Dublin 2025
Welcome to week 38 of 52, my studio notes where I reflect, synthesise, ask a question, share resources, with a view to the week ahead. I reject the use of AI preferring my messy human processing and practice of writing as reflective practice. An AI or mirage based LLM model would produce a glossy polished, succinct and refined version of my notes. But that’s not what I am after and you the reader is that what you are after here?
If you are familiar with my studio notes then a LLM polish is not the lens I suspect you are here for either.
Let’s Jump in…
Reflection
My sense is time has sped up again. The regular rhythm of education, post summer hum of shortening days and people back into routines it seems a different pace is shaping work, connections and resonances.
It’s the Autumn Equinox today, in this part of the world, the tilt of the celtic cycle back to the winter solstice. The hedges and trees heave with fruit, nuts and berries. They demand bowls, basins, tins and jars of cake, jam and preserves. The last of the tomatoes, aubergines and chillies need picking in the tunnel and I wonder do I still have time to get kale and winter salad to grow.
Work has picked up sail and an interview mid week holds promise.
Sustainable procurement and supply chain, research week event requests to support PhD researchers from universities, deeper dives on other requests, recognition of skills and experience with clients. I’ve had several requests for coaching and mentoring support so I will be offering a few slots a week/month.
I’ve also decided to establish a virtual time travellers club to practice, bring people together and let people have a go.
I’ve drafted a community wealth building report with 2-4 case studies that I will publish soon. Let me know if you’d like a copy, just put CWB in the text.
I’d realised someone who has reached out recently to work with me has been following my work since before 2020. We must have been connected on twitter. It’s one of those amazing occasions where I feel really seen. I’m always a honoured when I’m asked by bright minds to be their research thinking and facilitation partner. To support pro-social design and create the right environment, workshop and embodied approach for a multi-complex stakeholder session.
Insights
My sense is that the CWB for local authorities need a strong field guide or this ABC guide. A pilot would be a brilliant way to develop one, I’ve been sketching out what that might look like but in reality I’d like to co-design that model with a community, anchor institute, LA and other local stakeholders.
In the Preston Case study it’s been really interesting to see how important the anchor institutions are. Even more important to see the evidence of increases in health and wellbeing driven by community wealth building.
Procurement and planning are two significant leverage points for change within local authorities and communities. With models for CWB, COOPs and social enterprises underpinning local governance and procurement the game changes. More money is circulated in the local economy.
I celebrated the Autumn Equinox by making a beautiful wreath from plants, trees, berries leaves, flowers and seeds in the garden. It brought me great joy to make, a kind of instinctive somatic experience where my hands wove strawberry runners and oak leaves with rose hips, crab apple, rocket and bronze fennel, grasses and haws.
A question for you
Are you interested in coming time traveling to the future?
I want to practice my how to fall in love with the future training. Plus create a space for others to practice and share ideas on time travel, strengthening our social imagination and playful imagination parts of our brain.. A fun light improv club for time travellers, possibly once a month maybe once a week?
Resources
3 towns are piloting https://www.townsmatter.ie/ it seems to have a low energy point and it reminds me of something Dublin Beta trialled a few years ago. Enniscorthy, Youghal and Tramore all have different comments. It seems they fall into 2 categories challenges and opportunities. Others can heart your comment.
Funded by Research Ireland through the Sustainable Communities National Challenge Fund, the CONUNDRUM project aims to understand mobility issues in Irish towns and to reimagine how we could achieve more sustainable transport and mobility outside of our cities. Our purpose is to support more resilient urban areas and sustainable communities by enabling government, citizens and enterprise to work more effectively together. For communities without significant public transport infrastructure or financial resources to upgrade to private electric vehicles, a push to decarbonise mobility has the potential to further marginalise our most vulnerable groups particularly in smaller towns with less developed infrastructure.
Moral Disapproval: The Political Consciousness of the Demobilized Working Class
Abstract: This study maps latent forms of political consciousness in the contemporary working class, moving beyond a narrow focus on far-right leanings among workers. Based on in-depth interviews with German manual workers, we reconstruct how workers criticize injustices of redistribution, recognition, and representation. We show that rather than any systematic political ideology, what dominates workers’ accounts is the moral scandalization of broken promises and violated expectations. The political consciousness of workers is defined by a reactive sense of injustice centered on violations of an implicit social contract. Building on Axel Honneth and Klaus Dörre, we interpret this as symptomatic of the political horizon of “demobilized class societies”. These are societies that continue to be structured by class relations but in which class-based identities and political representation channels have fragmented. Lacking a sense of collective agency, workers retreat to a defensive position centered on warding off the transgressions of groups above (the rich, bosses, and politicians) and below (‘takers’, intruders, and cheats). Politically, the moral grammar of the demobilized working class is ambivalent and contains openings for both right- and left-wing mobilization.
I’ve started to consider building again in Hylo, a distributed social media space “pro social co-ordination for purpose drive. Groups”.
I think that’s where I’ll be running my time travel improv club from.
A view to the week ahead
This week ahead is exciting and busy. I’ve 4 RFQ to get out,
a talk to SEAI sharing what doughnut economics is, how to think like a 21st century economist and support an exploration on how thinking differently about the goal of economics has the power to unlock meaning impact in both the social foundation and the planetary boundaries.
I’ve a meeting about levers for change system mapping, a practicing the future mutual aid collective and offering the first meet up for the time travel improv.
Some ground work to set up for Social Farming Ireland so it can kick into full gear for me next week.
Responding to requests for coaching.
Then on Thursday I head to Fethard in South Tipperary for this
Nuala McKeever is doing her one woman play the night before and I’m looking forward to seeing that. On the Friday we’ll be offering a step into the doughnut, an introduction to DE, a look at the Irish context and West Cork Donut Economy as the case study. Moze will be co-facilitating the community let’s get started event in the early afternoon. I’m looking forward to it.if you know anyone in that neck of the woods please share it with them.
I’ll continue to draw daily .
Kale and winter salad planted before it’s too late, pick sloes, sea buckthorn, more blackberries, crop our apples and plant some crocuses.
So have a great week.
Roisin Markham 
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