#242 The Tools we Need: Raising the Collaborative Commons with Resilience Strategist Michael Haupt
We’re in late stage capitalism, surrounded by interconnected systems that are crumbling under our feet. IF we’re going to birth something new, we need concrete, real-world tools: actual practical bridges that will work *now* to bridge from the old to the new. ‘Resilience Strategist’ Michael Haupt is building these tools and shares them with us.
We know by now that the old system is crumbling, that the old paradigms are no longer fit for purpose and we need to take part in the birth of something new: this is what this podcast is for. But what are the tools and how can we begin actually to build something relevant and useful within the strictures of a system that is still trying to cling onto legitimacy and power?
Michael Haupt was a key figure in the widespread introduction of mobile telephones to South Africa ahead of the first all-race elections in 1994. He was head-hunted soon after and the next decade saw him working around the globe in 16 cities on 6 continents. He was in Thailand, taking a year out when he had a vision – an actual not-expected, not-planned, not-drug-or-meditation-mediated set of visions – that showed him how the world could look and feel like if we manage to craft a route through to what he calls the Transition Phase of our evolution.
This moment was pivotal in his life. Now he’s a ‘Resilience Strategist’ bridging between those businesses that are switched on enough to know that corporate greenwashing is no longer useful, and agile enough to find what is. He’s building mycelial links to others who are working in this area and he’s thinking deeply – so deeply – about where we could go and the actual logistics of how we might get there. I’ve been holding a lot of conversations on the back of launching Any Human Power about how we could build a future that is fit for purpose, where the human and More-Than-Human worlds flourish on a thriving planet. Thanks to Audrey Tang and Glen Weyl, I can see some of the routes through to political and technological change. Thanks to the Gaia Foundation, the Sustainable Food Trust, the million and one permaculture organisations around the world, I can see a way to mending our totally broken food and farming system. I can see ways to shift transport and power generation and city design. What I have lacked, until now, is the ideas that might bring the great behemoth that is the corporate world on board in a way that’s useful. And this is what Michael is doing. As ever, this was a wide, deep conversation and it pushed the edge of my thinking, but it brought me to a place where I can more clearly see a few more steps forward. I hope it does the same for you.
LINKS
Michael on LinkedIn
A blog past about the Thai beach experience
Michael – Liminal School
Cycle of Civilization
Interstructure
Roger Briggs, Emerging World – explains the shifts in consciousness
Will Ruddick, Commitment Pooling
Joe Brewer Bioregional Movement
Clare Graves’ Momentous Leap
GaiaNet
Dark Matter Labs
Episode #242
00:00 Introduction: Reconnecting with Nature
01:19 Welcome to the Podcast
01:40 Michael’s Journey to Resilience Strategy
02:14 Load Shedding in South Africa
03:49 Understanding Resilience Strategy
04:52 Michael’s Life Journey and Worldview
07:40 The Vision on the Beach
12:15 Potential Futures and Human Coordination
15:22 Cycles of Civilisations
18:12 Class-Based vs. Values-Based Societies
20:19 Emerging Consciousness and Systemic Change
22:01 The Role of Currency and Mutual Credit
27:25 Coordinating for Systemic Change
28:55 South African Elections and Corporate Responsibility
32:10 Legal Personhood for Natural Entities
35:12 The Mycelial Network and Future Coordination
38:28 Encouraging Systemic Change
39:13 Resilience Strategies and City Exclusion
40:12 Rural Experiments and Human Purpose
41:12 Challenges of Implementation
45:27 Local Currencies and Community Commitment
50:50 Ownership vs. Stewardship
53:22 Rediscovering Connectedness
57:26 Emerging Incentive Mechanisms
01:09:35 Forking Governance and Parallel Systems
01:16:25 The Power of Narrative
Episode #242
00:00 Introduction: Reconnecting with Nature
01:19 Welcome to the Podcast
01:40 Michael’s Journey to Resilience Strategy
02:14 Load Shedding in South Africa
03:49 Understanding Resilience Strategy
04:52 Michael’s Life Journey and Worldview
07:40 The Vision on the Beach
12:15 Potential Futures and Human Coordination
15:22 Cycles of Civilisations
18:12 Class-Based vs. Values-Based Societies
20:19 Emerging Consciousness and Systemic Change
22:01 The Role of Currency and Mutual Credit
27:25 Coordinating for Systemic Change
28:55 South African Elections and Corporate Responsibility
32:10 Legal Personhood for Natural Entities
35:12 The Mycelial Network and Future Coordination
38:28 Encouraging Systemic Change
39:13 Resilience Strategies and City Exclusion
40:12 Rural Experiments and Human Purpose
41:12 Challenges of Implementation
45:27 Local Currencies and Community Commitment
50:50 Ownership vs. Stewardship
53:22 Rediscovering Connectedness
57:26 Emerging Incentive Mechanisms
01:09:35 Forking Governance and Parallel Systems
01:16:25 The Power of Narrative
LINKS
Michael on LinkedIn
A blog past about the Thai beach experience
Michael – Liminal School
Cycle of Civilization
Interstructure
Roger Briggs, Emerging World – explains the shifts in consciousness
Will Ruddick, Commitment Pooling
Joe Brewer Bioregional Movement
Clare Graves’ Momentous Leap
GaiaNet
Dark Matter Labs
In Conversation
You may also like these recent podcasts
Change is Coming! Solstice Reflections with Della Duncan, Nathalie Nahai and Manda Scott
At the end of a turbulent year that has seen the masks come off the death cult in ways that were probably predictable, but still shocking, we reconvene our December Solstice Traditional conversation. Manda is joined by Della Duncan of the Upstream Podcast and Nathalie Nahai of ‘Nathalie Nahai in Conversation’ to explore the things that have stood out for each of us in our explorations this year—and to look forward to the year about to begin for what will be our baselines.
December Solstice meditation – suitable northern and southern hemispheres
Here’s our December Solstice Meditation for 2025 – please find a place and time where you can relax, take space for yourself, and build the connections to the web of life that will carry us forward.
Wild new stories: Weaving New Myths for a New Way of Being with Ally Kingston of Agency for Nature
How do we create the stories that will bring a whole new generation back to the web of life, that will help people find hope again, and lean into their heart’s yearning for connection, relationship, being and belonging?
Word Magic 2025 – Accidental Gods’ pick of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and podcasts through the year
Mandas’ pick of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and podcasts through the year…
STAY IN TOUCH
For a regular supply of ideas about humanity's next evolutionary step, insights into the thinking behind some of the podcasts, early updates on the guests we'll be having on the show - AND a free Water visualisation that will guide you through a deep immersion in water connection...sign up here.
(NB: This is a free newsletter - it's not joining up to the Membership! That's a nice, subtle pink button on the 'Join Us' page...)




