About this Collaboration

Given this project's focus on verified information and replicated and accessible procedures, having physical facilities where such things can be developed — and where workshops can be held to get direct feedback on their use and clarity, as well as 'just' share knowledge and skills — is an important enabler of our work.

Currently, most of the development work is being undertaken, either in our private homes, or at a completely off-grid block nestled between plantations and monoculture fields; while such a block might be of use further down the track, at this point, it's complete lack of connection to electrical and water mains makes it unsuitable for larger sections of this project.

In an ideal world, once this collaboration has grown enough to incorporate a registered, not-for-profit association — and thus, to become eligible for grants and other forms of funding — it might be possible to acquire a small rural block, together with some humble, but structurally-sound buildings; until then, however, flexible access to such a place, including access to electricity, some workshop and storage facilities, and some sleeping facilities would also be a great help. (Should you know of any such place within a couple of hours commute from Berlin, DE, please do let us know.)

Educationally and professionally, I began my journey into electronics and computing at a relatively early age. After completing my undergraduate studies Computer Science / IT, Applied Mathematics and Electronic Engineering in Australia, I spent the next 13 or so years in various Research and Development groups, working variously as a Systems Engineer, Software and Systems Architect and Systems Scientist; during this time I also undertook some post-graduate research in intersection between Machine Learning and Cognitive Science, focusing primarily on concept formation and the automated generation of ontologies, with a smattering of linguistics on the side.

Whilst certainly not just relevant to 'paying jobs', in this context, I tend to describe my strengths as including: analytic thinking and creative problem solving; my love of learning, both theoretical and through praxis; my ability and desire to see patterns and interactions; my desire to think in terms of 'possible futures'; and my lack of tolerance towards thoughtlessness and violence, certainly between individuals, but much more so, at the systemic and design levels.

Politically, I had a bit of a later awakening — something which was (and, sadly, still is) not uncommon when the structural violence, the underlying culture of exploitation, and the inescapable consequences of global industrial civilisation — but shortly after, I got involved in the refugee rights activist campaign, where I tried to encourage a more meaningful use of documentation and reporting systems, and a more systemic 'security culture'.

Since moving to Berlin in 2016, my areas of interest grew and shifted to include soil microbiology, mycology and mushroom cultivation; off-grid systems and practices in the context of energy, water and food independence; Permaculture and (re)forestation techniques; high-voltage, impulse and resonant electrical systems; and Körpertherapie / Entpanzerung (nach Wilhelm Reich).

Also during this time, I became convinced of the arguments behind Derrick Jensen's End Game books and David Holgrem's Future Scenarios — both ethical and in terms of our inexorable march towards the collapse of industrial civilisation and all that that entails — and started thinking of how I might be able to apply my background and skills to, as Jensen put it, “[work] to ensure that as many people as possible are equipped to deal with the fallout when the collapse comes … [to work] to teach others what wild plants to eat, what plants are natural antibiotics … [to teach] others how to purify water, how to build shelters”.

As of November 2023, I am the 'founding' and (unfortunately) sole collaborator on this project.

Software, compute and electronic system design, maintenance and troubleshooting; Knowledge sharing systems and related collaborations; Soil microbiology and mycology; Biochemistry; Permaculture; Energy, water and food independence; High-voltage, impulse and resonant phenomena; Community-scale 'self-sufficiency'

As you can imagine (or, at least, as you should, after even a cursory look at the top-level Ontology and Knowledge Base pages), creating a knowledge base of this depth and breadth is not an undertaking for just one or two people.

So, if you would like to get involved in a project that aims to help people meet all of their needs, both during an after the collapse of industrial civilisation, and if what is written in the 'About this Site' and 'Digging a bit deeper into my underlying motivations' pages also resonates with you, we would love to hear from you.

(Please note that, the links and readers sections of this website notwithstanding, we do not see this site as a collection or index of online resources, or of links to groups whose focuses include, e.g., building up emotional or community resilience, 'awareness raising' or even growing your own food¹⁾; while we are always happy to receive curated lists of other useful resources, this is not something that we would consider a core aspect, either of this project or potential collaborations.)

While knowledge and skills about most any area would be welcome, given that some areas are already the focus of many projects, collaborations and courses, we would particularly love to find people with experience in the following:

Biochemistry; Botany; Chemistry; Fundraising and Grant Application; Metalworking, Microbiology and soil-microbiology; Natural building; Paramedical knowledge