As One Network

Future Cities Become Cellular
Important Issue---To Focus on Humanity
Hiroko Katayama:
Thank you very much for the introduction of the Wunsdorf Project. I think it is your most characteristic suggestion that focusing on humanity is a key issue in achieving a sustainable society. In particular, the concept and practice of "Eco Station" is unique, that comes from your research and practice for long years. And here Suzuka Culture Station is the first place based its philosophy in Japan.
Well, since 2009, you have been on staying at and observing As One Suzuka community each year, and why do you keep so much attention to this small community? Could you tell me why?


Professor Hahn:
Thank you, Hiroko-san. I am very happy to answer this question. I have been coming since ten years ago, nearly every year. I think As One Community is the extremely interesting social experiment. I am working at Sustainable urban planning that means future cities will be cellular. There are lots of aspects to implement for that, and human aspect is very essential that we can see at As One Community experiment.
Prof. HahnThey are the most interesting group I got to know ever, because they brought their new ways with new ideas into the urban atmosphere. And it is exciting for me to see and follow such social experiment, which is developing year to year, And with new experience and new ideas that is really interesting.

Through such my own observation, I found the most important thing is human side. It is a community with more than hundred people, and the atmosphere between these groups is extremely friendly and very positive, and so they can try many experiments. Not of all are successful, and some fails. But also important how this group is what/how they are dealing with new ideas which first approach was not successful. In everyday life, they are doing lot of interesting things.

A Challenge of Society and Economy for Human Happiness
My most impressive point is their successful urban agriculture according to ecological and biological ideas. It is not only successful as social side but also economical side. They have been farming in urban sphere as well as processing in their innovative company, which I think it is totally new. In their company they work together without hierarchy, with much more happiness. That is very important approach. It is not only the facts what they are doing, but a way, human way. That is the big challenge. And as far as I can follow these experiments, they are very successful

Prof.Hahn LectureThey have also started an Academy and Network building, nationally around Japan and internationally with Korea and Brazil. Many young people are coming to ScienZ Academy to learn As One experiment. And as far as I can see only two places, it works under each condition of Brazil and Korea. So it is an approach, one of others challenging in the world, how to organize the post-modern or post fossil society in new way. And not only from social dimension and economical one, at least agriculture sphere also from ecological side, all of them have been going step by step. That is why I am coming from year to year. Always new ideas and new experiments are very alive in this group. And very open also to other ideas, so it is not closed community but open one.

Five Minutes City
And this year I and you, GEN-Japan, and As One Suzuka members visited at Suzuka city hall to have a meeting with a superintendent of Suzuka Educational Department, and the atmosphere was so friendly. That meeting is quite cooperative, and community is open for their ideas.
That meets again my question concerning new cellular structure of cities, because this community is based on a cellular structure so, their production and social activities and their living is inside, we call it five-minutes cellular or city , so you can buy something by walking or bicycle, everything is connected each other in urban areas.
That is a big step. So yes, in many aspects, the community is interesting, and also people I met, most of them I have known very well since fifteen years ago, and we keep very friendly atmosphere between us, with open discussions not only about positive side of project, but also the sights which are not so successful, and which have to be developed. Such thing is not very often with other groups. Because mostly project is only talking about positive side, but not open critical sides. This is also a point which I don't find everywhere, such an open way. So yes, I am very happy, having the chance of opportunity to follow of this experiment, this group which I really think one of the most interesting I got to know in my life. I enjoy a lot.

ScienZ Method for Younger Generation
Hiroko:
Thank you, professor. We have still some time. And then I would like you to summarize in short again; what is your strongest impression on this project for ten years?

Ekhart:
What is most impressive idea I experience I got to know here?
OK, but it is not so easy to answer. I told already many aspects before.
I think it is interesting this year I met many young people, and also international people coming from Brazil, Korea, beside Japanese young people who joined Academy of ScienZ, which is a method of learning for general people as well as a theoretical and methodological base of the project. What I found interesting is these young people get lot of orientation by this method. I know a little about ScienZ, Theory of ScienZ Method. And it is an interesting approach.
However theoretically there are many approaches in the world. What are different from other approaches? I had feeling after the discussion with young national and international people, that this method gives orientation to them, they feel stronger to find themselves and find their position, and they are creating new type of sustainable society. So this is something that speaks for this theory.

I have also discussion with Ono-san and with Sakai-san who are very much developing this theory and method, we had discussions about it for many years. I see also how the method developed and partly I can see how it functions because also structure of this community, which is always a little changing, So it is not dogmatic, always flexible and changing, new experience, it is also possible to integrate theory and the method of ScienZ, And I see how Joy System is permanently changing and developing.
I see it with Bento Company that seems to me. It is the most interesting for me, even I haven't really understood the change, that a wonderful person who was really developing the whole concept, such person left because he is very influential and came a kind of hierarchy in the company, very successful company, now he left to develop himself more personally but also to give room for others, young people.

Openness and Flexibility
In As One Suzuka Community, it seems that younger generation takes over the responsibility of the company as well as the community. It will be very interesting how it functions and how they change the structure of the community. If it keeps successful--, so many open questions cannot be answered yet, but the interesting thing for me is that the system is open for change, not fix, keep flexible alive.

I wish As One Community to go on this present way to be really open and flexible. Because when we create new structures for sustainable future, we need this kind of flexibility. And also in the discussion with community members, it was clear that many aspects are still on the background, which is important for sustainable future, but that is very understandable.
Because it needs steps, anyone cannot do everything at once, and so they have set priorities at the moment. It is very clear, but of course, to create really sustainable future needs also some aspects which will come, which are now not so much foreground, that is the question of really development step by step to go on this creative process.

Hiroko:
Thank you, I was much honored to have such comment from you.

Ekhart:
It's my pleasure.


In As One Community
April 2nd, 2019.
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1 What is the main vision behind your work?
It is the main vision of AsOne Network to manifest "The World as one", in which there are no conflicts and no one left behind; in which anyone can live as authentic self in harmony with all---all existence, human and not human, including present and future generations. The name of AsOne is from John Lennon's master piece "Imagine"; "the world will be as one".
Humans are a part of the whole world named the space, whose essential nature is inseparable and dynamic; "The flowing river never stops and yet the water never stays the same" (Hojoki, one of the most representative Japanese essays in 12c). A human is an appearance like a vehicle of life, limited in time and space, and so it is certain that humans can originally live as one flexibly and peacefully. Nevertheless, “Why cannot humans be in harmony with all? Is that the true nature of humans?
A. Einstein mentioned, "We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest---a kind of optical delusion of our consciousness. This delusion is a kind of a prison for us, restricting us to our personal desire and to affection for a few persons nearest us".
We think such delusion has misled humans to create fictions against the others and to fix them as realities like“The Commodity Fiction”; money, exchanging and possession; that is the root issue of the dominant paradigm. Based on those fictional realities the Capitalism societies have been kept, in exchange of enormous destruction of environment, society, economy and humanity.
Humans need a new story based on objective realities, learning how to recognize fictions as fictions and what objective realities are. Almost of all individual’s world view and thoughts are formed by value system in the societies. Humans, societies and environment are inter-being. Therefore we have focus on building the experimental community since 2001, like an island without commodity fictions in the dominant value system, in which humans can be freed from fictions and enrich each heart, developing each diverse talent and ability, generating infinite well-beings and prosperity for all on the earth. Not by theories but by observation, when the root issues of human problems are solved and removed, and also when the essential nature and real states both of human and society are kept investigating and clarifying, the world as one will emerge as the evidence of human potentials, even if the scale is still small.

2 Describe the concrete details: who, what, where and how you operate
63 core members and 44 supportive ones of AsOne Network Suzuka Community are trying to manifest the true state of organization and ways of management by "the ScienZ"; (see the organizational practices) .


*Community Businesses for happiness;
Suzuka Farm Co.,Ltd., and the Hand-Made Lunch Box producing and delivering company become popular in Suzuka and neighbor cities.

*Inner Economy without exchanging money::

"the Community Space Joy" in which rice, vegetables, fruits come from the farms, cooked meals from the Lunch Box company. Daily goods and alcohol are purchased from outside. Joy's 93 members can take them freely. Books, cars, furniture as well as skills of hair-cutting, repairing etc. are shared. All members, including 70's, can use SNS to link information. Another trial, “One Household” economy of 63 core members and their family with no possession has made their livings free and develop.

3 What is the great accomplishment of your work so far?
The community has been running as an experimental site in the center of Suzuka city since 2001. The community's Lunch Box company sells more than 1000 lunch boxes per day as of 2018. Their way of management, a kind of holacracy, was introduced in public by some medias recently. And Inner Economy both of "Community space Joy" without exchanging money by 93 members and "One Household Economy" without possession by 63 core members and their family has been started in parallel.


4 What personal practices have enabled you to break through existing paradigms?
A young member of Suzuka Farm Co.,Ltd expressed his true will, that he wanted to give the best vegetables to the core members who devoted to build the community. He thought, "Humans can never produce rice and vegetable. We need to sell them for profit, but in reality they are growing in Nature. He and some volunteers has created a space "Joy" in 2013.

5 What organizational practices have enabled your accomplishments to date?
The farming company had started "Regular Study meeting" with ScienZ Institute since 2010, in which the young farmer found his true hope in his mind, frankly opened it and others joined to study. They clarified the aim, made a plan, and then they started the study meeting with "Community Hub" on how their plan could be suitable to the goal and realized in the community. "Hub" supported them, arranging the place, money and people that can meet the aim with their free will. Hub studied the financial issue for the running. Then all members who would work started studying how the space "Joy" can work in the community.

**Background** When the community faced human problems in 2004, some members started investigation on true state of human and society.“ScienZ” method was then innovated: the abbreviation of Scientific Investigation of Essential Nature + Zero. ScienZ Institute was established in 2004 ScienZ School started in 2006, in which people cultivate each mind learning the ScienZ. We have experienced that the personal self-transformation and social one evolve in a parallel way.


6 What is currently keeping your project, initiative or organization from moving to the next level of impact?
We hope to study and learn, especially how to collaborate and express about us for having the strong impact on the existing paradigm. But it is certain that our efforts are limited. It is necessary for us to get objective suggestions on our present conditions, and also the opportunities to meet to diverse fellows for realizing the world-wide collaboration

7 To move toward a 4.0 way of operating, what enabling conditions would be needed?
Comprehensive understanding and collaboration through investigation on our actual state is needed from the broad perspective, that is, the whole landscape of the world. We think it is the most profound issue against the new economy for all well-being that present education make humans believe and fix fictions as realities, like Commodity fictions. As the result, there is no way but humans are isolated and disconnected, even though huge destruction of environment, society, economy and humanity have seriously occurred around. Strong fear to the others misleads human to keep conflict.
In Japan, Korea and Brazil, by the observation of participants at ScienZ School, we have seen the same problems. Finally we have innovated the ScienZ Method as a way of solutions, to find fictions as fictions, not as facts, by self-observation, based on 18 years experience. However, our effort is too small and weak to manifest the paradigm shift based on true humanity on the globe. It is certain that we need good fellows to have the strong impact around the world.

8 What is the most important thing you have learned personally from your work?
My most important learning is that I really love humans, and that society building is essential for humans' happiness. Learning the ScienZ together, I gradually found my strong fear to others in the bottom of my heart. I could find lots of "should do" way of thinking inside. They were the results from my fear to be judged in my memories, covered with dominant value system of the society. I started listening to me moment to moment; which are humans' fictions? What are objective states? What is the essential nature? I could find my true heart in free and reliable atmosphere of the community. Two years ago, I was elected as a CEO of Global Ecovillage Network Japan officially. I am happy to concentrate on such hard work with no doubt to humanity.
9 What are the key questions or opportunities in your field that need to be explored in the next 5-10 years?
The opportunities; we sincerely hope the Presencing Institute will visit us to see our present actual state, and start collaboration.
Our field is first to manifest the ideal circumstance like a community for happiness for all existences and then to transform Capitalism gradually in ordinarily city. If such social experiment works well, we will find the key to generalize to other places. We need such strong strategies.
* How can we generalize this small social experiment?
* How can we develop diverse educational ways, freed from fictional realities, and recognize fictions as fictions not realities?
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