Vortrag bei der Commons Sommerschule

1. The definition of insanity is to do the
same thing over and over again,
and expect different results.”
Rita Mae Brown

2. Being a commoner
Breaking disempowering
relationsships
Silke Helfrich
(inspired by Monica Sharma)

3. #1

brilliant analyses and logical frameworks ae
necessary but insufficient for sustainable change

there is a set of universal principles which we
have to unravel, to respect and to defend – in
social practice, politics, legal frameworks etc

we have to be commoners

we can act and design projects in an ethical way
and in accordance to the principles of commoning

4. # 1 Strategies for Change and Results:
Partial, Fragmented
Technical
Solutions
Immediate
factors

5. US National Institute
of Health / PD
Wikimedia Commons by: LeJean Hardin and Jamie Payne
derivative work: Jarl Arntzen (talk)

6. # 1 Strategies for Change and Results:
Partial, Fragmented
Logframes &
analysis
Technical
Solutions
Immediate
factors
Systems Factors

7. First exercise
Name a few conflicts in the commons, that you have
been dealing with or that you currently have to deal
with.
Choose one!

8. First exercise
What is the problem you want to solve in this
conflict?
What are the system factors, that make this conflict
persist and that need to be changed?

9. # 1 Strategies for Change and Results:
Partial, Fragmented
Logframes &
analysis
Technical
Solutions
Immediate
factors
Systems Factors

10. # 1 Strategies for Change and Results:
Partial, Fragmented
Logframes &
analysis
Technical
Solutions
Immediate
factors
Systems Factors

11. # 2 Breakthrough Change and Results:
manifesting results
Being a Commoner
Logframes &
analysis
Technical
Solutions
Immediate
factors
Systems Factors
Underlying
Factors

12. # 2 Breakthrough Change and Results:
manifesting results
Being a Commoner
Logframes &
analysis
Technical
Solutions
Immediate
factors
Systems Factors
Underlying
Factors

13. ?

14. HIV/AIDS Epidemic
• SEX
• FEAR
• SHAME
• DEATH
• DENIAL
• STIGMA
• SILENCE
• DISCRIMINATION

15. HIV/AIDS Epidemic
• SEX
• FEAR
• SHAME
• DEATH
POWER
• DENIAL
• STIGMA
• SILENCE
• DISCRIMINATION

16. HIV/AIDS Epidemic
• SEX
• FEAR
• SHAME
• DEATH
• DENIAL
• STIGMA
• SILENCE
• DISCRIMINATION

17. Conflict in the commons

FEAR
• SHAME
• DEATH
• DENIAL
POWER
• STIGMA
• SILENCE
• DISCRIMINATION

18. It is not just a technical problem to resolve.
It is not just about the right framework to be
applied.
It is not just about „being a commoner“
It is all at once!

19. It is not just a technical problem to resolve.
It is not just about the right framework to be
applied.
It is not just about „being a commoner“
It is all at once!
More than a framework-shift, it is an art to
design and implement projects who adress all
levels at the same time.

20. Solutions and Shifts
working with everybody involved, instead
of only adressing institutional/ technical or
mental problems
Be HIV-positive must be possible
and not a stigma

21. # 3 Being a Commoner
Leadership requires to
SEE Patterns for Systems Change
We are “ Patterns Makers”
Not only problem solvers
“Criticise by Creating Alternatives”
John MacKay, CEO Whole Foods

22. # 3 Being a Commoner
Being a commoner requires to
SEE Patterns for Systems Change
We are “ Patterns Makers”
Not only problem solvers

23. # 3 Being a Commoner through Principled
Pattern Making
Who do I need to make this happen?
→ What are the inner values/energies I need for
change?
How to bridge analysis and the inner space?

24. Second exercise
discovering your inner space (which is not
conceptual, but experiential)
What do you stand for?

25. compassion
freedom
values, that you embody?
.....
ju courage
st
ic
e

26. compassion
freedom
core vs. received values?
.....
ju courage
st
ic
e

27. How to bridge analysis/activism and
the inner space?

28. Third exercise
How to bridge separation through active
communication as part of decision making
processes
How do we listen?

29. Background Conversations
As human beings we constantly have
background conversations, whether we
are aware of them or not. Being aware
of one’s own conversations allows us
more freedom of thought and action.

30. • Right/Wrong
• Agree/ Disagree
• Find the Flaw
• Not Responsible
• Us/Them
• Either/Or
• Not Enough

31. Commoners Listen
Think of sth you did you are proud of and share
it with a partner...

32. My last ideas ...
• Our ideas can be easily replicated
throughout the world without doing
harm to anybody nor to nature, nor to
future generations. If they do, they are
not good enough.
• In our inner space lies a core energy of
commoning.
• If commoners are principled pattern
makers, then the most important
question to address is: What are the
principles of commoning?