Here is the updated SciFi Econ Campaign Updates starting today up to november 11th.
CHANNELS we are going to use are:
- our personal social networks
- ER social channels
- SciFi Econ Lab mailing list (only major updates, one every 4 days)
- Indiegogo Updates
Proposed SCHEDULE:
october 28
confirmation of Kirsten
Announcing the Lab’s moderator: Kirsten Dunlop. I personally pushed quite hard to convince her to make space in her schedule. And the reason is this: she is the CEO of EIT Climate-KIC, Europe’s leading climate innovation initiative, and she actually leads it as if the house were on fire, and we were out of time. This should be the norm of our instititutions, but it is not, not at all. In the spring I attended C-KIC’s retreat, and I was very impressed: finally, some sanity in somebody in a position of power!
Kirsten is, however, relatively new to her organization. EIT Climate-KIC was designed by others, with different priorities and in a different situation. To achieve her goals, she needs a very effective, even charismatic leadership. That makes her ideal for leading the Lab, which is full of very smart and opinionated people and risks ending up being a bit chaotic. You can get an idea of her style from this video interview.
october 29
The keynote lecture with Cory Doctorow and Kirsten Dunlop is going to be great, but in the end the Sci-Fi Economics Lab aims to produce some new economics. We aim to stimulate the production and publication of new economic thinking. We would like to start with a “blue sky” seminar, inspired by the keynote lecture itself: its main aim is to connect people who are already thinking outside the box, and plan some papers that we could write together. I say “we” because I plan to take part in this myself.
Three important things:
- This will be a small meeting, 10-12 people at most, but…
- … if you want to participate, but you are not in Brussels, you still can. We will attempt to connect you with co-authors, and follow-up.
- We know science fiction tends to be a male genre, but we still want to encourage female SF authors (or just readers), economists and scholars of any science to participate. We know you are out there, ladies, and we want you to know you are always welcome with us.
To find out how to join this part of the lab, read our call for co-authors.
october 30: Invited remarks
We have had several important thinkers expressing interest in the Sci-Fi Economics Lab, and asking “how can I participate?”. The Lab’s maiden voyage is just a prototype edition, and we do not have a large programme in which to give space to everybody. So, instead we have decided to add a section to our keynote event, which I call “invited remarks”. We are inviting some of these people to share a short reflection on what they are doing, and why it could be part of the Lab’s future work. For now, these people are:
- Michel Bauwens on commons-based peer production as an economic engine. It makes a lot of economic sense, why is it not happening more?
- Rob van Kranenburg on the economic consequences of the Internet of Things and digital identity. Dystopia? Utopia? Both?
- Giuseppe Porcaro on science fiction and institutions. Is the future of the EU to be Star Trek 's Federation? Or Bruce Sterling’s Aquis? Or William Gibson’s Kleptocracy?
- Filippo Barbera on the future of regional economies. Can we imagine them in a world in climate crisis?
Each remark will last three minutes, and the keynote speakers will be asked to comment on them.
No date for now: what actually happens on the 11th of November?
The countdown to the Sci-FI Economics Lab continues, so it’s a good time to look into what actually happens on the 11th of November.
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At 14.30, at Kano, the seminar Reclaiming Utopia, led by Julyan and Davey from Extinction Rebellion London. We will learn how to mobilize ourselves to become climate activists.
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At 18.00, at lesrichesclaires, a double keynote with author Cory Doctorow and professor Tom Bauler (tbc – Université Libre de Bruxelles), with Kirsten Dunlop as MC. This is going to be quite rich, so see below.
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After 20.00, at La Tricoterie, we will have a party, with an open stage/mic.
The double keynote works like this:
- Lecture by Cory Doctorow (about 45 minutes) on the world of Walkaway .
- Counter-lecture by Tom Bauler (about 45 minutes), looking at the world of Walkaway and other fictional economies from the standpoint of a professional economist. What, in that fictional economies (or others that you might like) is old news for economists? What has been tried, but did not work? What is profoundly alien to academic economists?
- Invited remarks: 3 minutes remarks by each of 4-6 invited people, which Doctorow and Bauler will then be invited to comment (about 45 minutes). The provisional list of people offering them is:
- Kirsten Dunlop: on how climate change forces a new economy on us. Will we need to fast-deploy one, like in the 20th century’s war economies?
- Michel Bauwens on commons-based peer production as an economic engine. It makes a lot of economic sense, why is it not happening more?
- Rob van Kranenburg on the economic consequences of the Internet of Things and digital identity. Dystopia? Utopia? Both?
- Giuseppe Porcaro on science fiction and institutions. Is the future of the EU to be Star Trek 's Federation? Or Bruce Sterling’s Aquis? Or William Gibson’s Kleptocracy?
- Filippo Barbera on the future of regional economies. Can we imagine them in a world in climate crisis?
- Q&A from the public and closing.
MC of the whole thing is Kirsten Dunlop, CEO of EIT Climate-KIC.
october 31: What if I cannot make it to Brussels?
People have gotten in touch with us from all over the world. They love the event, but they cannot make it to Brussels. What now?
Fear not. There are two ways in which you can still participate.
The first: you can watch the live streaming of the keynote event with Cory Doctorow, Tom Bauler, Kirsten Dunlop, and the participation of other economists, authors and thinkers such as Michel Bauwens, Giuseppe Porcaro, Rob van Kranenburg, FIlippo Barbera.
To get access to live streaming, head to our crowdfunding campaign and purchase the 15 EUR perk. You will receive a live streaming url.
The second: you can join the lab as a possible co-author. We would like to encourage the production and publication of new research on fictional economies: this is mostly a work for 2020, but we will do some brainstorming in 2019, both in Brussels and online. For more information, read our call for co-authors.
november 1: New perk: a tea with Cory!
Version for everyone
Diehard sci-fi fans are going to love this: while we wait for the keynote event of the Science Fiction Economics Lab, we are organizing a tea break with our keynote speaker, the mighty Cory Doctorow. It will be a chance for a more informal, intimate exchange between us Sci-Fi Econ Lab Rats and him.
Are you coming, too? We are going to be saving a few places for the supporters of our crowdfunding campaign. Head to https://link.this to claim your place. It leads to an Indiegogo “secret perk”, inaccessible from the normal campaign page. So. Do you take sugar in your tea? 
Version for contributors
Diehard sci-fi fans are going to love this: while we wait for the keynote event of the Science Fiction Economics Lab, we are organizing a tea break with our keynote speaker, the mighty Cory Doctorow. It will be a chance for a more informal, intimate exchange between us Sci-Fi Econ Lab Rats and him. And it is indeed going to be very intimate: we only have five invitations to offer.
You are an early contributor to the lab’s campaign. As a token of our gratitude, we would like to offer the opportunity to claim one of the five to you first, and at a discounted rate (70 EUR instead of 100). In two days we will offer any unclaimed invitation to the general public).
If you want to claim your cup of tea with Cory, head over to this link: https://link.this. It leads to an Indiegogo “secret perk”, inaccessible from the normal campaign page. So. Do you take sugar in your tea?
november 2
ER workshop (what we’ll learn, how does it work)
november 3: A message from Cory (video)
Wow, we can’t get over the video message we received a few weeks ago from Cory Doctorow. We keep watching it over and over again, and every time we find some new thoughts in it.
Personally, my highlights are when he nails down the contribution of science fiction to a new economic science, at 4’24:
“Science fiction can give you a kind of architect’s rendering […] of the emotional lived experience of a better future…”
Then points out that, while economies are indeed complex systems, we can in principle still navigate and even steer them, through smart communities and collective intelligence, at 5’14:
“Although the terrain is unknowable, and although it is too complex for us to ever map a path from A to Z, the terrain can still be traversed, by wayfinding as we go, with people of good will around us.”
And finally when he outlines how our current economic model is really not helping when it comes to radical reform to protect the planet and its people, at 8’30:
“These kinds of things [like the Lab], they don’t have a big financial constituency. The business model for saving the planet is that the planet gets saved, and we all get to live a better future. And that makes it a public good.”
november 4
Confirmation of economist
november 5
Please share our campaign
november 6
Campaign funding % update
november 7
The party
november 8
Last call to support the campaign (and follow the event live)
november 9
november 10