The inside track
Mockups, budgets, roadmaps. Oh my!
Dear (potential) partner
We are setting out on a very ambitious journey here at Social Systems Lab. Our destination is a world running on a social operating system that can meet the challenges of our century. A social system that can pull us back from the the multiple crises we are experiencing today in the areas of environment, economy, inequality, resources and, to an increasing degree, the cognitive space.
Talking, workshopping, visioning and connecting dots are all fine as activities, but the time has arrived for the inventors and engineers. An idea whose time has come might be powerful, but only if the tools to explore and implement that idea exist. Without Gutenberg, there would not have been no reformation and no Renaissance. Without Edison's lightbulb or Tesla's alternating currents, no civilisation as we know it. The thought cannot manifest without the thing.
These pages are provided for those of you who like to dive deeper into how the various projects we are engaging in are connected and our roadmap moving forward. How we believe that the thoughts of our time might actually congeal and become things that are a net benefit to our chances of survival and future evolution as a species.
How we got here
2018Social Systems Lab is born
In early 2018 the company Social Systems Lab was registered in Cape Town, South Africa.2019Crowdpol, our first MVP
The first prototype of our liquid democracy platform2019The founding of Syntropi
Syntropi, a Swedish NGO , is registered and takes over custodianship of the Crowdpol project2020Crowdpol, second iteration
As a result of covid restrictions, work on the original version of Crowdpol is halted and we move onto a WordPress bakend as a temporary measure.2021, Q2The Presenece Project
In 2021 we began working on building a decentralised backend for the network to make it more future proof.2021, Q3Crowdpol becomes co:do
As the scope of the project grows from a liquid democracy platform to a broader pro-social networking toolkit for changemakers, a rebranding is needed.2022, Q1The Circles Project
Work on Circles begins as part of a political initiative to create a voting alliance between a number of smaller political parties for the national elections. Circles evolves into becoming the current software platform to support the co:do network.2022, Q3The Connectathon
We host the first proof-of-concept global gathering of Changemakers together with the Ecocivilisation network and other partners.2021Sample event
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Mauris eu massa orci.
What happens next?
From idea to actual reality
We have a number of projects under our umbrella that we aim to roll out over the coming years. Pieces of the puzzle, parts of a greater ecosystem. It is not an entirely linear process, but there are a few distinct components that need to be in place for us to create a
The
Altruistic
Wallet
Put simply, the Altruistic Wallet is a wallet that works like any other wallet, except that you can't use it on yourself, you can only use it on someone else. In this case, that means using it on projects verified and supported by the members of the network.
The Altruistic Wallet also differs from a traditional wallet in other ways. Because there are more ways than one to support a project The Altruistic Wallet can contain various types of volunteering offers, from general labour to specialised skills, whatever you are comfortable sharing.
It will also be able to contain material offers, such physical resources that you might have to contribute, either by lending out free of charge, or by donating them to causes and projects that are aligned with your values and goals.
The Altruistic Wallet is designed to be a stand-alone app, but is also integrated with the Circles platform, for ease of deployment. We plan to launch a proof-of-concept in conjunction with the first Connectathon, in March of 2023.
To dive deeper into the concept, this article will provide a broad overview and to get involved, drop us a message!
The
co:do
Community
The co:do community is, well, us. The network of people involved in these different projects in various ways. From Designers and Developers in the software space to Project Managers and Activists in the field, all of us Changemekers in one way or another.
Circles was born our of the need to build a software platform that served our purposes, the Altruistic Wallet was birthed from a need to finance changemaking in a sustainable and democratic way. Social Systems Laboratory itself was brought into being as a space to explore and develop these ideas into working prototypes for others to continue to build on.
In that sense, co:do is the community that curates and nurtures these ideas, from the embryo to the independent child. A place to meet, to weave, to explore and to build the better world we know is possible. To dive deeper into the bigger picture and broader vision, please read this blog post, and if it resonates with you, please join us to make all this happen sooner!
We host regular meetings every Wednesday at 18:00 CET, often with guests that are working on part of this greater changemaking ecosystem of ours. If you are keen to find out more, sign up to our mailing list or, you guessed it, get in touch!
Make
Circles
This is the first ready-for-use product that we will be launching in 2023 and we are VERY excited about this one.
Make Circles is a collaboration between Social Systems Lab and a number of NGOs, community networks and individuals activists and changemakers. We are also partnering with a number of businesses as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility targets.
Make Circles incorporates aspects of all our projects in one single app designated to support local initiatives that address one or more of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals in a verifiable and measurable way.
It is pretty simple. If you have a project you want to run that has a defined budget, measurable targets and matches one of the SDGs, you can submit it on the app.
If you want to support a specific SDG, you can search for suitable projects and fund them directly through the app.
Make Circles will (hopefully) be entirely funded by the business community, which means every penny you spend will go directly to the project.
If you are running a suitable project or an aligned NGO or would like to join our corporate sponsors or just want to get involved in some other capacity, please read more here.
Keen to learn more or contribute?
Don’t hesitate to reach out and talk to us!
Got a project that you’d like to tie into our corner of the universe? Get in touch and we'll explore how together!.