Hi. Happy 2024!
Many folks have asked why I moved on after nearly a decade from the Synergia Cooperative as a founder /member, and the colead and co-developer of the Synergia MOOC Towards Cooperative Commonwealth: Transition in a Perilous Century.
It was not an easy choice, even if a decision based on the best of coop principles.
After each year encouraging colleagues to open up coop membership (beyond the three remaining Synergia founders), I encountered the endless argument that we were too busy with the MOOC project, and adding new coop members would jeopardize future strategic planning for sustainability of the project. So, faced continually with what I experienced as unwillingness to relinquish control, I resigned as MOOC co-lead and my membership in the coop.
I hope one day Synergia becomes an open democratic coop, with a spectrum of members, views, voices and votes informing its strategic future. In the meanwhile, I am proud of what we built, the creativity and problem solving, the funds we raised for future endeavours, and my many years of cooperative volunteerism invested therein.
I continue to support Synergia and MAIS MOOC participants seeking university credits from AU, and I will be helping Synergia here and there.
It's that simple. I remain committed to the struggle and puzzled by why progressive are consistently so lousy at solving the challenges of democratic cooperation.
I'll be working closer to home on climate and adaptation issues here in northern Alberta. And interested in working with others to provide large scale forms of online education to help the public organize systems change.
See you down the road.
