Silke Helfrich | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | 1967 |
Died | November, 2021 |
Education | Leipzig University |
Occupation(s) | Writer, activist, scholar |
Organization | Heinrich Boll Foundation |
Known for | Commons |
Website | commons.blog |
Silke Helfrich (1967 – 2021) was a German author, activist and scholar, best known for her contributions to the commons as a socio-political paradigm. [1] Along with her frequent coauthor David Bollier, she was considered one of the most important international voices on the commons. [2] [3] [4] She was regional director for Latin America at the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the think tank of the German Green Party.
She was born in 1967, [4] in a small village in the Thuringian part of the Rhoen Mountains. [5] She studied romance languages and pedagogy at the Leipzig University, [6] which enabled her to speak 6 languages. [4] After some time in development politics, she joined the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the think tank foundation of the German Green Party. First she was its CEO for Thuringia until 1999, [5] and later regional director for Latin America until 2007. [7] During this time, she focused on globalization, gender and human rights topics. [6] [8] Later she would acknowledge how her 8 years living in Latin America made her interested in the commons. [9]
Since 2007 she worked as an independent author, activist and scholar, with a diversity of international partners. In this time, she authored multiple books on the commons, both in English [10] and German. [11] She was friend of Nobel laureate Elinor Ostrom, and translated her works to German. [4] [12] [13] And she was regular co-author of commons scholar David Bollier. [14] Her last book [15] where she defines patterns of commoning following the work of Christopher Alexander, [16] was translated to German, [17] Spanish, [18] French, [19] and Greek. [20] Her books have received ample praise, [21] e.g. "thinking the better world of tomorrow", [22] "a new paradigm for the organization of public and private life". [23] "Silke Helfrich has achieved a true masterpiece with the work", [24] "a truly exciting glimpse into what the world after this one might look like". [25]
During this time, she regularly engaged with academics, practitioners and policy-makers, especially those related to the Green Party. [26] She was part of the board of multiple research projects, on P2P technologies, [27] [28] ecology, [29] [5] or as part of the International Association for the Study of the Commons. [30]
Helfrich participated in and co-founded multiple commons-related initiatives. She created her Commons Blog in 2007, [31] writing regularly since then on the topic. From there, she argued in favor of commons as a process, "commoning" [32] as a new narrative, [33] [34] and supported commons-oriented initiatives worldwide and in multiple languages. [35] [36] Later she would relate her "commoning" with the " buen vivir" concept (originally sumak kawsay) from modern Latin American socialism, [37] the Venezuelan co-operative Cecosesola, [38] [39] or the Transition Towns movement [40]
She co-founded the Commons Strategies Group along with David Bollier and Michel Bauwens, [4] although the latter left it in 2018. [41] As part of this group, she coauthored reports for the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, [42] and especially reports estemming from international commons conferences and workshops in Berlin, [43] [44] [45] Lehnin, [46] and Blankensee. [47]
From 2008 to 2013, Helfrich co-organized an interdisciplinary political salon called “Time for the Commons” at the Heinrich Böll Foundation. [9] [48] And from 2012 until 2021, she co-organized annual commons summer schools [49] for people to "co-creatively experience commoning and internalize it", and they have continued since her passing. [49]
In her native Germany, she co-founded the Commons Institute, [50] the Network for Economic Transformation, [51] and she is acknowledged as instigator for the creation of the Fuchsmühlen network in Werra-Meißner, [52] and the German Open Source Seeds initiative. [53] She is also referenced as convener of the Argentinian Fundación Vía Libre. [54]
Helfrich was a frequent hiker, and while hiking in the Liechtenstein Alps on 10 November, 2021 she suffered a fatal accident. [55] [5] A long list of institutions [56] published obituaries then, including e.g. Dutch Casco Art Institute, [57] the Heinrich Böll Foundation, [5] and its South African branch, [2] the Commons Network, [3] the Argentinian Fundación Vía Libre [54] or the German newspaper Die Tageszeitung. [4] The Commons Institute plans to establish a foundation in her name. [58] [59] She was mother of two adult children. [4]
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Silke Helfrich | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | 1967 |
Died | November, 2021 |
Education | Leipzig University |
Occupation(s) | Writer, activist, scholar |
Organization | Heinrich Boll Foundation |
Known for | Commons |
Website | commons.blog |
Silke Helfrich (1967 – 2021) was a German author, activist and scholar, best known for her contributions to the commons as a socio-political paradigm. [1] Along with her frequent coauthor David Bollier, she was considered one of the most important international voices on the commons. [2] [3] [4] She was regional director for Latin America at the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the think tank of the German Green Party.
She was born in 1967, [4] in a small village in the Thuringian part of the Rhoen Mountains. [5] She studied romance languages and pedagogy at the Leipzig University, [6] which enabled her to speak 6 languages. [4] After some time in development politics, she joined the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the think tank foundation of the German Green Party. First she was its CEO for Thuringia until 1999, [5] and later regional director for Latin America until 2007. [7] During this time, she focused on globalization, gender and human rights topics. [6] [8] Later she would acknowledge how her 8 years living in Latin America made her interested in the commons. [9]
Since 2007 she worked as an independent author, activist and scholar, with a diversity of international partners. In this time, she authored multiple books on the commons, both in English [10] and German. [11] She was friend of Nobel laureate Elinor Ostrom, and translated her works to German. [4] [12] [13] And she was regular co-author of commons scholar David Bollier. [14] Her last book [15] where she defines patterns of commoning following the work of Christopher Alexander, [16] was translated to German, [17] Spanish, [18] French, [19] and Greek. [20] Her books have received ample praise, [21] e.g. "thinking the better world of tomorrow", [22] "a new paradigm for the organization of public and private life". [23] "Silke Helfrich has achieved a true masterpiece with the work", [24] "a truly exciting glimpse into what the world after this one might look like". [25]
During this time, she regularly engaged with academics, practitioners and policy-makers, especially those related to the Green Party. [26] She was part of the board of multiple research projects, on P2P technologies, [27] [28] ecology, [29] [5] or as part of the International Association for the Study of the Commons. [30]
Helfrich participated in and co-founded multiple commons-related initiatives. She created her Commons Blog in 2007, [31] writing regularly since then on the topic. From there, she argued in favor of commons as a process, "commoning" [32] as a new narrative, [33] [34] and supported commons-oriented initiatives worldwide and in multiple languages. [35] [36] Later she would relate her "commoning" with the " buen vivir" concept (originally sumak kawsay) from modern Latin American socialism, [37] the Venezuelan co-operative Cecosesola, [38] [39] or the Transition Towns movement [40]
She co-founded the Commons Strategies Group along with David Bollier and Michel Bauwens, [4] although the latter left it in 2018. [41] As part of this group, she coauthored reports for the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, [42] and especially reports estemming from international commons conferences and workshops in Berlin, [43] [44] [45] Lehnin, [46] and Blankensee. [47]
From 2008 to 2013, Helfrich co-organized an interdisciplinary political salon called “Time for the Commons” at the Heinrich Böll Foundation. [9] [48] And from 2012 until 2021, she co-organized annual commons summer schools [49] for people to "co-creatively experience commoning and internalize it", and they have continued since her passing. [49]
In her native Germany, she co-founded the Commons Institute, [50] the Network for Economic Transformation, [51] and she is acknowledged as instigator for the creation of the Fuchsmühlen network in Werra-Meißner, [52] and the German Open Source Seeds initiative. [53] She is also referenced as convener of the Argentinian Fundación Vía Libre. [54]
Helfrich was a frequent hiker, and while hiking in the Liechtenstein Alps on 10 November, 2021 she suffered a fatal accident. [55] [5] A long list of institutions [56] published obituaries then, including e.g. Dutch Casco Art Institute, [57] the Heinrich Böll Foundation, [5] and its South African branch, [2] the Commons Network, [3] the Argentinian Fundación Vía Libre [54] or the German newspaper Die Tageszeitung. [4] The Commons Institute plans to establish a foundation in her name. [58] [59] She was mother of two adult children. [4]
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