Project summary

In October, Polis Labs will travel to Edge City, Patagonia, for a month-long pop-up city residency. The lab will research the human organizational capacity, governance, conflict management, and overall sentiment of its residents.

The goal is to collect raw data on all pop-up cities and network states to develop comprehensive governance models and dispute resolution frameworks for emergent network states. The data will be used to understand and improve human governance, prevent zero-sum game dynamics, alleviate the current governance crisis, build a better tomorrow, and achieve human flourishing.

Our ambition is to dethrone antiquated, borderline-sociopathic governance models and replace them with more decentralized, consensual, and fairer ones. Make no mistake, what we are dealing with is an often unappreciated existential risk.

About Polis Labs

Polis Labs is an Estonia-based nonprofit, independent research institute that conducts deep governance research and provides advisory services to emergent network states, eco villages, micro states, intentional communities, charter cities, and other startup societies.

Visit our website here: polis-labs.org 

What are this project's goals? How will you achieve them?

The project's goals and impact are to fully comprehend Edge City's governance, collective sensemaking, and organizational capacity from a data-driven, scientific perspective and to understand the participants' attitudes toward its governance, organization, and structure. We will achieve them in these steps: 

1. Conduct one or two focus groups

2. Conduct 10 interviews 

3. Deliver 10 to 20 surveys

4. Analyze and code the data, leveraging qualitative research software (MAXQDA)

5. Produce a findings report

6. Use findings to develop tailored, focused governance models, conflict resolution frameworks, and advisory documentation (depending on what we discover). 

How will this funding be used?

This funding will pay for the core team's admission/residency fee (4 members), cover all travel expenses, pay for research, research analysis, report writing, governance model writing, and final framework. 

Who is on your team? What's your track record on similar projects?

The team comprises two aide and development professionals who have worked in conflict and post-conflict zones (including Afghanistan and the South Sudan), a communication/psychology/focus group professional, and a MAXQDA/qualitative research analyst.

We have previously conducted similar research in Switzerland, at the Zuitzerland residency. That data is currently undergoing analysis. This time, we want to have the capacity to conduct further research, leveraging a complete multi-method approach. We also developed a dispute resolution framework for the Zuitzerland team called “Path to Resolution (P2R).”

Proof of Work via photo evidence from @Zuitzerland:

What are the most likely causes and outcomes if this project fails?

Failure could result from the team overextending itself and being unable to capture all of the necessary data. It could also be considered a failure if Edge City happens to have a “perfect” community that already sees the governance structure as adequate or favorable. Nonetheless, outcomes should result in data, but if the data is incomplete or inadequate, it could be challenging to develop a governance model, because we won’t have a clear understanding of Edge City’s governance challenges. 

How much money have you raised in the last 12 months, and from where?

n/a