformation, the world that will emerge will most likely be very different from what we know. Whether what unfolds will be for better or worse is up to us. Not up to us individually, but up to all of us who care for it.

On the Commons (OTC) is a commons movement strategy center founded in 2001. Through our efforts, we help: Build and bring visibility to the commons movement; Initiate and catalyze commons work; and, Develop and encourage commons leadership. We believe it is possible to foster a commons-based society, which refers to a shift away from our market-based system, through new, collaborative ways of working.

It is vital that we understand the physical nature of wealth so we can envision and build economic systems that are capable of (1) reducing chronic inequality in the world; (2) recognizing the inherent value of nature as a foundational building block for any economic system; and (3) exploring the 'design space' of all possible economic systems to find those best suited for planetary sustainability.

Land: A New Paradigm for a Thriving World is a book about a scientific economic solution rooted in a recognition of humanity's interconnectedness; it offers a template that, if applied, could solve many of today's social and economic issues at a root level.

"This article is meant to serve as a living document where I will curate reading materials on bioregional design and add new links as I discover new content. It is done in preparation for a workshop on bioregional design that I plan to give later this spring. "

"In a word, the future of humanity (if there is one) will need to be bioregional."

In the business world, there is an obsession with scaling. Investors repeatedly ask "How are you going to bring your idea to scale?" Environmentalists often ask a related question by seeking to change the minds of large audiences - by increasing awareness of ecological problems in the hope that this will lead to policy actions in the future.

"Now for the first time ever, we have a global plan of action - the Contract for the Web - created by experts and citizens from across the world to make sure our online world is safe, empowering and genuinely for everyone. We invite governments, companies, civil society organizations and individuals to back the Contract and uphold its principles and clauses. "

"To promote the wider arguments in the book, Lewis and Conaty produced a series of very short articles. The following Special Report features their series on Community Land Trusts, Mutual Home Ownership, the Garden City Model and the Co-operative Land Bank. The Garden City Model merits special attention, as Garden Cities that took land out of the market were a full expression of radical socialist and co-operative economy planning. Nowadays, a number of parts of the world are showing an interest in reviving them."

"The land trust movement in the United States has gained notoriety over the past 20 years mainly for its role in environmental conservation. Known as land conservancies, these non-profit organizations, such as the Nature Conservancy, acquire development rights or land in fee simple, in order to conserve natural resources by protecting land from development. "

Memes are to culture what genes are to biology: the base unit of evolution. The term was originally coined by the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book, The Selfish Gene. Dawkins writes, "I think that a new kind of replicator has recently emerged . . . It is still drifting clumsily about in its primeval soup, but already it is achieving evolutionary change at a rate which leaves the old gene panting far behind." He goes on, "Examples of memes are tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches. Just as genes propagate themselves in the gene pool by leaping from body to body via sperms or eggs, so memes propagate themselves in the meme pool by leaping from brain to brain, via a process which, in the broad sense, can be called imitation."3

"We need to ratchet up from targeted innovation and apply design-thinking principles to one of the biggest social issues of our time: global poverty itself. "

C-ROADS Pro is designed for technical users looking to analyze specific greenhouse gas emission reduction policies in various forms for up to 15 regions simultaneously. Available for download to Windows and Mac. Download C-ROADS Pro and watch C-ROADS Pro Video Tutorials to get started.

The CCI is an award-winning University Center that informs and supports evidence-based climate action.

The CCI is an award-winning University Center that informs and supports evidence-based climate action.

What if each community had the vision and tools to directly restore and steward their watershed? We are a regional volunteer cooperative that works in communities to study, protect and restore ecosystems, cultivating social systems capable of stewardship.

"ESM combines the conceptual systems thinking behind zonation, bioregionalism and social planning, as a simple yet powerful matrix for integrated design where the macro provides a practical and realistic context for the details." "

Appropedia is the site to develop and share collaborative solutions in sustainability, poverty reduction and international development through the use of sound principles and appropriate technology, original research and project information.

What constitutes a sustainable localized food system for a rural community? Source as local as possible from locally owned and operated to benefit the community. A Kumu Group Modeling Project