Should transport systems be designed to save time – or calories? Who should own mobility sharing platforms: private companies? cities? us? What kind of ecosystem is needed to support the sharing platforms we want? These three questions are the focus of a workshop in London on 25 November. I’ve asked a three friends to join me on a panel: Tessy Britton, Co-founder of Civic Systems Lab and Participatory City; they just published their research report Designed to Scale; Blaine Cook, formerly lead developer of Twitter, now a founder of collaborative text editing startup Poetica; and (by Skype) Trebor Sholz, co-curator of last week’s already-celebrated conference on platform cooperativism. This post frames three questions we will discuss – hopefully, with you, too.
(Above: Multivan concept by Thomas Lommée)
Taxi. Pick-up. Delivery. Assistance. Vendor. Security. Rental.
Seven functions, one vehicle. The signs on that one small van describe a new way to think about mobility: the use of multiple mobility ‘assets’ to support a wide variety of services.
In the concept of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) the van, when coupled with a Read More
Bioregionalism By Design: Short Course at Schumacher College, England
Doors of Perception is helping to lead a two week course at Schumacher College which runs from 25 April to 6 May.
In myriad projects around the world, a new economy is emerging whose core value is stewardship, not extraction. Growth, in this new story, means soils, biodiversity and watersheds getting healthier, and communities more resilient.
These seedlings are cheering – but something more is needed for the whole to be more than the sum of its parts. A compelling story, and a shared purpose, are needed that people can relate to, and support, whatever their other differences.
A strong candidate for that connective idea is the bioregion. A bioregion re-connects us with living systems, and each other, through the unique places where we live. It acknowledges that we live among Read More »