Creating a Learning Community: 18 Domains of Innovation
by Vic Desotelle, inKNOWvate
Domains of Community Development and Innovation:
The following describes the framework and method for creating a "learning community" using participatory processes.
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Systemic Triad
0. The Whole Community (Core Mythology)
Principle: Integration of a community's parts (domains) enables solutions for each part alone. The whole-system benefits from the inter-dependent, coordinated actions between the 18 domains. For example, if we design human habitat (# 7) so that the activities of one's life are located closer together like jobs (# 11), there is a gain in workable options for transportation (# 9). Additionally, the principles of 'Regenerative Commerce' act as the guiding concepts for creating transition. As an integrated outcome, a social mythology emerges that defines the patterns of behavior for a community.
00. Media and Communication
(New Domain Addition)
000. Recreation and Play
(New Domain Addition)
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Nucleus Triad
1. Spirituality and Religion
Principle: Generates our community's vitality.
Connection to the greater infinite, planetary awareness, and personal relationships.
*How do our religions influence the mythologies of society, and how does myth impact the way we create our communities?
2. The Arts and Ritual
Principle: Guides our community's future possibilities. Expression, inspiration, and manifestation.
*How is art reflect who we are as a culture, and what is it relationship to science?
3. Science and Physics
Principle: Directs our community's present reality.
Inquiry and modeling of how we see the Universe and our place within it.
*What is the difference between Newtonian and Quantum physics, and why is this an important question to ask?
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Nourishing Triad
4. Resources and Environment
Principle: We have eliminated the concept of waste.
Environment results from the relationship between natural ecosystems and human resource needs. Its health is necessary for a sustainable commerce system. Resources are the materials extracted and replenished from the environment in ways that maintain healthy ecosystems.
*What is the meaning of 'resource'?
5. Energy and Power
Principle: Energy selections empower us by creating more choices.
Energy plays a primary role in creating the character of a culture. Source selections determine how a community develops itself, and how it maintains its environment. A balance between centralized and distributed power regulates its stability.
*How does changing the way we think and create energy impact the way we build our cities?
6. Food and Agriculture
Principle: We are what we eat.
Food is as important as our choice of energy source and impacts community health. Eliminating growth management toxins and increasing nutrient content such as through organic farming and perma-culture creates a sustainable, more vital community.
*How does the way we grow food affect the wellness of our communities?
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Daily Living Triad
7. Habitat and Building
Principle: How can our living centers generate more than they take?
Living quarters that are aligned with Nature's intelligence and wisdom. They are energy and resource efficient, effectively house people of all monetary capabilities, and are beautiful to experience. [Note the relationship between building and watersheds.]
*What is the difference between clearing and integrating space for development, and what system in Nature mimics road systems?
8. Neighborhoods and 'Family' Groupings
Principle: We are committed first to our immediate surroundings and the people within them. Primary organization of human lifestyles and activities, basic people interactions, determinant of local social infrastructure.
9. Transportation and Mobility
Principle: Improved people connectivity increases vitality and wellbeing.
Getting to where we need or want to be, providing mobility and availability; may include teleconferencing.
*Why is it important to reframe the way we think about 'getting around', and how are our transportation needs different
from the past?
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Cultural Advancement Triad
10. Learning and Education
Principle: Collective knowledge through collaboration unleashes individual capability and sense of identity. A lifetime project for all members of society based on the passion and sense of purpose of each individual.
*What is the difference between education and learning?
11. Commerce and Business
Principle: Making products and services using a closed loop method, seeing sustainability as the foundation for innovation. Advancing society through technology development, robust community service, and ecosystem integration.
*What are closed loop systems a necessary consideration for 21st century commerce and how does it influence the 'bottom line'?
12. Governance and Policy
Principle: Permit the transformation of existing policy management into new ones.
Coordinating services to aid all domains in optimizing their function. Generating policy that Community wisdom councils resolve disputes.
*How do city council decision-making processes compare to community elders council processes, and why is this important?
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Integrating Triad
13. Wellness and Medicine
Principle: Integration of eastern and western philosophies.
Medical care and lifestyle choices that are aligned with natural processes; includes birthing and dying.
*What is the difference between traditional, alternative, and integral medicine, and how does 'wellness' relate to the three?
14. Populations and Diversity
Principle: Human reproduction directly relates to healthy community development.
Guaranteeing the wellbeing of all and ensuring a robust future by preserving cultural, environmental, and knowledge diversity.
*What does 'carrying capacity' mean and how does it impact community-making decisions?
15. Inter-community and Intra-community
Principle: Choosing best principles and practices for implementation by learning from other communities experiences. The organizations that link communities together (web-weavers).
*What are 'imaginal cells' and how does this metaphor relate to the way we create?