DisCOJourney.
The DisCO Journey (DJ, in short) is our immersive program, to develop, document and create distributed economic alternatives that work in the here and now — DisCOs. We’re creating a trust network of committed groups that want to build large-scale, federated economic counterpower. Here’s how it works:
Commons-theorist Elinor Ostrom said that commons are continually “moving back and forth from the world of theory to the world of action“. DisCOs co-create comprehensive resources drawn from diverse experiences. All our resources are Open and Peer-Production Licensed. This means that you can copy these resources; if you’re a cooperative, social solidarity economy enterprise, non-hierarchical NGO, or an organization with anticapitalist principles, these resources are available for you to use to gain income.
The DJ highlights relationality: meeting people where they are, making kin and growing together in solidarity. The DJ amplifies some of the practices (eg. Dating and Mentoring) found in individual DisCOs in an experimental DisCO Cluster.
The DisCO Journey has 3 Main Paths and 7 Steps:
3 Main Paths on the DisCO Journey
There are three paths, in order of time and effort:
1: Quick Start DisCO Journey
The Quick Start is designed to create a DisCO in no time. Take the DisCO Challenge to see if this is the right path for you. Upon completion of Step 1, you’re a proto-DisCO. Step 2 welcomes you to the DisCOverse. From here you can decide whether to continue with the other DJ paths.
2: Self-Paced DisCO Journey
This is the full-scope DisCO Journey, but self-paced. Your group can find support in our materials and via access to our community spaces.
3: Cohort DisCO Journey
The Cohort is grounded in regular calls with the DisCO.coop team and the other DisCOs taking the Journey. The program includes exercises, games, mutual care, and explorations of the development of the DisCOverse,weaving speculative economic sci-fi with actual practice. Conceived as a LAERP (Live Action Economic Role Playing Game), participating DisCOs LABS co-create the lore and resources to animate DisCOnomics into everyday practice.
The following summary of steps concerns mainly Paths 2 &3, which are the ones we recommend for the full-on DisCO experience.
7 Steps on the DisCO Floor
These 7 Steps represent a peer learning process to co-create advanced, mature DisCOs. Every step builds on previous ones and each iteration of the DisCO Journey benefits from the experience of those who have taken it previously — it’s the ultimate dance party!
Step 1: Get on the DisCO Dance Floor
- Your DisCO agrees to take the Journey and contacts the DisCO.coop team for an onboarding call.
Step 2: Spinning the Seven DisCO Principles
- Your DisCO considers and discusses how it addresses the 7 DisCO Principles, reflecting your group’s answers in a simple document. You will now have a dedicated entry in the DisCO Ball Wiki and are now officially a DisCO. Congratulations!
Step 3: Pump up the Values
- Your DisCO discusses how it meets, forks or adds new values to the 11 original DisCO values. You will add this information to the DisCO Ball Wiki and gain access to DisCO’s discussion spaces on Matrix and Loomio.
Step 4: Break it up, Break Down: DisCO Elements
- Your DisCO discusses which DisCO Elements to use or adapt. We will encourage you to create and document new Elements that other DisCOs can benefit from. As part of this you will create your own information repository, as a complement to the DisCO Ball Wiki. You will have a progress call with the DisCO.coop team and your journey will be featured in a blog post or interview on the main DisCO.coop site.
Step 5: The DisCO that Governs Together Stays Together
- Your DisCO will discuss and create its own base DisCO governance model, describing roles and responsibilities, value tracking and decision making, creating new governance patterns for the DisCOverse.
Step 6: Hexagons are the Bestagons — Building the DisCOverse
- Your DisCO will support the development of younger DisCOs on their DisCO Journey, building a supportive relationship network with other DisCOs. The Bestagon is our visual representation unit, ultimately used as a building block for SuperDisCOs.
Step 7: Seven is the Magic Number: Federating the DisCOverse
- Your DisCO will complete its Bestagon by surrounding itself with six other DisCOs. Share your Journey and the lessons learned with the other six and explore inner and outer federation to continue to build resilience in the DisCOverse.
How do I join the DisCO Journey?
Very simple! Clicking on the button below will take you to a short survey about the Journey. After receiving it we will get back to you with suggestions and timelines.
Optional: If you want to get ahead of the curve, you can also take the DisCO Challenge to test whether your group is ready to DisCO or not.