An Ingenious Way to Financially Bootstrap a Resilient Community
Here's Marcin, a farmer scientist (not many left).In this video (click the link above if you can't see it embedded below), Marcin used Kicksarter to ask for $40,000 in support of his global village construction set project. Fortunately, he was successful and raised over $63,000.If you haven't heard of it before, the construction set project is a do-it-yourself lab/facility based on Marcin's farm in Mayesville Missouri. The lab/facility is developing open source designs for many commonly used industrial, construction, and farming tools (from a tractor to a brick maker to hydraulic system).
Basically, this kit is supposed to make it easier to bootstrap resilient community. How do they plan to finance themselves long term? They plan to eventually make money by selling finished tools to people that don't want to construct them DIY (lots of businesses operate this way).This project shows that it is possible to get meaningful funding for projects that matter.
Is this a Backdoor Way to Financially Bootstrap a Resilient Community?
I've featured Marcin's work on Global Guerrillas many times before, as a great example of open source innovation in hardware. However, with this successful crowdfunding effort, he's taken it to the next level: they are using the funding to build a fabrication facility and 10 living units (for people working on the project) on their farm in Missouri. With the addition of a fabrication facility and living units, this project is starting to sound like something even more ambitious. A way to financially bootstrap the construction of a resilient community in Missouri. A resilient community that feeds itself, produces its own energy, and makes products (that it share/sell globally via the Internet). A resilient community that helps other resilient communities get off the ground. Nice.
I'm not saying that Marcin's approach to building a resilient community is the only way, the best way, or the one I would choose. However, he is doing it and appears to be successful. How much more can you ask for. Remember, there are LOTS of ways to build resilient communities. Here are the top three:
Here's Marcin, a farmer scientist (not many left).In this video (click the link above if you can't see it embedded below), Marcin used Kicksarter to ask for $40,000 in support of his global village construction set project. Fortunately, he was successful and raised over $63,000.If you haven't heard of it before, the construction set project is a do-it-yourself lab/facility based on Marcin's farm in Mayesville Missouri. The lab/facility is developing open source designs for many commonly used industrial, construction, and farming tools (from a tractor to a brick maker to hydraulic system).
Basically, this kit is supposed to make it easier to bootstrap resilient community. How do they plan to finance themselves long term? They plan to eventually make money by selling finished tools to people that don't want to construct them DIY (lots of businesses operate this way).This project shows that it is possible to get meaningful funding for projects that matter.
Is this a Backdoor Way to Financially Bootstrap a Resilient Community?
I've featured Marcin's work on Global Guerrillas many times before, as a great example of open source innovation in hardware. However, with this successful crowdfunding effort, he's taken it to the next level: they are using the funding to build a fabrication facility and 10 living units (for people working on the project) on their farm in Missouri. With the addition of a fabrication facility and living units, this project is starting to sound like something even more ambitious. A way to financially bootstrap the construction of a resilient community in Missouri. A resilient community that feeds itself, produces its own energy, and makes products (that it share/sell globally via the Internet). A resilient community that helps other resilient communities get off the ground. Nice.
I'm not saying that Marcin's approach to building a resilient community is the only way, the best way, or the one I would choose. However, he is doing it and appears to be successful. How much more can you ask for. Remember, there are LOTS of ways to build resilient communities. Here are the top three:
- Retrofit/transition an existing community to resilience.
- Bootstrap one from scratch on a decently sized parcel of land.
- Develop/build one that people can buy into.
Posted by John Robb on Saturday, 03 December 2011 at 09:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
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