Innovation Experiment Zones 

Overview:

         An idea for 'local' initiatives that has not yet been widely published except in posts on the STW forum is the following: To establish zones for experimental development of innovative and sustainable organization of new communities, in areas requiring substantial international aid following natural disasters or armed conflict:  Such projects would be part of a parallel program for improved planning and response to disasters and emergencies resulting in destruction of housing, industry and  infrastructure, neglected innovation, displacement of refugees, and similar problems.  [>>]. Such projects would pursue several critical objectives simultaneously: 

-   Providing necessary humanitarian aid for the civilians in such areas;

-   Speeding up the restoration of devastated areas;

-   Providing opportunities for much needed experimentation with innovative ideas in virtually all areas of society, increasing the variety of innovation experiments; providing 'interstitial' space for the experimental evolution of new forms of societal organization, economy, and governance;

-   Offering opportunities for making best use of the energy, enthusiasm of people eager to pursue innovative projects;

-   In the case of areas affected by military conflict, promoting reconciliation between hostile populations through cooperation in the restoration process;

-   Gathering experience and data about successful and unsuccessful efforts.

-   Introducing more sustainable practices for common processes of production, provision of food, water, energy, health care, recycling and waste disposal and education etc.

-    Developing  a global network of similar projects for the sharing of information and cooperation;

-      Speeding up and enhancing the development toward more sustainable practices in adjacent existing countries and areas, (through the process of competition) allowing practices that prove successful to gradually be taken over in either area.

Description

         As part of a program of preparing for disaster aid that would be planning for quick implementation of emergency assistance, a series of potential scenarios for the development of 'innovation' zones would be prepared and the legal, technical and logistics procedures put in place for implementation as needed, where willingness exists for taking advantage of these opportunities. The aim would be not only to replace destroyed outdated infrastructure (instead of restoring it). Such situations would also offer opportunities for experimentation with other innovative concepts for organizing human communities;  the advantage being that such experiments would not encounter the problems of duplication of services of older structures, even possible resistance from adherents of those structures. The planning for such experiments would include the development of initial transitional 'project management' rule systems aimed at encouraging the discussion and adoption of viable 'constitutions' by the residents that are appropriate to the conditions of each project.

         In the case of such areas being established in border areas between warring states, these projects would be populated by refugees and volunteers from both states who will be granted ‘citizenship’ to the new entity (it should not be called ‘nation’ or 'state') upon declaring allegiance to a basic set of principles of cooperation and willingness to engage in cooperative activities resulting in experimental projects for new economic and governance patterns.

         Such projects would initially be funded by focusing the emergency aid for refugees and redevelopment, that would be devoted to such crisis areas anyway, on these experiment projects -- rather than on the existing / neighboring states and their governments (in which such funds have in the past often been misallocated by corruption, mismanagement, or discriminatory allocation etc.)

         The first tasks besides the provision of immediate humanitarian aid would be the development of infrastructure based on sustainability principles: renewable energy resources, water and food production based on sustainability / permaculture techniques, urban settlement patterns aimed at walkability rather than automobile traffic, construction of housing according to energy-conservation principles, education and health care services. These are task that can be attacked with existing, proven technology, which currently may still be regarded as not yet cost-efficient compared to existing technology and infrastructure -- but since no or only outdated infrastructure of the ‘old’ kind exists in such regions, the absence of ‘sunk costs’ in existing infrastructure which may not be considered in the cost comparison for developed areas will likely make new projects with new technology competitive. 

         Such projects would aim at developing an agricultural food production system according to Permaculture, ecologically sound principles, sufficient to serve its population. Private and community gardens in close proximity to residences should be encouraged. A further aim would be that of restoring soils and environments that have been degraded, and developing areas for agriculture, forests and natural ecosystems that had not been fertile before. Transportation of food over long distances should be avoided for most of basic sustenance of the local population; though later production of suitable crops for export may be considered. The development of soils and water distribution should be guided by the needs of this kind of agriculture and gardening system.

         Depending on local conditions, the projects should aim at preserving, restoring or establishing areas of natural environments with diversity of species, protected from damaging effects of human development such as air and water pollution, loss of habitat, imbalances due to invasive species, nutrient soil erosion. Reforestation, wetlands, wilderness areas are examples.

         New forms of governance and economic / financing system need not be established initially for such projects as given ‘constitutions’, but should be considered one of the development tasks to be discussed and negotiated by the projects’ participants, on a participatory basis, supported by new information technology tools. As these provisions and agreements emerge from the discussion, they will replace the initial, strictly temporary project management structure.

Diagram: INNOVATION ZONES