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Central to Runrig's design methodology are the social relations and communities that develop in tandem with the development of any particular technology. Priority should be given to these relationships over all other performance indicators or engagement metrics. We also seek to promote an open culture of design, where knowledge is produced and shared in collaboration among practitioners from every level and realm of expertise. Ideally, this should include diverse members of the broader technological ecosystem, persons involved at all stages of the supply chain, and the totality of subjects that make up a given foodshed or bioregion, human and otherwise.
This is all part of the principle of "ecology over architecture", as outlined in the Runrig Plan.
Event Schedule
Open Design Workshops
The Open Design Workshops are the main venue where both the Runrig community and its core technologies are being constructed. Three 1-hour workshops are held each month at varied times of day and days of the week to provide more opportunities to participate for people coming from different timezones or who have a recurring obligation that might conflict with a single time and day of the week.
| Nth Day of the Month | Office Hours | Workshop |
|---|---|---|
| First Friday | 7:30 - 8am ET | 8am - 9am ET |
| Second Sunday | 1:30 - 2pm ET | 2pm - 3pm ET |
| Third Thursday | 5:30 - 6pm ET | 6pm - 7pm ET |
We'll try to keep a list of specific dates & times for the next few upcoming events posted above.
Each workshop session will also be live-streamed and posted afterwards to the Runrig YouTube Channel so people can watch later if they miss it or want to catch up.
The agenda for each session will be begin with a quick round of check-ins and a recap on whichever project we're working on (recent progress, general aims, etc), and what we hope to achieve in that session. We'll also leave time at the end for a brief review of progress and action items, confirm the agenda for the following week, then check-out. The bulk of the session will tend to be focused and determined by the specific project's goals, with a more detailed agenda we can decide on collaboratively. This is why we're setting aside "office hours" where people can join half an hour early for more informal chat and Q&A.
Sample Agenda
- 30 min before
- Office hours
- 5-10 min
- Check-in, recap & goals
- 40-50 min
- Main Agenda (project dependent)
- 5-10 min
- Review progress, action items & check-out
Other Events and Project Information
A more detailed view of the kinds of projects we're working on and where we're heading can be found in the Runrig Roadmap for 2024. You can also checkout out our GitHub repositories and discussions for the latest progress.
In the future we'd like to diversify the types of events we host. Some examples of the kinds of activities that could broaden the base of participants:
- Group learning and knowledge production, from the study groups, documentation efforts, cataloging and assessing existing tools, drafting standard operating procedures and other training materials, original research, experimentation and free play.
- Hands-on construction of practical tools, from software development, interface and experience design, to straight-up hacking on existing tools and workflows.
- Mapping out known problem spaces, identifying new projects and potential collaborators, and conducting technical interviews with domain experts.
- Co-authoring and revising the Runrig Plan as a set of shared principles and a distinct methodology, akin the Agile Manifesto or the Toyota Production System, but in conscious opposition to the capitalistic assumptions underpinning those philosophies.
If any of that sounds interesting or you have other suggestions, feel free to open a new thread in the GitHub discussions board.
With each Runrig project, we intend to provide users with carefully designed tools that can help bridge existing software platforms to meet their specific needs, while helping to improve the overall ecosystem of open technology. At the same time, we strive to make each application more than just a proof-of-concept or a prototype, but rather a targeted, production-ready intervention that delivers immediate gains for farmers and other food workers working in the field today.
To that end, we invite any and all farmers, designers, food workers, engineers, students, activists, legal experts, policy wonks, fellow travelers and curious onlookers to participate. Users and developers of other libre software tools are especially encouraged to join and let us know ways we can complement and contribute to their projects.
Newsletter
We're actively seeking partnerships and collaborations with similarly aligned organizations, and very soon hope to begin recruiting farmers, activists, tech workers and other individuals as coop members. Over the coming months, we will be hosting more Open Design Workshops and other events. At most once or twice a month we will send out updates on those upcoming events and other developments in the Runrig community. Sign up below if you wish to be notified by email.
Chat
Whether you have general questions and suggestions, requests for mutual aid tech support, or just want to chat with folks in the community, you can join the Runrig Matrix room. Some of us can also be found on the #design-tech-incubator channel on Skywoman's Discord server and the Discourse forum run by the Gathering for Open Agricultural Technology (GOAT).