Living and Working as an UnMonk

Workspaces unMonastery
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8

Haven’t worked with Erasmus Entrepreneurs

Hi Ben,

Nope, i once looked into it but haven’t used the framework, but I have a hard time believing this would be suited to pool efforts into, if the timeline we are considering is the next 3 months… May, June, July.

9

Clarity is in short supply

My plan for Matera has already fallen apart, brought low by – you guessed it – delays. This is not the time and place to delve on it, but I think we can now safely assume that:

  • MT2019 will not be putting further funding into the unMonastery, barring Joseph deciding he needs it and having the necessary autonomy.
  • Edgeryders activities in Matera, even if confirmed (we have no contract with MT2019 yet), involve the unMonastery only marginally. We planned a small event with some resources committed for the first week of October: if unMonastery Matera is live by then, we would of course love to hold it there, and then it would make sense to recruit the coordinator and documentation  person from the unMonasterians. Remember, however, that this is conditional on (1) MT2019 finally signing that contract and (2) them paying a substantial advance at the onset of the project. They say this will happen. I think they are sincere, but it is hard to tell how much control they have on process right now. 

For what it’s worth, I think it is defensible that we frame the unMonastery extension as a more discretional exercise. Also, we do not have the time to put out a call. So I would go for handpicking people for short stays. Long stays are a different story: people complain and lean on others quite a lot even after applying and answering questions about “being ready to be challenged, physically and intellectually”. I don’t even want to see what happens with people that feel they a sense of entitlement because they have been invited. Of course, if we could find a local person that would commit to taking over…

Your point on residencies is correct. Have you talked to Joseph?

Your point on Erasmus Entrepreneur is also correct. You are welcome to use the Edgeryders corporate shell to make that happen with people you respect, who then would be paid to be in the unMonastery.

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10

Okay

Thank you for the clarity you can give, and I can see and appreciate your frustration - if there’s anything that I could do to ease this Matera side please don’t hesitate to ask.

It’s become fairly clear in the past week what’s needed or possible in terms of contiuation, I think it’s fair to say we’re hedging our bets a bit but I’m giving myself until the beginning of the second week of May to do everything that’s possible to ensure the continuation of the project - right now I’m working on multiple tracks. Ideally though the unMonastery will be able to act as the Cultural Laboratory for the overall cultural program, from what I understand so far it would make sense given that our values are closely aligned. Lets see and I’ll keep things updated on the platform if there’s any concrete developments.

As for occupancy at unMonastery - we shall set a clear path by Friday. I recognise your trepidation and anxiety about how people are bought onto the project going forward, I think the clarity of expectations based on what’s been the experience so far should be set in stone for anyone new joining the project.

11

?

@Alberto what do you mean exactly “…Of course, if we could find a local person that would commit to taking over…”

ty :slight_smile:

12

starting the process

I propose that for people that we know are interested, or might be a good fit, we can send the information below to begin the process of finding some unMonks in the next few weeks.

UnMonastery Matera would like to find 2-3 creative, radical and ambitious people to live and work at unMonastery for June and July, 2014. We can offer a 400€/month stipend, with travel expenses.

Especially encouraged to apply: motivated and creative people from Basilicata and Italian speakers,

and interested in:

  • community engagement and communications outreach
  • developing programs and partnerships for low-cost sustainable living
  • further developing their own local social innovation projects

We are also open to:

  • people coming for a minimum of 2 weeks to collaborate with unMonks, host skillshares and workshops
  • people who can commit to at least 15 hours a week but will not stay at unMonastery fulltime

For these options we will happily provide room, board and stipend, but cannot cover travel.

At unMonastery we all sleep in shared rooms, participate in organizational planning, and help with the day-to-day tasks of unMonastery, such as outreach, reporting, cooking and cleaning.

We are interest in all kinds of ideas and approaches. Please visit or email unMonastery to find out more, discuss your ideas and possible ways to collaborate with unMonastery. Contact: (I am happy to put my name here- along with anyone else who wants to field questions)

Send an email to matera@unmonastery.org with UnMonk as subject with this information:

Preferred dates of stay:

A brief description of why you want to be a part of unMonastery.

A brief description of what you will do at unMonastery.

13

Great Work!

Thank you Maria, I’ve moved what you outlined here to a wiki so that we can work on it together - I’ve also made some updates and additions.

/t/unmonastery/315/living-and-working-as-an-unmonk-wiki

There’s something important that I think we’ve neglected to date. The drive here is been towards bringing on people from Matera/Basilicata - however within the unMonastery we currently have 3 individuals who fit this criteria Lois, @antonioelettrico and @RitaO. Now as it stands Rita has confirmed she is bound to the project and most likely will maintain/reinforce a coordination role, which will be defined more by developing partnerships and long term strategy over individual projects going forward.

Yet we haven’t yet developed a clear line of understanding for Antonio and Lois’s ongoing participation (I’m waiting for them to fill in the spreadsheet) - However I think given that these they are of the profile you’ve defined in the call, it would be good to review how this kind of participation functions because I think to date we’ve been doing a bad job collectively of integrating them in a meaningful way into the internal working of the unMonastery. Which reiterates what we discussed the other day concerning the on boarding process into the project and the same process that will have to be faced with anyone that responds to the call from Matera. It’s clear given our experience so far that anyone coming into the project with an existing life and network in Matera is quite different in their needs and expectations to those coming from further away.

I bring this up for this reason but also because looking at current numbers if Lois and @antonioelettrico desire to continue working as part of unMonastery we have 5 of our 6. And so the question becomes one of expectations and requirements for all those participating going forward. What are your thoughts?

Here’s an update on my progress on what I outlined since Sunday:

1. Scoping exercise focused on who currently living in Matera or Basilicata would be a good fit for unMonastery.

/// Moving forward, wiki created with Maria’s structure to solidify the approach.

2. Establish a clear understanding for Grima’s plans and if it’s possible to work together.

/// Met with @ilariadauria on Monday - Have a established a clear view as to what’s needed and how we can frame unMonastery within the Cultural Program and going forward. An initial approach will be given to Ilaria in the next days.

3. Confirm with MT2019 that we’re extending to end of July.

/// Waiting on the contract to be signed and additional funds to be released - @RitaO will likely have a meeting next week to discuss next steps of unMonastery

4. Establish clarity around the box ticking bureaucracy.

/// Clarity has been given by @Alberto; we are free to invite people into the project based on the process we elect.

5. Put together clear time plan for those present now in Matera and possible future commitment.

/// Timeline spreadsheet established, waiting on 3 unMonasterians to confirm their participation to understand exact numbers for June - July onwards. Next step will be to define the expectations around continued residency at unMonastery.

6. Establish first iteration for the on boarding process.

/// Outstanding. Wiki is first step.

14

Enforce living in the house?

Have you considered making local people swear a solemn oath to abandon their homes and live in the unMonastery for the duration of the period? Rita is special this way, we knew that. But for the next people…

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15

Consideration.

I think it might be a requirement at this point, given the reduction in numbers but I’d also like to see if people can commit to something concrete and fulfil it, without the stipulation.

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16

thougths

It would be ideal to have everyone, not just new unmonks clarify what they plan to do for the months of june and july, filling out the chart is the first step. I think clarity around this will help everyone be more supportive of each other and more productive, as well as spot where we might not have the capacity we need to get things done.

From the last few months it seems clear to me that we would benefit a great deal from one or two people who could play a role similar to Cristiano’s. Someone who is full-time at UnMon. Right now we are very dependent on Rita which is not fair to anyone, so we should do our best to find a way to resolve this. I think we should discuss what the expectations are for those not living or spending most of their time at UnMon. Perhaps defining number of hours in a week that are expected to be at UnMon and the priorities of what we want to accomplish in June and July would be helpful.

We should find out if Matera 2019 will be able to help get the word out about opportunities at UnMon.

I know you all know, but can we please continue to put the pressure on to confirm with MT2019 that we are indeed extending. We can’t do anything much to confirm the right people until this is known. I would like to help with getting this finalized so we can move, but not sure how?

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17

June - July

We’re confirmed for June and July - in so much that the money has to turn up in the account and the MOU needs to be signed. As for any further than that, I’m doing everything I can but I’d say assurances won’t be forthcoming - I’m giving myself until mid May as the cut off for working towards it. Since I’ll need to shift my attention to unMonastery in-a-box if we are to derive true value from this prototype going forward.

As for next steps, putting down an initial set of expectations at the bottom of the Wiki where I put the heading ‘Conditions’ would be useful - we can then build on those. Is tomorrow morning’s meeting about this? Or have we changed the shape of Saturday’s event, I’m assuming yes? Also if you want to take up the task of producing a matrix, chart or outline of the existing roles and responsibilities that consume the time of unMonastery it would be most useful and could help identify what it is that we’re currently missing in terms of capacity more clearly.

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18

Red or blue

I think producing a matrix that includes our daily activities - from meetings to chores - to our larger initiatives would be quite useful in communicating the current state of things and identifying potential needs, as well as feeding into the evaluation project. I’d be happy to put this together. Maybe @mariabyck, we could sit down briefly in the next days and go over areas we have neglected thus far?

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19

Third Pill

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20

priorities

@mariabyck priorities is what I would like to discuss.

I think that we all are doing great efforts to finalize our personal projects having the end of May as a set deadline. What will happen after that? I would reconsider everything into a different perspective: we recognized that the “individual application” was a mistake, and I am still convinced, so I think we should identify new focuses and try to drive our attention and energies towards them. Maybe this could also facilitate relationships between unmonasterians? Could we minimize the risk that someone could feel that his project is stronger than others’ ones?

Also, I think it would be nice (and helpful for us) to support MT2019 initiatives: in the next days, I hope to start a new projects with them on “City and citizens” and I would like to insert our current work into this frame (mapping the commons, urban agriculture, peers-to-peers)

Sorry if it’s confused, I had an endless working day…

21

meeting tomorrow…

is about getting as much information clear around process and expectations for June and July so we can put things in motion.

I am not sure if the event on Saturday is happening, I hope to hear back from Lois about this. If something does happen, I am happy that we already have something more concrete to share with people about what is going on and how they might be able to get involved.

22

no event on saturday

@mariabyck @Ben I spoke with @Lois, there’s no time to make the event this Saturday. If we’re still up for it (are we? :-)) we should organize for the next week and start preparing posters, flyers and anything else might be needed.

23

not tomorrow!

I would like to participate. I think that is the kind of discussion that we should preferably have on our Monday meeting, after the planning session?  

24

good idea kei

happy to sit down with you and work on this

25

Okay, so these are notes and minutes from our meeting to get an understanding for how well or in this case badly we’ve handled the integration of unMonasterians not living in the building in Matera. Last week @mariabyck, @RitaO, @Bembo Davies, @Lois, @antonioelettrico, @Lucia and myself sat down together to discuss the experience so far - with a view to how we might handle bringing on people currently based in Matera or the region.


So initial summary of issues that make general integration of Materans into the project difficult (in no particular order):

  • The language we use is tricky, not just the language barrier but the terms we use to describe processes and ideas.
  • In Matera unMonastery and MT2019 are seen as the same entity which has good and bad points - but prevents participation on many levels, as well as contributing to preconceived ideas about who we are.
  • People still don’t wholly understand unMonastery.
  • The most pervasive problem is language barrier - particularly due to shyness of many in Matera.

Now above and beyond this issues and barriers, we spoke at length about personal experience for Rita, Antonio and Lois - I’m going to summarise these again as bullet points. These are interesting points to consider in respect to bring any locals onto the project but also as issues that will likely be encountered in future iterations of the unMonastery.

  • Tyranny of Structurelessness: We suffer from a lack of fixed meeting times, meetings often move around at the last minute - this makes it impossible for someone with a life outside to balance their time and ensure they can attend.
  • Personal Life: It’s exceptionally difficult to separate ones personal life - Antonio has expanded on this recently in his post on EdgeRyders.
  • Lack of Clarity: There has to date been a lack of clarity and definition of roles, as it stands we have unAbott and unMonasterians and this is it - which isn’t adequate for understanding the diversity of participation in unMonastery. This often causes people to feel as though they are not an ‘unMonasterian’.
  • Project Inequality: To date it feels for Rita, Antonio and Lois as though their role has been treated as if they are exclusively a support to other projects, which has been brutally unfair and limited the ability for them to develop their own projects.
  • Different Stakes: For those living and working in Matera, whose lives are based here, have much higher stakes than anyone who has come from outside - and this for the most part is an unknown. They risk personal connections, reputation and all else in their support of the project. Particularly since when/if the unMonastery comes to an end here, they will carry on their lives, whilst others will leave. (This is really really important to understand)
  • Little Appreciation or Validation: People haven’t often enough registered or voiced appreciation for the hard work, particularly Rita has been putting in.
  • Not a Translator: “Translation is not what I want to do” and it’s also quite likely true for anyone else coming from Matera into the project and who doesn’t want to be a full time or possibly even part time translator.
  • Rita’s Role: This is exceptionally important and I want to register here the things you stated in the meeting Rita because I believe it’s important for others to read and understand. From start to finish Rita has experienced deep frustrations working within the project (which is not to discount the joy but it’s been tricky). From the start Rita’s role or job as coordinator was not well defined, lacking clarity and clear expectations. What was meant to be a few hours a week work from September through to end of May became more than a full time job - it’s safe to say that had Rita not done the work she has, the unMonastery would not be here today. This though has come at enormous personal cost for which there has been little remuneration, compacted by a sense that the group hasn’t clearly valued the work, nor fully recognised it.  

So this could all be read as a damning list of failures but this was a meeting focused on honest understanding in order for us to improve on our mistakes. So far we’ve already made some initial steps towards solving or resolving the issues outlined. Here’s a summary of what we’ve implemented and reflections going forward:

  • Fixed Meetings: an easy one, we already had Monday planning overview meetings, we’ve added Friday to this.
  • Definition of Roles: It’s clear we need to define 3-4 kinds of roles for people involvement in the overall project. I’ll write up in more depth tomorrow at the moment it looks split between unMonasterian / Oblate (Remote and Local) / unAbbott (Coordinator) / ???.
  • Fair Exchange: I suggested that to remedy the situation of expected support for individual internal projects, that we operate a sort of time bank - e.g Say Rita does an hour of translation for Kei, Kei would then baby sit for Rita for an hour. This way we ensure an equal respect for one anothers time.

Hopefully this covers everything, If there’s anything I missed from this meeting that seems key could others please comment in reply with their points.

 
26

Learning to live in the un-organization …

Thanks for the very open and transparent writeup – I guess it can be at times painful to be that open about shortcomings, but it surely is a fascinating read. For learning from the pioneering team how un-organizations and collaboration can function in other parts of the Edgeryders ecosystem. For example the relations between nomadic and rooted people – possibly informing the relations between global and local initiatives within Edgeryders (@Noemi brought that up recently).

Or the issue of fair exchange. If unMonastery wants to be the pioneer again, there’s an in-house Edgeryders tool for that problem now: Economy App / Makerfox is finally (phew!) ready to use since a few days. We added a “moneyless payment” feature that can achieve the same as timebanking software (plus making it possible to spend that timebank-style P2P credit value anywhere else in the soon-to-be barter economy). Personally I’d be glad to take up that old idea of such a collaboration, after we kinda abandoned it last year. Timing was getting off-track and Internet affinity in Matera was not up to snuff to allow deploying that tool to the general public. But as an unMonastery internal tool it is a different story.

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27

Makerfox with TimeBanking

Hi @Matthias took a look a the new site - looks great! Very interested in the new “moneyless payment” addition, and would love to use this for Viral Academy lessons. Currently the plan is to create a Twitter based currency for Viral Academy time accounting. It would be great if instead we could instead use Makerfox?

Even better would be if there was a MakerFox API, so that we could script a Twitter based interface to MakerFox? To bootstrap this we could simply Tweet the time transactions and manually enter them into Makerfox until such time as an API is available?