Eco-opolis & the art of the im/possible

an experiment in the ‘collective book intelligence’

Eco-opolis is a headline for the collective intelligence, which can make the difference between conflict / extinction, and peace / prosperity.

Eco-opolis is both a city model, and a civilization model based on Eco-opolism. This is a co-evolutionary socio-political-economic system based on collective intelligence, where ‘winners are all’ – far beyond evolutionary capitalism, where ‘winner takes all’…

‘The Art of the Im/Possible’ is then the sub-title for a unique experiment in dynamic ‘collective book intelligence’. This book is generated from interactive dialogue, story-lining and ‘visual imagineering’: it’s co-produced with a community of authors, using multiple forms of knowledge, dynamic and interactive.

The process is quite simple….

We host a program of deeper conversations on current challenges
We create a visual storyline based on the conversations
Co-authors are invited to provide ‘pages’ (500-1000 words) which are linked by the visual storyline.
Co-authors explore synergies & inter-connections between the pages
We map the synergies & inter-connections between co-authors
New insights can feed back to the wider community & its deeper conversations.

Meanwhile,

the online platform is continuously updated, with an annual launch & conference / workshop program:
from this a printed book version can be published every 2-3 years.
around 40 main topics follow the ‘pathway’ structure of the source text Deeper City
we also follow the scenario structure, in an open exploration of possible futures
each topic and ‘nugget’ is linked to the online concept mapping (in Kumu.io), so that new patterns and insights can be visualized and explored
this is then the starting point for the conference / workshop program, which takes it all forward

Overall the ‘collective book intelligence’ is an experiment in progress, and it could evolve in different directions. On the digital side, there is endless potential in generative AI, virtual reality, social media mapping. On the human side, there is ethnographic futures, visual imagineering, synaesthetic stories, ‘reality-testing role-plays’, deep re-evaluation…

A 2025 launch event is in planning – details on this shortly…