{"id":4243,"date":"2018-03-12T15:13:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-12T14:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/2018\/03\/12\/pribeh-kooperativni-demokracie-aneb-proc-potrebujeme-parlamentni-obcanskou-radu\/"},"modified":"2021-01-25T21:28:45","modified_gmt":"2021-01-25T20:28:45","slug":"pribeh-kooperativni-demokracie-aneb-proc-potrebujeme-parlamentni-obcanskou-radu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/pribeh-kooperativni-demokracie-aneb-proc-potrebujeme-parlamentni-obcanskou-radu\/","title":{"rendered":"The story of cooperative democracy or why we need a parliamentary citizens' council"},"content":{"rendered":"

Philosopher, publicist and cultural activist Jascha Rohr (born 1976) works as a consultant and coach. He studied philosophy, psychology and sociology in Trier and Oldenburg. In 2002 he founded the Permaculture Academy (Permakultur Akademie) and in 2008 he founded the Institute for Partizipatives Gestalten (Institut f\u00fcr Partizipatives Gestalten), which is based on the concept of cooperative democracy, together with his partner Sonja H\u00f6rster. In 2012 he published his book In unserer Macht Aufbruch in die kollaborative Demokratie (In our power. Opening the way to cooperative democracy) by thinkOYA. See: www.jascha-rohr.de, www.partizipativ-gestalten.de. The following article was published in the magazine OYA, No. 10, Vol. 2011, pp. 12-15. It was published in Czech translation in the magazine Prostor 99-100 (April 2012, pp. 12-19), translated by Petra Kultov\u00e1, language editor Ji\u0159\u00ed Zem\u00e1nek.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The democracies we live in are the best of all the political systems that have been implemented so far. I insist on that. But they are certainly not the final point in history that we wanted to reach, nor are they the best conceivable systems, and in my opinion they are no longer capable of solving the pressing problems of our time. But what system would be best able to cope with these challenges? Probably only the one that we have yet to create, that we do not yet know and that will certainly surprise us. I have a working title for it: cooperative democracy. I call the path to its creation \u201cProject Hiddensee\u201d. But in order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hiddensee<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Domburch lighthouse on the island of Hiddensee offers an unprecedented view of R\u00fcgen and the mainland of Western Pomerania. In good weather, you can see all the way to the coast of Stralsund. The combination of sea air and a view into the distance lifts the spirit and clears the mind. My partner Sonja H\u00f6rster and I went here on holiday in the autumn of 2008. This was after we had joined a social entrepreneurship cooperation project at the Humboldt University in Berlin. And based on this, we had to state once again how important it is to be able to build a relationship with the context when we want to solve a common problem or start a project. By this I mean a relationship with all the people, places, ideas and stories around us. This is the only way, as our experience shows, to develop meaningful, convincing and implementable ideas. This work on building relationships with the context is still not something that is taken for granted. Today's planners, designers and concept creators often see themselves as someone who stands outside the problem situation, or even who stands above it. They create solutions for people and places with whom they are not connected at all, or only indirectly. This is probably also done out of fear, because whoever decides to change something always changes himself in the process. But whoever has no relationship with what he wants to change does more harm than good. This experience could be summarized in the following thesis: A successful and positive design requires that all participants are willing to enter into mutual connections. The resulting discussion thus becomes an incentive for external and internal changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a head full of these ideas and a beacon at my back, I had a crazy idea: what would it be like to lead not only individual projects but also the entire policy of the country in this way? What if people came together to actively engage in passionate debates and create proposals, programs, projects and concepts for the future of their country? I didn't mean "participation" in preliminary proceedings or public discussions where already developed plans are discussed. I meant real processes leading to the creation of concepts and proposals that bring solutions to large thematic areas such as the healthcare system or the energy revolution. These processes have so far appeared only rarely or not at all, and this applies above all to politics. But that is where we urgently need them today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

World<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This idea was as refreshing as the wind that blew around us, and at the same time foolishly utopian. But what choice do we have? I, at least, have no hope that these gigantic tasks can be satisfactorily mastered by the current bureaucratic-lobbyist democracy, in which political and economic functionaries discuss crucial plans behind closed doors. Nor do I think that structures such as the Federal Government, the European Union or the UN are capable of developing regionally and globally necessary projects, for example for environmental protection, for regulating the financial system, for combating poverty and hunger, for ecological changes in energy supplies or for a fair and ecological redistribution of resources. And not to mention their hastily demanded implementation. A bailout euro, a health reform or the Stuttgart 21 project for the radical reconstruction of the railway station? What is being presented to us as a solution and what is supposedly supposed to represent innovative concepts and proposals that portend the future fills me with shame. They fall far short of the possibilities that could be exploited. The time will come when we will have to admit that our political structures, which have certainly brought us much good, have themselves become part of the problem. Their apparently uncomplex, linear and technocratic logic cannot be the starting point for solving the complex problems that I am facing today. Only a regionally and globally active civil society could do this, using new productive forms of cooperation that would be able to initiate the application of collective intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To solve complex problems, we must learn to cooperate transparently, not fixate on a single solution or limit ourselves to a single area, and develop collective intelligence. The political system that would be capable of this is cooperative democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parliamentary Citizens' Council<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I admit that for a long time the \u201cHiddensee Project\u201d was just an idea. I told a few close friends about it. But I couldn\u2019t imagine in the slightest what the first step would look like. Then, at the end of 2009, two events came together. I started to intensively study cooperative projects and social media on the Internet and research collective intelligence and crowd behavior. I had interesting conversations via Twitter with people who were researching and working in these areas. On the one hand, I was fascinated by the global communication capabilities of new technologies and their influence on the incredible acceleration of communication, which was so important during the Green Revolution in Iran; on the other hand, it seemed to me that the conception and implementation of specific projects always needed a local community that would actually come together and cooperate in a specific area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, I studied Otto Scharmer's Theory U and Tim Brown's Design Thinking. The themes of both books are innovation processes and processes of change. In Brown in particular, it is clear how important the specific place in which these processes develop is. Suddenly, one thing fit into the other: none of us, who work primarily locally as planners, had thought of the obvious, namely that political systems and their institutions always also manifest themselves in specific places, for example in the German Bundesrat or the German Bundestag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What if we expanded this bicameral system by one more chamber \u2013 a \u201cfederal citizens\u2019 council\u201d? In such a parliamentary citizens\u2019 council, which would be a solid institutional addition to the current system, work would not be carried out on a deliberative-representative principle (i.e. through debates between representatives of individual positions), but cooperatively. Here, civil society, together with scientists, economists and artists, would create plans for the healthcare system, the energy sector, transport, the tax system and so on in transparent and open processes. Such discussions could also be broadcast publicly, similar to the case of the conciliation proceedings of Heiner Geissler, the negotiator in the protracted Stuttgart 21 dispute over the construction of the underground station. They could then be discussed either as specific projects by various organizations or submitted to the relevant committees as draft laws. The processes and methods for such work are already available in rough outlines, we just need to improve them accordingly. People would once again feel that they are actively participating in shaping society and that they can contribute to collective intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People need to experience how collective intelligence emerges, learn about cooperative and participatory processes. This requires specific, real-world locations where these processes take place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am particularly attracted to the idea of changing legitimacy. If there were institutions like a parliamentary citizens' council, politicians discussing plans behind closed doors would have to be asked why they did not start a transparent creative process with citizens in time. I imagine a press conference where a journalist asks: "Mr. XYZ, you are presenting us with highly controversial plans for the construction of an underground station. You could also have developed the concept of the station's reconstruction in a "parliamentary citizens' council" in cooperation with the city's citizens, with representatives of the railways, economists, politicians and officials. Why did you not take this option into account? And on what basis was your proposal recognized as legitimate?"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My colleague Holger Nauheimer and I did a lot of work on the concept of the parliamentary citizens' council. Many ideas were generated and a network of great people was created. But when we wanted to start planning the first public event in December 2010, we were faced with difficulties and unanswered questions. Since then, we have been searching for a viable path. I remember how Katrin K\u00e4ufer from the Presencing Institute warned me right at the beginning of the project that we should prepare for many difficulties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the project of a parliamentary citizens' council, consisting of creating a third chamber within the already established political system, seems quite daring, how far is the road to cooperative democracy? In fact, it is not that far? In fact, we have already covered a large part of it. Like us at the Institute for Participatory Gestalt, many other similarly oriented people are already working on small and large projects that could be described as cooperatively democratic. I will give two examples of our work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bollert villages<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We have been supporting the Bollert Village Citizens' Initiative near G\u00f6ttingen for more than two years. This initiative was created to reverse demographic change in the region. It is strictly politically neutral and focuses its activities on projects to maintain and develop the village and regional infrastructure. The initiative managed to save the public swimming pool, which is now successfully run by the citizens. It also managed to prevent the closure of a kindergarten and organized a major cultural event in August 2011. There are new plans to build a multi-generational house in the village center. Considering that the project had only been in existence for two years at the time, these successes are worth noting. But the real uniqueness of the project lies in the way it is organized. Although it has its founder for financial and legal reasons, the decision-making and cooperation structures are based exclusively on three principles: equality, autonomy and transparency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone who wants to implement a project within the Bollert Villages initiative can find a supporter and get started. The only condition is that everyone must have the opportunity to participate in the project and must be openly informed about its progress. In this work, we have so far been able to avoid formal voting. I am particularly proud of this, because I do not have a general opinion about majority or consensus decision-making. What is important is that people in the initiative discuss lively and put forward their own ideas. Without being held back by doubts, distrust, conditioning and voting, they can simply start acting. So far, it has worked admirably well. Cooperative democracy requires trust and a clear position from the individual. This results in productive and constructive behavior and natural decision-making structures in which neither individuals nor the majority can abuse power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oberndorf<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of our new projects is the municipality of Oberndorf near Caxhaven. We are renovating the village here. I didn't expect this task to have so much to do with cooperative democracy. But the people of Oberndorf took it seriously, they wanted to take a new path and invest the subsidies for the renovation of the village in the future of the village. During the participatory design process, which lasted nine months, we discussed global and local development intensively. Then the people of Oberndorf came to the decision to establish a citizens' cooperative. They will take care of the essential matters of their village, such as the energy supply, from which the net proceeds will remain for the village, as well as tourism in Oberndorf, the new use of unused spaces in the village and much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe people of Oberndorf pull together,\u201d is their slogan. They are now creating the necessary structures, for example, planning to build a civic engagement center where they can work together. They have also realized that they must be able to organize cooperation in productive processes, and they want to do so in an appropriately methodical way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For cooperative democracy to work, we must first create an infrastructure for collaboration. In addition, we need methodological skills and new formats to help us organize productive processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Obendorf, all the important components of cooperative democracy are together. If this place were to lose its own municipal council in a merger, the residents of the village would already have functioning cooperative democracy structures in place that would allow them to continue to effectively defend their interests and manage their affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cooperative structures can of course arise not only in villages, but also in organizations and companies. This is how the first shoots of cooperative democracy take hold in various places. And I know that many other projects will also work on similar questions and approaches. Just as I was writing this essay, I received a message via Twitter that an event called \u201cReal Democracy in Berlin\u201d was going to take place. Work is already underway everywhere, collective intelligence is starting to work! This gives me hope. If we continue to test and implement various forms of cooperative democracy while keeping in mind large political projects, we will not have to wait too long for the necessary changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future prospects<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The word cooperative democracy may seem like a tongue-twister, but it was probably similar when we first started talking about representative and parliamentary democracy. Faced with the upcoming challenges, I see cooperative democracy as a necessary and long-awaited step forward in the evolution of democracy. Cooperative democracy will bring radical changes. But rather than a breakthrough in the system, I still see it as a continuous and politically legitimate improvement of the existing system. Cooperative democracy opens up many new questions and must not be afraid of experiments. Because insisting on the existing system would be like trying to create complex 3D animated films with a punch card calculator. The path to cooperative democracy is an open and living process of formation. We cannot say today what cooperative democracy will look like in twenty years, but we have the opportunity today to contribute to the emergence of a new political logic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the way, I was in Hiddensee again last week. The idea of cooperative democracy still draws me to the Dornbush lighthouse. If it weren't for my visit to the island, these lines wouldn't have come so easily to me.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Philosopher, publicist and cultural activist Jascha Rohr (born 1976) works as a consultant and coach. He studied philosophy, psychology and sociology in Trier and Oldenburg. In 2002 he founded the Permaculture Academy (Permakultur Akademie) and in 2008 he founded the Institute for Partizipatives Gestalten (Institut f\u00fcr Partizipatives Gestalten) with his partner Sonja H\u00f6rster, which is based on the concept of cooperative democracy. In 2012 he published\u2026 Continue reading The story of cooperative democracy or why we need a parliamentary citizens' council<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[48,49],"class_list":["post-4243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-texty","tag-demokracie","tag-kolektivni-inteligence","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4243"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7155,"href":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4243\/revisions\/7155"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}