Convergence of Commoners Retreat

Good morning, and welcome to the heart of the Catalan mountains!

This opening session will set the tone for the retreat by:

Introducing the "menu" of the retreat, highlighting key themes and roles.

Discussing the mindset of the retreat: openness, collaboration, and affective engagement.

Presenting and agreeing on the code of conduct, ensuring a respectful and inclusive environment.

Introducing participants with a playful twist, assigning each a "dish" or "ingredient" that represents their contribution to the retreat.

This session aims to create a welcoming atmosphere, align expectations, and foster a sense of belonging from the start.

Convergence began three years ago as a response to the growing need for a dedicated space where commoners could share news, questions, and emerging ideas. Inspired by the experience of the Commons Strategies Group (2010–2018), the initiative aimed to create a safe environment for exchanging "half-baked" ideas and fostering mutual support.

This collaborative approach has led to impactful strategic deep dives, often supported by the Heinrich Böll Foundation (HBF). As Convergence evolves, its aspiration remains to strengthen the commons movement by providing a platform for connection, exploration, and innovation among commoners worldwide.

Fishbowl facilitation

Exploring Affect with Amber:

Affect goes beyond individual emotions and feelings and how they affect individual consciousness. Instead, it’s better thought of as the embodied capacity and potential to affect others and be affected within a social context. This capacity flows between bodies, including people, non-humans, and material entities. Affect plays a crucial role in shaping relationships, socially and between our embodied experiences, social subjectivities, and our recognition of others as singular persons.

This interactive workshop invites participants to explore how we can reimagine digital commons by integrating emotional depth, care, and inclusivity into their design and practices. Using the Four Rs framework—Resilience, Relinquishment, Restoration, and Reconciliation—we will collaboratively map values, tools, and practices essential for building sustainable, intersectional, and affective commons.

Free walks and Speaker's corner

🎯 Shake things up and recharge!

Introduce the ACT Matrix as a practical tool for understanding and addressing emotional experiences in collaborative environments.

Highlight the role of positive and negative emotions in shaping contributors' experiences and actions in digital commons.

Demonstrate real-world application of the ACT Matrix through a user case.

Equip participants with strategies to harness emotions for constructive and value-driven contributions.

The INSPIRE Data Democracy Lab serves as a creative and collaborative space to rethink how data is used in participatory processes. Its mission is to move beyond "datafied participation," where data often constrains democratic processes, to a model of data democracy, where citizens are empowered as co-creators of data narratives and digital tools for inclusive policymaking.

This approach aligns with the INSPIRE project’s broader objective of fostering intersectional inclusion in participatory democracy by ensuring that data supports, rather than limits, agency, transparency, and accountability

The INSPIRE Data Democracy Lab also focus on co-creating innovative models of digital participation and data stewardship that empower communities to take an active role in shaping democratic processes. By leveraging the Decidim platform, the Lab explores how digital tools can be designed to reflect community needs, foster inclusivity, and ensure ethical data practices

New models of digital participation and data stewardship

Zine Making Workshop on Data and Affect

Nathan Oxley - Strange Natures Zine

With Fred