The migration issue dominates the European political debate. The influx of migrants, some people say, will break the European welfare system. Any new person coming in is reducing the amount of care that others can get. Care is framed as a zero-sum game. Is that really the case?
It turns out that, when faced with challenges, communities rise to meet them. By doing so, they step outside of our current paradigm, one of the provision of care services by a combination of the state and private business. This changes the game completely to one of decentralization and reciprocity.
These services often display an uncanny degree of efficiency. So, no, care provision does not need to be zero-sum. There are unexploited resources in the system. But they can not easily be added to our existing care system. They are too strange: ad hoc, blurry at the edges, Often in existing legal grey areas. Unfundable.
To leverage their full potential requires us to build a deep understanding of what care really is. Is it services? Is it human attention and warmth? Is it trying to fix what’s wrong with people in need of care? Does it mean accepting everybody for what they are, with their strengths and weaknesses?
On October 19-21, we explore some of the amazing care services that communities are providing - right now - to people that the state and private business have let down. We then look at how we, as a society, would need to change for them to continue to exist and to scale where possible.
Tickets
To get your ticket create an edgeryders account, then write to community@edgeryders.eu.
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This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement no 688670
