Hubs Network · Update 1#
Notes from the field as we begin weaving the network
Dear friends,
This is our first public update from the Hubs Network. We’re sharing it in the spirit of transparency and in recognition that this network will only grow through collective effort and shared trust.
Over the past weeks, we’ve been focused on early scaffolding — designing the foundations of a network that can support local hubs, steward knowledge, and enable meaningful collaboration between physical spaces and digital tools. The following is a brief look at where we are, what’s emerging, and where we’d like to invite participation.
What’s been brewing
Brand and Communications Foundations
We’ve begun working with a design consultant to shape our visual identity, voice, and storytelling approach. The process includes workshops with the core team and aims to clarify how we present ourselves across channels and conversations.Launch Moment in Rome
We hosted a small gathering in Urbe village (a pop-up city that happened in Rome before EthRome) to mark the beginning of the network and to align with early collaborators on shared values, intentions, and the work ahead.Global Outreach
Our co-founder Nikoline is currently in Taiwan at a Social enterprise world forum where she is learning about social initiatives around the world and opening new threads of collaboration around digital-physical coordination and local autonomy.
Hub in Focus: Commons Hub
Based in Hirschwangerhof, a historic countryside inn one hour south of Vienna, Commons Hub is an experimental playground for post-capitalist systems design. It explores the liberatory potential of emerging technologies and social techniques that facilitate horizontal, community-led models of governance and collaboration.
The goal is to prototype and apply these innovations in practice - creating regenerative alternatives in the here and now. By offering decentralized communities a permanent physical home to gather, socialize, and connect, Commons Hub nurtures the kinds of relationships and shared culture needed to grow a commons-based future.
Upcoming: Commons Christmas Chaos
From 15–26 December, Commons Hub invites to a cozy winter gathering in the Alps — a two-week program of shared fires, story circles, D&D quests, tech tinkering, and collaborative creativity in preparation for the Chaos Communication Congress in Hamburg (Dec 27–30).
More info and RSVP:
What’s Next
Hubs Network - Local Connect side event (ARG - Buenos Aires)
We organizing a small event with the intention to connect locals in Buenos Aires and the Ethereum community over beers, ideas, and real-world problem-solving.
If you run a hub and would like to participate, please join us!Plural Event — December 2
We’re hosting a local edition of a global decentralized gathering exploring the question: Network State or Network Society? Together with RadicalxChange and Community Gardening, the event will happen simultaneously in multiple locations worldwide.
If you’d like to co-host a Plural Event in your own hub or help support these conversations, we’re actively looking for partners and sponsors to join the effort.
Contact: niko@hubsnetwork.orgHackathon Ideation
We’re initiating conversations around a distributed hackathon spanning several hubs. These events will bring together diverse profiles - from designers and developers to local organizers and systems thinkers - to prototype new coordination tools and collaborative formats. If you’d like to take part or propose something, we’d love to hear from you.
In Development: Grants & Civic Infrastructure
Localism Fund: Grant Application Submitted
We’ve applied to the Local Grant Programs round of the Localism Fund, a new initiative supporting credible local networks experimenting with Ethereum-enabled coordination tools. If selected, we’ll receive matching funds to run a cross-hub hackathon and invite local initiatives within our network to participate.Scroll Hackathon Grant
We’ve also submitted a grant proposal to Scroll. With this round, we aim to pilot distributed event formats while exploring use cases for open coordination tools that can address real needs in local communities.These two grant applications are part of a broader effort to test funding pathways that could eventually be shared with and replicated by other hubs in the network. We’re learning by doing, with the goal of creating accessible funding mechanisms for local collaboration and experimentation.
Project Memory & Recognition: Pensieve
We’ve started using Pensieve - an open-source wiki designed to help Web3 communities document their journey and protect their narratives over time. It supports transparency, decentralized knowledge management, and civic memory, and we see it as a vital layer for network credibility and continuity.
We’re currently listed among the top transparent projects,
together with other hubs in the network!
This is the beginning of our public rhythm. We’ll continue to share updates as they emerge, even when things are still in motion. If you’re curious about contributing, hosting, building, or supporting hubs in your region, we’d love to hear from you.
hello@hubsnetwork.org
hubsnetwork.org
For more news follow @HubsNetwork mag on telegram