SoC Alumn* Spring Harvest
Celebrating Our Growing Network!
Hello SoC Community,
We hope this message finds you in great spirits!
As we step into the vibrant month of May, it's a time of renewal and abundant creativity for both our alumni and new members. Fresh from the conclusion of the 2023 SoC year, the Alumn* network brings renewed energy and enthusiasm, eager to cultivate our community ideation garden!
You're Invited – SoC Alumn* Spring Harvest: May 3-5th 2024
As the days grow longer so does our commitment to fostering meaningful interactions within the SoC community. Two upcoming events in Berlin and Amsterdam are meant to do just that – please RSVP if you are available for an on-site meeting on one of the two occasions. More info below.
For our first on-site Alumn* event of the year we are inviting you to a collaborative workshop followed by an open community dinner (which we will cook together!). This meeting is not only meant as an in-person reunion but as a vibrant brainstorming session aimed at seeding and nurturing our shared visions for the Alumn* network through playful and interactive approaches that you will discover on May 3 (5-9pm), at Neue Nachbarschaft Moabit (Beusselstraße 44, 10553 Berlin).
For our second on-site Alumn* event, we invite the School of Commons alumn* based in the Netherlands to gather in Amsterdam to share work, knowledge and experiences and discuss what they would want to do with their satellite community in NL. There will be games on kinship and a performance of a collective script reading with artist Krista Jantowski. May 5, 3-6pm, location TBC.
For both: RSVP here 😘 💫💫
🌱🌱Alumn* event - BERLIN🌱🌱
Workshop and Community Dinner🌱🌱
When: May 3, 5pm-9pm
Where: at Neue Nachbarschaft Moabit in Berlin
What to expect 🎪🤹♀️🤡🧞♂️
Participatory Workshop
We will explore and brainstorm ideas for growing our network, harvest the types of collaborative formats that inspire you, and discuss what kind of support we wish to give each other. Our session will include illustrative discussions using the spatial features of NNM and will culminate in a group reflection to share our insights and emotions.
🧑🍳👩🌾👩🔬🧙♀️
Community Dinner
On the same day, after the workshop, we warmly invite you to a community dinner at Neue Nachbarschaft Moabit, as a genuine exercise in commoning. Together with NNM community and SoC members, we will dive into a collaborative cooking experience—no need to bring anything as all the ingredients will be provided. This dinner isn’t just about sharing food but about enriching our connections within the SoC community and meeting other members of the Berlin community interested in commons. Join us to celebrate and strengthen our common bonds.
The dinner (7:30-9 PM) is hosted by the NNM initiative and brings SoC Alumn* and NNM communities together to share food, explore ideas, and meet people interested in community work. NNM initiative is a non-profit association in Berlin that offers a daily program with a focus on offering a platform for social and artistic exchange and learning together. Its program includes intercultural meetings, language tables, cooking together, and artistic workshops for refugee communities, guests, and locals of Berlin.
✍️👨🏭👩💻🧑💻
Prior to the workshop
We invite all Alumn* community members, whether based in Berlin or not, to bring your ideas and participate actively by using asynchronous forms of communication.* Your insights are crucial in shaping our Alumni events and network. Please feel free to contribute to our Alumn* Miro board here
You are invited to reflect on the questions on the feedback board and/or add any ideas or thoughts you may wish to at this point.
🌱🌱Alumn* event - AMSTERDAM🌱🌱
When: May 5, 3-6pm
Where: in Amsterdam (venue TBD, please RSVP to receive an update)
What to expect 👀🕵️♀️🧞🎭
We invite the School of Commons Alumn* based in the Netherlands to gather in Amsterdam to exchange knowledge and work created during and after the participation at the SoC. The gathering will include games on kinship, and an integrated performance of collective script reading with artist Krista Jantowski; with optional drinks and bites afterward. If you would like to participate please fill in the RSVP form and we will confirm the venue with you via email.
👁️🐚🫧🌬️
Krista Jantowski
An invited artist for the NL event, Krista Jantowski, works and lives in Amsterdam and Heerlen, and is an organizer of sorts. She used to run a bookshop/lively kitchen space/hang out/now-and-again exhibition space/secret club with many collaborators, and currently, she is interested in the processes of remembrance, collective memory and mediation in relation to the Dutch mining past with the long-term project reading room at greylight hosted by Greylight Projects (Heerlen, NL).
🍉🍉
This season is all about harvesting ideas and nurturing the seeds of collaboration planted during the past years. We wish to enrich our common ground, explore more ways to share resources and forge new, unexpected partnerships through creating opportunities for us to connect and spend valuable time together. These gatherings are more than just meetings; they serve as fertile ground for our collective aspirations to flourish. 🪁🪁
Also, as we embrace the vibrant energies of April, we’re thrilled to also bring you a recap and the latest updates from the SoC Alumni network!
Event Recap: SoC 2023 Cohort's First Reunion
This April, fresh off the heels of our exhilarating SoC Intensive Weekend in February, the 2023 Cohort gathered for their first reunion—an engaging evening filled with the exchange of ideas aimed at enhancing our community's accessibility and ideation of its directions for growth. We would like to offer those who couldn't attend the SoC 2023 Cohort’s first reunion, a chance to catch up through this detailed recap.
Meeting Overview: The reunion began with a light-hearted exercise to check the "temperature" of our virtual room. Participants shared their feelings of excitement as spring approached – a tone with which we approached framing of this email and that continues to inspire us with its positivity – giving hope for flourishing, growth, and resiliency transitioning towards warmth and blooming after the colder winter season. This warm-up served as a seamless transition into the core discussions of the night: how do we stay in touch, what are the needs of the community and how do we create a mutual aid network?
Key take-aways (or what we’d like for the Alumn* community)
Inclusive Local Events: The group brainstormed ideas to make local and online happenings more inclusive, ensuring that all members feel welcome and can easily participate.
Frequent Meetups: There was a strong interest in increasing the frequency of both online and on-site gatherings to foster closer ties within the community but with no pressure towards the coordination team or members of the Alumn* community. Basically, we want to hang out together and continue the conversation and collaboration.
Long-Term Projects: Attendees discussed the importance of long-term projects that embody the principles of mutual aid and support, highlighting the value of sustained cooperation. We briefly talked about the potential sessions as support sessions where we can collectively brainstorm ideas for specific projects in terms of collaboration, cooperation, and finding funding.
Mutual-Aid Network: The conversation underscored the significance of building and maintaining a robust mutual-aid network that supports common practices in our projects and daily lives. This was related to sharing resources in an asynchronous way—saving everyone energy and time while sharing tangible opportunities.
Exploring New Tools for Enhanced Collaboration: A Guide for SoC Alumni and New Cohorts
MIRO SoC Alumn 'network (click click)–a place where you are invited to contribute to discussion in an asynchronous way, and where we will be collecting links to themes that matter to us)
SoC Alumn* public meetings variapad (click click)–this is an open space for all community members to contribute simultaneously and, if preferred, anonymously.
SoC Alumn* public meetings Google Doc (click click)–an essential doc for keeping track of meeting notes and agendas, this document is a go-to resource for structured information sharing.
What’s Up Community with SoC Previous Cohorts (click click)- an invaluable resource hub where we share open calls, links, and other useful resources. It's a great way to stay connected and informed about opportunities within the SoC network.)
We are excited to see how these tools will foster deeper connections and richer collaborations across our community. Please make the most of these platforms to enhance our collective efforts and keep our community vibrant and engaged.
SoC 2024 Kick-off Weekend Recap: Energizing Movement Session with Alumnus Lina Zeller
During the SoC 2024 Kick-off Weekend, we had the delightful opportunity to welcome new cohort members and reconnect with the Alumn* network. A highlight of this gathering was an engaging movement and warm-up session led by Lina Zeller, a valued member of the 2023 cohort.
Lina, who has an extensive background as a movement artist, Pilates instructor, and dance teacher for over twenty years, shared her expertise with us. Her session focused on the integration of dance and transdisciplinary fields, emphasizing a playful approach to bodily awareness. This was not only a refreshing way to energize our bodies but also a powerful introduction to incorporating interdisciplinary exercises into creative processes.
For those interested in exploring more about Lina’s innovative work, you can find further details on her project here (click click)
This session was a fantastic start to our weekend, perfectly embodying the spirit of collaboration and exploration that SoC stands for.
Meet the Newest Members of the SoC Alumni Coordination Team
And finally, there is news about the Alumn* coordinating team itself. This year, Alumn* is coordinated by Lena and Letitia from the recent year's group, and together they are now working towards furthering the project as started by Kit who has been managing the Alumn* network until now, taking with them the invaluable wealth of experience and knowledge that they had cultivated. A brief intro of the new members of the SoC Alumn* coordination team is below, and it is created in the style that Lina Zeller, a movement artist and dancer, and SoC’23 fellow, had proposed to the 2024 cohort as part of the Kick-off weekend as a means of practicing alternative introductions. The prompt for the group was to introduce themselves without saying anything about what they do, their name or place of origin. The answers varied from emojis of flowers, sun to color names—blue, from poetic "Atlantic forest, intimacy in relation to the ocean" to horoscope signs, from “school walker” to “dreamers.”
What can be more beautiful than thinking broader about what makes us connect to the world around us? So Lina’s exercise can serve as a beautiful way of introducing, which Lena and Letitia are gladly putting forth below for themselves.
Lena is an animal who loves animals and plants.
Letitia is a very curious creature, also Tarot card - Queen of Wands
That’s us!
Together, let's continue to cultivate a thriving network that stands as a testament to the power of collective action and shared knowledge. We are eager to hear your thoughts and to co-develop a supportive framework that enhances our collective efforts. Let’s come together to sow the seeds for a robust and thriving commons. Your participation in the events and in digital formats (see above) is key to our shared success and future endeavors.
Looking forward to seeing you soon, engaging your ideas, and growing together.
And don’t hesitate to reach out!
Lena (l.pozdnyakova.a@gmail.com) and Letitia (letitia.calin@gmail.com)
