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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.
Open Design Workshops
The Open Design Workshops are the main venue where both the Runrig community and its core technologies are being constructed. They are held every other Friday at 2pm US Eastern Time.
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. 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).