Dear transformap friends and contributors,
This is the first so-called Community Report. Over the past months, we have
been indeed very bad at making sure the wider Transformap community is well
informed, we are very much aware of that. So first, we would like to
apologize for that. Somehow we didn't allocate someone to take care of such
activity.
So in our learning process, we have decided to aim at a bi-weekly Community
Report that will provide some key updates along three categories: Tech
development, Community development and Project management (this is a
temporary category that is connected to specific financial streams). I
personally will be the one coordinating that report, but support is welcome!
Each community report will be sent on the two mailing lists (check the
recipient of this email) and archived on our forum
<https://discourse.transformap.co/t/community-report-1-31st-march-2016/1011>
where you it may be updated and where are encouraged to ask clarification
questions, give feedback, ideas, etc.
In introduction to this report, we have to bring back a little bit of
context.
Context
In January 2015, the community held a conclave in Potsdam, deciding on a
working structure in circles
<http://blog.14mmm.org/transformap-has-a-working-structure-and-its-wild/>
where consent was the modus operandi for taking decisions.
At about the same time, we learned that our application (attached) to the
EU program CHEST <http://www.chest-project.eu/call-3-winning-projects/>
funding was successful, meaning we would have secured 60 000€ of
co-funding. The two non profits GetActive and EcoBytes being the official
legal bodies to manage that funding. That funding was however delayed due
to a tough legal conflict between the EU Commission and the CHEST
consortium. That funding finally started last October, with the first money
transfer.
In the mean time, we had another community meeting in June 2015 in Munich,
where it was decided, not without tensions, that Josef Kreitmayer and
Michael Maier would proceed in putting together a proposal for the SSEDAS
project („Social & Solidarity Economy as Development Approach for
Sustainability“ ) to setup their mapping platform as a Transformap
prototype (partly at least).
In September, we held a Roadmap workshop at the Solikon Conference
<http://solikon2015.org/en/concept-solikon2015> in Berlin, gathering
community inputs on priorities for the development of our socio-technical
infrastructure.
In the Autumn 2015, a core team composed of Josef Kreitmayer (GetActive)
Gualter Barbas Baptista (EcoBytes), Michael Maier and Jon Richter spent a
lot of time in planning the operationalization of those two project funding
into the Transformap process (note the difference between 'projects' and
'process'). This was, and still is, very complex for various reasons:
technical complexity (this is now partly under control), financial setup
involving two different funding sources and two funding recipients (this is
in the finalization phase), horizontality of the collective clashing with
project managerial constraints (this is still an open tension).
Finally, a hackathon was held with developers (Jon, Gualter, Michael,
Maxime) in Witzenhausen in the first weeks of February to put together the
first blocks of the Transformap API
<https://github.com/TransforMap/data.transformap.co> (an engine that can
take data from one place and put data in another place - a key piece of
infrastructure in other words).
This brings us to the last weeks that are summarized in the section below!
------------------------------
Tech Development API
The API (application program interface) was tested and works! Developers
who would like to use it or fork, it's here:
https://github.com/TransforMap/data.transformap.co
This API is key to further develop the Transformap infrastructure.
[more information on tech development is awaited and will hopefully come in
the next report]
------------------------------
Community Development April Berlin Events
We are convening a VoCamp (Vocabulary Camp) in Berlin this 12th of April to
explore similarities in the vocabularies used by existing mapping
initiatives. Want to participate? Help organize the event? Check the pad
here https://text.allmende.io/p/transformap-2016-april
On 13th of April we celebrate (because it's always good to celebrate!) our
community at the Thinkfarm Berlin: cooking and eating together with a
relaxed evening. Please register here:
https://attending.io/events/celebrating-2-years-of-transformap
Community mapping
While we've failed to inform the historic community, the Transformap
collective at large (visit the Who's who
<https://discourse.transformap.co/c/welcome-on-board/who-is-who> to check
new members) has continued to network and expand, connecting to other
like-minded projects. To get an overview you may check the mind map of the
Transformap community
<https://discourse.transformap.co/t/mapping-the-transformap-ecosystem/970>
- and feel free to collaborate, it's open!
Communecter.org
Our friends at Communecter <https://www.communecter.org> (Tibor) have
launched their city-based platform. This allows you to create projects,
initiative profiles, events, to share news with your neighbours or your
city council, etc. And all this is being developed as a commons: from
software to data! And better: it is built for interoperability! This means
we are part of the same ecosystem and collaboration lies ahead. *You can
support them by chipping in their crowdfunding campaign
<http://www.kisskissbankbank.com/communecter-se-connecter-a-sa-commune>*
(English version to come soon).
SEMEOZ
We've established a good connection with Maia Demireva from France and the
Semeoz non profit. They collect stories of constructive change and in
particular maps. They have gathered over 160 maps
<http://semeoz.info/carte/> in French! There is also a Facebook group
<https://www.facebook.com/groups/cartosemeoz/?fref=ts> to gather those
maps.
Metamaps
Our friends of http://metamaps.cc would need a couple hundred euros to add
an import function that would allow making mind maps from an excel sheet or
a dataset a two click task. In other words a great feature to improve the
whole app and bring in more data, opening the door towards interoperability
one step at a time. We are looking at our current budget to see if we have
enough resources to dedicate a small bounty for the metamaps developers for
that specific feature. *Is that a good idea?*
------------------------------
Project Management
This section is specifically about the management of the CHEST and SSEDAS
funding streams. As a self-organized collective we would have liked never
to have to talk about project management, but constraints attached to such
funding have forced some of us to take that hat (mainly Josef, for
GetActive, and Gualter, for EcoBytes).
We need to make serious thinking about how to better manage money in the
future, to make sure it reinforces the commoning process. For this, WE NEED
YOU! We've started a conversation here:
https://discourse.transformap.co/t/separate-commons-and-commerce-to-make-it…
Check the update from Josef about the recent news connected to the CHEST
and SSEDAS funding management:
https://discourse.transformap.co/t/bi-weekly-community-report/1007/4
If you would like to further understand the current process from the
'project management' perspective, or in other words, where the money goes,
you can have a look at the budget. It's for the moment still hard to
navigate. Soon will come a better version. We'll keep you updated about
that! Link to budget:
https://discourse.transformap.co/t/chest-ssedas-combined-budget-proposal/850
Deliverables of the CHEST funding are in the application (attached).
------------------------------
Looking forward to the next steps of this adventure!
All the best,
--
Adrien Labaeye
+49 176 3810 8605 | Skype ID: adrien.labaeye | Twitter: @alabaeye |
transitionlab.de
c/o Thinkfarm Berlin | Oranienstraße 183 | 10999 Berlin | (3. Hof, Aufgang
C, 3. OG)
http://berlin.thinkfarm.de/
Dear TransforMap friends/contributors,
Hard to keep track of what's going on?
As a first step, I prepared a map of the TransforMap ecosystem
<https://metamaps.cc/maps/1938> (social graph) for all of us to increase
our collective awareness. I have used information that I could find on
our Who's
who on our forum
<https://discourse.transformap.co/c/welcome-on-board/who-is-who>.
It is not complete though and *all of us with relevant information are
invited to contribute*: e.g. add organizations/networks that don't appear
on the map, add the components being developed, add profile information
(link to twitter account...).
If you're not on the map, but would like to appear on that map, there are
two ways: add yourself to the Who's who
<https://discourse.transformap.co/c/welcome-on-board/who-is-who>and/or add
yourself to the metamap <https://metamaps.cc/maps/1938>(both action will
require a login).
If you're really allergic to any of those platforms, send me an email and
I'll add you on the map (not on the forum though).
Kind regards,
--
Adrien Labaeye
+49 176 3810 8605 | Skype ID: adrien.labaeye | Twitter: @alabaeye |
transitionlab.de
c/o Thinkfarm Berlin | Oranienstraße 183 | 10999 Berlin | (3. Hof, Aufgang
C, 3. OG)
http://berlin.thinkfarm.de/
