Sharing Communities introduces audiences to key sharing/collaborative movement concepts and approaches, and offers real-world examples of peer-to-peer initiatives, as well as case studies of sharing in Adelaide, South Australia - and what else could be... * slide notes follow each slide

2. One of my favourite stories of sharing in Adelaide is
Lost Dogs, which I founded in late 2010 and which has
been built by others into an amazing public service,
reuniting lost pets with owners.
Digital technology is enabling people to connect,
declare their common intention to produce something,
and create it. The Lost Dogs crew did not need to ask
for permission, they just did it and now local
authorities, animal shelters, vets use the page as well
as the public.
www.facebook.com/adelaidedogs

4. This is part of a larger story of the reorientation of
society which is shifting from centralised, top down
structures to distributed, peer-to-peer networks.
Sharing is not new – it’s something communities have
always done, between groups of people we trust.
In the 21st century, with widespread use of the
internet and smart phones, these traditional ways
have been augmented with digital, expanding our
‘distributed network’ ie. our pool of possible sharers.

6. ShareNSave is a platform to map community sharing
assets, developed by Zero Waste SA, State
government, and launched in 2013 as ‘digital public
infrastructure’ – it maps the known, but there is still a
lot of unknown. It maps groups, but not individual
offers and needs. It maps what is, but it does not map
intent.
ShareNSave is now ‘open source’ software which
means others can adapt it, and share any new
elements they build back into the community of users.
www.sharensave.com.au/map
http://github.com/ShareNSave

8. Sharing is a positive narrative, and is about building
on existing assets. It’s often a habit to start with
diagnosing a problem, then looking for a solution.
Asset based approaches ask ‘what are we already
doing that is working, and how can we do more of
it?’ rather than ‘what is lacking in, or wrong with,
this community?’

10. The 'sharing economy‘ we hear about, the one that is
getting all the media airtime (rent your life out, make
money from your unused stuff, space, time), is more
accurately the ‘on demand’ economy - it is monetised
transaction and makes the status quo more efficient, but
in terms of power, it is not transformational, and not
inclusive of those who do not have assets to rent out.
Here are some examples of sharing that happen in
Adelaide right now…

12. …in relation to food – some informal sharing
(ShareNSave could tell them where their local
food swap is!) and guerilla gardening in Port
Adelaide.
Community sharing may or may not be
monetised; the key difference between sharing
and ‘platform capitalism’ is whether it
strengthens or weakens the commons, and who
owns it?
Airbnb and Uber do not own a single hotel room
or car, but they are capturing revenues from all
over the world.

14. RipeNear Me is a platform developed in Adelaide,
which allows both swapping and sharing, and buying
and selling, of home grown produce.
When people are able to see what they can access
around them, they realise that they can tap into
these often free systems to offer what they have
and get what they need, reducing waste and saving
money.
It could also encourage more people to grow some
of their own food.
www.ripenear.me

16. What could we do more of in relation to sharing and
food?
We have some community kitchens and cooking
facilities shared when people do courses, but what if
there was a kitchen in every neighbourhood, where
shared meals were the norm?
Assuming some agreed ground rules around
preferences and costs, imagine if you cooked for
fourteen people – but just one night a fortnight, and
the rest of that time, the family could turn up and
share a meal?

18. There are many other forms of sharing in Adelaide in
addition to food.
Here’s the Gibson Street Book Exchange at Bowden, and
the Helicopter Park Library in North Adelaide, both of
which are modelled on the ‘Little Free Library’
movement.
These micro book exchange stations are cropping up in
cities and towns around the world – like distributed
mini libraries. There are other kinds of libraries in
Adelaide and SA, including a number of toy lending
libraries, and a couple of tool libraries…

20. …we also have a network of Men’s Sheds, which I see as
a natural infrastructure for tool lending libraries and
fixit clinics.
This is Barry, from the William Kibby Veterans’ Shed at
Glenelg North. Through sheds, those who have been
isolated or gone through difficult times are now
connected into a community, and also serving the
community through making and repairing things for
those in need.
www.williamkibbyvcveteransshed.com

22. If we can lend and share books, tools and toys, what
other kinds of lending libraries could we envisage?
How about a Creative Tool Library, one that loans out
light kits, microphones, plotters and cameras instead of
games and books, or shovels and chainsaws?
What about a Kitchen Library, with seldom used
appliances and gadgets?
Sports and camping equipment?

24. We could have a network of FabLabs or Makerspaces,
where people can get shared access to a range of tools
and high end equipment they could not afford on their
own, but also a community of skills and support.
Adelaide already has one FabLab, or Fabrication
Laboratory.
What if we had one north, south, east and west of the
city?
http://fablabadelaide.org.au

26. Mamabake is big batch baking, and was set up as a way
to reclaim time for busy Mums. A group gets together
and makes a range of dishes which they divide into
family portions and freeze.
Imagine being a new Mum or stay at home Mum,
perhaps struggling with doing it all on your own, or
feeling socially disconnected, and being able to turn the
nightly task of cooking for the family into a social
occasion, freeing up even a few nights during the week.

28. Though Mamabake fosters sharing through social
connection, and sharing by cooking in bulk is likely to
lead to less food waste, that’s not its rationale, and
that’s not primarily why it appeals – it makes life easier
and addresses a ‘pain point’ of time pressure.
www.mamabake.com

30. How can we collaborate to meet our own energy
needs?
In Australia, we have community funded renewable
energy through CORENA (Citizens Own Renewable
Energy Network), who have been doing some great
work essentially crowdfunding renewable energy
projects from communities who want to see them
happen.
A solar project at the Gawler Community House is
one of those successfully funded and established.
corenafund.org.au

32. Vandebron in the Netherlands takes this a step
further – farmers who had wind turbines and
surplus energy got together with neighbours, and
they worked out a way to buy and sell renewable
energy peer-to-peer.
Vandebron is the answer to the question: ‘why can't
I just buy energy directly from an independent
source in my neighbourhood?’ Think about the
implications of that. Utility companies are facing
disruption as people produce and sell the energy
they need, without the middleman.
http://vandebron.nl

34. Sharing isn’t just about that which fulfils material
needs – its also about sharing skills and knowledge.
Who knows how to set up a verge garden and deal
with the council? Who knows how to use a 3D
printer? Who knows how to set up the structure for
a community energy association?
‘Asset mapping’ is a way of unearthing the passions,
skills and knowledge that are in any group of people
– all of a sudden ‘we don’t have the resources’
seems to not be an insurmountable barrier.
http://bit.ly/assetmapsharing

36. The power of sharing is not in online platforms
alone, but in bringing people together, and sharing
stories of what works. Sharing Cities Network has
been established to exchange knowledge and how-
to with other cities around the world.
People in Adelaide can see that our city’s sharing
initiatives are part of a broader movement that is
national and global.
shareable.net/sharing-cities

38. I set up Share Adelaide, the original hub for all
things sharing for Adelaide, in 2012.
It’s where you can stay in touch with local sharing
news and also ideas from around the world, as well
as posting stories and links of things you’ve heard
about that you think others could be interested in.
shareadelaide.com
facebook.com/shareadelaide
twitter.com/shareadelaide

39. alone, we can do so little
together we can do so much
Helen Keller

40. Sharing can make life easier and more
fun, but its also a very practical
response to financial, time and
resource pressures.
We can build more resilient, connected
communities, save money, and use less
resources by better sharing what we
already have.