The Reef is a collective effort and project initiated by Edgeryders to fight climate change through the power of urban communities. We share this goal with many in our global network and have received enthusiastic signs of support.
In 2019, Edgeryders signed a Memorandum of Understanding with our partners at Blivande, in Stockholm, and Fondazione per l’Innovazione Urbana in Bologna. We called it The Reef Network. It was just meant to seal our work for that year, but, to our surprise, we received requests from several people and organizations that wanted to be a part of it. So, we decided to open it up, turning it into a formal alliance. Anybody can join it, for the purpose of supporting each other around a common goal: redefining urban living in a low- or net-zero carbon emission world.
The Reef Network is now open for joining by organisations and companies, and individuals. Sign the Memorandum of Understanding!
We have set up a Memo of Understanding - a formalised intention to join forces and commit to mutual learning and sharing. No legal obligations are attached to this memorandum.
Here are the relevant sections:
- Purpose and scope
The purpose of this MOU for joining The Reef Network is to establish a framework for the parties to coordinate their activities aimed at redefining urban living in a low- or net-zero carbon emission world.- Background
As climate change accelerates, so do policies aimed at facing the challenge it poses. At the time of writing (April 2020), the available evidence indicates that our civilization is not on track to stay within the +1.5°C limit recommended by the IPCC.
Independently of this, the parties have undertaken, in the cities where they operate, projects that reflect on modern urban life, and even attempt to improve it in several dimensions; health, culture, work-life balance, social cohesion.- Commitment. The parties commit to:
● A concerted effort to push their respective projects in the direction of low- or net-zero carbon emission. They acknowledge this will require innovation, both in the sense of new technology for urban living and in the sense of new behavior for inhabitants of cities. They acknowledge “traditional middle class” lifestyle might be incompatible with a net-zero emission civilization. They acknowledge that new lifestyles might emerge that are no less attractive than traditional middle class, just different.
● A continued dialogue to exchange information, explore possible common actions (such as common innovation projects, conferences, exhibitions, or other events), and exploit as many synergies as they can spot.
● Full transparency of the above. Information related to technology (such as schematics, instructables, prototypes, software code), content (such as texts, videos, pictures) and action (such as strategic documents, action plans and so on) are to be published with open licenses, and remain in the informational commons.- Means of coordination
The parties agree to coordinate mostly online, through tools such as digital fora, wikis, conference calls, deployed as appropriate.- Naming
While each space has its own name, the parties agree to use the name “The Reef” to denote the alliance of spaces. This could be further specified as needed (eg. The Reef Alliance, The Reef Network and so on).- Extension to third parties
Third parties who find themselves in syntony with this MOU’s purpose and scope, and who are willing to take on the same commitments as The Reef, Edgeryders, and other signatories, are in principle welcome to become a part of the network by signing an addendum to the MOU.- Duration
This MOU comes into force at its signing date, and expires on December 31st 2020. It is renewable yearly, by means of a simple communication from each party that wishes to renew it to the other partners.- Opt-out
Parties can opt out of this MOU at any time, by simply communicating to other parties they wish to do so.
Signatories so far (as of 25/06/2020):
- The Reef ASBL - association (Belgium)
- Edgeryders OU - company limited by guarantee, non-profit (Estonia)
- Blivande Idéer AB - limited company (Sweden)
- IG Langhuus - association (Switzerland)
- Community Foundation of Messina (“Fondazione di Comunità di Messina ONLUS”) (Italy)
- FABER - ngo (Romania)
To join us, follow these steps:
- Let us know that you are interested in a comment below. In exceptional cases you can also send an email request to one of the team members (@noemi @alberto @matthias and others).
- We will send you the latest partners’ signed version of the Memo for you to sign, via a digital signing service called SignRequest.. Click on the email invitation from SignRequest and sign the document which opens in your browser. A dynamic pointer tells you exactly which information to add:
– Your organisation and its address
– Your name
– Date
– Your signature - After you sign, you will receive the signed MoU and the digital signing log in 2 .pdf documents.
