The Right to “Cowork”: Free Coworking!

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The Right to “Cowork”: Free Coworking!

Since 1948, the right to work is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is a right that all the signatories of the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” try to achieve by means of:

“technical and vocational guidance and training programmes, policies and techniques to achieve steady economic, social and cultural development and full and productive employment under conditions safeguarding fundamental political and economic freedoms to the individual.”

As many probably agree, this right is not working in practical terms for everybody in the same way (see data of the World Bank). Two European examples with Greece and Spain with an unemployment rate of 27,3% and 26,6% respectively in 2013, show this quite easily. (Current figures for 2014, with 25,8 % and 23,7%respectively are not much better.)

What has this got to do with “Coworking” and the “Right to “Cowork”"?

Coworking, as I understand it, is a “new culture of work” that “wants to improve on the way things have been done in the past”. Some of these aspects have to do with more openness, collaboration, accessibility and community.

Where the economies of most states find it hard to realize that “right to work” fully, I believe that most coworking spaces should find it much easier to realize a “right to cowork” in their spaces.

WHAT COULD THIS “RIGHT TO COWORK” ENTAIL?

I believe that: “everybody who has a got a great idea and wants to realize it in a space with others (like a coworking space), should be given that chance by being offered to use this space for free. In return for using the space for free, the user commits some time and energy to sustain and support the space and community that lets him/her use this space for free.”

This is not just a nice idea, but something that many coworking spaces already operate.

Everyday new groups and spaces join that free coworking movement, as you can read in every daily issue of ”Free Coworking News“.

To spread free coworking further and further, and to realize this “right to cowork” for as many people as possible, I have set up today a campaign on betterplace.org.

The idea is simple: We need more money and volunteers to spread free coworking, so that at the end of the day, everybody who has a got a great idea and wants to realize it in a space with others (like a coworking space), can do so, because it is accessible and free for her/him.

If you want to support this simple “right to cowork” to further good ideas, opportunities for more and more people, more community, more collaboration, more openness, better accessibility and sustainability then please donate via betterplace.org:

Donate now for “Free Coworking Worldwide: Free Collaboration Space Use for Your Projects”. The donation is processed by our partner betterplace.org

If you currently have no money to spare, you can support the campaign by volunteering or by taking part in the “Free Coworking Challenge“.

This is a global campaign! Please spread it, so we can make a real impact!

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How would a free coworking space get income (to pay rent, manager, etc.) ?

I see some sites rent the conference rooms, is that it?

Thanks a lot.

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Hi Marius, very good question! Quick answer:

Yes conference rooms is a good start. I would call it a mix calculation. You offer some free and some paid coworking. The one “kind of” subsidieses the other. But it is not one way. Once free coworking picks up in your space, the social capital generated there, will then subsidies the paid part and so on.

To start free coworking afresh, you have various options, depending on the scale you want to operate at. Starting small, you can do it in your own home like Lori Kane did http://www.shareable.net/blog/free-coworking-growing-rapidly-fueled-by-open-collaboration or “Hoffice” in Sweden show right now http://www.fastcoexist.com/3041322/hoffice-turns-your-apartment-into-a-free-and-incredibly-productive-coworking-space.The income you generate, is social capital at first that turns into financial capital as you generate more projects and turnover for yourself as an operator and your free coworkers.

Going bigger, you can operate like blankspaces who receive local subsidies.

You can work with smaller and bigger companies that sponsor parts or the whole of your space depending on what fits best.

There are so many different ways to do it, the simple formula I believe is: “Find the clients and customers of the services and products of your free coworkers and get them involved in financing your space!” They can finance on a project base, a time base and so on…

Maybe you like to get involved in the Free Coworking Challenge http://www.coworking-news.de/2015/01/the-free-coworking-challenge-it-is-very-easy-to-do/

so that we can set up a professional platform that helps every free coworking operator to organize free coworking and generate income from offering free coworking.

Greetings, Felix

···

Am Freitag, 30. Januar 2015 11:40:10 UTC+1 schrieb Marius Amado-Alves:

How would a free coworking space get income (to pay rent, manager, etc.) ?

I see some sites rent the conference rooms, is that it?

Thanks a lot.

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Hi Marius, just a small correction to the my first answer: I did not mean blankspaces, but gangplank http://gangplankhq.com/ , sorry! Apologies to everyone concerned!
Greetings, Felix

···

Am Samstag, 31. Januar 2015 12:26:43 UTC+1 schrieb Felix Schürholz:

Hi Marius, very good question! Quick answer:

Yes conference rooms is a good start. I would call it a mix calculation. You offer some free and some paid coworking. The one “kind of” subsidieses the other. But it is not one way. Once free coworking picks up in your space, the social capital generated there, will then subsidies the paid part and so on.

To start free coworking afresh, you have various options, depending on the scale you want to operate at. Starting small, you can do it in your own home like Lori Kane did http://www.shareable.net/blog/free-coworking-growing-rapidly-fueled-by-open-collaboration or “Hoffice” in Sweden show right now http://www.fastcoexist.com/3041322/hoffice-turns-your-apartment-into-a-free-and-incredibly-productive-coworking-space.The income you generate, is social capital at first that turns into financial capital as you generate more projects and turnover for yourself as an operator and your free coworkers.

Going bigger, you can operate like blankspaces who receive local subsidies.

You can work with smaller and bigger companies that sponsor parts or the whole of your space depending on what fits best.

There are so many different ways to do it, the simple formula I believe is: “Find the clients and customers of the services and products of your free coworkers and get them involved in financing your space!” They can finance on a project base, a time base and so on…

Maybe you like to get involved in the Free Coworking Challenge http://www.coworking-news.de/2015/01/the-free-coworking-challenge-it-is-very-easy-to-do/

so that we can set up a professional platform that helps every free coworking operator to organize free coworking and generate income from offering free coworking.

Greetings, Felix

Am Freitag, 30. Januar 2015 11:40:10 UTC+1 schrieb Marius Amado-Alves:

How would a free coworking space get income (to pay rent, manager, etc.) ?

I see some sites rent the conference rooms, is that it?

Thanks a lot.

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Thanks a lot for the wealth of information. Very useful. I get it now. Mostly old things under new names but I get it.

I was born in 1963 (age 51). I recall in the 1970’s-1980’s when most of us, my buddies and I, were students we would do exactly what is now called jellies and hoffices. We would gather and study (which is work) or work in professional projects (I would do this, I was a programmer).

Also interesting how you picture the space/community manager(?) as a commercial facilitator, the “middle man”: another age-old thing. Personally I envisage one or more of the coworkers playing that role (for the others), not the space manager.

I get the idea of “social capital”, and I agree it is a thing of immense value, but strikes me as a very hard thing to trade, or market, or monetise. The old way is through commissions, or a commercial margin, but then we fall back in the old ways, and will not progress. I see the “new” way is the intangible notion that increasing the value of the community will entail an increase of (paid) utilization of the space/resources. Maybe that’s the trick (also old as such), but very hard to capture as a business model.

/*
Since I’m rambling so much I shoud explain: I am an infrequent coworker of paid coworking spaces, a more frequent coworker at jellies (some organized by myself), because now I’m on a low income, and a prospective coworking space manager at a small town, which business I find very hard to start, e.g. banks won’t fund it. I am an unemployed software engineer, linguist, composer. I am trying to redefine my coworking space business plan. I find coworking very complex, difficult to plan and as a business, difficult to present as a business to stakeholders–they don’t know the word or the concept. I have been trying to grow a community–very difficult too in a small town (Vila do Conde, Portugal)
*/

Thanks a very great lot.