CURRENT ISSUE
Volume 20, Summer Issue
IV International Conference on Social and Complementary Currencies
10-14 May, 2017
The 4th International Conference on Social and Complementary Currencies organized by Universitat Oberta de Catalunya UOC will take place from 10th to 14th May 2017 at the Parque Tecnlógico Nou Barris.
UOC will organize the event together with Research Association on Monetary Innovation and Community and Complementary Currency Systems (RAMICS), International Journal of Community Currency Research (IJCCR), Instituto de la Moneda Social (IMS), Xarxa d’Economia Solidària (XES) and Sustainability School.
The 4th Conference’s goal is to reflect on social and complementary currencies as tools which, on being implemented by people themselves, nurture the social change in favor of a completely sustainable development. Self-management, trust, closeness, respect and benevolence, among others are quite determining elements in the future of such sort of initiatives.
However, as in any type of behavior, it is necessary that such behavior should be well accepted in people’s daily actions so it should last over time. The consciousness-building in the whole process, as well as the drive promoted from the innermost part of our being, from our personal values, are the key to warrant the survival of this sort of initiatives.
We have to ask ourselves whether members of the communities operating with social and complementary currencies are really aware of the motivations which have moved them towards this, as well as of the consequences brought about by their actions.
Is it about an opportunist behavior? Or is it rather a behavior which is really best for sustainability? Is there any reason in this respect? Is there any dominant motivation? What makes some initiatives endure over time than others? Is there any sort of behavior to nurture it?
These and other questions, on the basis of debates, presentations, workshops, experiences… are intended to be answered under a multidisciplinary perspective, either from the own theoretical viewpoint or from the daily practice, either from the academy or from activism. Solely and exclusively, the fusion of both fields can warrant a real progress of this sort of communities, an advance towards the implementation of social and complementary currency systems which are sustainable over time, and are worth of redundancy, are to nurture the whole sustainability of life in Mother Earth.
That is why the conference’s official title is:
4th International Conference on Social and Complementary Currencies: Money, Awareness and Values for Social Change
Click here for the conference’s schedule
Event place
Conference
Summer School: Tackling the crisis: sustainable economy and community currency systems
Bari, Italy
7-11 September, 2016
Second Summer School on De-Growth Theory and alternative currency systems (Giovinazzo, Bari, Italy – from 7th to 11th of September 2016) organized by Economia Solidale and Associazione Decrescita, with the contribution of Equo Garantito, RETICS (Reti Comunitarie di Scambio), De-Pilamoci and Costellazione Apulia. Scholarships are also financed by Banca Etica and SELS project (Sistemi di Economie Locali e Sostenibili).The Summer school aims at providing tools to understand and deal with the problems of sustainable economies and community currency systems in the current crisis context. We will analyze some reasons behind the crisis and the possible solutions following three main research directions:
- fundamentals of ecological and ethical economics, evaluating necessary socio-cultural changes and possible solutions for new theoretical frameworks;
- institutional and political aspects of community currency systems, considering new roles for the public sector;
- analyzing technical and organizational aspects of community currency systems: focusing on current perspectives and possible evolution.
The school is thought as an ongoing mutual exchange of views and experiences between lecturers and attendees; for this reason they are invited to stay in the same residence during the whole course. The school will be held in Casa per Ferie Fra’ Camillo Campanella del Seminario serafico dei frati Cappuccini di Giovinazzo (Via Crocifisso, 54) located on the outskirts of the town in Puglia near a beautiful beach.The structure, from which you can easily reach the city center and the train station, offers:
accommodation in single or multiple bed rooms (bed linen and towels not provided) with shared bathrooms,
a large park, where you can camp with your own tents, with no charge for accommodation.
The registration fee including food and accommodation (from Wednesday’s dinner to Sunday’s breakfast ) is 190 Euros. The registration fee including only food (from Wednesday’s dinner to Sunday’s breakfast ) is 140 Euros. Fee including only food for students and unemployeds is 120 Euro. Reductions may be agreed with for those who would like to contribute as volunteer for the organization of the school.
Children under 12 years old accompanying parents are accommodated free of charge. Any assistance / entertainment services for children and / or needs related to food and logistics in general should be discussed directly with the holiday home by writing to casapcamillo@gmail.com.
For information please send an email to: scuolaestivadecrescita@gmail.com
You can find further information at:
http://www.retics.org/2016/04/12/scuola-estiva-di-giovinazzo-bari-settembre-2016/
Announcement
IJCCR joins RAMICS family
The International Journal of Community Currency Research (www.ijccr.net) has become the official publication of the newly created Research Association on Monetary Innovation and Complementary and Community Currencies (https://ramics.org/).
Announcement
Money and Society MOOC – Institute For Leadership and Sustainability (IFLAS)
A free online course at Masters-level will enable you to understand the past, present and future role of money in society. The 4th cohort starts 21st August 2016 and lasts 4 weeks. Enrol here.
Are you concerned with the banking system? Bemused or fascinated by bitcoin? Starting a local currency? Whereas most courses on money are intended for people with an economics background or banking future, this course is for people who are interested in understanding money from a social innovation perspective – it prepares the ground for answering how to create a better future by reshaping money and currency.
The course is therefore highly interdisciplinary, drawing upon anthropology, sociology, history and heterodox economics. It is designed by Professor Jem Bendell PhD (IFLAS) and Matthew Slater BD (Community Forge), with additional tutoring by Leander Bindewald MA (IFLAS). The first iteration in March 2015 saw around 100 people complete the full 4 lessons over one month, and many now interact in the Alumni Forum. Five progressed to attended the full certificate course in London.
The next offering of the MOOC (Massive Online Open Course) starts online on Aug 21st 2016 and runs for one month, with four lessons:
Lesson One: An introduction to money: functions, forms, and fallacies
Lesson Two: The history of money and its discontents
Lesson Three: The problems with mainstream monetary systems
Lesson Four: Alternatives
Each lesson begins on a Sunday, consisting of an audio Powerpoint of less than two hours (which you can listen to when you want within the following days), followed by two hours of personal reading and one hour to prepare a written assignment of around 500 words, which must be submitted by the Thursday of that week.
Participants can view and comment on each other’s assignments in the forum, and can interact as they wish, with tutors commenting on assignments in the forum.
Lessons Two and Four are followed by one hour webinars with the tutors, which occur on Saturday mornings at 10am. You need access to a decent broadband connection but do not need any special software to engage in the course. If without a powerpoint viewer, participants can view lessons on youtube. Participants cannot start the MOOC late.
Sign up at http://mooc1.communityforge.net The next offering of the MOOC after this August will be in February 2017. At the end of this MOOC you will be able to:
- Critically assess views on the form and function of money and currency by drawing from monetary theories
- Explain theories on how social, economic and environmental problems arise from mainstream monetary systems
- Explain alternative forms of money and currency and the theories on how they can support better social, economic and environmental outcomes.
The full schedule follows below. On the MOOC you will be joined by participants on the Certificate of Achievement in Sustainable Exchange, which is a credit-bearing module offered by the Institute for Leadership and Sustainability at the University of Cumbria. Four days of classes in person at the Docklands Campus in London begin in April 2017, featuring Professor Bendell, Leander Bindewald and a range of guest lecturers. These classes explore the wider issues of currency innovation and the collaborative economy. There is a fee for the certificate, not the MOOC. You must have started the MOOC in order to enrol.
The Tutors
Matthew Slater is a software engineer who specialises in open source software for community currencies. Co-founder of Community Forge, which produces software for and hosts over 100 local currencies, he is a regular commentator on grassroots initiatives for community control of currency and credit.
Leander Bindewald is the coordinator of the EU funded project Complementary Currencies in Action, and a regular commentator on currency innovation.
Professor Jem Bendell is the founder of IFLAS and is a commentator on currency innovation and society. Hear him explain bitcoin on BBC Breakfast:
Original article: http://iflas.blogspot.it/2014/12/money-and-society-mooc.html
Announcement
Ethereum online programming course (by Diginomics)
Ethereum technology today may be where bitcoin was in 2010 – almost no one talking about it, raw infrastructure, lack of developers, and plenty of skeptics.
Ethereum takes bitcoin technology and adds a Turing complete scripting language. An example of a technology in wide use today that employs Turing completeness is JavaScript, the programming language which powers the world wide web. Combine the attributes of Turing completeness with a globally decentralized, unownable, digital computer for executing peer-to-peer contracts and you have the protocol layer of Ethereum.
Ethereum could usher in the next wave of internet-enabled collaboration using smart contracting technology. The Ethereum Programming Course offers a comprehensive instruction on the function and deployment of smart contracts using the Solidity language.
The information contained within this course is of particular use to individuals looking to understand the technical operation of Ethereum, implement smart contracts for business processes, and create decentralized applications using Ethereum scripting languages.
The course is divided into 2 modules, Ethereum Fundamentals & Programming Tutorials, both of which are delivered as online written & video lessons available at any time to students.
Original article: https://diginomics.com/product/ethereum-technology/
For more information about Ethereum Project: https://www.ethereum.org
Course Instructors
- Travis Patron is a political economist and digital money researcher best known for his research into the internet payment system bitcoin. Patron has written industry-leading research on the opportunities and implications which come from cryptocurrency such as his recently published book The Bitcoin Revolution: An Internet of Money which has been one of the most positively-received publications in the cryptocurrency space, garnering 5,000+ downloads to date as an educational and open-sourced research compilation. His work has been referenced by bluechip companies in the financial and IT sector such as Microsoft, IBM, and Monero for their business applications. In all of these positions, the common denominator has been serving as someone who is able to explain in simple terms, the most cutting-edge developments in internet-enabling socio-economic collaboration.
- Shlomi Zeltsinger is an expert in the technical world of blockchain networks. In the years since bitcoin has emerged, Shlomi has been closely monitoring its developments and writing coding tutorials since 2014. He has been writing Ethereum smart contracts since the system was first launched with the geth client and continues to do so today for a growing audience of students looking to gain a sound understanding of this exciting new field of smart contracts. Shlomi’s philosophy is that bitcoin & blockchain technology should be both accessible and understood by the people who use it. This has driven him to produce many bitcoin and ethereum related tutorials, videos and simplified coding examples. Shlomi also advises a number of international companies on bitcoin and ethereum opportunities and challenges.
