May Neighbors Salon: Learning from Portland’s Cohousing
MotiveSpace’s fourth Neighbors Salon is coming up next month on Friday, May 7th from 4:00 – 6:00.
April’s discussion on Portland’s community spaces was extremely fruitful – about 35 neighbors came out from cohousing communities, community gardens, community cafes, and other mission-driven spaces to talk with other members about what makes their spaces strong. We got a lot of good feedback about principles, use-types, and design characteristics, and also heard strong ideas about the spaces currently listed on the ‘Portland’s motiveSpaces’ map. Read more about the discussion and the next steps for the mapping exercise below.
Read more…
Advisor Zach Moser
Zach Moser serves the Coalition as MotiveSpace’s Tech liaison, helping the Board navigate the rapidly changing landscape of social media, network theory, and participatory technology. Zach is currently enrolled in Portland State University working towards a Masters in Systems Science, with an undergraduate focus on psychology.
Growing up in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, Zach began programming in BASIC at the age of 6, developing an early fascination with all things technological. Zach later served 4 years in the Navy as an electronics engineer, programming circuit boards and troubleshooting electrical hardware and equipment. Zach’s attention later turned to how technology could be used as a tool to empower individuals, and enhance their personal sense of freedom.
Zach’s professional background has primarily been in community event organizing. Zach helped to found a Rio Grande Valley organization called Outsidin, whose mission was to provide a platform from which musical and artistic diversity could emerge. In that capacity he organized large events and became familiar with the infrastructure needed for large successful gatherings- Zach knows how to throw a great party! As a strong proponent of personal freedom as well as collaboration, Zach is committed to the emerging philosophy of Collective Individualism, which challenges people to look closely at their personal balance of individual and community needs.
Zach’s reflective and thoughtful approach to complex issues makes him a strong and fair decision maker. His broad base of talents and willingness to help out on many fronts has earned him the affectionate label of motiveSpace’s ‘go-to guy.’ With an eye to the future and a great sense of humor, Zach brings a lively spark of energy and whimsy to motiveSpace’s team, and we are honored to have him on Board. You can follow Zach on twitter @wwjimd.
April Neighbors Salon: Mapping Existing MotiveSpaces
MotiveSpace’s third Neighbors Salon is coming up next month on Friday, April 2nd from 4:00 – 6:00. We had a great time in March hearing from everyone who came out to learn more about Hatch, the Incubation Center we’re working on with Springboard Innovation. We can’t thank you enough for all of your fantastic ideas and comments! We are working to incorporate the ideas you shared into additional material for the next round of visioning and programming development.
Next month, we’d like to broaden the conversation, and talk about the foundation of every neighborhood: community spaces where everyone is welcome. What role do formal and informal community spaces play in our neighborhoods? How do they serve communities now, and how can we work together to strengthen them? In this month’s newsletter we’ve included articles talking about City Repair and the Project for Public Spaces – two of the groups at the edge of community-oriented placeMaking and community development, and foundational inspirations for motiveSpace.
Read more…
Mapping Existing MotiveSpaces: Background and Considerations
At the next Salon we’ll explore basic questions:
- What makes a space welcoming?
- Is it the people, the process which began it, or something in the way it’s designed?
MotiveSpace, being one part advisory network, and one-part project incubator, is dedicated to helping neighbors build neighborhoods. That means we help communities build collaborative visions, and we help builders find communities who need them. We believe in people-first, people-responsive development.
To better understand the spaces already existing in Portland neighborhoods, we’re coordinating a Community Spaces/Places mapping, kicking off at next month’s Salon. We’d love to hear your ideas about community spaces already existing in your neighborhood- where do you feel inspired, welcome, and empowered? What is it about those spaces that you love- is it the people? The food? Something about the way it was designed, built, or the way it’s run now?
Read more…