For the last couple of years, I’m dealing with research
(as a PhD candidate) on how relations between working individuals who use open
collaborative spaces in certain period of time are being formed via both
moderated and spontaneous networking processes. In the meantime, I managed to open
with the two other co-founders a coworking space and creative centre (Creative Centre Poligon) in Ljubljana,
Slovenia (Europe) which has grown to one of the biggest in the region (150
members & 250 events annually) with amazing community based on values of
sharing, collaborating and helping each other.
Anyhow, recently I have published an academic
article (in co-authorship) - we tried to examine the specific needs of the
rising creative class, identifying their urgent need for uninhibited sharing of
information, knowledge, ideas and material resources. In the article, we argue
that coworking spaces are favoured by the creative class, because they offer a community
of work which facilitates the culture of sharing. To illustrate what it takes
to establish such a community of work, we present a case study of before
mentioned Creative Centre Poligon which suggests that community building is a
multi-step process that needs careful management and plenty of time.
If anybody out there is interested on how
(creative) community can co-create a coworking space and thus embodies a
bottom-up process, I kindly invite you to take a look at the article
and share your thoughts with me.
I only read your abstract and it seems the last sentence could/should say, “focus on the community first [at existing physical spaces not building new coworking spaces]!”…which is the mantra in these circles!
For the last couple of years, I’m dealing with research
(as a PhD candidate) on how relations between working individuals who use open
collaborative spaces in certain period of time are being formed via both
moderated and spontaneous networking processes. In the meantime, I managed to open
with the two other co-founders a coworking space and creative centre (Creative Centre Poligon) in Ljubljana,
Slovenia (Europe) which has grown to one of the biggest in the region (150
members & 250 events annually) with amazing community based on values of
sharing, collaborating and helping each other.
Anyhow, recently I have published an academic
article (in co-authorship) - we tried to examine the specific needs of the
rising creative class, identifying their urgent need for uninhibited sharing of
information, knowledge, ideas and material resources. In the article, we argue
that coworking spaces are favoured by the creative class, because they offer a community
of work which facilitates the culture of sharing. To illustrate what it takes
to establish such a community of work, we present a case study of before
mentioned Creative Centre Poligon which suggests that community building is a
multi-step process that needs careful management and plenty of time.
If anybody out there is interested on how
(creative) community can co-create a coworking space and thus embodies a
bottom-up process, I kindly invite you to take a look at the article
and share your thoughts with me.