THE PUBLIC SPACE

We are interested in ëThe Public Spaceí because it is the daily environment where human behaviour forms the culture in which we all live.

Over time, the quality of the public space has been shaped by each small behaviour, for good or ill, in each generation since human life began.

Whilst the public space is therefore our inheritance, our behaviour in each moment today and tomorrow changes its quality, and thus the kind of world in which we live.

In the ëfreeí world, we have an unparalleled opportunity – and a sacred duty - to raise the quality of the public space.

We can do this simply by upholding our own integrity in everything we do - everyday, within ourselves and in the space between ourselves and others, where all our relationships have their being.

This website and various projects implemented over a number of years aim to enable the participation of all people in improving and upholding the space between us for the greater good.

The quality of the public space is as vital to our health as the air we breath and the soil in which we grow our food.

Some projects have been taken up by others and have triggered further activities. Others have been discontinued. None require us to change ourselves or others or the world about us; they invite and welcome our participation exactly as we are.

There follows a sample of comments from hundreds of similar observations contributed by members of the public in Britain and other countries in connection with our work in the public space over many years.

It is hoped that this website will provide a useful focal point for your own participation and initiatives.

ï This is where all my relationships have their being, all my transactions and exchanges occur, all my agreements are made.

… This is the space I share with others - at home, with friends, and colleagues every day at work, and sometimes with people I find I donít like.

… The quality of this space in my everyday life determines how difficult or easy it is to carry on my business and my personal life.

… When our everyday environment is competitive and adversarial, I retreat from it, because the relationship is unpleasant, uncomfortable.

… When we retreat and withdraw from the relationship between us, I have seen that we lose the opportunity to learn from what is happening. Without relationship, thereís no learning, no progress - we lose life, for the way of life is through relationship. Losing our greatest opportunity for growth, we return to isolation, where we each have our own agendas. On the other hand, when the space between us is safe and supportive, when it contains commitment from others, people tend to pitch in with one another, we find creative solutions. We generate a virtuous cycle of improvement - life can be pleasant and comfortable.

… When there is quality in the space between us our individual value and contribution can be fully realised.

… What upholds the quality of the space between us is our determination to maintain our relationships - despite the difficulties and personal traumas and changes that confront each of us from time to time.

… When I come into its prescence, I can bring all my ideas and views and agendas, but as I have learned to respect others, I have learned to respect this space between us, for it appears to have its own creative force, its own benificent agenda.

… In the reality of each moment, we are free to create an environment of dignity, honour, safety, and support - without fear, without compromise or abuse.

… This is the kind of environment that most people say they would like to live in and work in - the kind of environment that most people say they would like others to uphold.

… Here, we can hold the space between us in honour - imbuing it with qualities which can change the outcome of the everyday transactions and exchanges which take place between us.

… In this space between us, our culture has its being, in each moment it is born and reborn. Our culture is continuously changing, in the quality of each exchange, in the quality of our relationships, in the quality that we determine to uphold in the space between us.

Back to Top