CAN Update

Thanks @Maria for the update. As you say, I brought up the idea of a virtual CAN, using a fictitious town or borough that Drew Mackie and I have developed, called Slipham. You'll see from this page https://networkedcity.london/livinglab that we have used Slipham as the basis for a wide range of workshops. We have a set of characters and organisations, with maps of the place and its connections.

We could easily build on this content, collaboratively, to create the context for developing the Slipham CAN.

We might do that in parallel with, and linked to discussion about building "real" CANs in Plymouth, Stoke and elsewhere.

We could use Slipham as a way to workshop through how to address various challenges. The advantage of using a fictitious location is anyone can join in. You don't need local knowledge, and don't get stuck by the real-world historic blockages inevitable in any community. It's a good place to invent afresh.

When fully developed, a Slipham game would complement and support the toolbox that you envisage.

Does that appeal to anyone? If so, I check in with my colleague Drew and come back with more thoughts on how we might proceed.

I'm not suggesting this as replacement for any other discussions. It could add some creative fun.

I'm completely up for that David. People have such busy lives and are so weighed down with the news media, it's hard to imagine an alternative to the current structures. This could be a design team / prototyping space where we invite those struggling to develop cans to test some of the ideas.The core issue for me is 1) how to attract people into CANs 2) how to cause collaboration. However both of those rest on developing their soft power - the story about what is going on that invites people into relationship

Thanks so much Indra for that encouragement. I’ll pull together more from our past work to share. Is there any more background on CAN development so far?

David

If you look at the CAN's section on the AUK site, there are a lot of articles and editorials on and around the subject linked.

Thanks @Indra Adnan and checking in with @Maria - what's the best way to organise a way forward? It looks as if we have:

• Some inspiration articles and video from A/UK, and others, about the CAN model (but not yet any how-tos)

• Experience from Plymouth - and elsewhere - but not yet documented?

• Some people keen to move their local project forward as a CAN

• Offers to help develop materials

• My idea for a virtual CAN/game to play through setting up and running a CAN

• Fortnightly online events
  
  I'm fairly new to A/UK ... so checking out how things are organised. Is there a central team member who would help plan and organise? Or do we pitch ideas, recruit others and self-organise? Just keen to get off in the right way ...
  Thanks again for encouragement!

Great summary David, thanks. AUK is mostly framing (editorials, media) and creating conditions (expanding network of ideas and actors within the theory of change) for emergence so that every town / city / village feels able to self-organise while moving into connection with others. So there is plenty of room for taking leadership on initiatives and ways to accelerate the emergence of the CAN of CANs so to speak : )

Hi all. Before the zoom on Monday, I wanted to share a little about some work I've been progressing on CASwiki. Partly in response to conversations here, I'm adapting our place pages via relatively simple presentational tweaks to hopefully make it easier to see, and perhaps also get a bit of a flavour of the variety of community action that's been happening in different areas. Some examples which might be of interest:
Totnes, Plymouth, Cambridgeshire, Hackney and Oxfordshire. So for example, the Community Action Group Project in Oxfordshire looks to be a thriving existing network.

That looks immense Phil! The question for CANs will be how do we bring the people who do not share our values / mindset together with this agenda?

Hi all, really nice to meet everyone earlier.

So my question towards the end was "What can we offer to people who feel they're just individuals?", so not as advanced as a 'start up', nothing yet to map.

Aware we were nearly out of the time I choose the wrong word ('politically') as shorthand for something different.

So I feel bit like a fish out of water in my community, because so many of the people I meet or know seem to have different values. I get feelings like this because conversations easily get infused by a sense of so many being so in thrall to consumerism and the status they feel they get out of this. And symbols of rampant consumerism such SUVs seemingly everywhere. Coupled with this is a deep sense of powerlessness including amongst those that might be viewed as very affluent.

I'm all for a positive and optimistic outlook about the possibility of CANs, but wary of underestimating the hold consumerism has had and continues to have over us, and the significant lack of genuine, or genuinely valued citizen participation in any part of our democracy, for what seems like a lifetime. I completely agree with Indra that one wouldn't approach conversation about CANs via politics.

Hi Phil "What can we offer to people who feel they're just individuals?" - really good question, since I believe we hope that citizens, and not just established groups, can find ways to make a difference. I've suggested in a post below an exploration, and development of Slipham. Each could be developed with pathways for citizens and groups with varied interests. In Slipham, for example, we would invent some characters and play through some options. Here's examples of use of personas - older people and tech http://bit.ly/2MVcSs9 and tech for community connectors http://bit.ly/2TC7QQg. The methods don't have to be tech, of course.