GROWL @ GREECE 2014 - notes by Wojtek Mejor
2.10.14
- third sector
- civil society
- social economy
are these the solution to socio-economic inequalities and global problems? no.
Diverse Economies (Gibson-Graham)
- economiec are intrinsically heterogenous processes
- capitalist relations are just the visible tip of the iceberg of economic relations
Alterity (Roger Lee)
- different degrees of alterity in initiatives produce different potential for transformation
- „weak theory” (vs. „strong theory”) leaves open space for novelty and surprise
- possibilities of alternatives are constrained by the need to effectively create a basis to reproduce social life
what can we do? (Gibson Graham)
- politics of language - reframing, rethinking
- politics of subject - „if you change nothing nothing will change”
- politics of collective action
book: „Take Back the Economy”
exercise:
1. draw 24h clock
2. well-being scorecard: occupational, material, social, physical, community
3. what is the balance btw paid labour and other labour?
Commons
- commons are a process
- no golden rules to manage the conflicts of negotiation
Reflections on role-play exercise:
- when played on stereotypes it’s not so interesting and productive; ppl don’t identify with their roles and don’t imagine real, transformative scenarios
- it can be useful to make introductory, warming-up exercises to help ppl to get invilved in the game
- non-market capital
- ppl who don’t feel they control their environment tend to spend money on bad things
- degrowth is a concept, a slogan for a movement and a practice
- climate change might not threaten our survival on the planet but make our existence here much less bearable
- „your recession is not our degrowth” - slogan at Leipzig conference
- is democracy only viable/acceptable in growing economies?
- „sharing creates abundance”
necessary for degrowth to take place:
- alliance with worker’s movement (production)
- crisis, real or perceived
- cutting off big money from political process
3.10.14
visit at PERKA - former military area
- 200 participants
- various 20-40 ppl groups
- 70ha area / 1ha veggies
visit at VIOME - factory taken over by workers
- 22 out of 70 workers stayed to work
- shift of production from toxic construction material to natural cleaning products
What is Degrowth - Francois Schneider
- a concept and umbrella term to create a better life with less
- different concerns about degrowth need to be combined to avoid abuse
4.10.14
- solidarity economy is not philantropy or charity
- the water and sanitation company should be owned by a cooperative (+ secondary cooperatives) and ppl should have shares in the cooparative not the company - shares not sellable
- K136
- who funds the investments of a local commons? e.g. difficult areas in mountains or islands
- maybe all citizens of a region or country fund but only the locals manage
Bios Coop
- open committees screen products for quality
- expired products are taken back by producers or destroyed
- 5 ppl working (4 full time)
Agro Naftes CSA
- KOSAP - CSA in greek
- agronaftes.blogspot.com
Requirements from KOSAP experience:
1. eficcient and easy - min effort, max effect
2. communication open and responsive
3. regular and punctual deliveries
4. sufficient quantity and quality of veggies
5. good will and generosity
6. target families that cook daily food
- in Greece no seeding in August
- smaller groups can be coordinated by farmer, bigger groups need coordinator from consumer side (20-30ppl)
- 1 producer 50-70 baskets / week, 5 deliveries, 3t vegs weekly
- 2 producer 1,5t vegs weekly
- 350 families / 1500 individuals
- 10€ / bag
- justfood.org - CSA in NYC
- is the production ethical? how are workers treated?
- no voluntary work by consumers
What is a Cooperative?
- in provate capital you have to buy shares; in coops you contribute and enlarge the capital
Social Enterprise Allostropos
- chess and table tennis
- „big percentage of conflicts is structural” - context is unclear
- book about mediation: „The Third Side”
Vienna Food Coops
- common working groups for different coops
5.10.14
KINO - exchange system and currency
- system online since 2012
- 2014 - 470 members 4556 exchanges (more members but less Kino exchanged that year than previous)
TEM - exchange network, Christos Papaioannou
- replicating some of the faults of mainstream economy
- social element equally or more important
- 850 members
- free credit can be a problem
- ideally should point to cooperative economy
- can function as a buffer for capitalist economy
- democratic structure
- credit limit –100 in the beginning; increased to –300; reduced to –100 later because of abuse; reduced later to –20 because enough credit is already circulating
- upper credit limit
- SARDEX alternative currency in Sardinia - millions in turnover
TIME BANK (Nastasja) - ARSIS ngo
- 10h at start
- 20h lower limit
- 0h upper limit
- 17 transactions / month
- 2 years funded programme
Nea Guinea
- windempowerment.org / neaguinea.org
- renewable energy courses / projects - wind turbines, solar panels, hydro
- herbal medicine
Thelaitrion
- create permaculture cummnunities with yurts and domes and water purification systems and renewable energy
- funded with crowdfunding and contributions for workshops
- no eco-village/communities in Greece
- blurry decision-making process
T-T-T
- emotional knowledge
- we learn through feeling
- touch is a basic need - we want to be touche even despite possible danger/risk
- unique, lived experience lead to learning
- fecilitator assists in the passage from experience to learning accompanying the person in what they decide to learn
A theme you are interested in and could present as a trainer:
- A modular, participatory performance performed in public space on the subject of degrowth. Theme: tenants
GROWL @ BELGIUM 11.2014 - notes by Wojtek Mejor
12.11.
- How do electromagnetic waves affect people? How are they measured? How to sense this?
- report about electromagnetic radiation effects: ‚Bioinitiative Report’ 2012
[ttt] - don’t force things just because they were planned; if they were already conveyed in an informal way you might consider skipping a presentation or shortening
- continuation of GROWL - establish ‚hubs’ that are a network of places-nodes in the degrowth network
- bioeconomy - ‚accounting’ rooted in physical flows
What actions do we envision for degrowth?
- create space for degrowth experience so ppl can have an emotional experience
- prototyping
- learn where degrowth is needed (dialogue)
- channel the discussion in positive ways
- using theatre and art techniques to involve ppl and disseminate messages
- establish convival practices
- put more time to things we like and focus less on bad things
- slogans: „Less is enough” „More or less”
- education - easier to get funding for an eco-educational facility
- efficiency can focus only on one or few aspects while at the same time neglecting other aspects and creating many inefficiencies - isolating only one aspect of problem
[ttt] - we moved the raporting of the discussion to the platform via assigned rapporteurs because of lunch time and not enough time for open forum sharing
The Vevy-Weron Farm:
- 43 ppl, 7 core team, 1 owner
- incomes: 1/3 ppl state help; 1/3 ppl working outside; 1/3 ppl live off the farm
- established 30 years ago by 2 families (which later split and one man bought all the land)
- agriculture, bakery, goats
- too much work affecting personal wellbeing and social relations
- for family with 2 children rent is approx 400€
- the only common project is living together
- newcomers have to be accepted by community
- 1 day per month everyone on the farm meeting (about 4h)
- people do projects within the farm community but they are independent endeavours - e.g. one guy keeps goats and sells the cheese to farm inhabitants and outside
- 15 years ago big crisis because of new wife of owner
- not following any model or ideal - everyone do what they are
- ppl can live for many years but they do not own the ground or houses, nor do their children
- grocery co-op: preorder through internet; pick up from farm; price = product + 12% fixed margin + 0,33€ per bought unit (e.g. 1 bottle of wine or 1 box of 6 wines - encouraging buying bigger amounts)
- the owner doesn’t intervene in other people’s activities
- decisionmaking: if 1/5 ppl don’t want something it is not done
- recently attempts to make consensus decisions
- in questions of land - owner decides; in other questions - the collective
- variation of AMAP: GASAP (only in Belgium?)
- renting land in Belgium costs approx 150€/year/hectar
- hierarchical power structure on farm - owner/inhabitants; no consensus among inhabitants about whether this is good or bad
- in Belgium: >50% is agricultural landscape; <2% agricultural workers
- growing on farm: Medlar (GB), Nieszpułka (PL), Mispule (CZ), Musmula (BiH), Neflier (FR) - fruit from rose family, very astringent, not suitable for eating raw, has to be ‚bletted’ by frost and eaten brown/‚rotten’
- sustainable economy, green economy, circular economy - controversial, non-sustainable concepts based on growing market
Philosophy Cafe:
- ‚Which education today for a concrete degrowth tomorrow?’
- p2p teaching - non-mechanical view of knowledge
- rigid educational system developed under influence from army and church
- cooperation can also lead to growth -> important are the underlying VALUES
- gratitude, equality, modesty, solidarity
- ethics > ways of pursuing values
- values can be misused and manipulated
- „For degrowth we need education with more values.”
[ttt] - while conducting ‚philo cafe’ you have to rephrase and synthesize each opinion
13.11.
What is Agroecology?
1. Objecives - how to feed the world?
2. History
3. Principles - 5 historical principles
- 850mln ppl suffer hunger; 1/2 are farmers
- Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (2005)
- Agroecology tries to implement the results of ecology studies to agriculture
- Agriculture is (should be) an ecosystem - monocultures destroy ecosystems
- in middle ages all agriculture was organic but not all was agroecology - e.g. deforestation due to large sheep herds
- modern organic agriculture doesn’t have to take into consideration entire ecosystems or ecologically limited distribution; in contrast agroecology is holistic and coherent
- first paper about degradation of soil/ecosystem through farming was published in the 70s
- agroecology looks at the condition of the farmer and his struggle and social relations while permaculture only looks at local, closed systems
Social Dimension of Agroecology
observations of agroecology:
- top-down or botom-up?
- inclusive or exclusive?
- localisation (urban/rural, etc.)
- what are the actors in the project?
- collective/community dimension
- history of the project: relation btw territories, institutions, actions
questions about Vevy-Weron:
- what is still community/collective?
- how their expectations changed over time?
- how do they deal with differences?
- how they needs were fulfilled?
- can they support themselves from farmwork?
- are they sharing machinery within farm?
- how’s the childcare organised?
- are the children going to regular schools/kindergardens?
- what about elderly/ill people, retirement, health problems, etc.? care issues
- where are all the 40 ppl? we hardle see them
- is there enough work for everyone on the farm?
- many people want to come to live on the farm, but later they leave/complain. why?
[ttt] - possible communication deficiency: I didn’t realise when to ask these questions to farm inhabitants. did not see the connection in the appropriate moment.
AUROVILLE - 50000ppl project in India
- ppl in Europe have an experience in nuclear family living, that makes living in communitites and collectives very difficult; in India it is very different
David C. Korten - „The Great Turning”
Derick Jenson - „Endgame”, „Language Older than Books”
Naomi Klein - „This Changes Everything”
14.11.
Visit at Nos Pilifs farm
- 140 ppl working
- ppl with disabilities work with contracts life regular workers
- economic, social, environmental dimensions of project are important
- non-profit association
- 10% of workers (non-handicapped monitors) are edcuated social workers
- natural evolution goes towards forest (not the greates biodiversity)
- 5ha area
visit to educational Urban Farm:
- 3 trainers working (1 full time)
- training ppl for 2years to be farmers
- using donkeys to work soil
- 2ha land (owned by private person, precarious contract, aristocratic family)
- 1ha land worked, the rest for donkeys
- area protected, not for development
- for training purposes only / temporary solution due to precarious contract
- taking part in GASAP schemes
- 6 employees/trainees
- subsidies for ppl without higher education and unemployed
- our guide studied agronomy
- relations with neighbours need to be taken care of; skeptical towards farmers in the city; problems: flies, straw on street
- no vegs in winter
- GASAP: 15€ per week per basket
- Promata (?) collaborating with ngo in North Africa
Haren district visit:
- industrial district
- 4600 inhabitants
- plans to build prison for 1500ppl and housing for 10000ppl
- near airport (every few minutes very loud airplanes pass low above), area unknown to wider public
- ‚patatist’ movement occupying land
- occupation since 10th August 2014
- planting potatoes started in April, 400 ppl participated
- the prison project is sold to the public as an ‚open village’ (sic!) - reminiscent of our ideas while singing around the fireplace in Vevy-Weron: ideas for an eco-prison, non-hierarchical, vegan (megan), etc...
Presentation in De Linden Cultural Centre:
Pablo .... „Feeding Europe in Times of Crisis” (in French)
- Belgium only allowed to export vegs grown in water
- cicory growing discovered in Bruxelles - special role of Haren district
- people now invilved in ‚patatist’ movement previously made public action replacing GMO potatoes with organic; facing criminal charges - RESAP, Field Liberation Movement
- local, rooted initiatives are better to communicate global problems and easier to defend in view of wider public than very general, meta-debates
- community and public space (community garden) can be a more important argument than urban food production (small space and yield)
Vandana Shiva:
- focus, do only one thing at a time
- be pasisonate in action and detached from results
Michael Reynolds - ‚earthships’, garbage warrior
15.11.
TTT:
[ttt] - group work: categorising experience into feeling and knowledge is way too rigid and reductionist
- how to make the learning moment ‚painful’ (meaningful, touching)?
- ‚cerveau global’
- pince-sans-rire
[ttt] - how to induce an atmosphere of extraordinarity and adventure? (vide simple ‚hands’ workshop/exercise in Greece)
[ttt] - how to make ppl produce interesting results on the platform?
Exercise: What would I do as a trainer? How?
[ttt] - make ppl write out a day plan for their normal day, what they routinely do every day; talk about it, present on the wall, discuss; try to influence/complete/remix eachothers day plans through an agroecological perspective; make warm-ups and exercises to create ‚safe space’ and take a great care that all the comments and feed back are respectful and not overly critical but constructive
[ttt] - previous morning exercise didn’t lead to meaningful results, nothing revealed or learned. we put the posters on the wall but didn’t do any follow up
GROWL preso:
[ttt] - Gualter consulted and improved his presentation
- ‚communities of practice’ Wenger 1998
[ttt] - G. is asking questions to audience and tries to build his own narrative on ppls answers
[ttt] - sometimes he tries too much to fit the answers to the next slide
- are we a ‚community of concept’?
Jonas and Binita preso:
[ttt] - well-prepared and elaborate course concept and presentation; ‚surprise effect’, text revealed on blackboard; audience involved
- energy slaves
- energy transformation sinks
- energy flows
Hier findet ihr das Präsentation von heute, das Video von Hans Rosling and the magic washing machine (sehe unten) und meine Text über den wir die peer teaching gemacht haben (Methode ist auf Seite 5 der PDF von Teaching and studying materials from Czech course beschrieben).
Hausaufgabe:
Each group (2-3 persons) writes 1-2 pages contrasting both the arguments and data of Hans Rosling video and Gualter Baptista paper. The focus should be on the aspects that relate to the concept of social metabolism and metabolic profile. Here is a suggested structure of contents:
- where are the main lines of argumentation of each?
- what elements and patterns of social metabolism are present there?
- where do the two authors line of argumentation and empirical facts match?
- where do they clash?
Bitte die Text bis zum nächste Mittwoch um 12 Uhr auf diese Platform veröffentlichen. Jede Gruppe soll auch sich vorbereiten um die Zusammenfassung in die nächste Vorlesung zu präsentieren und weiter diskutieren.
PS: Ich habe auch entdeckt, dass ein bessere Übersetzung für "social metabolism" ist "gesellschaftlicher Stoffwechsel".
Degrowth sources – interactive presentation based on forum-theater technique.
PILOT Degrowth course – Can Decreix – Project GROWL 16-21 MAY 2014
Forum Theatre – Role play on the sources and dimensions
Sunday 18 10h-13h Can Decreix, Cerbère
COOKING CHICK PEAS
Can Decreix, Cerbère
A six person theatre play. Each character defends his concerns from the perspective of one source of degrowth and (playingly) explain some of the ideas for implementing degrowth in each of these. The fields to be tackled was: large scale infrastructures, money/currencies, natural resources exploitation, social comparison, advertising, working time, planned obsolescence & single use. We will use photos, video support, and recalling the walk of the previous day.
Presenters were expected to act strong (and emotionally) on their position.
The audience is expected to intervene at every single moment of the performance. It leads to a debate on each field between the different actors, possibly followed by a fish bowl
For example: Infrastructure degrowth was defended from an ecological economics perspective, from environmental conflicts perspective, from an anti-utilitarian perspective, from a democracy perspective and from a voluntary simplicity perspective etc.
This was followed by a debate on the relevance of the multi-source and multi-dimensionality of degrowth, and generally the implications of the reductionist approches.
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The objectives
Teaching degrowth: explanation of sources of degrowth (the main concerns around degrowth like justice, ecology, democracy, bioeconomy, buen vivir, conviviality etc.) and dimensions of degrowth (the main areas to deal with, related to limits to growth: time, availability of resources, money, social comparison, need to consume, productive capacity etc.) as well as their complementarity, Finally it is about an experimentation of teaching method based on forum theatre.
Needs
We needed to have
- good basic scenarios that link the different dimensions of degrowth: The chick pea scenario
- clear area for public and for the theatre to take place (the scene); At the Garage?
- actors for the basic scenario
- actors focalized on each source of degrowth
- good preparation by actors
The steps
0- Presentation of the different degrowth source fans (justice, ecology, democracy, bioeconomy, buen vivir, conviviality etc.) that come with their specific hat, this is the occasion to explain the background of each source and make the link with the authors presented the previous day (that are usually not linked to a single source). The actors, on the contrary to degrowth authors, are “mono-source” for our play (we exaggerate this character, they are some kind of maniacs).
1- Problematic 1 is played – Resources availability
The participants focus at first on the need to cook chick peas with gas as fundamental satisfier of their need for food.
Story line: “We want to cook chick peas and there is no more gas, we call Putin, he explains that there is no more gas; Gas is getting more and more expensive. More and more problems with the exploitation in Siberia (commodity frontier), gas is used for war…”
The different source actors react on the problematic 1
Justici could say we have to stop exploiting land of indigenous people in Siberia and stop importing gaz from there, a carbon allowance small and equal for all
Ecolog could say we have to respect ecosystems there they are more important than humans, and demand small scale renewables respecting nature
Bioeconomy could begin to design resource caps, we can certainly optimize the use of gaz to use it in low amounts
Democrat could be worried with carbon caps, and call for small scale decentralized energy sources, and a referendum for a moratorium on fossil fuels
Happy would say we do not need energy as we can eat raw germinated chick peas, feel the energy in the chick pea and ask for a meditation
Convivial could say that we can cook with wood that our neighbors give away, we give around wine and bread to all also
The public reacts on the problematic 1
Searching for integrated solution for resources availability
2- Playing of problematic 2 - Infrastructures of production
The players
“French people in response want to exploit shale gas to secure deliveries, and they are thinking of a new "gazoduc" (gas pipeline) passing by Can Decreix, gas consumption is booming...”
The different source actors react on the problematic 2
Justici could say that this is unfair
Ecolog could say this will destroy local ecosystems, especially there is a rare vitex…
Bioeconomy could say that we need small scale infrastructure
Democrat would say nobody asked us, this is not democratic, we need to debate what type of energy infrastructure we want
Happy would say that this will reduce the quality of life, what is important is not the infrastructure
Convivial could say that it will destroy the community
The public reacts on the problematic 2
Searching for integrated solution
3- Playing of problematic 3 - time to work
“The gazoduc and shale gas infrastructures development enable to develop Cerbère. The time aspect: some are stressed at work, others are unemployed, and people have no motivation for their work…”
The different source actors react on the problematic 3
Justici could say we need equal and small work hours
Ecolog that we need work coherent with the respect of ecosystems
Bioeconom would reduce working hours faster than material efficiency
Democrat could we need a referendum on working hours
Happy could say we need to work in something fulfilling, and very little in line with lafarge
Convivial could say that he would give his time to care others
The public reacts on the problematic 4
Searching for integrated solution
4 – “Following adverts for new kitchen, Can Decreix inhabitants can now cook chick peas in their all furnished kitchen. This makes South Catalans envious on the other side of the borders, also those that did not manage a job in the gazoduc. It develops anti-immigrant discourses; Can Decreix locks its doors
Last minute, things change, the infrastructure work is finished, shale gas is now exploited in Portbou; jobs and good earning s are now in Portbou. Cerberians have now to go to Portbou to cook chick peas...
The border gets definitely closed on the Belitre pass; some still pass by the tunnel...”
Same pattern
Justici could say if we are all equal no need to close borders, all on earth have the same rights
Ecolog that we need to define bioregions
Bioeconom would set models based on low material flow indicators
Democrat would call for democratic debates defend that we can have a strong variey of lifestyles
Happy could say that it is the frustration that makes us unhappy
Convivial would share his kitchen
5 - Monetary – “There were special deals to all these infrastructures got the state very indebted, also people have to reimburse their new kitchens. Land is destroyed and we have a financial crisis”
Same pattern
Justici could say that we all need the same access to money
Ecolog that we need to base currencies on trees
Bioeconom would reduce monetary capacity with 100% reserve banks
Democrat that all this shall be debated
Happy that money is not what is important for happiness
Convivial get rid of money and function on gift economy
6- Collective conclusion. Looking for multidimensional solutions, the goal is to get all the source actors to understand of the relevance of each concern in order to avoid having outrageous proposals related to reductionist thinking