There are three activities that I'm most keen to develop further as a contribution towards Community Development:
1) Sharing what we own
2) Developing Mutual Support Systems through Timebank Brokerage (Focussed Networks of Time Exchanges that build Social Justice).
3) Building a comprehensive Community Justice System (so that no grievance is left over; everyone knowing how to get support to process any dispute or conflict.)
A brief film from me on Sharing:
A brief film from someone in America I've never met about Timebanking:
Summary of the 6 types of Vision I've put out for St Leonards (& Hastings):
Now here's an interview of an influential friend made in 2010, Dominic Barter (visiting from Brazil) about the "Radical Efficiency" of his way of working with community justice, which seems to predict OCCUPY etc:
At the close of this video (from 7 minutes and 53 seconds in), Dominic asks the key questions that promote engagement in vital dialogues as a pro-active considered choice rather than a reaction to what's going on that is taken on the hoof:
How can we create communities which are resilient enough, robust enough, to deal with this [period] of intense transition that we are in on almost every front:
But also huge coming social transitions
WE WILL BE MAKING DECISIONS
WE WILL BE RETURNING TO TOWN SQUARES
WE WILL BE RE-OPENING PUBLIC DIALOGUE ; if not because of the exciting potential that that gives us for democracy, then simply because the kinds of situation that we are increasingly confronting demand that of us.
So I would like us to learn to get more and more skilful about:
(The link to the film is http://youtu.be/GtFsOBt81y0)
Does anyone want to join me in filming more in this series about (Hastings &) St Leonards being the place we know with the highest quality of life at the lowest cost of living & CAMPAIGNING TO PROTECT THAT FROM INITIATIVES WHICH RAISE THE COST OF LIVING AND FALSELY RAISE THE VALUE OF OUR PROPERTIES. ('Funny Money' is unsustainable and taints us with the 'greed' of which we accuse others).
Sadly, there are Council led initiatives which threaten the low cost of living here. This is part of a questionable regeneration strategy risking generating only another Brightonesque "London by the Sea"?
This film is the first in the new CAMPAIGNING series: "The Cost of Living in St Leonards):
(The link to the film is http://youtu.be/ceXVYSa2Qpg)
To complete this background information by providing the two pages about freelender.org, Edmund Johnson & I in "The Moneyless Man" by Mark Boyle (being published in 16 languages, I'm told:
(www.youtube.com/v/TJy7Vb8efSg)
Here's "The Moneyless Man"; demonstrating that humans don't need money to meet their needs; money is a strategy (not a universal need) & MONEY OFTEN HAS A HIGHER COST THAN FORMS OF TRADING THAT BUILD MORE TRUST, COMMUNITY & GENEROSITY:
(The link to the film is http://youtu.be/-PuyYVVVkIM)
****************************************************************************************
St Leonards Sharing Consortium has all these members so far, and welcomes new organisational members to provide mutual support for fulfilling the consortium objectives as listed here.
One of the partners in delivering change in St Leonards is the Centre for Peaceful Solutions in London, headed by Maria Arpa:
Maria on TV:
Maria in the Centre for Peaceful Solutions Charity Shop, 18, Chamberlyne Rd, Brent, London:
(The shop website that I set up for CPS as part of the St Leonards Sharing Timebank's work is www.ps-shop.org)
Here's Maria after a training event she did in St Leonards:
Here's the chair of the Pier Trust, Ray Chapman, after that 2 day training:
(NB for the next 2 day training -probably October 2012- please follow the "Ethical Outings in Hastings" blog)
And from April 2010, here's Maria talking about the relative importance of my various Community Development projects -crucially www.freelender.org - and how the Centre for Peaceful Solutions is working innovatively in also generating the skills for the well-being of communities, skills to be held by all, rather than put in the hands only of professionals:
****************************************************************************************
"The cost of living in St Leonards -Part 2":
(The link to the film is http://youtu.be/s9u7jDlv-jA)
"The cost of living in St Leonards -Part 3":
(The link to the film is http://youtu.be/http://youtu.be/2TPM2Hyn_HM)
And as a bonus video to the two above, here's a quick perspective on "Impoverished Artists in Hastings and St Leonards":
http://youtu.be/blrCpzRMddg
**********************************************************************************
I do much of my work on facebook; the stages of my best work being
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRqu3xaeluM&feature=youtube_gdata_player)
Below are the links to websites & organisations related to these activities and with which I am, or have been, associated:
To see a glimpse of the ideas of how “Sharing what we own” might develop, see www.streetbank.com, www.freelender.org, www.freelenders.blogspot.com
For “Creative Timebank Brokerage”, example websites are www.timebanking.org www.stleonardssharing.info www.east-sussex-veg-people.blogspot.com www.ethicaloutings.blogspot.com
& Here's part of an interview I made with Sarah Bird from Timebanking UK which shows, amongst other things, that Timebank volunteering has been recognised as taking the pressure off the council Home Repair Service:
(The full interview is available on YouTube channel Toothpaste007 at http://youtu.be/yh1gVBx9aKk)
For “Building a Community Justice System”, prototype websites include www.peoplesjustice.org.uk & www.restorativetechnology.blogspot.com (based on winning the Social Innovation Camp 2010 -”the web idea most likely to reduce youth offending and youth custody” & www.apologyplus.org.uk (earlier foundation work from 2006).
For “Door-knocking as a Team-Building Occupation”, my inspiration comes from work which I did whilst employed by www.karuna.org The “two-step” fundraising model they use has great potential as I see it to be applied to increasing our connections with our neighbours. (More background on the skills, ethics and integrity required in the kind of door-knocking that opens hearts available on request; this is what in my opinion Community Development Work could benefit from greatly …..)
And now for the Walking Buddhas of Hastings, St Leonards & making this the place of grand sculpture in SE England?
(http://www.youtube.com/v/ZoAURxQK9dw)
And here's the Walking Buddha Statue being replicated as part of the re-positioning of Hastings & St Leonards in the new cultural and economic world order:
And...,
To say a little more, as a Community Development worker, four things that I'm particularly troubled by in the UK are:
1) "An English man's home is his castle" property protection mentality
2) Mass (individualised) Consumption rather than collective ownership eg How much easier it is for people to purchase stuff than to use the Internet to find the same stuff being shared.
3) That nonviolence is not deeply understood as a life-course.
4) That the vision of community is often so limited by all of the above -AND MORE
THESE ARE SOME OF THE REASONS WHY I WISH TO DRAW ON MY DEEPEST EXPERIENCES OF COMMUNITY which I have found in Indian Ambedkarite Buddhists. The Normans coming out of the sea may be more relevant to Hastings' past. I'm not the person to advance that project. Rather I'm wanting to work on agendas such as the "cities of sanctuary" project to build a healthier approach to immigration. We have so much to learn from my friends in India, particularly "how to live better for less". "how to live better for less" is also St Leonards' unique selling point. This is partly the basis on which I'm inviting Amber Rudd (MP), Jeremy Birch (leader of the council) and Kim Forward (Mayor) to a meeting to discuss how government, local and national, can best support sharing of cars, houses etc and what social policies, cultural links and arts will best position Hastings & St Leonards as a resilient, well-connected place in the face of the coming new world order?
The process said to be necessary to build any community with any depth:
The Stakeholder Analysis in relation to Hastings Pier:
LINKS THAT CAN BE FOLLOWED UP ACCORDING TO WHAT AREA OF COMMUNITY YOU WANT TO BE INVOLVED IN DEVELOPING OR MAINTAINING:
12 videos to give a flavour of the range:
Rough & Smooth Paul
Paul Crosland's tweets (Twitter account /paulcrosland)
Nagaloka Dream Cycle
Hastings Sangha Blog - the start of an attempt to
link Buddhists
I want your advice - the Lands End to John O'Groats 'outing'
Hastings Justice (NB IF YOU WANT BETTER JUSTICE, please JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP OF THE SAME NAME'
"St Leonards Sharing" Timebank (with outreach work in the name - Brighton (Triratna) Timebank
The 'Man of Many Shirts' (on the Sussex Community Blog)
The 'Imperfect Idealist'
'Lend It All Man'
The Freelenders Blog
The Freelender Community
Restorative Justice
Restorative Technology Ltd
Mediation Support Ltd
The Centre for Peaceful
Solutions
Action for Happiness
Hastings & St Leonard's Action for Happiness
The "What Kind of Water are You?" Blog
In preparation for the Paul Crosland 'Obituary'
Hastings Observer pieces:
June 2011 -"We need to act if we want justice"
June 2011 -"Group aims to get Hastings smiling again"
September 30th 2011 -"Talks to mark the anniversary
AGAIN:
If you are interested in developing any (or all) of the above areas of work, please drop me an email via the Mediation Support contact form Please reflect first on what you'd like to happen next to further your interests & your care for the well-being of your local community.
1) Sharing what we own
2) Developing Mutual Support Systems through Timebank Brokerage (Focussed Networks of Time Exchanges that build Social Justice).
3) Building a comprehensive Community Justice System (so that no grievance is left over; everyone knowing how to get support to process any dispute or conflict.)
A brief film from me on Sharing:
A brief film from someone in America I've never met about Timebanking:
Summary of the 6 types of Vision I've put out for St Leonards (& Hastings):
Now here's an interview of an influential friend made in 2010, Dominic Barter (visiting from Brazil) about the "Radical Efficiency" of his way of working with community justice, which seems to predict OCCUPY etc:
At the close of this video (from 7 minutes and 53 seconds in), Dominic asks the key questions that promote engagement in vital dialogues as a pro-active considered choice rather than a reaction to what's going on that is taken on the hoof:
How can we create communities which are resilient enough, robust enough, to deal with this [period] of intense transition that we are in on almost every front:
- transition in relationships
- transition in parenting
- transition in education
But also huge coming social transitions
- with the way we distribute resources
- with the way that we deal with the consequences of massive climate transformation
- with the way in which we deal with the increasingly volatile economic situations
WE WILL BE MAKING DECISIONS
WE WILL BE RETURNING TO TOWN SQUARES
WE WILL BE RE-OPENING PUBLIC DIALOGUE ; if not because of the exciting potential that that gives us for democracy, then simply because the kinds of situation that we are increasingly confronting demand that of us.
So I would like us to learn to get more and more skilful about:
- How do we create social dialogue?
- How do we create procedures which support social dialogue?
- How do we create outcomes from that process which (actually) effectively meet fundamental human needs?
(The link to the film is http://youtu.be/GtFsOBt81y0)
Does anyone want to join me in filming more in this series about (Hastings &) St Leonards being the place we know with the highest quality of life at the lowest cost of living & CAMPAIGNING TO PROTECT THAT FROM INITIATIVES WHICH RAISE THE COST OF LIVING AND FALSELY RAISE THE VALUE OF OUR PROPERTIES. ('Funny Money' is unsustainable and taints us with the 'greed' of which we accuse others).
Sadly, there are Council led initiatives which threaten the low cost of living here. This is part of a questionable regeneration strategy risking generating only another Brightonesque "London by the Sea"?
This film is the first in the new CAMPAIGNING series: "The Cost of Living in St Leonards):
(The link to the film is http://youtu.be/ceXVYSa2Qpg)
To complete this background information by providing the two pages about freelender.org, Edmund Johnson & I in "The Moneyless Man" by Mark Boyle (being published in 16 languages, I'm told:
(www.youtube.com/v/TJy7Vb8efSg)
Here's "The Moneyless Man"; demonstrating that humans don't need money to meet their needs; money is a strategy (not a universal need) & MONEY OFTEN HAS A HIGHER COST THAN FORMS OF TRADING THAT BUILD MORE TRUST, COMMUNITY & GENEROSITY:
(The link to the film is http://youtu.be/-PuyYVVVkIM)
****************************************************************************************
St Leonards Sharing Consortium has all these members so far, and welcomes new organisational members to provide mutual support for fulfilling the consortium objectives as listed here.
One of the partners in delivering change in St Leonards is the Centre for Peaceful Solutions in London, headed by Maria Arpa:
Maria on TV:
Maria in the Centre for Peaceful Solutions Charity Shop, 18, Chamberlyne Rd, Brent, London:
(The shop website that I set up for CPS as part of the St Leonards Sharing Timebank's work is www.ps-shop.org)
Here's Maria after a training event she did in St Leonards:
Here's the chair of the Pier Trust, Ray Chapman, after that 2 day training:
(NB for the next 2 day training -probably October 2012- please follow the "Ethical Outings in Hastings" blog)
And from April 2010, here's Maria talking about the relative importance of my various Community Development projects -crucially www.freelender.org - and how the Centre for Peaceful Solutions is working innovatively in also generating the skills for the well-being of communities, skills to be held by all, rather than put in the hands only of professionals:
****************************************************************************************
"The cost of living in St Leonards -Part 2":
(The link to the film is http://youtu.be/s9u7jDlv-jA)
"The cost of living in St Leonards -Part 3":
(The link to the film is http://youtu.be/http://youtu.be/2TPM2Hyn_HM)
And as a bonus video to the two above, here's a quick perspective on "Impoverished Artists in Hastings and St Leonards":
http://youtu.be/blrCpzRMddg
**********************************************************************************
I do much of my work on facebook; the stages of my best work being
- Dreaming and Visioning
- Planning
- Networking & Doing,
- Reviewing
One organisation that supports me in doing much of my work is the company I set up after being "Head of Restorative Justice" for 5 years at Mediation UK -the national charity which used to exist to represent and support community mediation services. The company is called Mediation Support Ltd. If you are interested in developing any of the above areas of work, please drop me an email via the Mediation Support contact form which clearly states what you'd like to happen next to further your interests.
Another structure that (alongside co-director Edmund Johnson) is being offered to communities in East Sussex and beyond is the Community Interest Company (a bit like a charity but easier to run) that we set up in 2008 and whose work has been hailed both by the leading UK Sustainability Think Tank, Forum for the Future, and within one of the seminal "transition books" of our era: "The Moneyless Man" by (out-there) Mark Boyle. The Community Interest Company that you are invited to apply to co-direct is currently called Freelending CIC. One of the fun spin-off of this work in developing how communities can share more (eg tools, clothes, cars, beachhuts, DVDs, conversations) and build-trust is the creation of the "Lend-It-All Man" persona:
Another structure that (alongside co-director Edmund Johnson) is being offered to communities in East Sussex and beyond is the Community Interest Company (a bit like a charity but easier to run) that we set up in 2008 and whose work has been hailed both by the leading UK Sustainability Think Tank, Forum for the Future, and within one of the seminal "transition books" of our era: "The Moneyless Man" by (out-there) Mark Boyle. The Community Interest Company that you are invited to apply to co-direct is currently called Freelending CIC. One of the fun spin-off of this work in developing how communities can share more (eg tools, clothes, cars, beachhuts, DVDs, conversations) and build-trust is the creation of the "Lend-It-All Man" persona:
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRqu3xaeluM&feature=youtube_gdata_player)
Below are the links to websites & organisations related to these activities and with which I am, or have been, associated:
To see a glimpse of the ideas of how “Sharing what we own” might develop, see www.streetbank.com, www.freelender.org, www.freelenders.blogspot.com
For “Creative Timebank Brokerage”, example websites are www.timebanking.org www.stleonardssharing.info www.east-sussex-veg-people.blogspot.com www.ethicaloutings.blogspot.com
& Here's part of an interview I made with Sarah Bird from Timebanking UK which shows, amongst other things, that Timebank volunteering has been recognised as taking the pressure off the council Home Repair Service:
(The full interview is available on YouTube channel Toothpaste007 at http://youtu.be/yh1gVBx9aKk)
For “Building a Community Justice System”, prototype websites include www.peoplesjustice.org.uk & www.restorativetechnology.blogspot.com (based on winning the Social Innovation Camp 2010 -”the web idea most likely to reduce youth offending and youth custody” & www.apologyplus.org.uk (earlier foundation work from 2006).
For “Door-knocking as a Team-Building Occupation”, my inspiration comes from work which I did whilst employed by www.karuna.org The “two-step” fundraising model they use has great potential as I see it to be applied to increasing our connections with our neighbours. (More background on the skills, ethics and integrity required in the kind of door-knocking that opens hearts available on request; this is what in my opinion Community Development Work could benefit from greatly …..)
And now for the Walking Buddhas of Hastings, St Leonards & making this the place of grand sculpture in SE England?
(http://www.youtube.com/v/ZoAURxQK9dw)
And here's the Walking Buddha Statue being replicated as part of the re-positioning of Hastings & St Leonards in the new cultural and economic world order:
There are three activities that I'm most keen to develop further as a contribution towards Community Development:
Though I haven't yet inspired a St Leonards team to knock-on doors for the sake of the development of our community, I sense that this possibility is getting nearer after the 2012 St Leonards Community Planning meetings began. Below I'm with Erica Smith of the Hastings Network and with Jeremy Birch, the leader of Hastings Borough Council:
(The link to the film is http://youtu.be/GtFsOBt81y0)
Below are the links to websites & organisations related to these activities and with which I am, or have been, associated:
To see a glimpse of the ideas of how “Sharing what we own” might develop, see www.streetbank.com, www.freelender.org, www.freelenders.blogspot.com
For “Building a Community Justice System”, prototype websites include www.peoplesjustice.org.uk & www.restorativetechnology.blogspot.com (based on winning the Social Innovation Camp 2010 -”the web idea most likely to reduce youth offending and youth custody” & www.apologyplus.org.uk (earlier foundation work from 2006).
AGAIN:
If you are interested in developing any (or all) of the above areas of work, please drop me an email via the Mediation Support contact form Please reflect first on what you'd like to happen next to further your interests & your care for the well-being of your local community.
+++++++++++++++++++++Though I haven't yet inspired a St Leonards team to knock-on doors for the sake of the development of our community, I sense that this possibility is getting nearer after the 2012 St Leonards Community Planning meetings began. Below I'm with Erica Smith of the Hastings Network and with Jeremy Birch, the leader of Hastings Borough Council:
(The link to the film is http://youtu.be/GtFsOBt81y0)
Below are the links to websites & organisations related to these activities and with which I am, or have been, associated:
To see a glimpse of the ideas of how “Sharing what we own” might develop, see www.streetbank.com, www.freelender.org, www.freelenders.blogspot.com
For “Building a Community Justice System”, prototype websites include www.peoplesjustice.org.uk & www.restorativetechnology.blogspot.com (based on winning the Social Innovation Camp 2010 -”the web idea most likely to reduce youth offending and youth custody” & www.apologyplus.org.uk (earlier foundation work from 2006).
AGAIN:
If you are interested in developing any (or all) of the above areas of work, please drop me an email via the Mediation Support contact form Please reflect first on what you'd like to happen next to further your interests & your care for the well-being of your local community.
And...,
To say a little more, as a Community Development worker, four things that I'm particularly troubled by in the UK are:
1) "An English man's home is his castle" property protection mentality
2) Mass (individualised) Consumption rather than collective ownership eg How much easier it is for people to purchase stuff than to use the Internet to find the same stuff being shared.
3) That nonviolence is not deeply understood as a life-course.
4) That the vision of community is often so limited by all of the above -AND MORE
THESE ARE SOME OF THE REASONS WHY I WISH TO DRAW ON MY DEEPEST EXPERIENCES OF COMMUNITY which I have found in Indian Ambedkarite Buddhists. The Normans coming out of the sea may be more relevant to Hastings' past. I'm not the person to advance that project. Rather I'm wanting to work on agendas such as the "cities of sanctuary" project to build a healthier approach to immigration. We have so much to learn from my friends in India, particularly "how to live better for less". "how to live better for less" is also St Leonards' unique selling point. This is partly the basis on which I'm inviting Amber Rudd (MP), Jeremy Birch (leader of the council) and Kim Forward (Mayor) to a meeting to discuss how government, local and national, can best support sharing of cars, houses etc and what social policies, cultural links and arts will best position Hastings & St Leonards as a resilient, well-connected place in the face of the coming new world order?
The process said to be necessary to build any community with any depth:
The Stakeholder Analysis in relation to Hastings Pier:
LINKS THAT CAN BE FOLLOWED UP ACCORDING TO WHAT AREA OF COMMUNITY YOU WANT TO BE INVOLVED IN DEVELOPING OR MAINTAINING:
12 videos to give a flavour of the range:
Rough & Smooth Paul
Paul Crosland's tweets (Twitter account /paulcrosland)
Nagaloka Dream Cycle
Hastings Sangha Blog - the start of an attempt to
link Buddhists
I want your advice - the Lands End to John O'Groats 'outing'
Hastings Justice (NB IF YOU WANT BETTER JUSTICE, please JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP OF THE SAME NAME'
"St Leonards Sharing" Timebank (with outreach work in the name - Brighton (Triratna) Timebank
The 'Man of Many Shirts' (on the Sussex Community Blog)
The 'Imperfect Idealist'
'Lend It All Man'
The Freelenders Blog
The Freelender Community
Restorative Justice
Restorative Technology Ltd
Mediation Support Ltd
The Centre for Peaceful
Solutions
Action for Happiness
Hastings & St Leonard's Action for Happiness
The "What Kind of Water are You?" Blog
In preparation for the Paul Crosland 'Obituary'
Hastings Observer pieces:
June 2011 -"We need to act if we want justice"
June 2011 -"Group aims to get Hastings smiling again"
September 30th 2011 -"Talks to mark the anniversary
AGAIN:
If you are interested in developing any (or all) of the above areas of work, please drop me an email via the Mediation Support contact form Please reflect first on what you'd like to happen next to further your interests & your care for the well-being of your local community.
At the close of this video (from 7 minutes and 53 seconds in), Dominic asks the key questions that promote engagement in vital dialogues as a pro-active considered choice rather than a reaction to what's going on that is taken on the hoof:
How can we create communities which are resilient enough, robust enough, to deal with this [period] of intense transition that we are in on almost every front:
- transition in relationships
- transition in parenting
- transition in education
But also huge coming social transitions
- with the way we distribute resources
- with the way that we deal with the consequences of massive climate transformation
- with the way in which we deal with the increasingly volatile economic situations
WE WILL BE MAKING DECISIONS
WE WILL BE RETURNING TO TOWN SQUARES
WE WILL BE RE-OPENING PUBLIC DIALOGUE ; if not because of the exciting potential that that gives us for democracy, then simply because the kinds of situation that we are increasingly confronting demand that of us.
So I would like us to learn to get more and more skilful about:
- How do we create social dialogue?
- How do we create procedures which support social dialogue?
- How do we create outcomes from that process which (actually) effectively meet fundamental human needs?
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