Last night Jonno and I attended a free lecture at Griffith University by a Californian “Sharing Lawyer” Janelle Orsi. I didn’t know anything about “Sharing Communities” when we went in. Well, I thought I didn’t, but very quickly I realised that that’s EXACTLY what Renew Warwick is all about!

Sharing Communities can be formal or informal. From sharing a ride/carpooling or produce from a garden to worker co-ops and time banks.

Sharing communities can:

• Share capitalisation
• Share profits
• Share risks
• Share work/labour
• Share information
• Share decision making

And I realised, that’s what we want to do with the community space, the community garden, the handmade shop, creative spaces and maybe even “The Ugly Cucumber”. We want to share the costs, risk and labour, but also share the profits (monetary, produce, education) while also sharing the information and decision making.

Sometimes I can be a bit slow hearing about stuff like this, but apparently these types of communities are popping up everywhere!

In Japan, they have Fureai Kippu Currency, or “Caring Relationship Tickets”. When you’re sick and need some help with the kids or home duties, someone will come and help out. That puts credits in the time bank that you pay back by helping someone else when they are sick. In Brazil, they have the Curitiba tokens were you can swap sorted rubbish for a bus tokens and fresh fruit and vegetables. Ouishare in Paris, London, Berlin, Barcelona, Rome & Brussels. Seoul are on track to become the first Sharing City in the World! And the list goes on and on.

In reality, the landlords we’ve contacted will give a month or two for free to people who are starting a business – not artists for free. This is moving away from the Renew model. But we’d obviously discussed this possibility, and even expected it. This is why we discussed the co-op models which will actually be more sustainable and suit our needs well.

This brings us to the question of our objectives, and unfortunately, the name again. Should we call ourselves Renew Warwick when in mostly likelihood there will be no artists filling empty shops for free. Instead, our not-for-profit will support community run initiatives such as the community space, garden etc.

I think we need to look at our objectives again and then consider a more appropriate name:

• Warwick Collaborative
• Share Warwick
• Warwick Together Foundation
• Warwick Shared Spaces

What are everyone’s thoughts on our name? We preferably want it sorted by Thursday night.