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Sharing to the Third Degree: Requires Cooperation + Extensive Planning + Infrastructure


At the third degree of sharing, participants will probably adopt systems for communicating, making decisions, managing money and keeping records. They will probably adopt some technolo- gies, like an online calendar for shared scheduling. They may even create a small nonprofit or limited liability com- pany (LLC).


As a result of creating such infra- structure, third-degree sharing arrange- ments often have an identity indepen- dent of their individual members. In other words, even as members come and go and there is complete turnover, the sharing arrangement remains and becomes a lasting community institu- tion.


n Car-sharing club n Cohousing communities and hous- ing cooperatives


n Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs


n Cooperative groceries n Parent-run cooperative preschools n Offices, studios, commercial kitch- ens and other workspaces shared among multiple entrepreneurs


n Communitywide tool lending libraries


n Cooperatives that facilitate sharing of resources and collective bargain- ing by businesses


Sharing to the Fourth Degree: Requires Cooperation + Extensive Planning + In- frastructure + Communi- tywide Restructuring and Mobilization


More formalized community partici-


pation, whether publicly or privately man- aged, involves significant investment of time and resources and a more complex system of administration. Taking sharing to the fourth degree might require getting government buy-in, mobilizing multiple players (legislators, investors, banks, developers, planners) or even restructuring how a community collaborates.


n Communitywide car-sharing program n Official designation of casual carpooling parking lots and pickup spots


n Citywide bike-sharing programs n Dedication of public land to com- munity gardening plots


n Expansion of public library systems to include lending of tools, equip- ment and other goods


n Planning of neighborhoods and housing designs to facilitate extensive common areas and


community interaction n Citywide WiFi programs


Janelle Orsi is co-author of The Sharing Solution: How to Save Money, Simplify Your Life & Build Community. As a “sharing lawyer,” she helps com- munities share housing and cars, create cooperatives, launch urban farming initiatives and form socially-minded and community-supported enterprises. She co-directs the nonprofit Sustainable Economies Law Center.


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