Marilyn Hamilton's Blog, page 13

Integral City Global City Collaboration 2022

In 2022 we asked and looked around the world for a city or city association that exemplified best the qualities of Integral City. However, receiving no nominations, we looked into the eyes of the co-founders of LivingCities:Earth (LCE) and decided to recognize the initiative of a nascent, energizing collaboration that holds great promise to grow and spread the qualities of Integral City.

Integral City(as co-founder) declares our vested interest in LCE without blushing, as we join the commitment of more than 30 LCE co-founders to nurture cities that  “human well” in service to all life on Gaia. Perhaps not surprisingly 3 of the co-founders are Integral City Meshworkers of the Year.  The City of the Year award in 2022 has thus transmuted into a City Global Collaboration Award.

We believe that LCE reflects the intentions of Integral City to co-create a Planet of Integral Cities and we welcome LCE “to the neighbourhood” of Integral Cities of the Year.

Living Cities Earth – a Nascent Emergent City Mycellium

At time of writing LCE’s first public face was seen/heard on World Unity Week Meshwork Convergence Room – sharing our discoveries and inviting interest from cities and citizens around the world.

We sense (through a collective field of consciousness?) that LCE can integrate leaders and institutions worldwide in a global initiative that serves future generations (unto the 7th). The LCE seed team (and growing core team) can facilitate and AQtivate an Overview Effect for all the energies and strategies regenerating Aliveness in cities and ecoregions.

LCE can bring a special wave of energy to growing ecology of city associations that are using new media to share how cities thrive wholistically when using the living lenses of Planet/Place/People/Person. As we become visible to one another, LCE will add to a legacy the will make Living Cities the norm for children, families and all the 4 Voices of the city. We imagine that trauma and conflict can be resolved in Living City Peace Rooms and Fully Alive Regeneration Hubs.

Make Aliveness the Norm in your city – Gaia needs us for the 7th Generation – join us in co-creating Living Cites  Earth – drop us an email here: info@integralcity.com

Read more about LivingCities.Earth as it is emerging – click here.

Click here to learn more of the story of Living Cities: Earth from their website.

Recalibrating

I have been observing 2022 as the Year of Transition and the Year of (Re)Connection. I commented to a colleague that it was also the Year of Recalibrating – or at least the Year of the Eve of Recalibrating.

“What does recalibrating mean?” she asks.

I suggest that recalibration is the experience that needs to happen after learning at a profound level occurs – learning that shifts our worldview, behaviours, psychology, relationships and systems.

Recalibration is built into the fundamental Integral View – it occurs as the 4 quadrants upshift from one level of complexity to another.

Recalibration is necessary to consolidate and integrate our new learning – because we don’t just ascend a new step on the staircase of development and everything we have ever known stays the same.

Rather this new learning causes us to revisit all that we have held, believed, related to before. We are called to re-story, re-appreciate and re-calibrate those insights so that they cohere with our new learning.

If we do not re-calibrate our new learning, it is incoherent. To take full advantage of the value of our new learning we need to recalibrate all that has come before. That will release energies, blocks, constraints and inconsistencies.

Recalibrating may call forth the work of trauma healing, revaluing our resources/assets, reappreciating the relationships in our lives.

It may also require for us to disconnect from people, things and understandings that have been fundamental to our lives until now. But if we cannot recalibrate we will fail to generate a new operating system to benefit from our new learning.

Recalibrating will require new patterns, new expectations, new intentions and new structures. This sounds like a lot of hard work or even threatening.

And it may well feel like that as we do the work. Because we are literally learning how to live at a new frequency of life. But when we do the work, we will be able to look in the mirror as an individual or look at the group as a collective and see that we have responded to the change of life conditions that brought about the transition from one epoch to another.

So, when we look back at 2022 and recognize the transition points and pattern reconnections that have emerged, we may be able to  recognize that our recalibration was necessary and inevitable in the grand process of change.

Re/Dis Connect

When I look over 2022 I am struck not just with the phenomenon of Transitioning at an epochal level. But the year was phenomenally resonant with new connections, reconnections from year’s past and disconnections as new opportunities drew people apart. (See Table below.)

The activities around re/dis/new connecting has made the year vitally dynamic – breathing energy into patterns that have served long enough. It seems as if Life itself has woken up and is stimulating new creations by disturbing connections.

At the end of 2022, as China emerges from the most stringent covid lockdown conditions of any nation, it is like a traffic light is flickering back and forth around the Yellow signal. For some of us the shift is from traffic light Red to Yellow – suggesting the release from autocratic control to more individual survival is disrupting life conditions in many  world(s) that have been held in suspension at the Red Stoplight of centralized (life) control . This flickering Yellow will signal deaths to the most vulnerable individuals and organizational chaos to health providers and systems. The West, who is further along the trajectory of the pandemic cycle, will watch with interest if China’s zero tolerance followed by few(er) rules will prove a better strategy (in all ways) than the flexible, series of staged responses followed by the West in the last 3 years.

For others of us watching the flickering around Yellow signals , we are observing a shift from traffic light Yellow to Green – as those people and organizations like airlines, tourist industries and retailers experiment with pretending that life can return to pre-pandemic denials of climate change.

But the unexpected return to war in Europe is a shock of disconnection to generations of Europeans who had thought they would not ever again witness conflict at this scale on their landscape. The ripple effects of the invasion by Russia into Ukraine have upended energy markets, food distribution, manufacturing costs, quality and cost of living , climate change strategies, regenerative economies and probably most of all, mutual trust and respect between peoples. It has given licence to other rebels (like North Korea and Iran) to test the strength of moral constraints of a range of human ecosystems from COP27, to NATO, to the EU, to the United Nations.

As time moves us from 2022 to 2023 we feel the dissonance in our disconnections, while at the same time we sense a deep longing for the promise of coherence in new and re-connections.

For all the lessons of incoherence and uncertainty that Covid 19 has taught us – perhaps one of the most valuable lessons is to watch how the biosphere of the virus has transmuted and transformed to evolve new ways of connecting so that it can survive. Contagion itself has been modified so the severity we experience is less, even as the propensity for spreading the virus widens and speeds up. These are hard lessons when viewed as biology through a micro-lens – but may be very fruitful lessons when viewed as metaphors through a macroscopic lens.

Does 2022 mark the year when we quietly admit that “something profound has to change?” Have we become ready enough to disconnect from life-destroying behaviours so that we can connect in new ways for actions that support Life, Aliveness and Evolution?

Table of (Re/Dis) Connecting

Meshworker of the Year 2022: Jude Currivan, WholeWorld-View

Meet Dr. Jude Currivan, Integral City Meshworker 2022.Dr. Jude Currivan is a cosmologist, planetary healer, futurist, author, co-founder of WholeWorld-View and member of the Evolutionary Leaders Circle .

Jude is a life-long researcher into the scientific and experiential understanding of the nature of reality, integrating leading edge science, research into consciousness and universal wisdom teachings into a wholistic worldview.

In 2017 Jude co-founded WholeWorld-View to communicate the emergent paradigm of unified reality and to serve the understanding, experiencing and embodying of unitive awareness to empower conscious evolution, involving linking up and lifting up with a growing number of global partners.

Jude was previously, in the mid 1990s one of the most senior international business women based in the UK, being the Group Finance Director (CFO) of in turn two global and several- hundred million pound turnover companies. Her extensive and ongoing expertise and knowledge of world events, systems and trends, has led her to speak on transformational reforms in the UK, US, Europe, Japan, South Korea and Australasia.

She co-founded The Coach House, a wholistic centre at Avebury (1995- 1999) and was the co-principal of The Earth School (1999 – 2003) dedicated to the education of perennial wisdom teachings and Gaia-centred learning. She is also a master dowser and for a number of years was a healer and teacher at the College of Psychic Studies, London. Her double CD Heart, Mind & Purpose (Hay House, 2009) also shares her understanding of and attunements with the transpersonal levels of emergent awareness now available to humanity.

In 2010 Jude was presented with a CIRCLE award by Won Buddhism International and, sponsored by the United Nations, cited for her ‘outstanding contribution towards planetary healing and expanding new forms of consciousness’.

Jude is the author of seven books, latterly the best-selling and Nautilus award-winning The Cosmic Hologram: In-formation at the Center of Creation (Inner Traditions, 2017 audiobook 2022) and The Story of Gaia: The Big Breath and the Evolutionary Journey of our Conscious Planet (Inner Traditions, 2022). These are the first two books of the Transformation Trilogy, and the third book Many Voices, One Heart will focus on the potential embodiment of our conscious evolution as a species.

As a member of the Evolutionary Leaders circle (since 2014), Jude asked: “How can we expect to align, cooperate and collaborate if we do not have a shared story of our origins? As Evolutionary Leaders, who are our ancestors? How can we tell a story that reflects a unitive narrative of the evolutionary impulses that have brought us to this moment?”

Initiating a profound inquiry with the Synergy Circle of Evolutionary Leaders in 2021, Jude helped catalyze an exploration of what such a unitive underpinning could be. At the beginning 2022 the circle released to the world a unitive narrative whose merits were immediately apparent to Integral City – such that we published the original unitive narrative and then adapted it so that it could serve cities in their quest to find coherence internally, coalesce bio-regionally and network globally.

At the same time, Integral City Meshworks offered the unitive narrative for cities to the emerging global collaboration of Living Cities.Earth (LCE). The Unitive Narrative for Cities became a foundational document for LCE that enabled a diversity of global actors to join interests in discovering how to human well in service to the wellbeing of Gaia – aligning individuals, collectives and bio-regions in harmony with Nature.

At time of granting this award, the United Nations has just recognized the significance and value of the unitive narrative and has adopted a Unitive Thematic Cluster of a founding coalition of 16 NGOs to engage and apply its qualities to wake up, grow up, link up and lift up UN membership to generate lasting coherence amongst the 193 nations who are UN signatories.

Parallel to the release of the unitive narrative, in 2022, Jude published “The Story of Gaia: The Big Breath and the Evolutionary Journey of our Conscious Planet”. This book (reviewed here) explores and explicates the birth of Gaia in cosmic terms, tracing the scientific evidence for reframing our understanding of evolution through the lens of consciousness.

Essentially this book reveals the scientific roots of the Evolutionary Intelligence that is core to the Integral City worldview of cities as complex, integral, living, evolutionary human systems with multiple intelligences – “human hives” evolving as Gaia’s Reflective Organs.

Jude Currivan demonstrates the universal qualities of the Master Code of Care – the core operating principle of Integral City Meshworks. Her evolutionary path reveals:

The agency of the individual who lives the evolutionary impulse – to care for themselves as representatives of all Life.The interconnectivity of collectives as emergent from the Wholeness and Oneness all life – to wisely care for each other.The outer connectivity of humans to Place – where we are grounded and supported in our cities and bioregions to care for and honour all Life.We naturally care for our Planet Gaia – by aligning care for individuals, collectives and places.

The joy and passion with which Jude shares the intimate scientific details of  The Story of Gaia as a journey of Consciousness evolving across the 14 billion years of our universe, more than merit her qualifications as Integral City Meshworker of Year 2022.

However, when we examine the practical implications of the unitive narrative to understanding city/bio-region wholeness, that naturally flows from this evolutionary journey, we can propose that Jude has expanded the boundaries by which we usually contain the qualities of the Meshworker of the Year. For Jude’s stance as pioneer of Evolution’s Impulse demands that we climb into her cosmos-viewing vehicle out beyond Earth’s atmosphere to appreciate that our ancestors include the solar system, galaxy and the whole universe.

If humans are Gaia’s reflective organs, then Jude’s mirror shows us that to truly appreciate the lineage of our ancestors, our reflections must be stretched beyond planetary constraints out to the Universe’s Big Breath – the very beginnings of time/space.

Jude calls us to recalibrate our very Aliveness. She proposes that we:

Think CosmicallyFeel GloballyAct Locally.

With this injunction, we can safely say that Jude has gone beyond even meshworking, or meshweaving to “meshworlding” a full story of Conscious Evolution. In so doing she is birthing a whole new order of Meshworker of the Year. In her own words she has linked us up and lifted us up to mature our wholeworld-view of aliveness.

Jude’s insights impact every aspect of the Integral City Frameworks – from the Master Code of Care, 12 Intelligences, 5 Maps, 4 Voices, Biomimicry Fractal Patterns and Placecaring/Placemaking Principles.

Breathing Evolutionary Life into the Master Code of Care

Jude has demonstrated that all the qualities that human systems manifest at the scale of the human hive, can be traced to scientific evidence. Furthermore, with her initiatives of the unitive narrative and tracing the Story of Gaia as a Conscious Planet, she has demonstrated the “All Quadrant, All Levels” integral wholeness of meshworking at the largest scale imaginable. Jude has dared to bring together Evolutonary Leaders, a cluster at the United Nations, aligning thought leaders from both science and spirituality, at all scales from the individual, to groups, to places to the planet.

As Jude exhales her Big Breath from Consciousness she blesses us all with the energy of aliveness as our natural respiration and inspiration.

In recognition of her service to planetary evolution and aliveness, Integral City Meshworks is proud to award Dr. Jude Currivan with the honour of Meshworker of the Year 2022.

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For more information on Jude’s work connect with these websites: Evolutionary Leaders Circle (www.evolutionaryleaders.net)  and WholeWorld-View (www.wholeworld-view.org).

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Definition of Meshworker

A Meshworker of the Year demonstrates the meshworking intelligence as defined on the website .  Meshworking intelligence creates a “meshwork” by weaving together the best of two operating systems — one that self-organizes, and one that replicates hierarchical structures. The resulting meshwork creates and aligns complex responsive structures and systems that flex and flow.

Candidates for the Meshworkers of the Year Award invest dollars, time, effort and expertise at a level of complexity that serves a whole city or cities. Here are our previous winners:

2021: Jim Garrison

2020: Ellen van Dongen

2019: Anne-Marie Voorhoeve

2018: Diana Claire Douglas

2017: Hub Co-Evolucio, Reus, Catalonia, Spain

2016: Morel Fourman, Gaiasoft,Africa

  2015: Imagine Durant, USA

2014: Team ARGO, Russia

2013: Populus, Canada

Time of Transition, Transmission, Transforming, Transmuting

It isn’t just that this time of year is a naturally transitioning time as we enter Advent in the Christian world, and experience that change of season – in the North presaging Winter with late Fall and in the South pursuing full summer with late Spring.

It’s not just that this last quarter of the year, naturally calls us to consider what has gone before and what we are transiting into next.

It’s not just that seasonal change bedecks our trees with different hues.

It’s not just that the local climate shifts from one season to another.

It’s not just the time where we take our seasonal clothes out of storage and choose to dress more comfortably.

All of this is happening as a natural cycle of seasons – but on a larger scale this seems a Time of Transition on an epoch scale. This year is not just the shift of first order change.

This year seems to have all the indicators of second order change.

We are living through not just a change of season but the transformation into a different era.

Ironically, the traditional media report all the symptoms as an unremitting litany of negatives, tragedies, undoings that threaten us all – threaten our way of life, how we learn, what it is safe to invest in, what we eat, where we travel, when we retire, why we vote, if we parent well, badly or at all.

Meanwhile around the world clusters of humans (from small to medium to large groups) are experimenting with how to human well (better, best …).

CANs DEAL GEN Social Change 2.0 Prosocial Integral City Regenerative Centre Living Cities: Earth

We are waking up to the possibilities that what we have experimented with in our once new groups is now maturing into a whole new phase of becoming. We seem to be moving from the inward focusing, individual thriving to outward focusing – if not outreaching – and collective emergence.

Are we even moving from the stage of competition that brought us to where we recognize that the Earth, biodiversity, climate change, pandemic survival tactics are opening us to cooperation and collaboration?

We can look into the style/opportunities for living that any of these patterns/frameworks enable and recognize life can be good, optimistic, and even hopeful.

And the people who belong to these practices – even movements – are beginning to notice that we are no longer practicing on our own. Other groups that we can see across the street, across town, in the same bioregion – and even on the other side of the world, resonate with what we are learning, how we are living, and where we are aiming to go.

Is it possible this is not a temporary transition – but one that is gathering enough energy, information and matter to contribute to a quantum shift?

Is our beloved Spaceship Earth – Gaia – waking us up with seeming disasters of climate change, pandemics and war – so that we realize that for the survival of humans and all life, we must change?

Is the Sacred Season 2022, the shift space/time wave for body, mind, heart and soul that is building into a tsunami of epochal change? Are we ready to start the learning journey for the next 100 years?

From Master to Meta to Mondo?

How do you react to the word “Master”?

I have always associated “master” with mastery – the successful learning of some practice.

It represents a maturing of skills and experience and adeptness.

It is the top level of a series of stages from apprentice to journeyperson to master.

It represents a superordinate category that can be applied to all sorts of qualities and even codes. All of these nuances have been embedded in my application of the term to the evolutionary intelligence of Integral City that I call the Master Code of Care – caring for Self so that we can care for Others so together we care for our Places and all together we care for the Planet.

A Master Code that governs and aligns all other codes.

So, it has been a bit of a shock for me to learn that Master as applied to Master Planning is viewed by many of my colleagues as:

Dated: no longer appropriate or leading.Gendered: male vs female, masculine vs feminine – certainly not neutral or inclusive.Colonizing: implying slave-master relationshipsResonating with Class: referencing servant-master relationships.

So, how to proceed? Acknowledge that all these interpretations have validity in certain circumstances and for some people? Consider the etymology of the word as instructive but not restrictive?

Deepen into a fully contextualized, current application of the term, while granting to others this could be misunderstood?

This is a bit like toppling statues of historical heroes who are no longer venerated. Or re-forming one’s intentions.

What other words could be used to convey the intended meaning (not dated/gendered/colonizing/classifying)? I searched around and considered:

Mother Code of Care (popular with those who are biased to women, female, feminine)Meta Code of Care (my first new choice because I tend to have “meta” views. But now the renaming of Facebook to Meta adds a whole other association if not nuance that I don’t want to reflect.Mondo Code of Care – hoping that the embrace of the planetary scale could align. But the colloquial use of “mondo” could make this seem flippant or facetious. And this code of care belongs to Gaia. Maybe I have to let go the acronym MCC and shift to GCC.

Whatever choice I make to change, all of my books, articles, blogs and newsletters may become dated? Is this the price of waking up? Being willing to change the most sacred code of Integral City work? And allowing the tension of the disparity with earlier references to the Master Code of Care to generate energy to dive more deeply and understand its true meaning and not just the “trivial” nomenclature that will live on in the earlier works.

If I use Gaia’s Code of Care, will this mean GCC* needs asterisks * as a new term so that people don’t get confused with its alignment to the original MCC?

Dearest Gaia, let me know your Preference? Thoughts? Language?

Perhaps this “speed bump” of language recontextualizing is an opportunity in Master’s clothing? Giving us new chances to taste old wine in new wineskins??

(Even Melissae (pictured above – Alison Knox’s image of the Angel of the Bees and Guide to the Human Hive) smiles enigmatically – certainly not suggesting we could keep MCC if we renamed the term Melissae’s Code of Care??? (and no, I never contemplated Marilyn’s Code of Care)).

Book Review: The Story of Gaia

If we want a new story to regenerate and thrive our cities we need a new story of Gaia. Jude Currivan cosmologist, planetary healer and futurist tells that story with flare, focus and finesse in her new book:

The Story of Gaia:  The Big Breath and the Evolutionary Journey of Our Conscious Planet

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Starting with the Big Breath, Jude shifts our long-held scientific metaphor of the Universe emerging as a Big Bang. The Big Breath immediately invokes an energizing and loving impulse of life that emerges cosmic complexity in life-stages across a 14 billion-year span of consciousness unfolding in-formation, matter as mind and mind as matter.

We have learned through Jude’s prior book The Cosmic Hologram to see reality in fractals and holograms. So, The Story of Gaia naturally unfolds through the life stages we recognize as human – from deep Origins to our Ancestors and Heritage, to seeing ourselves as integral parts of a Family  of natural systems, with the experience of Parents, Conception, Pregnancy, and Siblings. As we learn to context Gaia within her Soular Family of Sol (sun) and Luna (moon) we re-member our capacities to Cooperate, Swim, Walk/Burrow/Fly, Raise Children/Teenagers and mature into Mid-Life.

This fractal pattern of the Universe is reflected in the realities of Galaxies, Soular Systems, and Planetary journeys – thereby giving us a vast canvas of contexts to appreciate how human systems have evolved out of deep time/space and energy/matter. And with Gaia’s Story so vividly brought to life, we can appreciate anew the evolutionary path of humans through families, clans, territories and their human habitats of villages, towns and cities embedded within their bioregions as intimately as Gaia is embedded in the Soular System.

The Story of Gaia provides the scientific and spiritual foundations to create a unitive narrative with which all human systems – including their habitats – can resonate. The value of this book is immense – explaining the evolutionary path of our multiple intelligences (as Integral City calls our GPS), our Integral City maps and the Master Code of Care that holographically nests our caring relationships for self, others, place and planet. Currivan’s explanations of genetic evolution may even point to the roots of the seeming universal patterns we have called the 4 Voices of the City (citizens, civic managers, business/innovators, civil society).

The Story of Gaia offers a foundation for appreciating how Gaia has evolved human systems to serve her evolutionary capacities – perhaps as James Lovelock suggested as Gaia’s Reflective Organs? If we truly appreciate the scientific evidence, gathered by Jude Currivan, we would do well to attune to each chapter as she invites us to do throughout the book. With such spiritual awareness we can never doubt the immensity of connections that interrelate humans to the wholeness all life. We have been in-forming for 14 billion years and all our relations (including our cities) will continue to evolve as new chapters to The Story of Gaia.

Alternative Editorial: A New Feel for Power

As we further contemplate the significance of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II we explore other perspectives (than previously published here and here and here ) on this event.

I have been curious about what others might see unfolding beyond the power structures (or intelligences) that Queen Elizabeth II represented in her role and position.

We value the opportunity to share the ideas from Alternative UK/Planet‘s Editor,  Indra Adnan related to an exploration of Power – reprinted with permission below.

Dateline: September 25, 2022

After ten days of news near-blackout in the UK, reality lurched back into view—but not in a familiar way. Instead of moving forward into a new era, there is an ominous sense of retrogression.

In the UK, the ‘new Liz’ is preaching ‘trickle down (supply side) economics’. She takes the stance of a GCSE student trying to make simple sense out of the mystery of money. When in doubt, just give the rich more money to create a bigger economy; everyone will benefit eventually. As if giving the most corpulent person more to eat will eventually satisfy the appetites of the leanest.

Despite the manifest failure of this crude idea over decades Truss’ unexpected rise to power has her grasping for what she can to appear bold (the unfortunate challenge for any woman holding high office, even in 2022). In the face of a plunging pound and the howling of the Commons (itself an expression of the U-turn on the economic manifesto that won the 80 seat majority), Truss pushes to prove she can take the ‘hard decisions’. How sad to see this newly diverse cabinet, futuristic in that way, be so defined by this 70s vision.

However, this feeling of retrogression is not confined to the UK. Like a series of strange dreams, the ‘new era’ appearing is of a Europe – Sweden, Denmark, Italy – pulled back to an old political right. While Left v Right can be confusing when calling for an alternative people’s politics that brings us together, this wave of advances is clear about its identity as an anti-diversity stance. Fearful rather than supportive of refugees from the crises our economies and geo-politics have caused. And against the influence or protection of our LBGTQ communities.

The formerly disgraced Silvio Berlusconi is back in the frame, alongside new PM Meloni, flirting with a Russian President whose flagging military campaign gestures towards a nuclear option. Even as Putin’s own young men flee to the borders to avoid subscription, he pushes for multiple referenda in the captured Ukrainian provinces. A single Yes to annexation would change the status of Americans and Europeans helping Ukraine, to being at war with Russia.

How many people reading this news the world over are aghast at the stupidity reigning here. And at the same time alarmed and grieving for those affected. For the young Russian men it’s a brutal shift—from refraining to comment on the war via social media, to having your body dragged onto the front line. Whether you agreed or disagreed with your leader until now, this is an extreme wake-up call for the families of boys.

It’s one thing to imagine distant others in the line of fire, another to imagine your own child looking down the barrel of a gun. Especially when ignominy is a much more likely reward than glory in this case. It’s not a video game that you can shrug and switch off, whenever you get blasted. Mostly pain and shame beckon.

Of course, there are plenty who might rise to the call just as the Ukrainian soldiers did: anxious to defend their mother country. But for so many young people in particular, this must feel like a call from the past – old ways of settling disputes, way past their efficacy. Surely this form of hard, military power lost its guarantee after Vietnam? When the only super power of the time – the USA – was forced to withdraw with its tail between its legs, from one of the smallest countries in the world? Since then Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria have all proved to be unwinnable wars

So where are we (writers and readers in this space) when we observe this unfolding tragedy? For some, it is only an extension of the other troubles we are witnessing every day—more evidence of our failing socio-economic-political system. The sense of powerlessness only increases with every news item, be it on the epidemic of knife crime , deepening poverty or a collapsing environment.

To read the full editorial click here. 

Canadians Remember Queen Elizabeth: 1st Nations, Governor General, PM

As we further contemplate the significance of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II we explore other perspectives (than previously published here and here ) on this event.

Canada was the country that Queen Elizabeth II visited most in all of the Commonwealth.

She reputedly called Canada “home”.

The Government of Canada held a national ceremony in honour of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away on September 8, 2022.

This historic event took place on Monday, September 19, 2022, at 1:00 p.m. (ET) at Christ Church Cathedral in Ottawa following all elements of the state funeral in London. Canadians heard from First Nations Elder Albert Dumont, former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson  and a former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

Click here to access a YouTube recording of the Memorial.

Science & Spirit of Commoning Well in Community

“The life and spirit of the Commons is already within us. We ARE the Commons, for we are part of this planet, part of Gaia. It’s now a matter of acknowledging that this is so and acting accordingly.” (Spangler, David)

From this beautiful spirit of the Commons, I would like to share some insights from the science of commoning – the practices of co-holding Commons that can be useful for Ecovillages (like Findhorn Ecovillage where I live) and Urban Habitats everywhere that are seeking guidance for Commoning well in Community.

Elinor Ostrom, a Nobel-prize winning economist was curious if there were characteristics in communities that were successful in their commoning practices. Her research determined that successful Commoning shared eight practices: Shared identity and purpose: everybody in the group feels as though they belong to the group, values its purpose and are willing to work towards the same goals.

How do we notice this principle in our community? To what extent do group members feel a sense of belonging and shared purpose with the group?

Equitable distribution of contributions and benefits: everyone receives benefits proportionate to their contributions, achieving fairness through balance of effort (workload) and reward.

How do we notice this principle in our community? To what extent are the demands and benefits of participating in this group distributed equitably between its members? What would a win-win situation look like here?

Fair and inclusive decision-making: when making decisions that affect group members how do we involve them, particularly agreements about how the group runs. The key planning question is “How will we decide in a way that involves those who need and want to be involved?”

How do we notice this principle in our community? To what extent do group members feel involved in making the decisions that affect them?

Monitoring of agreed behaviours: how can we be aware of what each other are doing? How can our behaviours be transparent?

How do we notice this principle in our community? To what extent do group members know what others in the group are doing?

Graduated responding to helpful and unhelpful behaviour: effective groups have in place responses to transgressions. The key planning question is “How should we respond to one another to encourage cooperation and discourage unhelpful behaviours?”

How do we notice this principle in our community? If someone behaves in a way that is unhelpful or disruptive in this group, to what extent do people respond appropriately to discourage that behaviour? If someone behaves in a way that is helpful or cooperative in this group, to what extent do people respond appropriately to encourage that behaviour?

Fast and fair conflict resolution: conflict resolution skills use flexible authentic processes for conflict resolution, to resolve the inevitable conflicts and differences that will arise within and between groups.

How do we notice this principle in our community? To what extent does the group have fast and fair conflict resolution processes?

Authority to self-govern (according to principles 1-6): we clearly articulate the purpose of the group and its associated authorities and accountabilities to affirm group autonomy to

take responsibility for managing our own affairs.

How do we notice this principle in our community? How should we lead and how should we protect ourselves from undue influence from outside the group?

Collaborative relations with other groups (using principles 1-7): how are Core Design Principles 1 through 7 implemented between-groups?

How do we notice this principle here? Does the group have purposeful, fair, inclusive, transparent and effective relations with other groups? Does the group primarily serve its own interests, or those of its larger context?

Life and circumstances in our dynamic evolving Ecovillages and Urban Habitats, are giving us the opportunity not only to define our Commons, and who might steward them but also how might we do that in community, so we honour both the wisdom of Spirit and intelligences of Nature? Elinor Ostrom’s principles for Commoning might serve us well for both Placecaring and Placemaking.

References:

Atkins P., Wilson D.S., Hayes S. 2019. Prosocial: Using Evolutionary Science to Build Productive, Equitable and Collaborative Groups. Context Press, Oakland, CA.

Facilitating Prosocial. Prosocial World, https://community.prosocial.world/