What is Knowledgelab?

Knowledgelab tries to situate itself at the boundary between the University and the activist network. It is a chance for us to escape the confines of the institution, to resist its exclusivity and to challenge the hierarchical nature of a typical conference/lecture type situation. With these objectives in mind the organisation of the event is left up to (as much as possible) the participants.

'How do we know?'

Saturday 17th will be split up into themed 'streams', each a set of workshops continuing throughout the day, which will run in parallel to one another. This time round we would like to open up a forum for discussion and practical investigation around the subject of knowledge itself. 'How do we know?' is the question. We hope to see workshops which address this question from all angles. Here are some ideas as to the areas of discussion which we envisage:

Media control & alternative media

Epistemology – the philosophical investigation into what 'knowledge' is and the mechanisms within which it operates

Facilitation – how can we share knowledge most effectively – practical experiments – consensus meetings etc

Human behaviour – how does knowledge and life experience affect behaviour

Knowledge in the political sphere

Ownership of knowledge – eg patents, copyright, copyleft etc

Inner knowledge, or knowledge of oneself

Internet – the world wide brain - how does this affect our learning patterns?

The climate change 'debate' – how is knowledge dealt with in this realm? – Studying the current surge in common consciousness of the situation – how can we best argue for sensible reactions to climate change? – debrief from the camp for climate action in September

Creativity – how do we optimise creative potential?

Anti-authoritarian struggles – what prospects are there for disseminating subversive knowledge? How can we optimise these?

Knowledge/dissemination of radical ideas in the arts - Interactive session on radical music – bring your favourite music to discuss its political influences and effects. – links between raising consciousness and art.

Thinking for Solutions
The unique human ability to acquire, manipulate and utilise thoughts/facts/observations/knowledge affords us great power. Where is it misused? How can this be rectified? We hope that Knowledgelab will not only be a talk-shop but will serve as a catalyst for people to devise positive, tangible solutions. Thinking means nothing without action and an emphasis on finding practical solutions will hopefully permeate the event. To this end there will be a few practical activities on the Sunday which people who are interested can get involved in. A wind-turbine building workshop will be run by V 3 power, a local group of wind turbine enthusiasts and there will be a visit to a local community organic gardening project called Ecoworks. On the Saturday we are also planning a 'Hacklab' stream - pop in and learn about Wikis, free software and net-based activism.

Get involved

In order to produce a varied and interesting programme we are still looking for people to 'adopt' workshops. Adopting a workshop can mean anything from giving a presentation to teaching people a new skill to simply addressing a question or issue which you would be interested to begin a discussion around. The emphasis is on non-hierarchical participation and open discourse but once a workshop is adopted it is up to the foster(s) to work out how it will proceed.

If you would like to adopt a workshop, or just suggest a topic which you would be interested to pursue, then please let us know prior to the event (before the 8 th February as a guide). This will allow us to draw up a time-table for the day and to circulate any readings or other material which you would like people to see before they come to Knowledgelab. We also need people to offer their help if they have experience of facilitation in consensus style meetings. (There will be workshops which concentrate on meeting styles and practical facilitation training for anyone who is interested.)

Practicalities

Knowledgelab will be held at the Portland Building on Nottingham University Campus. Registration will start at 9am on Saturday 17th and an introductory session will begin a 10am so those planning to travel would be advised to get to Nottingham on Friday night. If you need accommodation for either the Friday or Saturday night, or both, please get in touch as soon as you can so that we can arrange for enough space to be available. Bring a sleeping bag.

Food, provided by veggies, our local vegan catering company, will be available for all participants on Saturday and Sunday. If you are arriving on Friday evening we can also arrange dinner. The venue is fully wheelchair friendly. If you are interested but need to look after children please get in touch before coming. We will be able to set up a kids programme if there is enough interest.

Food and logistics will be our main expense and we would ask that people donate in the region of £20 waged and £5 unwaged for participation in the event. Hopefully this will cover expenses. We will update people on the progress of the financial situation on the day. There is no funding coming in for this event so we regretfully cannot offer to help people out with travel expenses. We'll be more organised next time!


Please contact Rhiannon at  rhiannonfirth@gmail.com or Matt on  mrmattypants@gmail.com for more information, to book a place at Knowledgelab or to adopt a workshop. You can also ring Matt on 07962 428 333. The timetable of workshops will be circulated at a time closer to the event.

For more info on Knowledgelab go to www.knowledgelab.org.uk.