#CoFi is now not only a thing, but a community with rich internal connections, conversations and, yes, collaborations. This year we returned to the Commons Hub after last year's smaller retreat in Belgium, and the fruits of the last two years were revealed. Our regular attendees have built a common vocabulary and trust and are starting to appreciate each other more. That means we spent less time introducing ourselves and more time deep-diving!
For me, as host, the week is so intense I can barely check my email. It feels like we have set up a rhythm, not only for annual week-long meetings, but also for the week and the days. Mornings begin with a 5 minute meditation, and group reflection, leading into presentations which we strive to make as engaging as possible. We describe our work without shilling it; we examine the concepts and learn each others' vocabularies; we try to put our own projects aside to assist others; we put more effort into participating than into documentation. Then the afternoon is given over to open space, where everyone can find colleagues and friends to test ideas, brainstorm, work on niche questions. Then the structured day dissolved into the unstructured evening, with talking around the fire, drinking in the kitchen, or steaming in the hot tub.
Other notes
- Women: 20%; Over 60s: 10%
- I was very pleased that CES2 was able to present their steady progress towards modernising CES, a cause which has been close to my heart for many years, and that evening we also screened <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5797184">Escape from Pretoria</a>, celebrating the heroism of CES founder Tim Jenkin. Work has also been done by Michiel de Jong on connecting <a href="https://komunitin.org">Komunitin</a> in-group 'mesh' accounting with <a href="https://creditcommons.net">Credit Commons</a> intra-group accounting.
- It was a pleasure to welcome the BitCapital founder to exchange ideas about a credit layer for Bitcoin.
- The sessions on shadow-work and monetary trauma were very much appreciated, with participants commenting that our own relationship to money should be a key component of the #CoFi agenda.
- I discovered that Stef Kuypers has made his own version of the Trading Floor game. We then worked together on another game idea I had based on bank clearing which I hope will soon be playable! We also tested a game that Nicholas Franka is working on (see bottom image), in which players on classical Mediterranean map compete to finance and build monuments using each others' raw materials.
- Our hosts at the Commons Hub could be the first #CoFi beneficiaries as they outlined their expansion plans and raised 15% of their loan target from #CoFi attendees. Loan interest will be paid in-kind, meaning in nights of accommodation at the hub over the next five years. This way of investing is exemplary #CoFi, since the relationships and the benefits stay within the community.
- The week also saw the launch of the book <a href="https://www.blurb.com/b/12458948-pathways-to-regeneration">Pathways to Regeneration</a> by Stephen DeMeulenaere and Scott Morris.
From day 1 of #CoFi , I introduced Jem Bendell's climate pessimism into the field. It seems this is welcome as a way to temper some of the youthful optimism and remind ourselves of the urgency of the work, while also not becoming attached to outcomes. However there is a danger of me leaning on that too hard and undermining the work going on. Life in a declining or even collapsing civilisation does not have to be pointless! However bleak the future gets, there is ALWAYS a way to reduce harm and suffering.
Reflecting afterward I'm super grateful to my co-organiser Stephen DeMeulenaere who did all the boring bits in the months leading up, and to Scott for managing the afternoons, leaving me to focus on the morning program. We don't want to set up yet another organisation (at least now) but we do want to support those in the community to platform #CoFi and promote small scale, member-driven finance. The aspiration to make #CoFi a commons crops up every year, this isn't practical unless or until the right people step up, so for now #CoFi remains a voluntary consultative dictatorship!
The only concern was that finding subsidies for an event which emphasise community over technology tech, is harder than if it was a blockchain-centric event, so the core team needs to focus on messaging towards the blockchain space, where it seems more and people are becoming frustrated at the lack of impact in that field, despite the abundance of money!
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