Platoniq interviews Michael Linton (1) 1. LETSplay!  In our experience with the Bank of Common Knowledge, collective games make for perfect setups to teach a particular idea. And although LETSplay is pretty different from today's computer-based games, it uses the game format as a vehicle to spread certain ideas and raise awareness about the user/player's own economic reality. Can you talk about your intentions with that particular strategy and your own perception of that format as a medium? Early in our development and propagation of LETSystems, and ever since with community currencies (cc) and Open Money, we have found that people are very careful in the beginning, like youngsters opening up their first bank accounts.... Read more

Platoniq interviews Dmytri Kleiner, from Telekommunisten (1) 1. What are the origins of your project? When did it start? What were the main goals? The Telekommunisten project was launched on May 1st, 2006, the main goals of the project to create a worker's collective to serve as the first "venture communist" company, putting into practice the results of my research in to alternative economics. We want to launch a worker-owned company that provides internet and telephone service and earns enough to employ us, provide the financial basis for our political and artistic production as well. We have had one product, Dialstation, in beta-testing all year, and May 1st, 2008, two years after we announced the project, we hope to start to building our user base and working towards... Read more

Platoniq entrevista a Heloisa Primavera (Argentina) (1) 1. Hace décadas que existen redes de trueque de distinta índole en varias partes del mundo, y muchas de ellas se han originado en países desarrollados y con una tasa de bienestar relativamente alta (Canadá, Estados Unidos...). Paralelamente, otras sociedades y países con una situación económica mucho más extrema también han dado lugar a manifestaciones de redes de trueque parecidas, como en el caso de Argentina que tan bien conoces. ¿Crees que un entorno de conflicto social y grave crisis económica (como el de Argentina a finales de los 90)da otra dimensión a estas redes de intercambio alternativo? ¿En qué se diferencia el desarrollo de estos fenómenos en ambos entornos? Estoy sólo parcialmente de acuerdo con la... Read more

Platoniq interviews David Wilcox, from Designing for Civil Society (1) 1. What are the origins of your project? When did it start? What were the main goals?   In 2003 I was thinking about starting a blog, and went to a workshop called Designing for Civil Society, at a conference. I suggested we blog the workshop... And afterwards I kept it going. 2. What needs does it address, what sort of problems does it try to solve? I have worked as a print journalist, and as a consultant in regeneration, community engagement, and partnership organisations. The focus of the blog -and my current work- is on how to mix face-to-face and online communication for collaborations. I continue to work as a consultant, helping people develop processes for collaboration.   3.... Read more

Platoniq entrevista a Felipe Fonseca, de MetaReciclagem (Brasil) (1) 1. Describe brevemente la comunidad en cuestión (incluyendo la situación geográfica, la población afectada y las circunstancias económicas). El proyecto MetaReciclagem, como red descentralizada, trabaja con diversas comunidades por todo Brasil, agregadas alrededor de lo que llamamos "esporas" (centros de metarreciclaje) y "conecTAZes" (proyectos que se benefician de tecnología reapropiada). Esto comprende desde la comunidad de Sacadura Cabral, favela urbanizada de Santo André que cuenta con una espora; los frecuentadores del SESC Pompeía, que participan de talleres esporádicos o InstallFests; hasta las personas involucradas en los más de 100 puntos de cultura que están siendo... Read more