Welcome to the “Commonground ReWilding Cafe”
“The Commonground ReWilding Cafe is Not Your Usual Common-a-Garden Cafe. Our aim is to Create something it’s Much More Special Than Being a Mere Cafe”.
Our Commonground ReWilding Cafe is a Cool Comfortable Hygge Style Space where you can enjoy some great Authentically Sustainable Continental style foods. At the same time our Cafe creates approachable and friendly spaces that are designing to show real examples of how we can go about finding solutions to making the world a greener & more sustainable friendly place.
“He aha te mea nui o te ao?
He tangata, he tangata, he tangata.”
“What is the most important thing in the world?
It is people, it is people, it is people.”
As you may have guessed or will do as your read through this website/manifesto that we at Commonground are strongly influenced by the Polynesian and Maori cultures, through there respect for nature and the way they live. They answer the solutions to our planetary issues, which is actually simple to do – it’s all about people and in the belief that there is an interconnectedness between all things. As a result we have created a concept that we have called the “We Simply Show You” approach. The idea is that by simply showing you how this interconnectivity works.
Commonground ReWilding is fundamentally about showing how real substantial & meaningful change change can only come about through “Evolving Real Connectivity & Communication” that is so needed today. We drastically need to improve the way we as humans engage and communicate both individually and socially. We need to create real effective change.
and to do that we need to develop better connectivity and communicate within the tribes we live in. This is vitally important to understand this because without this change in the ways we live and treat the planet we will never sort out any of our our Planetary issues. This is the whole point to our “We Simply Show You” concept that underpins the whole of the Commonground ReWilding concept. Before you delve into the concept we strongly implore you to have a quick read of the link below before you move on and a have a shufty at what we aim to achieve.
If you want to understand Commonground better these two quotes sort of sum us up rather succinctly we think.
Ref – Steve Jobs 2014 and Nikos Kazantzakis (Zorba The Greek) both said more or less the same thing.
“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in th square holes. They are the ones who see things differently, they’re not fond of rules, you can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things”
&
“A person needs a little madness, or else they never dare cut the rope & be free”
For Us at Commonground ReWilding – It All Starts with Our ReWilding Cafe.
Our Mission Statement (below) sums up our aspirations neatly. We see ourselves as Outliers in the sense that we act and think differently from a large part the general population in how to effect real change through better understanding & then find real solutions to the worlds current issues. Here’s a clue – The way we currently see our Climate & Biodiversity issues is fundamentally wrong. There is much more we need know that currently make us us unintentionally ignorant.
“Our aim is to instil in people a sense of personal responsibility, privilege, concern, & right to care for one another and the land they live on, by creating ways to becoming socially & practically involved in what needs to be done to solve our planetary issues”
The problems we face are related to the way we currently live both socially and practically. We have become too selfish to address the issues. At the core of what we do is to try and instil a duty of stewardship around how to treat the resources that nature has given us. Al Gore recently said something that speaks to the very core of what Commonground ReWilding is all about.
“We have everything we need to get started, with the exception of the will to act. Our will is luckily a renewable resource; so let’s renew it.”
Instead of telling people about how grave the problems are. Instead we SIMPLY SHOW YOU real ways that can be used to solve the problems. While the issues are undoubtedly scary its vital that we make the solutions as accessible and approachable for people so they feel more ready to act and get more engaged.
Our cafe is much more than just your standard run-of-the-mill cafe. It may walk like a cafe, smell like a cafe, even talk like a cafe, but it’s not a cafe, it’s more of a Cultural Exchange”
While developing the this concept soon became clear we had a problem. The Problem we have is how do you help people see the real issues while at the same time encourage them to what to make changes and ultimately get involved on a level that they are comfortable with. For us it about centring all of this in a cafe where you can a whole host of spaces where people can engage with each other and at the same time be able to see and get involved with how Authentic Sustainability works.
…….. So how do we define what a “Cultural Exchange” is about within Commonground
Cultural Exchange for us, is about sharing of ideas, traditions, languages, arts, and values as a way to get more and more people aware of the worlds issues but it needs to be in a comfortable environment. To achieve this use a Hygge type approach that allows for benign conversations and a friendly ways of showing how we all can engage with real solutions to solving biodiversity and climate issues. If you make space for discourse and communication that is friendly but you can still express a point of view then we can get better engagement.
“Our cafe is a space where you can
immerse yourself in cultural exchanges around
what we do or just chill and have a great time”
Al Gore is right, at Commonground this is what we try to do. The goal is to inspire and encourage people to find there own will to act, that’s why the core of what we do starts within our cafe. A real Cultural Exchange is about creating meaningful conversations that means you will “not find meaningless sound bites here”. To get this message over in a meaningful way we have looked at the “Law of Diffusion of Innovation (it’s about how the rate of new ideas and technologies spread through a social systems). People talk, especially if its about something that peeks there interests. how to The theory goes that if you are in a comfortable space you are more likely to engage more. Our ideas around cultural exchange is predominately about breaching the chasm that all start-ups have to navigate.
A Little More About What Our Cafe Does.
Our Cafe is a Wide Ranging Concept
“On your journey through Commonground, we hope that you learn how
the land speaks to you with your own ears and not the ears of others
and that you can begin to see the world through your own eyes
and not the eyes of others”
Ref – adapted Blessing by the Thunggutti, Gumbaynggirr, and Anaiwan tribal leaders – Chris Hemsworth Limitless Series ‘Memory’
It could be argued that this is an alternative moto to the one a little further up as it talks to a more spiritual
part of human nature that the other doesn’t but they can both show the true aspiration we are striving for.
Moving on from what that Cafe concept, the next little bit is about the practical aspect of Commonground Re-Wilding will give you a much better idea of why putting our cafes at the core aims and aspirations into practice.
So let us introduce us to what we simply call Our…….
“We Simply Show You“
Project.
It’s About Creating Real Awareness around real projects that Show You What the Solutions to Our Planetary Issues Can Look like.
Today we are inundated with the fallacy of misunderstood sound-bites around how we solve our climate and biodiversity issues. We live in a world where we really do not engage with the truth and reality in the matter. Politicians and our lords ‘n’ master in big business make meaningless sound-bites statements about what they are doing and needs to be done, when in fact they are doing absolutely diddly-squat.
As a human race we are also not exempt from criticism in this matter. We hear a sound-bite and think “that sounds about right” and then never engage. All of us have become blissfully happy living in our “Utopian” world. Today we want to create a utopian world where everything is perfect. As a result of this striving of unattainable aims we are putting the whole world at risk, us included. We refuse to listen, engaged or meaningfully act. We believe that Climate Change is the problem. NO it’s not, its a symptom of the problem. The problem is what’s call “Overconsumption”, and all the problems we face are as a result of this. Overconsumption is created by our excessive use of goods, services, and natural resources beyond what people need for a healthy, sustainable life. Our Planet can’t cope any more with our demands any more.
Our “We Simply Show You” concept aims to challenge people to actually internalise the understanding around all of this and then start to question there own attitudes we what they are doing to make the changes we need at this time.
Our aims are about creating our Cognitive Creative Learning as well as debating skills so that we can find real solutions to our climate and biodiversity issues ……..
…… that covers a wide range of
Approachable & Usable Cognitively Creative Projects
The whole of Commonground ReWilding is one large group of creative projects that are made up of three different areas (see postcards in our “Little Market” Cafe below). All three of them are come from different mediums. By using varied mediums we can create what people see in different ways as people in general react differently to how messages are sent and recieved. By varying the mediums we use, we effectively create different forms of engagement that increase the number of people who we can affect.
We see our work predominately as both Social Practice Artists as well as creating viable Social Enterprise Businesses. The whole idea is to create characters that simply are engrained in the range of messages we send. It is important to note here that we view the definition of an artist or an innovators in a different vein from the traditional views. To us everyone is an artist or innovator in one way or another. The reasoning is that we need to find varied ways to engage with the many different types artists or innovators out-there.
To Help get a Better Understanding. Here are a Few Projects & Concepts that We Currently have in the Pipe-line at the Moment.
This website is full of ways all of us can be both Authentically Sustainable and Engaged with the needs of Nature. So lets start with showing our first project – Our founders is currently developing a “Modern Authentically Sustainable Arts and Crafts style” house. If you have read the top of the page link “Malama Ka ‘AinA” you will have a good idea why we are doing this. If you haven’t genned up on that link we would strongly suggest that you give it a quick peek.
Our First Project Sort of Sets the Scene
& we Think it’s a Real Real Humdinger
It’s ALL about Creating “a Modern “Authentically Sustainable” Arts & Crafts House” at a affordable costs using current technologies & skills.
What better way to understand how our “We Simply Show You” concept works than to create an open house where you can see Commonground at work that all that Commonground is. about one simple project.
Our Founder had a problem. How to create awareness of what Commonground is all about, when you launch and capital is in short supply. One day he had a sort of epiphany that covers all areas of what Commonground ReWilding is all about. What if he he use his own house to designed an open space that incorporates all that Commonground is about inside and out.
So he did!
His own house is not big – it’s basically a small three bed semi. If the house was to be converted and re-built in places it would need some imagination and a bit of planning. Not being a great fan of detailed planning, he prefers to take a more iteratively creative approach. It soon became clear when are creating something that aims to send a message there needed to understanding in a number of areas. In fact the three creative mediums we discussed above came from the research around how we do this rebuild so to speak.
The overall project is unique in the sense its part of what Commonground aims to do. Its an on going experiment which we use to test ideas about sustainable housing and agroforestry style spaces. It will continue to be developed one the basic concept has been created. Also the house has also been the inspiration the Straw-bale Cafe we are planning in the near future to build.
Below are some articles that explain how we went about the above projects. We hope that we can inspire more authentically sustainable and more environmentally friendly choices, so you too can create a more comfortable and environmentally friendly place to live.
The Technologies Behind our “We Simply Show You” Concept
Protecting Our Heritage Crafts & Mixing them with Modern Technologies
Welcome to
“Our Little Market“
Pop-Up Collective
As you are probably aware by now we need a space to promote and sell what we do. We have limited resources but we are busy trying to build relationships with a whole host of people. This is why we have developed along side our “We Simply Show You” concept, “Our Little Market Collective” shop way of selling and promoting what we do. The link above will take to the page that describes how our little market will work and also show you how we want show you how working in Commonground ReWilding is beneficial.
A Little Information that Underlies the Importance …….
of How the “Why & How & What” Approach Actually Works
The “How, Why and What” way of work is the precursor or the foundation to our “We Simply Show You” that you have read reading further up this home page. It’s all about defining how we go about sending message and how people interrupt them. The four essays cover areas that underpin the reasoning behind the practical we simple show you concept.
Citizen Research
(Science and Journalism)
Citizen Science and Citizen Journalism are ways that people can get a voice. Over the years governments, local councils and big business have caused a rift between us and them, where the people have no voice or ability to challenge our self professed lords and masters.
By creating Citizen Science and Journalism hubs within the Commonground ReWilding Cafe we are creating a way for people to engage with each other and explain what we do and more importantly we can start to create a data base of Knowledge and experience. This base acts force of knowledge that can help us speak to power but with knowledge and practise.
This is one element where we can start to get things done.
You have to Remember Commonground ReWilding is Not Unique.
There are many spaces that do similar things to us, that we have highlighted here in the website all over the place. What we do differently is try and combine all of it in to one benign and effective system. Our main jobs is to bring communities together and to create greener and more sustainable environments by simply showing and encouraging everyone to get involved
The links below cover like minded groups from arts and crafts, circular businesses and access to research that we have undertaken over the past fifteen years of so, while developing the business. Some of the links are related directly to our gurus who have been helping us, other links are related to the rest. We are looking to create a whole page of links covering talks, places etc.
Why don’t you start looking around and seeing what’s being done, to get you started here are some links that should inspire you
Not for Profit
(or all our profit go to towards protecting the planet)
There are Some Amazing Groups working to Protect Our Planet.
(great links that inspire.)
Our One World Library
(Book Recommendations)
Welcome dear reader. This project has been ten years in the making and over that time we have had coming through our house thousands of books, periodicals, comics of all sorts, all have helped us define the true nature of what we do.
These bits of the written word have helped us get that little bit of knowledge and inspiration which we have taken on board. We have chosen some 30 odd books or more that we think will help you getting started in solve the planetary issues and create a better world to live in.
Commonground is designed to be different. It is an Open Source piece of work that aims to encourage people to create lives that are Authentically Sustainable and engaged with nature. It celebrates the gift of the human imagination as a way to solve these serious issues.
We have to think wisely about how we use this gift if we are to avert some of the scenarios that we’ve talked about here and the only way we’ll do it is by seeing our creative capacities for what they are and seeing our children for the hope that they are. Our task is to educate their whole being, so they can face this uncertain furture.
By the way we may not see this future, but “they will” & it’s our job is to help them make something of it.
It has to be remembered that this a long term project both in terms of developing our community based nature projects, or creating circular businesses and funding for what we want to achieve.
If you want to know more why not click on the contact us button below. We would love to sit down and have a chat over a cuppa, slice of cake or cinnamon roll about any aspect what you find in this manifesto. Remember the first stop in learning anything meaningful has to start with you and your courage to Ask.
If Communities can put all this together then we can start to Change the World for the Better
Thank you – Ciaran Patrick
