Living Web

Living Web - Free thriving resilient Groups

 LivingWeb

 

 

Premises

•We keep our sanity when we are in connection with others who share some basic premises while offering helpful resonance. 

•In times of crisis groups can turn into spaces where people offer and experience help, in manifold ways. When markets and the state may no longer work for us, when family and neighborhood are somehow not available, these groups emerge as spaces we get needed support. 

•Many groups are working wonderfully well over many years. Some groups falter when the founding person no longer holds the threads together or when tensions shop up. 

•Other groups cannot unfold their solidarity potential because communication is centralized. 

•Some groups run into walls when it becomes apparent that they do not “belong to themselves”, but that an organization or a person “owns” them. 

•Other groups have many regulations that take energy away from the original purpose of the group. 

 

The Idea of a Living Web

•Enabling a basic set of rules that enableparticipative decision making without paralysis, 

•sharing the burden of holding the group 

•direct communication when needed,a resilient governance that is as simple as possible and that can be adapted to fit the needs of the purpose and the members 

•support from other groups when needed. 

 

For whom?

•Existing groups with the wish to exchange with others, to get support, to find more participatory self-organizing ways to organize etc. 

•People who want to set up a group in a new way. 

•local / regional / global 

•Maybe the members are virtually connected across the globe, with “life” happening digitally 

•maybe they are regionally connected and meet again and again, 

•and maybe the group is connected locally and digital communication is just for coordination while “life” happens when people meet in person. 

•special case: you are a legal body already (a club / "Verein" / ...) and want to continue as a group, but find the legal body too cumbersome: we will develop a process to enable the transition - pls get in contact

 

5+1 Aspects of Groups

1.Being Together: Sharing time and stories. 

2.Learning Together: Building knowledge and capacity. 

3.Growing Together: Enabling personal development. 

4.Impacting Together: Supporting societal development. 

5.Supporting Each Other: Handling difficult situations together. 

6.+1 - What is missing? Maybe your group embodies another Aspect? 

 

How it works: The 3 Rs

Roles

•Each group has at least 3 roles, with several functions, to enable purpose, coherence, and smooth functioning. 

•This way the burden is shared and the group is resilient. Avoid that one person holds many roles for long. 

•You can adapt the roles, have special functions as separate roles 

1.Steward (in the first phase) resp. the Host after that, 

 •enabling purpose and coherence, steers the unit 

 •Linking the group with other groups in the hub 

2.Facilitator 

 •Enabling purposeful meetings 

 •Ensuring information flows effectively 

 •Ensuring processes are respected – whatever the group defined

3. Connector 

 •Onboarding new members, so they can orient themselves and become part of the “We” 

•Intervening when tension come up: Solving issues, strengthening ties, learning as a whole 

Rhythms

•In the first year the Steward holds more responsibility and decision power, until the group takes shape; after that the roles morphs into a “Host” role. 

•yearly cycles: Have one Update Meeting each year to update purpose, processes and roles. 

Relations

•Enabling connections within the group - choose a messenger app that works for all •we recommend Signal as a default, •but maybe you want to go for another free tool like Telegram or Element 

•maybe another tool is already widespread: (Facebook Messenger, Whatapp?) 

•maybe you want to use a platform for deeper exchange?  We recommend Hylo.com (or Pumble, Discord, ...) 

•Enabling mutual exchange and support with other groups: The Steward / Host connects with others groups via a “hub”; Here your group can exchange experiences and gets support if needed. 

 

Modules: optional add-ons groups can integrate into their constitution

•adding the dimension of solidarity 

•microfinance solidarity 

 

recommended practices

•yearly update meeting (updating purpose, constitution, filling roles), using template 

•concent decision making (to be developed) 

•practices that enable trust (to be developed) 

•practices to deepen the "aspects" a group wants to embody (to be developed) 

•Yearly circling: What is a good life now? What is a good life in the future? (to be developed) 

•processes how to handle tensions / conflicts, until handling people who ware perceived as bullies (to be developed) 

 

background reading (to be developed)

•Starfish and Spider, Microsolidarity, etc 

•explaining idea behind "free", "thriving" and "resilient" 

•explaining assumptions about weakening markets and states 

•concept of source 

•venn diagram with target groups 

•importance of maturity within the 3 roles 

•no theory elsewhere 

 

Limits

•The Living Web works well for groups with small groups. If you are a group with property, employed people, complex legal structures you need other forms of resilience structures.

•Get in contact if you have ideas how we could establish something like the Living Web for organizations!

 

Assumptions

•about living groups: living groups have a purpose that includes the members of the group (needs for purpose, self-efficacy, community, joy) AND goes beyond the group (a contribution to a "better world") 

•about the world: we may come into a time when solidarity between people beyond market and state becomes more important 

•about individual wellbeing and resilience: as a rule of thumb: we recommend that people have a mininum of 3 groups they identify with, with the potential to turn into circles of solidarity when needed 

 

More Information

•How to connect with a hub? 

•Are there templates for Update Meetings? 

•How do hubs work? How are they connected? 

•Pls connect with Bernhard Possert Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein. to give feedback and to co-create. 

 

→ Next Steps Bernhard

•clarify concept 

•how groups connect with other groups / join a hub (if possible local / otherwise topic / otherwise aspect); establish digital way to do that (stick to Google Forms?) 

•design experiments 

•set up board of advisors 

•establish small publication 

 •"Manifesto" 

 •including visualisation of 5+1 Aspects, 3 Roles, etc) 

 •examples (traditional / modern / postmodern) 

•invite stewards 

•invite others for experiments / offer support (1:1 / groups) 

•design mid-term digital autonomous support structure 

•integrate into the NGL approach 

•establishing a Living Web learning journey (via NGL Company) 

•invite via microsolidarity, great simplification, tiefe anpassung and other platforms 

 

future developments

•setting up a Living Web Chatbot 

 •finding a group 

 •matching groups 

 •filling out the template  

 

 

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older material: 

Documents:
Living Web Introduction: https://leo.it.tab.digital/s/r7tNPpnK78C2W2Y 
Living Web Einführung: https://leo.it.tab.digital/s/K4w4FeWWq2cQd6x  

Forms and results:
(all results can be commented - pls use this right with care; for recommendations pls use the designated form)


Hub 0
Hub 0 is a Hub that is always accepting cells that do not find another Hub; it is not a Hub to stay until the cell finds a better hub fitting to their needs.

 

Inspiring Resources:

 

To be developed:

  • Templates for Living Web Map – Cell and Hub
  • Examples of Living Web Maps – especially Essence