Cosmolocal Scalability
Description
Vasilis Kostakis, Lucas Lemo, and Asimina Kouvara:
"Cosmolocal production offers a novel trajectory of scaling that diverges significantly from traditional capitalist models (Kostakis, Niaros and Giotitsas 2023). This approach emphasises diversity, local adaptation, and open knowledge sharing, contrasting with the rigid standardisation and control typical of conventional scaling methods. The concept of cosmolocal production has emerged alongside the proliferation of digital communication networks (Schismenos, Niaros and Lemos 2020). It describes methods of connecting local communities through networks of shared resources and knowledge, effectively redefining community in terms of place. This is achieved via infrastructures that facilitate sharing knowledge, techniques, and practices over open communication channels.
In practical terms, cosmolocalism enables the localisation of collaborative forms of production while sharing resources globally as digital commons. Several technology initiatives exemplify cosmolocal practices. These include Wind Empowerment (https://windempowerment.org/), developing open-source small-scale wind turbines; OpenBionics (https://openbionics.org/), creating open-source robotic and prosthetic devices; LibreSpace (https://libre.space/), building open-source nanosatellites and other space research equipment; RepRap (https://reprap.org/wiki/RepRap), which focuses on open-source 3D printers; and agricultural projects like L’Atelier Paysan (https://www.latelierpaysan.org/) and Farm Hack (https://farmhack.org/), which develop open-source tools for small-scale farming.
The collaboration and interconnection among initiatives like L’Atelier Paysan from France, Farm Hack from the USA, and Tzoumakers (https://www.tzoumakers.gr/) from Greece, along with other open-source agriculture projects, exemplify this new mode of cosmolocal scalability. Farm Hack’s and L’Atelier Paysan’s online platforms allow farmers to freely share tool designs and modifications, which other farmers then adapt to suit their specific contexts. These initiatives also facilitate workshops where farmers collaboratively prototype new tools, with designs then shared openly for others to build upon. This approach enables a form of distributed experimentation and innovation. Tzoumakers, a community-driven rural makerspace in mountainous Northwestern Greece (Epirus) in which two of the authors participate, demonstrates this dynamic in action. By connecting with initiatives like Farm Hack and L’Atelier Paysan, the Tzoumakers community accesses a wealth of open-source designs and practices. Rather than simply replicating these, the initiative adapts them to meet the unique needs of local small-scale farmers and other stakeholders while considering regional resources. The tools and methods developed are then fed back into the global commons, enriching the collective knowledge base.
This multidirectional flow of ideas and designs, facilitated by digital platforms but realised through local manufacturing and experimentation, enables these initiatives to “scale wide” or “scale out” rather than “scale up”. Besides, upscaling can lead to small initiatives losing their innovation potential (Druijff and Kaika 2021). These cosmolocal initiatives cultivate ecosystems of small-scale, locally-focused communities that are globally connected, nurturing the communal capabilities of individuals and groups, and contributing to the global digital commons. This approach embodies what Ezio Manzini (2015) calls “cosmopolitan localism” (or cosmolocalism), where local systems remain small and comprehensible to individuals and communities, yet are open to global flows of knowledge.
By leveraging the power of networks, these small-scale initiatives can operate effectively in complex, rapidly changing environments, fostering resilience and adaptability. Moreover, this scaling model promotes a new kind of production system where the global becomes a network of locals, as Manzini notes, enabling a harmonious balance between local autonomy and global interconnectedness.
What spreads through this network is not only technical knowledge, but also cultural practices and values. The ethos of open collaboration, autonomy, and ecological stewardship propagates alongside tool designs and manufacturing techniques. These values take root in new locales, creating fertile ground for other cosmolocal initiatives to emerge. This way of scaling represents a profound departure from capitalist scalability, which often erases local cultural practices in favour of homogenisation and profit-maximisation. Instead, cosmolocal scaling cultivates a diverse ecosystem of interconnected yet distinct initiatives; each adapted to its local context while benefiting from and contributing to a global commons."
(https://triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/download/1535/1612?inline=1)