Hubs Network Community 3# recap
On January 14, stewards and collaborators from across the Hubs Network gathered for our first community call of the year. The session was intentionally informal — a space to reconnect after the winter break, share what’s alive in our hubs, and speak honestly about what it takes to keep these spaces running.
Rather than centering on a single agenda item, the call unfolded around lived realities: experimentation, personal challenges, hope, and the question of how to make hubs work — economically and humanly — over the long term.
What follows is a synthesis of the main threads that emerged.
Starting the Year: Checking In, Not Speeding Up
The call opened with reflections on the quieter pace of winter and the importance of not forcing momentum too early.
This framing resonated across hubs. While many projects are moving, there was shared recognition that alignment, rest, and recalibration are necessary foundations for the year ahead.
Coordination, Tooling, and the Question of Value
Several updates touched on experiments with coordination tools and decentralized infrastructure, particularly around how communities organize themselves at scale.
A recurring question surfaced quickly:
“Is value time spent, outcomes delivered, or something less tangible — like care, presence, or atmosphere?”
Examples were shared of breaking larger communities into smaller, topic-based groups to make contributions more visible and to support clearer coordination. These experiments are still exploratory, but they reflect a shared need across hubs: tools must adapt to human complexity, not flatten it.
External Engagements & Visibility Beyond Our Spaces
Participants shared experiences from conferences and open-source gatherings, where hubs brought non-technical perspectives into predominantly technical environments.
One steward described it this way:
“We’re often the social layer in rooms full of laptops.”
These experiences reinforced the value hubs bring as physical, relational infrastructure — not just venues, but spaces where culture, care, and learning can happen alongside technical work.
There was interest in continuing to show up in these spaces collectively, especially where hubs can contribute perspectives on community, embodiment, education, and lived practice.
The Economic Reality of Running Hubs
One of the most substantial parts of the conversation focused on sustainability - both financial and human.
The discussion acknowledged a shared reality across many hubs: running a space requires continuous care, responsibility, and emotional labor, often without stable or predictable income. This creates long-term pressure that cannot be ignored if hubs are to remain viable.
A common tension surfaced clearly:
“The work is meaningful - but meaning alone does not cover basic needs.”
Another principle resonated across the group:
“When the steward cannot sustain themselves, the space cannot sustain itself.”
From this point, the conversation shifted away from abstract ideals and toward grounded, practical questions: how hubs can better support those holding responsibility, and what kinds of economic structures are needed to make this work sustainable over time.
Funding & Revenue Paths Discussed
During the cals hubs shared a range of approaches they are currently exploring or already using:
EU-level grants, especially education- and culture-focused programs, as a way to support collaboration without dependency on single sponsors.
Local and regional funding, including small, accessible grants tied to cultural or educational events.
Parallel business models, such as renting spaces for aligned commercial use, cultural programs with schools, or seasonal activities that subsidize the hub’s core mission.
Network-level sponsorship, where support goes to the collective rather than controlling individual hubs or events.
A shared principle emerged:
“Diversification is protection.”
No single funding source, no single dependency, and clear boundaries between mission-driven work and revenue-generating activity.
Focused Collaboration Instead of One Big System
Rather than attempting to design a universal economic model for all hubs, there was strong alignment around a more grounded approach:
“Let’s start with what already works — events, residencies, education — and build from there.”
The idea of small focus groups around specific actions gained traction: documenting what works locally, sharing it transparently, and gradually connecting those learnings across the network.
Upcoming Work: Residencies as a Practical Testing Ground
As a concrete next step, a working session connected to upcoming residencies at Akasha Hub is scheduled to late January.
The intention is not just to host people, but to use residencies as a testing ground for economic, operational, and coordination models that can later be adapted by other hubs.
As one participant put it:
“We don’t need perfect systems — we need pilots we can learn from.”
Community Care & Mutual Support
The call closed with an explicit acknowledgment of the emotional labor involved in stewarding spaces.
This network is not only about infrastructure and funding, but about peer support — having a place where uncertainty, frustration, and doubt can be shared without judgment.
As one reflection summed it up:
“Sometimes it’s not about solving the problem — it’s about not carrying it alone.”
Closing Reflection
Despite very different contexts — rural and urban, funded and volunteer-run — the call revealed deep overlap in challenges and aspirations.
Running hubs is complex. It requires care, resilience, and constant adaptation. Yet there is strong alignment around why this work matters.
As one participant noted during the call:
“We’re not just running spaces — we’re prototyping ways of living and collaborating.”
The Hubs Network continues to take shape not through grand declarations, but through steady practice: shared calls, shared learning, and honest conversations like this one.
Thank you to everyone who joined and contributed — and to those reading along now.
🎥 Watch the recording
Fathom Video Link →
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We look forward to continuing this work together — one conversation, one experiment, one hub at a time.