Upgrading Democracy: Join the journey!
As you may have read in our many blogposts over the past months, I and a brilliant team of crazy people have come to the conclusion that 1) Our current democratic systems are not as effective as they can be, and 2) we really need to do something to rectify this, but we cannot do this coming from the same mindset which created the current democratic systems. We therefore aim, over the next years, to Upgrade Democracy by using a cutting edge methodology called Theory U which combines Systems Thinking, Mindfulness, and Design Thinking to use all our intelligences (mind, heart and body) to create innovative solutions to old problems. We would love for you to join our “extended team” to make this a reality.
In the next 5 months (from January to May 2019), we will be taking part in the Societal Transformation Lab (STL) run by the Presencing Institute (The institute from MIT which develops courses and tools around Theory U). The STL will be a “A multi-local innovation journey for co-shaping more sustainable and equitable social systems worldwide”.
To explain this with a bit less jargon: In order to bring innovative change to the key systems we live in (food and farming; finance; health; democracy and governance; etc) 300 “core teams” of 2–4 people from around the world who are working on projects to reform specific local “systems” will over 5 months go through the “Theory U” process (see below) by convening “extended teams” locally (up to 15 people) and by regularly connecting online with other “core teams” from around the globe to share learnings and experience. In our Upgrading Democracy project, we will have 2 “extended teams”: one in Berlin and one in Brussels.
The “U process” will follow the steps shown in the below graph. For participants in the “extended teams”, it will require meeting once per month for 3–4 hours in a workshop format (usually around the 10–15th of the month) and, depending on interest and time availability, carrying out some activities or attending online discussions with other global teams.
In Berlin, the monthly meetings will take place in various “co-working” or “co-creation” places such as The Factory Berlin, The Dive, or The Impact Hub. In Brussels, the initiative will build on established U-Lab structures to offer a space for reflection in the heart of Europe.
If you are keen to join — get in touch with an email to “me at mikeromig.com” or @upgradedemo on Twitter.
