Please take Shareable’s reader survey >>

We heard you in 2018 when you said you use our articles for inspiration, self-improvement, and to help develop your community. We’ve kept this in mind over the last two years while producing Shareable’s The Response podcast about community-led disaster response, which is now also a free ebook and documentary film. We’ve also kept in mind your desire for more coverage of community-led change in our editorial series, The People’s COVID-19 Response, and our executive director, Neal Gorenflo’s #LocalYear series. 

Now, two years later, we want to hear what’s been helpful and what else you’d like to see from us. Please take a few minutes to give us your feedback in our reader survey. Your input will help strengthen our work.

Thank you for your time and input.

The post How are we doing? Take Shareable’s reader survey appeared first on Shareable.

This led us to ask you, our readers, what you’ve been doing to pitch in. We collected your responses in the rather impressive list below (edited for length and clarity). What have we missed? Email us at info@shareable.net and we’ll add your story to the list.

1. Jose Ramos, futurist, is coordinating an virtual international think tank to think through the changes coming including this question: “When we consider the collaborative governance of our commons, what are the challenges we are facing with the pandemic, or coming out of the pandemic that we will need to address?”
   
2. Rebecca Newburn shared Richmond’s growing seed lending library; rallying neighbors for mutual aid and resourcing seed libraries for the new pandemic environment.
3. Carolina Canales-Valenzuela is exploring the massive shift from physical to virtual environments.

4. My brother and I built the @KinderTogether app for #mutualaid before the Covid-19 pandemic, and we’ve been blown away by the surge of interest from people who want to help out their neighbors.

   — Spencer Hillman (@spencerforhire) April 3, 2020

5. Alana Gamage is building the app, Viral Solutions, to track the virus. Learn more here.
6. Lawrence Grodeska and Judi Brow are hosting gatherings with civic engagement folks regularly.
7. Scott Levkoff, is helping artists, performers, and event producers go virtual with Playable.agency.
8. Marilyn Cooper, of Pushing for Peace, is collecting and donating medical supplies and making videos for kids who want to do Tai Chi at home.
9. Eduardo Mercovich has worked with the design community in Argentina to create communications campaigns and/or guides about social distancing, working at home, helping others with emphasis on inclusion, and the availability of food delivery for certain groups.
10. Sonia Marcus of Co-operate WNC in Asheville, North Carolina has set up and is running a system for mutual aid in Western North Carolina.
11. Polly Whitaker started a marketplace for creatives. “So many of the creative communities have just gotten whacked at the knees with this virus, but they have the drive and energy to figure out how to adapt and I am helping it happen,” she says. She’s been putting together some heartwarming stories of creative communities supporting each other during the global COVID-19 pandemic. “Experts in the scene will be offering classes, live performances, demos, and coaching as well as making products, like costumes and BDSM toys, for sale,” she says. “We will offer goods and services that can be created while sheltering in place and it will give the artists who live gig-to-gig a lifeline to survive this crisis.”
12. MaryJane Marcus of the Kafenia Peace Collective is hosting meetings online, gathering folks to help each other, especially with a multicultural lens.
13. Sarah Van Exan from the Shauri Yako Community Youth Support Centre, a community-based organization working in disadvantaged communities in Nyeri, Kenya, is helping stop the rampant spread of COVID-19 in crowded informal settlements in Kenya.
14. Dave Witzel organized 1-on-1 “speed networking” for the regeneration community.

15. A member of my community #hillsborooregon is organizing solo walks simultaneously in place of the normal weekday group walks she normally organizes, then they share photos and stories online. She’s not on Twitter, but you can find her as @agecelebration on FB and Instagram.

    — EJ (@GranolaCrunchy) April 7, 2020

16. Monroe County Area Mutual Aid for COVID-19 (in Monroe County, Indiana), is fostering a network of collective solidarity that allows them to care for the most sick and vulnerable people in their community, and find strength together in order to push back against the broader social narrative of individualistic self-reliance and preparedness.
17. The Groundbreakers Network has created a map to amplify and increase accessibility to community resources in response to COVID-19.
18. Trebor Scholz and his Platform Cooperativism Consortium (PCC) has launched a class on how to start a platform cooperative with PCC partners Mondragon Cooperative. More information here.
19. Daniel Wu and his partner worked on a crowdfund to help frontline health workers.They are using this money to purchase and pilot reusable suits to raise the standard of safety for the frontline.
20. Michel Bauwens of the P2P Foundation (and Shareable adviser) has been very active including creating this awesome compilation of COVID-19 solidarity initiatives around the world.

##

This article is part of our reporting on The People’s COVID-19 Response. Here are a few articles from the series:

• Coronavirus catalyzes growing wave of grassroots action despite social distancing
• The coronavirus pandemic calls us to share more than ever
• The People’s COVID-19 Response needs you
• 10 ways to share during the COVID-19 pandemic
• The pandemic isn’t a portal, yet
• The Response: Resisting COVID-19 with mutual aid in Chico, CA

Download our free ebook- The Response: Building Collective Resilience in the Wake of Disasters (2019)

The post 20 ways Shareable readers are helping during the pandemic appeared first on Shareable.

We’ve focused on books relevant to the global COVID-19 pandemic like Rob Hopkin’s From What Is To What If. We’re also plugging our latest free ebooks “The Response” and “Beyond Waste.” “The Response” is particularly relevant these days as it’s all about community responses to disasters. Finally, we asked each member of team Shareable what they’re reading, so check those selections out too.

With many libraries and bookstores closing, you may need to source books creatively. You can still buy books online, but why not go one better? Depending on where you live, you may be able to check out an ebook online from your local library at no cost through systems like Hoopla, Libby, and Overdrive. Your local library’s website should provide information on which system they use and instructions on how to download ebooks. We’ve included links to ebooks where possible for each of our recommended books.

What books are you reading right now? Let us know at info@shareable.net! Below are summaries excerpted from each book’s website:

The Response: Building Collective Resilience in the Wake of Disasters by Shareable

When disasters occur, the majority of news coverage teeters on the edge of “disaster porn” at best, emphasizing the sheer mass of destruction in the affected area while celebrating a few token “heroes.” News reporting routinely underplays how local communities come together to recover from the immediate devastation and collectively rebuild the community, often on a new foundation of sustainability and justice. It’s a good thing that people collaborate instead of competing during a crisis because all signs point towards an increase in climate change-fueled disasters in the coming years.

This collection of interviews, articles, guides, and personal stories is designed to deepen the understanding of community led disaster response and support deeper engagement between neighbors, family, and friends In preparation for a future together.

From What Is to What If: Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want by Rob Hopkins

The founder of the international Transition Towns movement asks why true creative, positive thinking is in decline, asserts that it’s more important now than ever, and suggests ways our communities can revive and reclaim it. 

In these times of deep division and deeper despair, if there is a consensus about anything in the world, it is that the future is going to be awful. There is an epidemic of loneliness, an epidemic of anxiety, a mental health crisis of vast proportions, especially among young people. There’s a rise in extremist movements and governments. Catastrophic climate change. Biodiversity loss. Food insecurity. The fracturing of ecosystems and communities beyond, it seems, repair. The future — to say nothing of the present — looks grim.

But as Transition movement cofounder Rob Hopkins tells us, there is plenty of evidence that things can change, and cultures can change, rapidly, dramatically, and unexpectedly — for the better. He has seen it happen around the world and in his own town of Totnes, England, where the community is becoming its own housing developer, energy company, enterprise incubator, and local food network — with cascading benefits to the community that extend far beyond the projects themselves.

After Now: When We Cannot See the Future Where Do We Begin? by Bob Stilger

On the afternoon of March 11, 2011, massive, overwhelming, incomprehensible disaster struck the northeast coast of Japan. Life for those in the region would never be the same.

This book is about the awakening that follows disaster. About the minutes and hours and months and years that come after now. It is about what happens when we’re smacked on the side of the head and open our eyes, startled out of the trance in which we have been living our days. It is about the opportunities always present, often invisible, to create the lives we want, now.

A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster by Rebecca Solnit

Why is it that in the aftermath of a disaster, whether manmade or natural, people suddenly become altruistic, resourceful, and brave? What makes the newfound communities and purpose many find in the ruins and crises after disaster so joyous? And what does this joy reveal about ordinarily unmet social desires and possibilities?

In “A Paradise Built in Hell,” award-winning author Rebecca Solnit explores these phenomena, looking at major calamities from the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco through the 1917 explosion that tore up Halifax, Nova Scotia, the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, 9/11, and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. She examines how disaster throws people into a temporary utopia of changed states of mind and social possibilities, as well as looking at the cost of the widespread myths and rarer real cases of social deterioration during crisis. This is a timely and important book from an acclaimed author whose work consistently locates unseen patterns and meanings in broad cultural histories.

Related story: Coronavirus catalyzes a growing wave of grassroots action despite social distancing

The Buy Nothing, Get Everything Plan: Discover the Joy of Spending Less, Sharing More, and Living Generously by Liesl Clark, Rebecca Rockerfeller (available April 14, 2020)

Inspired by the ancient practice of gift economies, where neighbors share and pool resources, “The Buy Nothing, Get Everything Plan” introduces an environmentally conscious 7-step guide that teaches us how to buy less, give more, and live generously. At once an actionable plan and a thought-provoking exploration of our addiction to stuff, this powerful program will help you declutter your home without filling landfills, shop more thoughtfully and discerningly, and let go of the need to buy new things. Filled with helpful lists and practical suggestions including 50 items you never need to buy (Ziploc bags and paper towels) and 50 things to make instead (gift cards and salad dressing), “The Buy Nothing, Get Everything Plan” encourages you to rethink why you shop and embrace a space-saving, money-saving, and earth-saving mindset of buying less and sharing more.

Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire by Rebecca Henderson (available April 28, 2020)

Free market capitalism is one of humanity’s greatest inventions and the greatest source of prosperity the world has ever seen. But this success has been costly. Capitalism is on the verge of destroying the planet and destabilizing society as wealth rushes to the top. The time for action is running short.

Rebecca Henderson’s rigorous research in economics, psychology, and organizational behavior, as well as her many years of work with companies around the world, gives us a path forward. She debunks the worldview that the only purpose of business is to make money and maximize shareholder value. She shows that we have failed to reimagine capitalism so that it is not only an engine of prosperity but also a system that is in harmony with environmental realities, striving for social justice and the demands of truly democratic institutions.

Our Throwaway Society: Raising Children to Consume Wisely by Anya Hart Dyke

‘Our throwaway society’ is an ebook for parents of children aged 2+ exploring how to set ‘planetary’ boundaries for our children and challenge the endemic consumerism and ‘culture of convenience’ that is threatening our world. Full of fun activities, practical tips and stories of children who are changing the world, this will transform your family’s life. Fifteen percent of profits will go to relevant charities.

Beyond Waste: Community Solutions to Managing Our Resources by Shareable

The ebook “Beyond Waste: Community Solutions to Managing Our Resources” features our editorial series outlining ways individuals, organizations and communities are reducing waste around the world.

Arvind Dilawar brought us the story of how Bonnie Linden set up a community cupboard in her California neighborhood; Paige Wolf explained how to start a reusable party pack; and Mirella Ferraz told us about the Fashion Detox challenge and the Right to Repair movement. We featured the Eunpyeong Sharing Center in Seoul, South Korea along with other initiatives such as Oakland’s O2AA maker village, the Japan-based MyMizu app, and Precious Plastic’s DIY recycling module. Finally, writer Marina Kelava described how the small Crostian island of Zlarin is getting rid of single-use plastics; and Nithin Coca highlighted how Japan’s Seikatsu Club Cooperative is challenging consumerism. In fact, Seikatsu Club may be the only retailer with anti-consumerist slogan — Stop Shopping. Download our free ebook here. 

Related story: Coronavirus catalyzes a growing wave of grassroots action despite social distancing

A Chance For Everyone : The Parallel Non-Monetary Economy by Kendal Eaton

As close as neoliberalism has brought us to real and prospective extinction of species, six years of research into 71 publications and 649 global networking organisations reveals something shocking — it has also brought us to the cusp of an immediately implementable parrallel non-monetary economy. This economy already exists and using familiar methods, organisations and practices, can revolutionise global commerce. It will afford every living human being the inalienable right to earn for anything that society decides constitutes work or labour. Without conflict or coercion with existing capitalist business, it will transform working relationships and liberate all people, including capitalists, from the inhibiting and disempowering effects of monetary dependency, forming the new non-monetary economic market of the 99 percent. This is the only realistic route to rapid recovery of Earth’s climate crisis, by generating the Fifth Industrial (Eco) Revolution.

Wanderlust: A History of Walking by Rebecca Solnit

Drawing together many histories-of anatomical evolution and city design, of treadmills and labyrinths, of walking clubs and sexual mores-Rebecca Solnit creates a fascinating portrait of the range of possibilities presented by walking. Arguing that the history of walking includes walking for pleasure as well as for political, aesthetic, and social meaning, Solnit focuses on the walkers whose everyday and extreme acts have shaped our culture, from philosophers to poets to mountaineers. She profiles some of the most significant walkers in history and fiction-from Wordsworth to Gary Snyder, from Jane Austen’s Elizabeth Bennet to Andre Breton’s Nadja-finding a profound relationship between walking and thinking and walking and culture. Solnit argues for the necessity of preserving the time and space in which to walk in our ever more car-dependent and accelerated world.

Shareable’s Executive Director, Neal Gorenflo, is reading:

Leaves of Grass : Bold-Faced Thoughts on the Power and Pleasure of Self-Expression by Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman’s powerful poetry continues to inspire with its rich language, all-embracing populism, and boundless spirit.

Whitman took it upon himself to establish a bold, sensual, new literary tradition that was distinctly American — and consciously set out to be at once the quintessential American poet and the voice of the common man. “Leaves of Grass” remains an enduring touchstone for writers everywhere, and for anyone who wants to get in touch with his or her own creative spirit.

Shareable’s Operations Director, Joslyn Beile, is reading:

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship — and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever.

“Just Mercy” is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice.

Shareable’s Director of Partnerships, Tom Llewellyn, is reading:

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

Authored by Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha is one of the most influential spiritual works of the twentieth century. It is the story of a young man who decides to leave his wife and kids and embark on a journey of suffering and rejection to finally find peace within and attain salvation.

The story revolves around a young man who leaves his home and family on a quest for the Truth. Embarking on a journey that takes him from the austerities of renunciation to the profligacy of wealth. That leads him through the range of human experiences from hunger and want, to passion, pleasure, pain, greed, yearning, boredom, love, despair and hope. A journey that leads finally to the river, where he gains peace and eventually wisdom.

Shareable’s Editorial and Communications Manager, Courtney Pankrat, is reading:

Wanderlust: A Traveler’s Guide to the Globe by Moon Travel Guides

Moon Travel Guides takes you on a journey around the world with Wanderlust: A Traveler’s Guide to the Globe.Get inspired with lists of mythic locations, epic trails, ancient cities, and more that span the four corners. This stunning, hardcover book is packed with full-colour photos, charming illustrations, and fascinating overviews of each destination, making it the perfect gift for dreamers and adventurers alike.

Walk along the Great Wall of China, climb the Atlas Mountains, or trek through Patagonia. Visit stunning national parks from Yellowstone in the US to Tongariro in New Zealand, explore the Gobi Desert, or set sail to the Greek Islands. Eat your way through the best street food cities in the world, follow wine trails from Spain to Australia, and shop famous markets from the Grand Bazaar to the Marrakech souks.Find the best places to stargaze from Chile to France, or witness jaw-dropping phenomena from reversing rivers and blooming deserts to fluorescent blue haze and the Aurora Boreales. Filled with natural wonders, dazzling celebrations, quirky festivals, road trips, bucket-list sites, epic outdoor adventures, and cultural treasures, Wanderlust is the definitive book for the curious traveller. Where will you go?

##

This article is part of our reporting on The People’s COVID-19 Response. Here are a few articles from the series:

• Coronavirus catalyzes growing wave of grassroots action despite social distancing
• The coronavirus pandemic calls us to share more than ever
• The People’s COVID-19 Response needs you
• 10 ways to share during the COVID-19 pandemic
• The pandemic isn’t a portal, yet
• The Response: Resisting COVID-19 with mutual aid in Chico, CA
• 20 ways Shareable readers are helping during the pandemic

The post 14 community-minded books to read during the 2020 quarantine appeared first on Shareable.

Makers around the world:

Thailand

Italy

Czechia

United States

Japan

Kenya

Malaysia

Poland

Spain

Turkey

##

This post is part of our Winter 2019 editorial series on waste reduction. Get our free ebook on this series: “Beyond Waste: Community Solutions to Managing Our Resources.” Shareable is a partner of this project with Greenpeace.

The post Makers worldwide come together for Make SMTHNG Week- Photo series appeared first on Shareable.

Over the last three years, Shareable has been working with Greenpeace and other partners to give Black Friday yet another meaning. Rather than focusing on shopping and spending, the annual MAKE SMTHNG Week promotes the idea of creating and reusing. As reporter Casey O’Brien writes, “The spirit of MAKE SMTHNG can apply to all sorts of activities: whether it is cooking food instead of buying, using food scraps to make a broth, upcycling clothing or other materials, or reusing pieces of broken items to make new DIYs, creativity can play a huge part in sustainability.”

MAKE SMTHNG Week has quickly grown to an international initiative with hundreds of events, and thousands of participants. “We’ve seen that the shared experience of making things with others can lead to lasting change in both the lifestyle choices of participants and in the way that they engage with their communities,” says Shareable’s Tom Llewellyn. “We’re proud to be collaborating with Greenpeace and other partners to support communities to host events where people can opt-in to an alternative way of celebrating the holidays while forging new relationships and behaviors that will last throughout the year.”

Along with our work promoting and hosting MAKE SMTHNG Week events, this year, we published an editorial series outlining ways individuals, organizations and communities are reducing waste and managing resources around the world. Arvind Dilawar brought us the story of how Bonnie Linden set up a community cupboard in her California neighborhood; Paige Wolf explained how to start a reusable party pack; and Mirella Ferraz told us about the Fashion Detox challenge and the Right to Repair movement. We featured the Eunpyeong Sharing Center in Seoul, South Korea along with other initiatives such as Oakland’s O2AA maker village, the Japan-based MyMizu app, and Precious Plastic’s DIY recycling module. Finally, writer Marina Kelava described how the small Crostian island of Zlarin is getting rid of single-use plastics; and Nithin Coca highlighted how Japan’s Seikatsu Club Cooperative is challenging consumerism. In fact, Seikatsu Club may be the only retailer with anti-consumerist slogan — Stop Shopping.

We know this is a small sample of such initiatives, but they show how ordinary people can come together to reduce waste, manage resources, and make their lives better. Please drop us a line at info@shareable.net if you know of other resource management initiatives. We’d love your help as we continue our coverage of the topic into 2020 and beyond.

The post Get our latest ebook “Beyond Waste: Community Solutions to Managing Our Resources” appeared first on Shareable.

Speaking to the full house, Rothstein called for change. “We have an apartheid society,” he said, and that while we may not want to admit it, we need race-specific policies in the United States to reverse the damage done to African Americans and other minorities by government policies. Rothstein argued that every metropolitan area in the U.S. is racially segregated due to racist housing policies enacted by multiple levels of government. One result of this segregation is that, “schools are more segregated now than any other time in the last 50 years,” Rothstein said. 

Rothstein’s call to action was for a new civil rights movement in the U.S. to reverse the damage done to minorities and enact policies that make high quality housing available to all. “We need a new civil rights movement that’s as vigorous as the one in the 1960s,” he said. “Policies don’t enact themselves.” 

Following the keynote, Rothstein joined a panel discussion moderated by Noni Session, Executive Director of the East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative, with Chris Iglesias, Executive Director of Unity Council, and Sarah Jo Szambelan, Research Director at SPUR and leader of their place types research.

Session asked panelists about whether the solutions being enacted — for instance, upzoning single family suburbs to allow more density — can ease the housing crisis and create more justice. Rothstein discussed the need for public housing: “In expensive areas like San Francisco, the private sector is incapable of building housing for low-income communities,” he said pointing out the fact that it isn’t financially feasible. “This is why we need public housing.”

Notably Session asked the panelists about how we can move forward in a society where housing, which many argue should be a right, is actually treated as a commodity. Initially stumped, panelists discussed the need to change how we view housing, echoing Rothstein’s call fundamental change that might come from a revived civil rights movement.

Session called on Iglesias to share his experience developing affordable housing in East Oakland’s Fruitvale district, the largest Latino community in the Bay Area. He shared how city council members initially discouraged him from developing below market units, the difficulty in financing such projects, and how the money big local tech companies have pledged to address the housing crisis hasn’t found its way to the grassroots yet.  

Szambelan shared her work for SPUR on place types, detailing how 75 percent of the urban land in the Bay Area is zoned single family and how these areas are disproportionately white, especially outer ring suburbs. 

The event was part of Shareable’s fall editorial series on U.S. zoning and housing solutions prompted by a nationwide trend to upzone single family areas started in Minneapolis late last year. Neal Gorenflo, Executive Director of Shareable, opened the event by calling this moment a potential turning point for more justice in U.S. housing policy, but only if parallel inclusionary measures are enacted alongside upzoning.

You can watch the entire program in the video below:

• ##

  This post is part of our Fall 2019 editorial series on land use and housing policy challenges and solutions. Download our latest FREE ebook based on this series: “How Racism Shaped the Housing Crisis & What We Can Do About It.”

  Or take a look at the other articles in the series:

  • Zoned apart: How the US failed to share land but should start today
  • Timeline of 100 years of racist housing policy that created a separate and unequal America
  • How pro-density advocates in Minneapolis took on single-family zoning — and won
  • Bringing equity to the forefront of urban planning
  • How some cities are looking to in-law units to ease the housing crunch and build more diverse neighborhoods
  • Can zoning reform undo “50 years of bad policy?”
  • Segregation By Design author expects political battle between fair housing opponents and proponents
  • How to ease the US housing crisis? Import strategic policy from abroad
  • 8 must read books on US land use and housing policy

The post Author Richard Rothstein calls for new civil rights movement to address housing scarcity and injustice appeared first on Shareable.

After outlining the challenge, we proposed that community involvement is an accessible, effective solution to loneliness. Then, we offered examples of how communities are coming together all over the world. For example, Japan is connecting youth and seniors and the UK government has created a minister for loneliness. In addition, Libraries of Things bring people together, On the Table hosts shared meals, and the Participatory City Foundation helps people create neighborhood projects.

At this point, you might be wondering where to start to lessen loneliness where you live. The nine articles below offer good starting ideas from hosting a stranger dinner to creating engaging public spaces. While some ideas can be done today, others require a bit more planning. Take a look and let us know what other suggestions you have for building community:

1. How to reinvent the potluck

“Hosting a potluck is a great way to start a neighborhood sharing group. Why a potluck? The potluck is an iconic community gathering experience that symbolically reinforces the idea of sharing, as each guest brings food to share with the group. And anyway, potlucks are fun!”

2. How to host a stranger dinner

“With a little forethought, having a stranger dinner can be a great way to meet some new people, gain some different perspectives, and get people to bring delicious food to your house for free.”

3. How to start a housing co-op

“Co-ops save money by cutting out landlords’ profits, sharing common spaces, lowering operating costs, and receiving public subsidies for affordable housing. Studies show that co-ops provide other benefits, like greater social cohesion and support, reduced crime, increased civic engagement & sustainability, better quality and maintenance of housing, and resident stability.”

4. How to integrate a gift circle into any community

“The Gift Circle, as founded by Alpha Lo and spread by Charles Eisenstein, is a group facilitation format that holds great possibility as a way to match resources with needs, create community and inspire gratitude and generosity. The goals of a Gift Circle are simply to provide a warm, free, and welcoming space for community to gather and share Gifts and Needs, most often while literally sitting in a circle.”

5. How to create engaging public spaces

“The idea behind creating a public space is not just to build a nice-looking addition to a town, but to create a space that people actually use. A plaza with no one in it is just an empty space. Creating a space that successfully engages people is an artform and a science that relies on the input of the community, the testing of ideas, sharp observation and detailed planning.”

6. How to plant a habitat garden at the local level

Jeremy Adam Smith and his “Bees and Butterflies” group “went to the city and asked if [they] could plant a community garden in a strip of dirt available on our neighborhood playground, Noe Courts. To [their] surprise, the city said yes.” This article explains how they created the garden.

7. How to start a neighborhood work group

“Once a month during the warm season, my partner Luan and I report for duty at one of six different neighborhood homes to help build a fence, paint a house, terrace a garden, put in a mosaic path, or what have you—with some eating and chatting thrown in.”

8. How to build a better neighborhood

“Even if we haven’t actually experienced it, most of us have nostalgia for that perfect neighborhood, the one where people know each other, help each other, and hang out together. So what is the one ingredient necessary to create a community vibe on the streets where we actually live? Face-time.”

9. How to start a social street

“There are countless ways strong communities help people lead better lives. In the age of ‘connected loneliness,’ having neighbors to borrow that proverbial cup of sugar from is not only a way to share resources more effectively, but a great way to see the neighbourhood itself transformed into a powerful resource in its own right.”

##

This article is part of our special series on social isolation. Download our free ebook on the series here.

Find all of the articles in the social isolation series here:

• How our loneliness hurts us all, and what we can do about it
• How community involvement can counter our loneliness crisis
• Q&A: How civic governance innovation can increase engagement
• How Citizen University is building an army of civic leaders
• Why we need a change in climate
• How the simple act of sharing a meal is creating community change
• Why countries worldwide are watching how the UK’s newest Minister is handling the loneliness crisis
• How Seoul is confronting its deadly isolation epidemic with sharing
• Can we build non-sexist and non-racist cities?
• How sharing can bring Japan’s elderly and youth together
• Why creating community-led project spaces can ease social isolation
• Can an app cure loneliness and isolation?
• Q&A: Steve King on loneliness, the social side of coworking and the future of work
• 10 innovative projects from around the world that reduce loneliness
• How Libraries of Things build resilience, fight climate change, and bring communities together

We held an event on April 10, 2019 about social isolation. Read the event recap and watch the video from the event here.

The post 9 ways to reduce loneliness in your community appeared first on Shareable.

Shareable’s executive director, Neal Gorenflo, kicked off the evening by explaining why this is a critically important topic. “We wanted to tackle loneliness because it’s now an epidemic in the U.S. and in other developed countries like the U.K., Japan, South Korea,” Gorenflo said in his opening remarks. “Today, the average American has only one confidant,” he continued. “That’s down from three in 1985.”

For the last month, Shareable has been publishing a series on social isolation. We’ve outlined the problem, not only in America but also in South Korea, the United Kingdom, and Japan; we’ve explored possible solutions such as those offered by Citizen University, or the Ying app; we’ve also offered different points of view on how we can ease the problem of social isolation with op-ed pieces by Monée Fields-White and Marvin Brown.

This is an issue that needs to be addressed. “Loneliness doesn’t just create a collection of sick individuals,” Gorenflo said. “It also creates a sick society. It weakens our social fabric.” The goal of this event was to catalyze action. “Tonight is about what each of us can do to solve [loneliness] in our communities,” said Gorenflo.

Gorenflo’s short introduction was followed by a panel discussion moderated by event co-host Kenn Burrows of SFSU’s Holistic Health Institute. Burrows kicked off the panel by stating that governments and corporations are not solving critical social problems like loneliness. He followed this by asking each panelists what brought them to the topic.

The panel featured Terry Collins, freelance journalist and author of the lead feature story in our series; Carla Perissinotto, M.D., associate professor, Geriatrics Division, University of California San Francisco; Vivian Chavez, Dr.P.H., M.P.H., associate professor, Department of Health Education, SFSU; Marie Applegate, experience designer, Creative Compassion Initiative and Asian Art Museum; and Mazin Mahgoub, founder & executive director, Holistic Underground.

Perissinotto has been researching social isolation and loneliness among older adults. She explores how seniors stay independent and what drives themt nursing homes. “Once you start doing clinical work,” she said, “the things that are described as social problems, leave the realm of physicians. And that was deeply troubling to me. So I dove into some research.”

Chavez spoke about community-based research and it’s advantages over theory. Her research  examines the root causes of a sick society. “This global phenomenon of loneliness and social isolation completely makes sense in a fast-food nation,” she said. “We have created a belief system that people are disposable. Literally, you can delete and swipe and change and shift and move and live in this technological world without really exchanging anything related to the heart.”

“Technology is [like] a knife,” Mahgoub added. “You can use it to cut an avocado or a finger, it’s all about how you use it. What are the underlying values of our culture that are driving us?” he asked. “And how can we base our cultures on values that make belonging and maybe even a sense of purpose right at the center of our culture?”

The panelists discussed how you know you belong, what loneliness looks like, and how understanding our values is critical to how we fit into society. Please watch the full introduction and panel.

After the panel, participants broke into small groups to discuss various facets of the topic in more detail. Chavez lead a group on  the sound of loneliness, Adam Poswolsky hosted a session on Friendship in the Digital Age, and Katrina Zavalney explored reducing social isolation through chance encounters and neighborhood engagement, to name a few.

At the end of the evening, the entire group gathered one last time for a wrap up. Gorenflo invited participants to share what they learned in the breakout sessions. He also asked participants if they were considering actions to reduce loneliness in their lives and communities. Some people mentioned projects they wanted to start such as an “Everybody Wednesday” potluck and open mic event, a soup and story night, and a revival of Messy. Shareable plans to stay in touch with participants to see what actions they take as the main purpose of Shareable’s 2019 event series is to catalyze action.

##

This article is part of our special series on social isolation. Download our free ebook on the series here.

Find all of the articles in the social isolation series here:

• How our loneliness hurts us all, and what we can do about it
• How community involvement can counter our loneliness crisis
• Q&A: How civic governance innovation can increase engagement
• How Citizen University is building an army of civic leaders
• Why we need a change in climate
• How the simple act of sharing a meal is creating community change
• Why countries worldwide are watching how the UK’s newest Minister is handling the loneliness crisis
• How Seoul is confronting its deadly isolation epidemic with sharing
• Can we build non-sexist and non-racist cities?
• How sharing can bring Japan’s elderly and youth together
• Why creating community-led project spaces can ease social isolation
• Can an app cure loneliness and isolation?
• Q&A: Steve King on loneliness, the social side of coworking and the future of work
• 10 innovative projects from around the world that reduce loneliness
• How Libraries of Things build resilience, fight climate change, and bring communities together

The post Event recap: Exploring community solutions to the loneliness epidemic appeared first on Shareable.

Courtney Pankrat: I see that Tipalti made Inc.’s 5,000 fastest growing companies list last year by growing 50%. Congratulations! To what do you credit your rapid development?

Chen Amit: When we started Tipalti, the truth is we weren’t sure how big a business it could be. Our scope was fairly narrow. We were primarily focused on the ad tech sector. Once we added our first crowd / sharing marketplace as a customer, it coincided with the overall growth of the entire “Uber for x” space. More businesses were beginning to adopt multi-sided, sharing economy models and needed a way to pay their partners. In addition to fortifying our platform to also support more traditional, invoice-based payables processes, we knew it was time to leverage what we learned from our core verticals to the entire global payables operation for every company. Focus and growing in areas we knew we could succeed in have been the mainstays to our approach and it’s paid off.

What led you to start Tipalti?

I am an entrepreneur and always have been. After I sold another company, I took some time off and after a few months got the itch to go back into creating something. I reached out to a friend (Oren Zeev – one of the best investors in the world) and asked him that if he comes across something interesting, he should let me know. One of Oren’s portfolio companies was having challenges around payments, and Oren introduced me to that company and to the challenge.

I knew nothing about payments or about those business processes, but the challenge was intriguing, and I decided to try and find a solution. ‏The rest is Tipalti as we know it.

Payments seem like a growing market that would attract competition. Who are your main competitors?

Our main competition is against the status quo of manual effort. Businesses assume that they need to hire people to pay their thousands of partners. A technology solution seemed a luxury, especially if they were just starting out. But when there is a competitive situation, we’re usually in the running because of how much of the partner experience we take over including onboarding, tax compliance, obviously payments, early payments, and reconciliation. Individually, these are not hardships, but when taken as a whole, it’s work no one wants to do.

How would you describe your customer base?

It’s a big mix. I’m not even sure these companies consider themselves “sharing economy” or just online marketplace business models. We have several customers involved in property sharing, business services (marketing on-demand, design on-demand, video or photography on-demand, translation), personal services (same-day delivery, vacationing, travel and tourism), and online resell markets. The one thing they have in common is they’re looking for a seamless partner experience that makes payment complexities a non-issue.

Tell us about a customer you partnered with. What were their operations like before Tipalti, how were they different after Tipalti, and what were the benefits of the change to your partner?

We work with a company called Swing Education who provide on-demand substitute teachers to schools. Their challenge was growth — going from 500 substitute teachers to 3,500. Early on, it was the CEO writing checks every week to each teacher. That’s unsustainable. Your senior leadership is spending their time on something that doesn’t move the business forward. And when their new Head of Finance Melanie Reeves joined, she didn’t want to be burdened by that either. She was excited to be working on more innovative parts of the operation and strategic areas of finance. Through Tipalti, fully integrated with their website and processes, they’ve been able to make single approval and payment runs weekly to 2,000 teachers. They estimate it takes just 5 minutes to complete the process. But beyond time back and a more interesting job to come to work to, the ability to scale was everything. Being able to handle seven times the number of teachers means you can sustain yourself. Your end customer isn’t going to have to worry: “Do they have a provider in our area with our needs?” Imagine you’re the principal and can’t find a substitute, because no one is available. That’s a class that then has to be split into other classes disrupting the entire school day and putting the load on your other teachers. And, it’s all because you didn’t have the platform to handle a larger population.

How does Tipalti accommodate different business models in your diverse mix of customers?

At the end of the day, our core competency is in ensuring the payment to a party lands as expected. Virtually the rest of the experience: communicating with partners, enabling a high level of self-service, enhancing compliance and controls, and simplifying accounting processes require the same amount of attention to detail. If anything, what we’ve been enabling in the sharing economy has also informed the traditional business models that in the past were stuck without an automated digital communication path with their vendors and suppliers.

Why is Tipalti focused on the sharing economy?

Even traditional businesses will not be able to ignore the popularity of crowd-sourced, on-demand services. In the right hands, a sharing economy model is good for everyone, even in the emerging world. We also get a thrill when one of our customers, who we were working with early on, sometimes pre-launch, becomes a recognizable brand.

Why are sharing economy companies attracted to Tipalti?

Sharing economy businesses generally run lean. It’s practically in their nature to optimize and automate every step. It’s also the best way for them to scale and grow. As such, it should go against their DNA to hire someone to do the job of paying hundreds or thousands of partners every month or every week — especially cross-border, international partners — when an automated solution is just there, ready to be deployed. Older sharing economy companies may be stuck with legacy custom bank integrations they’ve built themselves, but those who haven’t should be considering a proven system before trying to build one.

What are the biggest challenges you’re currently facing?

For as well known as we are in certain segments, Tipalti is still unknown. Backend finance and accounting platforms generally aren’t very sexy to talk about. It’s not a major challenge, because everyone agrees it’s necessary and relieves a major pain.

What are Tipalti’s plans for 2019 and beyond?

We’ll continue to add functionality and staff across the board. We’re also making strategic internal choices around our partners and ecosystems. As we’ve grown, we’re getting more attention, including from larger organizations, so there will be more requirements for platform integrations, deeper client enablement programs, and, of course, an unending list of “nice to have” feature requests.

Anything else you’d like to add in closing?

I’m excited that we are part of, and can help sharing economy companies that expand into working with partners in emerging countries. It’s a vital way to elevate people’s stature around the globe. A designer in Vietnam, a developer in Estonia, a photographer in Brazil; they’re the diverse voices and extended human capital that can lift up local economies, while also benefiting the greater economies of the world.

Tipalti is a Shareable sponsor. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The post Q&A with Chen Amit of Tipalti, leader in the sharing economy’s payments space appeared first on Shareable.

“Humans are defined not by our superior hunting ability so much as our capacity to communicate, trust, and share. … Early humans had a strong disposition to cooperate with one another, at great personal cost, even when there could be no expectation of payback in the future. Members of a group who violated the norms of cooperation were punished. Solidarity and community were prized in their own right.”

“The economy needn’t be a war, it can be a commons. … The commons is a conscious implementation of reciprocal altruism. Reciprocal altruists, whether human or ape, reward those who cooperate with others and punish those who defect. A commons works the same way. A resource such as a lake or a field, or a monetary system, is understood as a shared asset. The pastures of medieval England were treated as a commons. It wasn’t a free-for-all, but a carefully negotiated and enforced system. People brought their flocks to graze in mutually agreed-upon schedules. Violation of the rules was punished, either with penalties or exclusion.”

“Human beings are not the problem; we are the solution. … To many of the developers and investors of Silicon Valley, however, humans are not to be emulated or celebrated, but transcended or — at the very least — reengineered. These technologies are so dominated by the values of the digital revolution that they see anything or anyone with different priorities as an impediment. This is a distinctly antihuman position, and it’s driving the development philosophy of the most capitalized companies on the planet.”

“People used to believe in circles. They came to believe in lines.” Rushkoff writes, “We are painfully disconnected from the larger cycles of day, night, moon, and season, making it harder for us to witness or identify with the inspiring renewal all around us. Spirituality has become less of a state of being than yet another goal to attain in the future.”

“The beauty of living in a renaissance moment is that we can retrieve… the approaches, behaviors, and institutions that promote our social coherence. … We’re moving from one understanding of our place in things to another. The Renaissance may have brought us our current renaissance is bringing us from individualism to something else. We’re discovering a collective sensibility that’s more dimensional and participatory than the unconsciously formed communities of the past. We had to pass through this stage of individualism in order to get there.”

As Rushkoff told Shareable, “there’s still time to think before we hit the switch and automate ourselves out of existence… and forge solidarity with the others who understand that being human is team sport.”

To learn more about the manifesto, join us at Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, California on Jan. 28, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. for a discussion between Rushkoff,  IFTF executive director Marina Gorbis, and Shareable executive director, Neal Gorenflo. To open the discussion, Rushkoff will give a short talk exploring this agenda and “invite us to remake society toward human ends rather than the end of humans.”

The post 5 Shareable excerpts from Douglas Rushkoff’s new book ‘Team Human’ appeared first on Shareable.