With working and living mingled, have you had conflicts that involved the whole group that needed to be worked through? Do you have techniques for dealing with conflict? Or has it not been much of an issue?
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Your experience is very interesting. I think that co-working is at a cross roads where some businesses and people are forced to look at remote working as a necessary evil because of COVID 19. Instead of commuting there appears to be interest in co-working closer to home, however wither adequate numbers will want or be able to do this remains to be seen.
There are several initiatives taking place in Ireland that could see the rapid development of a wide range of co-working location within rural community settings both government backed and through investment from the communities themselves. Finding a successful working model for these hubs that lack the central management structure that you’ve been able to provide in the Canary Islands will be challenging.
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Maria asked me to repost this in relation to where my interests lie on co-working:
- What is your connection to/experience with the co-working sector?
I work in local government, in previous roles I would have worked with local Enterprise Centres that were specifically developed to support small business entrepreneurship and development. Most recently I am working on a government programme that will see over 300 small community based locations for the public to get access to the internet. Many of these will seek to develop co-working spaces for their local communities to avoid having to commute. I’m helping with up to 12 locations in my municipality. I have also been asked to help look at other community hub developments that do not have the same government backing, but will experience many of the same problems with generating demand, usage as well as the challenges facing the volunteers managing these facilities. My job is to help them to be successful. - How has the Covid19 crisis impacted your work processes?
There has been a step increase in demand/interest in remote working and coworking that can facilitate the balance between working outside the main business premises but can provide the social interaction that humans require. - Where do you see the potential for technologies to improve co-working?
technology is critical- from the tools to enable coworking to take place with people working for a variety of employers or for themselves through to the security, booking, location management of people using the co working spaces. For COVID19 control we need to be able to have accurate records of who is using co-working spaces to enable tracking and tracing of the virus to be carried out. - What do you think will/have to be the key changes/future developments in the co-working sector in future?
There will be increased interest however individual experiences will determine how successful it is both for the individual and for employers. Security for example is still an area that will require further work- challenges such as Data Security, security of the premises and property within it, personal security for those using such facilities (Cyber and personal). Much of my current focus is trying to establish if there is any successful examples of where this community based co-working model has worked and how can that be transcribed to what is happening in my Municipality.
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Delighted to see you on here, appreciate your contributions that represent the Irish perspective, alongside @NACEC
@nachorodriguez and his efforts in the Canary Islands will be of interest to the Irish attendees but also he is so willing to share his experiences. I got to visit his locations there and learn more in November 2019, during the https://nomadcity.org/ conference. One of the aims of this event is to connect people within the sector so learnings can be shared.
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Hi folks.
I’ll be joining the panel discussion next week.
I’m interested to see where the discussion goes and in hearing peoples perspectives from around Europe.
A bit about me / my organisation:
I set up The Melting Pot, Scotland’s Centre for Social Innovation - back in 2005. This is one of Europes first coworking hubs - for the market of social innovators - long before there was a discussion about ‘is it co-working or coworking?’!
Over the past 15 years we’ve worked with thousands of people helping them access brilliant flexible workspace + community through our central Edinburgh location. We’ve also incubated 100 new social change projects through our www.Good-Ideas.org incubation programme.
But perhaps of most relevance to this thread, is the hundreds of people we’ve worked with around the world over the past 6 years, all trying to make coworking happen in their communities. Our www.CoworkingAccelerator.Network provides a range of e-tools, consultancy services and connects an international community of practitioners. We help accelerate great coworking practices, support & develop founders and their growing teams. We do this to increase the impact that we know great coworking hubs provide in their local community, as part of an ecosystem that helps people get stuff done and looks after their wellbeing in the process.
I look forward to talking more in person at the Virtual Summit.
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Hallo @CormacMcCann dunno if you already know @ErinW but reading her it sounds like you might find it fruitful to connect: Recover from COVID with Flexibility
Hi all. Really interesting conversation. I am relatively new to the whole coworking arena. I came on board with a fabulous coworking spaces their centre manager/business development manager in February. We are based in a unique setting of an old convent, and have renovated the building to a high specification but kept the historical aesthetics of the building. We have a coworking space, as well as a health and fitness centre and building for community groups to have a home too. I am interested in the coliving coworking idea, as we still have more scope for renovation which includes all of the old dormatory rooms and kitchen in the building, and as we are situated at the foot of the Slieve Bloom mountain range and in the centre of Ireland we are at an ideal location for remote workers to work, and travel around the country. Look forward to Tuesday.
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hi @ClaireCarpenter welcome and looking forward to meet you next week. It would be nice if we schedule a call to help us produce a post like Nachos this week. This helps the participants to get to know one another ahead of the event, and for us to coordinators to shape the contents, key questions etc around the participants current interests, experiences etc. Would you and @MariaEuler be up for it? if yes @kajafarszky could help us set up a time that works for you both.
Hi @Bloomhq how interesting. Have you heard about the unMonastery? We prototyped a new model for coworking/coliving in an ancient city in Italy for a year. Many lessons were drawn. It could be an interesting model to learn from. There is an Irish contingent in our community who followed the work and later explored the possibility of setting up something similar in Galway. They could tell you about their experiences @noemi could you ping them maybe? I wrote a bit about it here to give a bit of context: My own path to working with others on the internet and what I hope to explore with others during this event
Hello @ClaireCarpenter and @kajafarszky, I could do this afternoon or Thursday before 16:00.
Claire, your 15 years of experience in this field sound super interesting! I would love to hear from you about what are the best options to accelerate coworking.
What is the biggest change/challenge in the current crisis in your opinion?
Hello! Is this the right place?
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hi and welcome Bernie, yes this it 
Helle @Berniejmitchell, great to have you here!
What is your opinion on co-working in the public and private sector?
And what is your connection to co-working?
How has your work changed in the last 3 month?
The best technique is to minimize the rules and allow the colivers to build their own coexistence. When asked about the “rules of the coliving” we normally say : “respect the rest of the colivers and the shared space the same way you expect to be respected”
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universal imperative of co-living
I agree that the Golden Rule is best - if everyone can stick to it!
Some people are neater in the habits than others. In a workplace this often shows up anytime you open the office refrigerator…a combination of neat little packages next to containers that have not been opened in weeks. And some people are fastidious in their office and sloppy at home. I knew a guy who was a prominent futurist. He wore perfectly tailored suits, drove a nice car and his office was neat as a pin. His apartment though was a total wreck.
So when people live together, this dynamic can assume a larger role. Often in group living the ‘neater’ people wind up doing more housework because they can’t abide the mess. And if someone is bothered by that and it goes unsaid, resentment can build up.
But in a setting where the golden rule is respected, then the sloppy person would consider that for not much effort the neater person would be more happy and the overall vibe would be better for everyone. And if the neat person didn’t get resentful and be too much of a ‘nanny’ then things can remain harmonious. Discussions of the problem can happen without triggering ‘fight or flight’ responses.
I lived in groups for years - on a bus, in rural and urban households and with a relatively large family. Everywhere I went some version of this dynamic played out, sometimes satisfactorily and sometimes not.
are people long term residents or more on some kind of break/ working vacation?
Such an interesting discussing. Thank you for that. I agree that having people know how to coexist whether that is in a coliving or coworking senario is the key aspect when creating a community and a shares space. Now more than ever people need to respect one another and be aware of sustainability.
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Hello and thanks for the opportunity to contribute to this discussion. My responses are as follows:
- my opinion on co-working in the public and private sector:
I am a longtime supporter of the concept.
- my connection to coworking:
I have been a remote worker for years, and after moving from my hometown (Canberra, Australia) to another city (Split, Croatia) set up a coworking space and continue to provide services to remote workers living or visiting Croatia. - Changes over the last 3 months…
Unable to use our premises due to lockdowns (now over), but a steady trickle of new business, as a result of people wanting to escape the confines of more congested cities (mostly Europe) and have the Mediterranean lifestyle - work and vacation blend.
Look forward to learning more on the conference call.
Best
Tanja
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