About i-COMMON HK
i-COMMON HK is a community/social economy project developed by Professor Pun Ngai in collaboration with HKWWA(香港婦女勞工女工合作社), Tianzi Zuowei (天姿作圍) in Tin Shui Wai, and a group of students, artists and activists. Through the work of the HKU Global China Social Research Hub, the Centre for Cultural Research and Development (CCRD) at Lingnan University and the support of a number of community partners, the project aims to achieve the following goals:
- To promote the concepts of commons and social economy;
- To cultivate a group of active and participatory consumers with awareness of social economy and commons;
- To advance the self-sustainability of local commons producers via reducing the selling expenses for producers — costs associated with distributing, marketing and promoting a product or service;
- To integrate environmental-friendly solutions into our operation of the community e-shop i-COMMON HK;
- To integrate ethical shipping solutions into our operation.
Public awareness and education activities
i-Common HK had organised a series of public seminars on the relationships between consumers and producers. The main goal of the public seminars of i-Common HK is to educate people about the ethos of commoning and co-operation and to empower general consumers in everyday practices. The i-Common project team had also developed and disseminated two series of commons education on social media – ‘Talk about Commons in 1.5 minutes’ animation series (分半鐘Commons) and ‘Commons is not a dream’ (Commons不是夢) to promote local and international good practices. There were also posts in relation to International Labour Day, young and elderly people and other community-building projects via Facebook and Instagram.
Commons is not a dream
Case Sharing Section on “Common is not a dream” (案例系列 —— Common不是夢)
[ Commons不是夢 ] 日本全國大學生活協同組合連合會：回應大學生活每一個需求
Date: November 14, 2022
[ Commons不是夢 ] 好老土農墟——重構香港本土農業社區
Date: August 9, 2022
To learn more, please visit the i-COMMON HK website
Public seminars
Community Oriented Mutual Economy (非虛擬貨幣之 “時分券”——我在天姿作圍的消費與勞動) :
In the first sharing session, organizer and members of Tianzi Zuowei(天姿作圍) talked about their vision of a community oriented mutual economy and consumption practices through the process of labor-exchanged-community currency (時分券).
倪燕 Ngai Yin (Community member)
鍾金釵 Chung Kam Chai (Tianzi Zuowei community farmer)
范沛縈 Fan Pui Ying Janis (Tianzi Zuowei Community Organizer)
Date: May 22, 2021
Venue: Book Punch (一拳書館)
Community supported agriculture ( 我與生活館，生活在社區 ) :
Sangwoodgong’s consumers and supporters shared their experiences on why and how they join Sangwoodgong and what they have learned from this kind of non-mainstream consumption and community-supported farming/agriculture (consuming organic vegetables). The organizer and farmer of Sangwoodgong shared how he cultivates and educates a group of supporters and consumers as well as the ideas behind Sangwoodgong.
周思中Chow Sze Chung (Sangwoodgong’s founder and farmer)
麥君婷 Mak Gwan Ting (Supporter/ Consumer of Sangwoodgong
曹文 Cou Man (Consumer of Sangwoodgong, founder of chobakery)
阿高 Gou (Business partner of Sangwoodgong)
Date: June 5, 2021
Venue: Talentum Bookshop (塔冷通心靈書舍)
More than Consumption (「這，不是消費……」—— 從日日的清潔開始) :
The members of HKWWA shared how they voluntarily promote the products of HKWWA because of their belief in sustainability and in supporting working-class women in society.
胡美蓮 Wu Meilin (HKWWA Coordinator)
程秀蓮 Cheng xiulian (HKWWA member, senior local domestic helper)
小燕Pang Siu Yan (HKWWA business partner and supporter)
Date: June 12, 2021
Venue: Talentum Bookshop (塔冷通心靈書舍)
Opening for the consignment collaboration with Fu-Tei Bookstore
Film screening ‘A Silent Transformation’ and post-screening talk:
‘A Silent Transformation’ explores the innovative self-help efforts and the radical vision of co-operation in different communities across the Canadian province of Ontario.
Post-Screening discussion by Prof. Pun Ngai (Director of Centre for Cultural Research and Development, Lingnan University)
Date: November 24, 2021
Venue: Fu Tei Bookstore