How can the people regain agency collectively?
Sovereignty of the people’s rule. What does it mean these days? We are not sure anymore. Cut from each other yet living among millions, most of us we feel our voice won’t make any difference. We feel powerless. Yet, it would appear that democracy, enhanced by digital tools, could be so close at hand on the city level. So why don’t we have it? Why do the few hold so much power over the many? Little by little, collectives are reconquering public spaces. Participatory budgeting is on the rise. Organisations are experimenting with new ways of working. How can we enable people to create more such solutions to problems such as isolation, inequalities and pollution? What tools can we use to make their voices heard and help them work together? For the 1st day of the OuiShare Fest, we want to explore how we can regain collective power from the bottom-up!
Speakers using the power
Pia Mancini, as Co-Founder of Open Collective, is opening the way for more citizen-led initiatives to transform cities. Jeremy Heimans, as Co-Founder of Purpose, is building global movements to tackle the world’s biggest problems. Tiago Peixoto, as Senior Governance Specialist at World Bank Group, is paving the way for technology to bring out the better parts of democracy. Sonja Miokovic, as Co-Founder of YouthfulCities, is leading a global movement of data-driven urban regeneration. Evan Henshaw-Plath, as Founder of Affinity.Works, is helping to solve current grassroots organising problems. Tessy Britton, as Director of Participatory City, is making cities more open and inclusive and neighbours cool places to live again. Bharathi Chaturvedi, as Director and Founder of Chintan Environmental and Action group, is fighting to make cities sustainable and just for those working in the informal sector. Alastair Parvin, as Co-Founder of the WikiHouse Foundation, is working on better housing systems, democratic cities & technology made by and for everyone. Adam Yukelson, as action researcher at the Presencing Institute, is empowering change makers to co-sense and co-shape the future.
Sparks of inspiration: a few reading (and watching) suggestions to get the conversation started
From old to new power, a must-read introduction to the evolution of power by Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms - Understanding "New Power",
Harvard Business Review How can cities become platforms that allow citizen-led innovation? An Interview from Xavier Damman, Open collectives: transforming our cities from the bottom-up, OuiShare Mag
From automation and AI to universal basic income and post-capitalism, dig deep in the 3 megatrends of the future of work and how can we better adapt to it. Graham Brown-Martin, MediumWhat if regular citizens could design and build their own houses?
Discover the concept behind the WikiHouse in this inspiring talk by Alastair Parvin, TED Why are cities sexist? And how can we design cities that work for women? An important analysis of the role of urban policy for gender equality by Andrew Fleming and Anja Tranovich, The Guardian. Visit our site for more information about the program and our speakers. Hope to see you this July at the OuiShare Fest!