an occupy autonomy initiative (draft)
The Occupy Eugene House-Free Commons Project
Habitat for a New Society through the Wisdom of the Houseless 
While not a 'homeless' program, this project does especially address the long term needs of house-free young adults occupying the urban Eugene environment. The young adult is a fast growing sector of the houseless population. Within this houseless sector there is a growing subgroup which might be called the 'house-free' group. While claiming the need and the right to assemble and associate, they disavow needing to be housed at all. They are not unhoused, they are house-free. Their grievance is the criminalization of their urban outdoor way of life. To reverse that plaint, this project recognizes them as 'cultural creatives' whose ongoing desire for a house-free experience has become an important harbinger to our urban society in middle-class descent. In light of the economic transition that's now begun we see the house-free young adult, having shed the conventional fantasy of the over-housed, as a valuable, even a crucial, asset to our civil society going forward.

This project also addresses a much greater challenge, that of our city's economy being over monetized and consumerist. In this regard this project proposes to begin stewarding and maturing the young and houseless experience into an educational commons devoted to the rapid infusion of restorative economies into our local communities, thereby meeting the greater need of having living, working models of locally rooted economies available nationally. In this vision Eugene is underway to becoming a renowned eco-society, a hotbed for the social innovations that a deepening green future requires. The house-free are well positioned to pioneer this emerging commons-based economy and its way of life.

This project, being highly integrative and forward looking, offers an expenditure benign, culturally poised and politically unique direction to the homeless reintegration challenge here in our particular city. It is decidedly not about building a 'homeless' camp, it is about reclaiming and re-animating the commons and establishing a house-free transitional community upon it as a necessary first use of that commons. So, first things first: The OE Commons Project calls upon the City of Eugene to allow for the prompt recognition and steady establishment of a network of eight OE living demonstration campus sites throughout the city. Wherein each and every city ward will carefully select a permanent campus site through the agency of resident OE actionists within their own ward. These eight campus sites taken together are to be the (Occupy) Eugene Commons. The need to begin is appearing urgent.

Some details (mutually aiding assistance welcome):

Each campus is to be a long-term yet transitional homebase for houseless members of these four groups:

Street Family Alliance, et al: There are a number of street “families” sometimes alluded to as “gangs” that live in Eugene. These families are formed for companionship and protection and are frequently territorial with one another. When Occupy Eugene opened several of the families found themselves joining the protest and living right next to each other in a single square block with the rest of the protesters. Leaders of some of the families initiated discussions to begin working on a means to keep peace between the families while at Occupy. This resulted in the Street Family Alliance which was highly successful in reducing the conflict and building solidarity among the families. This project will offer house-free members of the SFA a homebase from which to continue this effort while becoming OE administrator stewards of the campus/commons.

Local Permaculture Community: The greater permaculture community will design and raise each campus through already established alliances and local workshop parties. Within the local permaculture community there are numerous individuals who have grown suspect of the sustainability of their housing and are looking to move to a fully sustainable shelter option. The project itself becoming a glocal (local and global) permaculture attractor.

Green Nomad Network / Wwoofers:  'Green Nomads' is our catch phrase for a diverse and growing group of often certified earth conscious worker philosophers who are willing to gift exchange their skills to earth-worthy and social justice projects. Having a global perspective they are often nomadically inclined and house-free. We ask them to maintain the campuses through well established wwoofing work trade arrangements. They are willing teachers as well.

In-Ward resident OE actionists: The Neighborhood Ward Occupy citizenry will steward their district campus through local political initiative. As the national energy and economic transition deepens each campus will offer much to the nearby neighborhood in the way of practical demonstrations of emerging economies and green innovation. Becoming seasonally house-free will increasingly suit the transitional needs of numerous ward residents. 
Each campus resident group will conduct its own membership process based on egalitarian equanimity with all other resident groups. This assures that one group will not out populate the others, keeping vital eco-social aspects intact.
Each campus is to become a dynamic eco-encampment that demonstrates:
  • Unique Minimal Personal Shelter  (100 sqft, open on a side, cold weather adaptable, regenerative, peer reviewed)
  • Food Sovereignty   (see below)
  • Open and Secure Community
  • Resource Creation
  • Peaceful Democratic Assembly
Fully established encampusments are to be:
  • Off grid - zero waste -  local economic entities  
  • Strongly bicycle oriented and pedal powered
  • Free of  'occu-camp' dysfunctions
 Some Project Directions:

To dramatically build upon the emergent social values and synergistic sense of 'possible' community that was 
collectively realized during OccupyEugene 2011.

To construct a social charter claiming the urban houseless experience as our common pool resource and develop
the trusts to define our membership and role in the global commons.

To become an OE Campus Living Organization associated to Gaia University.

To acquire an eco-friendly zoning determination while awaiting international commons arrangements to take fuller form.

To achieve food sovereignty through nearby neighborhood yardsharing outreach, victory garden alliances, city community gardens, co-operative gleaning and foraging, outlier bean and grain farming and outlier animal husbandry.

Land sovereignty is to be eventually achieved through a broad community covenant offering formal reparations to the Kalapuya, the original indigenous stewards of our region.

Summary:

Building further upon the OccupyEugene camp experience of 2011, the OE House-Free Commons Project offers a dynamic
social model that holistically meets the needs of the rising house-free sector of the houseless population. 

Using permaculture principals and green nomadic skills each campus is to have a minimally built compostable infrastructure consisting of the basic shared utilities required for safe group assembly and sanitation.

It is both an immediate and deep, long-term solution.

Of equal purpose for each living campus is to promptly offer every resident of the City of Eugene an 'ecosocial classroom' for gaining authentic experiential knowledge of 'sustainability', both socially and physically. The importance of this opportunity is not to be under-estimated as we move together into the transitional era of peak oil, post fake money and climate instability. 

Commons offer great hope for the future because it provides practical, effective forms of governance and resource management that can address the growing failures of both the fundamentalist market order and our centralized, hierarchical institutions.

If you would like to see this happen in Eugene, 
let's get started.
finnpo@efn.org