UN|COMMONS

Who has access and whose access is denied? What is the value of these resources and how might they help or hinder us in overcoming the various crises of our times? Do we need rules, guidelines and agreements to govern use and access, and if so, what sort? The Berliner Gazette and the Volksbühne at Rosa-Luxemburg Platz invite you to discuss these urgent issues at the UN|COMMONS conference. The three-day event will focus on those resources that are being privatised or made inaccessible, but which could become common property in the future – commons that are as yet uncommon. In short: UN|COMMONS that challenge us, the people, to make a collective effort towards democratic and sustainable forms of human togetherness.

Grand Opening 22-10-15

Marina Sitrin, one of the initiators of the Occupy Wall Street Movement and author of the book “They Can’t Represent Us! Reinventing Democracy From Greece to Occupy” (with Dario Azzellini), guides us in her storytelling performance through Solidarity Clinics in Greece, which are organized by staff and community. In the process of running them with assemblies amongst both ‘patients’ as well as ‘staff’ they have begun to rethink the meaning of health care and health overall. With guests from Thessaloniki: Eva Babalona, Ilektra Bethymouti and Theodoros Karyotis.

Final act: Live-Crowdfunding for Solidarity Clinics in Greece with Silke Helfrich from the Commons Strategy Group.

Info

Grand Opening on October 22 at 8:30 p.m.

Tickets (8,-/reduced 6,-) can be reserved and purchased via Volksbühne: 030-24065-777 | ticket(at)volksbuehne-berlin.de | online here.

Workshops 22/23/24-10-15

Join more than 100 activists, media folks as well as researchers from 20 countries and explore the digital commons of the post-Snowden world. We offer five parallel workshop tracks for collaboration on crossmedia stories, position papers or tools. For further details please scroll down.

Info

Workshops on October 22+23, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. and on October 24, 10–12 a.m.

The registration fee is 50 Euro, including catering. Registration is required by October 4 under the following email: info(at)berlinergazette.de

Performance 23-10-15

Theater director Angela Richter stages the Whistleblowing For Commons performance based on her SUPERNERDS research – in-depth interviews with a number of well-known whistleblowers and internet activists including Edward Snowden and Julian Assange. Special Guest: Hacker and Haiku-Poet Sazae Bot, the new Star-Avatar from Tokyo, Japan.

Info

Performance on October 23 at 8:30 p.m.

Tickets (8,-/reduced 6,-) can be reserved and purchased via Volksbühne: 030-24065-777 | ticket(at)volksbuehne-berlin.de | online here.

Talks 24-10-15

Lightning talks by researchers, artists and activists stimulate audience discussions about the fight for common wealth.

2:30 p.m.: Welcome
With Thorsten Schilling (German Federal Agency for Civic Education) and Krystian Woznicki (berlinergazette.de).

3:00 p.m.: What could be our commons?
With Michel Bauwens (P2P Foundation, Chiang Mai) and Yochai Benkler (Harvard University, Boston). Moderation: Max Haiven (Radical Imagination Project, Halifax).

4:30 p.m.: What’s endangering the commons?
With Alexander Karschnia (andcompany&Co., Berlin) and Spideralex (Calafou, Barcelona). Moderation: Sophie Bloemen (commonsnetwork.eu, Berlin).

6:00 p.m.: How can we fight for the commons?
With Pelin Tan (Silent University, Mardin) and Harsha Walia (No One Is Illegal, Vancouver). Moderation: Sandra Mamitzsch (Digitale Gesellschaft, Berlin).

Info

Talks on October 24, 2:30–7:30 p.m.

Tickets (8,-/reduced 6,-) can be reserved and purchased via Volksbühne: 030-24065-777 | ticket(at)volksbuehne-berlin.de | online here.

Cooking 24-10-15

A thematic dinner: Thoughts on food, food for thought. The closing event invites you to join the collaborative experiment Commons Cuisine with artist Pepe Dayaw. As a facilitator, choreographer and cook he will host a commons laboratory: You are invited to bring your own food to this performance workshop – left overs, cooked or uncooked. We will transform what you bring into something extraordinary. Let us co-create a banquet with no master recipe and experience anew the texture of our co-existence!

6:30 p.m. Bring your left overs
8:00 p.m. Cooking process begins
9:00 p.m. Dining starts

Info

Cooking on October 24 at 8 p.m.

Tickets (8,-/reduced 6,-) can be reserved and purchased via Volksbühne: 030-24065-777 | ticket(at)volksbuehne-berlin.de | online here.

Registration

The five UN|COMMONS workshops target journalists, activists and researchers. As they are run in parallel fashion, participants need to commit to one single track. On October 22 and 23 the workshops take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., on October 24, when the results are presented, from 10 to 12 a.m. A limited number of participants can register through Oct. 4 by contacting the following E-mail: info@berlinergazette.de. The registration fee is 50 Euros for three days, including catering.

Workshop guests invited by the conference organizers include representatives from independent journalism organizations, media houses, research institutions, cultural initiatives, activist networks and NGOs.

Please check the workshop results from our last annual conference. They are presented in the section PROJECTS on this website.

Big Data In Our Hands?

Big data is rarely seen as a phenomenon of co-production although more than 75% of the data constituting our digital universe is co-produced by us, the people, in the course of our daily (digital) lives. So, how do we turn big data into our digital commons? The workshop “Big Data In Our Hands?” discusses a position paper being collaboratively developed by Berliner Gazette for transforming the administration and control of big data away from large corporations like Google or government bodies like the NSA and towards common and public institutions.

Workshop guests include Avantika Banerjee (wiredandnetworked.com), Johannes Brandrup (Map My Story), Sophie Bloemen (commonsnetwork.eu), Benjamin Cadon (labomedia.org), Benjamin Diedrichsen (OPENMEDiAID), Max Haiven (Radical Imagination Project), Anna Magdalena Kedzierska (code4sa.org), Danislava Marinova (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), Tomislav Medak (mi2.hr), Annette Mühlberg (verdi), Nina Pohler (Hafen City Universität Hamburg), Alison Powell (London School of Economics), Jaron Rowan (Xnet), André Wilkens (Analog ist das neue Bio), Nikolai Wolfert (Commons Institut). Moderators: Ela Kagel (Supermarkt) + Christopher Senf (berlinergazette.de).

Info

Workshop on October 22+23, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. and on October 24, 10–12 a.m.

Registration for this workshop is no longer possible. Sorry!

Are We Up For Anonymity?

Anonymity is a controversial issue in the post-Snowden world. While serving as a vehicle for criminalization of various cultures (like Anonymous or TOR), many communities experiment with concepts that try to resolve the destructive potential of anonymity. How to create common sense and a healthy “we” with regard to anonymity? The workshop “Are We Up For Anonymity?” tackles the world of online forums in the field of journalism by developing a storytelling project about those issues.

Workshop guests include Simon Bieling (HfG Karlsruhe), Jérôme Hourdeaux (mediapart.fr), Valentin Ihßen (Universität Witten/Herdecke), Inga Lirenkadan (34mag.net), Lejla Medanhodzic (AWID Women’s rights), Sara Moreira (Moving Cause), Joseph Ketelhut (TU Ilmenau), Katerina Michailidi (BookSprints), Jacopo Ottaviani (Generation E), Cristina Pombo (Expresso). Moderators: Magdalena Taube (berlinergazette.de) + Francis Tseng (The Coral Project).

Info

Workshop on October 22+23, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. and on October 24, 10–12 a.m.

The registration fee is 50 Euro, including catering. Registration is required by October 4 under the following email: info(at)berlinergazette.de

Who Reads Open Secrets?

Journalism based on leaks is often limited to hegemonic patterns of interpretation and interest. For now, leaks are mostly manifestations of the constricted views of governments and corporations. Meanwhile working with leaked documents remains an exclusive undertaking. How can we break those walls? The workshop “Who Reads Open Secrets?” takes the Romanian Center for Investigative Journalism (RCIJ) as a test case, inviting participants to design a framework, in which the general public participates in investigative projects as easily as in a game of monopoly.

Workshop guests include Kat Austen (worldflows.net), Andreea Bonea (The Sponge), Chris Csikszentmihalyi (M-ITI), Abiol Lual Deng (Kendake Partners), Tabea Grzeszyk (hostwriter, Berlin), Nana Karlstetter (TCIJ.org), Sebastian Mondial* (Die Zeit), MC McGarth* (transparencytoolkit.org), Alex Morega (RosEDU), Valentina Pavel (ApTI), Pit Schultz (reboot.fm), Maria Xynou (Tactical Tech), Christoph Zeiher (Tagesspiegel). Moderators: Stefan Candea (eijc.eu) + Marie Gutbub (CryptoParty).

Info

Workshop on October 22+23, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. and on October 24, 10–12 a.m.

The registration fee is 50 Euro, including catering. Registration is required by October 4 under the following email: info(at)berlinergazette.de

Whistleblower Goes Otaku

How can the debates caused by the Snowden revelations infiltrate the consciousness of the so called silent majority? The workshop “Whistleblower Goes Otaku” takes the global otaku community as testing ground. Their remix culture is full of affinities to the whistleblower and hacker culture represented by Snowden. Yet, how can deeper ties evolve? Responses to this challenge are being developed within the workshop – entering the next Otaku Festival in Bucharest.

Workshop guests include Yuuki Abe (Cosplaids), Sophie Bayerlein (sophiesophie.de), Bogdan Gorganeanu (otakufestival.com), Alina Floroi (Laborazon), Nakano Hitoyo (Sazae Bot), Adriana Homolova (Onderzoeksredactie), Fumi Murata (Avec Lab), Mitsuhiro Takemura (Takemura Juku), Stefan Tiron (otakufestival.com), Luke Zuberbühler (japanimanga-night.ch). Moderators: Lilian Masuhr (berlinergazette.de) + Michael Prinzinger (berlinergazette.de).

Info

Workshop on October 22+23, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. and on October 24, 10–12 a.m.

The registration fee is 50 Euro, including catering. Registration is required by October 4 under the following email: info(at)berlinergazette.de

Snowden Files For All?

The Snowden revelations have caused a global debate. Yet, what does it mean to handle the documents in a responsible manner? How can we preserve them in accessible and sustainable ways? How can the leaks become public record? The workshop “Snowden Files For All?” discusses hands on approaches and develops a position paper for a collaborative approach to this challenge.

Workshop guests include Diani Barreto* (Courage Foundation), Branka Curcic (Kuda.org), Kristoffer Gansing (transmediale), Evan Light (Portable Snowden Surveillance Archive), Frauke Mahrt-Thomsen (Kritische Bibliothek), Diana McCarty (reboot.fm), Morana Miljanovic (Hertie School of Governance), André Rebentisch (meshcon.net), Maria Tengarrinha (O Espelho), Caleb Waldorf (apubliclibrary.org). Moderators: Sabrina Apitz (berlinergazette.de) + Corinna Haas (ICI Library).

Info

Workshop on October 22+23, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. and on October 24, 10–12 a.m.

The registration fee is 50 Euro, including catering. Registration is required by October 4 under the following email: info(at)berlinergazette.de

When we tackle politics, technology and the media we strive for diversity in terms of gender, tech literacy and professional background as well as expertise. We bring a wild mix of people together to stimulate collaborative creativity. Our crowd is a gathering of people from a range of skill-sets, political orientations, passions and talents. We wish to attract experts and beginners, hybrids and border-crossers, men and women.

Women :

Non-Techs:

Beginners:

Hybrids:

Tickets (8,-/reduced 6,-) can be purchased via Volksbühne: 030-24065-777 | ticket(at)volksbuehne-berlin.de | or online here. One exception: Workshops require registration by October 4 under the following email: info(at)berlinergazette.de. Fee: 50 Euro.

Tickets

The conference language is English – after all, people from more than 20 countries are coming together.

German information about the conference please find here: http://berlinergazette.de/deutsch/uncommons

Language

Some key texts from the UN|COMMONS debate published in the Berliner Gazette are also available in English e.g. Reimagining our Collective Powers against Austerity by Max Haiven and On Archiving and Commoning the Snowden Files by Andrew Clement.

Key Texts in English

Debate online: Essays, interviews and reports covering the most pressing issues of the UN|COMMONS debate are published in the Berliner Gazette (in German). With contributions by activists, thinkers and artists. Have a look here: berlinergazette.de

Online Debate in German

Photos from the conference will be published on flickr. Now have a look at our on site preparations. Or our prior events: UN|COMMONS in Bucharest, SLOW POLITICS or As Darkness Falls.

Live Photos

You can find us on social networks, for example on twitter or on facebook. The hashtags for the UN|COMMONS conference in Berlin are: #bgcon15 and #uncommons

Social Networks

The venue for the conference is Volksbühne (“People’s Platform”). The theater is located in Berlin’s city center Mitte on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz (Rosa Luxemburg Square) in what was the GDR’s capital. It was named the most exciting stage in Germany („aufregendste Bühne Deutschlands“), attracting much press attention and establishing a reputation as one of the most provocative and experimental major theaters in contemporary Germany. This Open Street Map will help you to get there.

Venue

The organizer of the conference is Berliner Gazette. As a nonprofit and nonpartisan team of journalists, researchers, artists and coders we analyze and test emerging cultural as well as political practices. For more than 15 years we have been publishing berlinergazette.de under a Creative Commons-License – with more than 900 contributors from all over the world – and also organizing annual conferences and editing books. We are open to your suggestions. Mail us under: info(at)berlinergazette.de