How do we weave together the threads of various conversations we are having around a "deep green" transition, and what are our next steps?

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A while ago @mrchrisadams mentioned that he keeps getting asked by fellow technologists who are concerned about climate change, environmental degradation and a bunch of other issues I am bundling under “Earth Systems Emergencies”. They, like many of us, want to do something - but don’t know what they can contribute, where they can do it or even how to begin to find their way.

Whether you don’t know what to do about climate change or ecological breakdown (where to start, or how to contribute to reversing it) or you’ve hit the “glass ceiling” of activism (being burned out or feeling like you’re not moving forward), your thoughts and ideas collectively, will actually help find a suitable set of actions.

Here’s how we’ll do it:

  • Create a holistic overview of what people within our extended networks are doing
  • See what gaps need to be worked on
  • Make a map of different paths that individuals can take from where they are (geography, skills, interests, etc) to where they can make a meaningful contribution.

These are the next steps:

  1. Collective enquiry: Get a number of people who are working on something related to environmental problems to share what they are doing and their experiences so far. Community managers and community members ask questions to get a deeper understanding of what each person needs and what they can offer.
  2. Collaborative analysis: We use the edgeryders method and stack of open source software for processing large numbers of smaller conversations and connecting the dots across them so we get a bigger picture, and can see clusters emerge and how they are related.
  3. Connect people, projects and places: We use the semantic social network visualisation as a tool to matchmake participants over shared interests based on what they need, and what they wish to offer. as a thank you to people who contributed to the conversation.
  4. Cocreate a **professional matchmaking and coaching ** solution for mission oriented people. We come together at a workshop during the festival. In it we use what we have learned learnings int a tool that individuals can use to help them find their way to where they can make the most impact. And make meaningful connections between people who can help one another to get there.

The good news is that it is totally doable. In fact, it is already in motion - all we need is to grow what is already happening!

Over the past months, several conversations have emerged around how we live and work in response to different facets of the same underlying problem: Stresses to the The Earth System.

Some people like @martin and @sander , people at Stockholm resilience center ++ are approaching the topic from a “zoomed out” perspective — looking at historical and current data to understand how the different parts of the system are doing and making models of what we can expect if nothing changes. They trying to figure out the“big” picture strategies and solutions for how to change course, or at least minimise the consequences. I’m guessing most of the serious work around this is being done in or near research and innovation labs and is heavily dependent on people with specialised technical knowledge and skills (e.g in Universities). For example, they map emissions from different sectors: energy supply, industry, buildings, transport, food consumption, agriculture, forestry. Or they’re developing advanced technologies that either are less emission intensive, zero carbon or carbon-negative.

Others are looking for solutions that are closest to them. @William_COACT and Tristan’s incubator for open source solutions to environmental problems is an example. Also @noemi and @alberto are tackling it on a professional level in part through the work they are leading in Edgeryders climate unit, but also at home through the co-living experiment they have been running which they are now scaling up with the reef. @matthias is at the faaaaaaar (ahead) end in how he closely his everyday life and values and work are aligned around this (Inge wrote about Matt’s story here). Chris working on getting tech companies and technologies who build things for them to take measures like switching to renewable energy sources. @janetgunter 's work on reducing electronic waste @samim 's hands on experimentation around cultivation and ecological research.

You can also find people doing work on rewiring relationships by changing how information and resources flow as a tool to drive change. For me mobilising and coordinating protests as well as building infrastructures and processes for decentralisation, or pushing for better policy to help places, organisations, movement and ultimately citizens be more resilient to shocks in the system. I would say, @Zelf , @jean_russell , @phoebe , @pbihr , and @julyandavey and are in this space. Definitely Thoma’s work on decolonialising the production of, and access to, science and knowledge in Africa and Haiti.

Or there’s Ramy, @anthony_di_franco , @Elise @winnieponcelet @rachel @thomasmboa (check out the work @rmchase and many many others who creating accessible solutions for alternatives meeting material needs in different domains.

But, making the transition from one to the other is not a given, or even finding your way to them. Once individuals find your way there, the cost on the person running the initiative (who is often under-resourced) to help onboard you is also demanding.

what is a sustainable mechanism to help people find their way to contribute?. This is something I have been thinking about a lot lately. Also as I rethink my own personal role in contributing/detracting from transition towards decarbonised futures.

A Possible process for figuring this out together:

  • Online storytelling (video chat, transcribe + Post on platform) + Q&A (comments),
  • Tagging & Visualisation (ethnographic coding, network analysis - SSNA visuals),
  • One on one calls (campaign: point us to someone doing relevant work - ask RSA for help too)
  • Q & A in spurt (like AMA hour)
  • Workshop ( present findings & co-design)
  • Tactical tech call for partnerships?
  • Coact lab residency (build)

What are your thoughts on this? It would be super helpful to have more people think out loud about this together as it is a tough one to crack!

image credit: Luc Schuiten

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thank you, added it!

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Hey lovely people, since many of you don’t know how to contribute their gifts… Extinction Rebellion is looking for really every kind of person, also tech people all over the world especially now, since the next Rebellion Wave starts at 7th of Octobre. Really hope this information helps. on their website you can find volunteer requests and local working groups…just send a mail to them. with love & planetary care, Anni

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Hi Anni, thanks for this!

This is the URL you mean, right? https://rebellion.earth/

Did you see @julyandavey proposal for a workshop? They wont be running it during the festival because they are organising protests in the UK but maybe you would find it interesting if we do it later? Deep Green Tech Workshop

yes…but there are also websites for different countries in case one wants to find a place. it’s a self organized system. I’m not a tech person but found a great opportunity to share my very personal gifts/what I love for a better future… and hope others do too <3

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During yesterday’s community call around deep green tech @mrchrisadams @MariaEuler @inge @anon82932460 @johncoate @matthias we discussed an idea to do in the run up to an upcoming decentralised festival Edgeryders in different parts of the world are organising together.

To do a series of solarpunk conversations: video chats where people who live where technology and ecology meet, share and discover one another’s personal stories. We record these conversations and participants use the transcripts to create their own thoughtful posts that can spark a different kind of conversation around personal journeys into a viable future.

What do you guys think about this @zelf @Anni @gustavlrsn @natalia_skoczylas @jasen_lakic Maybe also @eric_hunting @trythis @darren @petros_at_freelab @marc @matteo_uguzzoni @bob @William_COACT @bruces @lasindias @Sohayeb @zmorda @hazem ?

Also reaching out to the EarthOs crowd ahead of the Economics Scifi seminar in November and the Reef deep prototype we are building in Brussels:
@hugi @alberto @noemi @ilaria @augusto @eirinimal henri372 @BaobabUrbain @manuelpueyo @isabel @woodbinehealth @chantal_vanoeteren @yannick

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I’m incredibly happy that my discovery of solarpunk turned out to be such an informative thing for this community :smiley: Atm I have too much damage going on around poprebel to devote my time for this before November. But, if you’d consider it as a slower, well-researched and well-prepared series, then I’d be down - and I have some names I could def try to convince to join us.

I was also considering organising something like Futuristic Congress of Utopias (based on Lem’s novel, but, you know, with a better ending) in the frame of the Endlich festival, and I am still considering doing it next year, in the spring. So depending on how fast you want this to start - or rather, if there’s no huge rush - I would be interested in developing a frame for it and getting some funding to produce and document it, and we could have it in collaboration with the Experimentelles Zukunfstlabor in one of the abandoned, industrial sites in Berlin :slight_smile: That would greatly fit the intent, but also broaden the scope of future scenarios also out of the tech-focus.

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@alex_levene might be interested in that too

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Happy to host one as this would be the kind of inspiration we’d need for The Reef community and ahead of the end of the year.

With @matthias we are looking to host a technical idea sprint for green buildings in Brussels where some of the people in this space could join in a live IRL conversation. The outcome would be a documented set of soft knowledge and technology for living solarpunk. If we know who is interested to join a process of online conversations + meetup, we could set some money aside from The Reef project and make it happen.

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I’m up for a discussion. My focus right now is more Myco-punk - transformation at ground level. Learning from natural systems rather than coming from high tech perspective.

I’m more interested in growing trees into buildings than growing trees on buildings.

From Trash to Food and Habitat. Telling stories through actions and material manifestation rather idea realm (which i’m Myself strongly biases towards - but the longer I play in the dirt the more I realize the importance to plant roots deep before reaching for the sky)

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Hey folks,

I totally forgot how confusing Secure Scuttlebutt can be if you’re new to it but we had at least one person ask about how to start using Patchwork to, join the solarpunk community on there.

This guide below is pretty good to start out with, to understand what secure scuttlebutt is.

https://www.scuttlebutt.nz/getting-started.html

It’s not the web, but has a few really interesting ideas.

Joining the solarpunk “pub” to get regular updates

Once you’ve run through those steps you’ll need to visit this site here to request an invite code.

https://solarpunk.network/

Once you have that, stuff that’s shared to that solarpunk “pub”, will then be shared to you, using the gossip-y protocol that secure scuttlebutt uses, instead of a centralised webserver for sharing content.

Sorry i don’t have more detailed instructions than that - I use it occasionally, but I generally don’t use it anywhere as much as regular web tools.

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Could be interested in contributing to a solar punk conversation etc.

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He would indeed!
I need to move some large projects off my plate to let me rededicate time to ER projects. It feels like 2020 might be the year for that.
My experiment with standing in one place in Bedford has yielded mixed results.

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great idea! i can contribute with finding and recording one story!

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Right now I am feeling overwhelmed with the quantity of things I am involved in but I am definitely interested in the topic. If I can I will join the conversation or at least follow how it is developing. Hopefully I will be able to join as of end February next year in a more meaningful way.

Next year already I will be building something like a touristic eco-village with few partners, or we might get the land and take care of all paperwork in 2020 but start building early in 2021. In any case, I plan on applying sustainable development principles/tech on it (solar panels for electricity/heating, collecting rain water+filtering it naturally in a closed system for example). Also experimenting in it with permaculture or more efficient ways to do agriculture like vertical gardens, having natural self filtering swimming pools, using bio waste to create compost and fertilise etc etc…many practical ways to contribute to the ecosystem.
It will also be designed in such a way to encourage human interaction and connection with nature.

Of course my partners will have to be on board :slight_smile: , but that’s my intention.

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Blivande community member just posted this about a solarpunk festival in Stockholm:
https://forum.blivande.com/t/solarpunk-in-stockholm-solaris/1205

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