[alt-media-res] Fwd: Knowledgelab 4 - 'How do we Know?'

[Andre Spicer]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
André Spicer
Industrial Relations and Organisational Behaviour
Warwick Business School
University of Warwick
Coventry CV4 7AL
United Kingdom

Andre.Spicer at wbs.ac.uk
+44 (0)24 7652 4513 
http://andre.spicer.googlepages.com/home

>>> stevphen shukaitis <stevphen at MUTUALAID.ORG> 26/01/07 10:48:45 >>>
*PLEASE FORWARD TO ANYONE YOU THINK MIGHT BE INTERESTED*

*You are invited* *to Knowledgelab 4*, a weekend-long open gathering for those who want to think,
talk and explore. The topic this time round is 'How do we know?', which will be investigated
through practical workshops and discussions. It will be held over the weekend of 16th - 18th
February at Nottingham University.
*

What is Knowledgelab?
*

Knowledgelab tries to situate itself at the boundary between the University and the activist
network. It is a chance for us to escape the confines of the institution, to resist its
exclusivity and to challenge the hierarchical nature of a typical conference/lecture type
situation. With these objectives in mind the organisation of the event is left up to (as much as
possible) the participants.
*

'How do we know?'
*

Saturday 17th will be split up into themed 'streams', each a set of workshops continuing
throughout the day, which will run in parallel to one another. This time round we would like to
open up a forum for discussion and practical investigation around the subject of knowledge itself.
'How do we know?' is the question. We hope to see workshops which address this question from all
angles. Here are some ideas as to the areas of discussion which we envisage:

Media control & alternative media

Epistemology ? the philosophical investigation into what 'knowledge' is and the mechanisms within
which it operates

Facilitation ? how can we share knowledge most effectively ? practical experiments ? consensus
meetings etc

Human behaviour ? how does knowledge and life experience affect behaviour

Knowledge in the political sphere

Ownership of knowledge ? eg patents, copyright, copyleft etc

Inner knowledge, or knowledge of oneself

Internet ? the world wide brain - how does this affect our learning patterns?

The climate change 'debate' ? how is knowledge dealt with in this realm? ? Studying the current
surge in common consciousness of the situation ? how can we best argue for sensible reactions to
climate change? ? debrief from the camp for climate action in September

Creativity ? how do we optimise creative potential?

Anti-authoritarian struggles ? what prospects are there for disseminating subversive knowledge?
How can we optimise these?

Knowledge/dissemination of radical ideas in the arts - Interactive session on radical music ?
bring your favourite music to discuss its political influences and effects. ? links between
raising consciousness and art. *

Thinking for Solutions
* The unique human ability to acquire, manipulate and utilise
thoughts/facts/observations/knowledge affords us great power. Where is it misused? How can this be
rectified? We hope that Knowledgelab will not only be a talk-shop but will serve as a catalyst for
people to devise positive, tangible solutions. Thinking means nothing without action and an
emphasis on finding practical solutions will hopefully permeate the event. To this end there will
be a few practical activities on the Sunday which people who are interested can get involved in. A
wind-turbine building workshop will be run by V 3 power, a local group of wind turbine enthusiasts
and there will be a visit to a local community organic gardening project called Ecoworks. On the
Saturday we are also planning a 'Hacklab' stream - pop in and learn about Wikis, free software and
net-based activism.
*

Get involved
*

In order to produce a varied and interesting programme we are still looking for people to 'adopt'
workshops. Adopting a workshop can mean anything from giving a presentation to teaching people a
new skill to simply addressing a question or issue which you would be interested to begin a
discussion around. The emphasis is on non-hierarchical participation and open discourse but once a
workshop is adopted it is up to the foster(s) to work out how it will proceed.

If you would like to adopt a workshop, or just suggest a topic which you would be interested to
pursue, then please let us know prior to the event (before the 8 th February as a guide). This
will allow us to draw up a time-table for the day and to circulate any readings or other material
which you would like people to see before they come to Knowledgelab. We also need people to offer
their help if they have experience of facilitation in consensus style meetings. (There will be
workshops which concentrate on meeting styles and practical facilitation training for anyone who
is interested.)
*

Practicalities
*

Knowledgelab will be held at the Portland Building on Nottingham University Campus. Registration
will start at 9am on Saturday 17th and an introductory session will begin a 10am so those planning
to travel would be advised to get to Nottingham on Friday night. If you need accommodation for
either the Friday or Saturday night, or both, please get in touch as soon as you can so that we
can arrange for enough space to be available. Bring a sleeping bag.

Food, provided by veggies, our local vegan catering company, will be available for all
participants on Saturday and Sunday. If you are arriving on Friday evening we can also arrange
dinner. The venue is fully wheelchair friendly. If you are interested but need to look after
children please get in touch before coming. We will be able to set up a kids programme if there is
enough interest.

Food and logistics will be our main expense and we would ask that people donate in the region of
?20 waged and ?5 unwaged for participation in the event. Hopefully this will cover expenses. We
will update people on the progress of the financial situation on the day. There is no funding
coming in for this event so we regretfully cannot offer to help people out with travel expenses.
We'll be more organised next time!


Please contact Rhiannon at
*rhiannonfirth at gmail.com*<rhiannonfirth at gmail.com>or Matt on
*mrmattypants at gmail.com* <mrmattypants at gmail.com> for more information, to book a place at
Knowledgelab or to adopt a workshop. You can also ring Matt on 07962 428 333. The timetable of
workshops will be circulated at a time closer to the event.

For more info on Knowledgelab go to
*www.knowledgelab.org.uk*<http://www.knowledgelab.org.uk/>.