communitiesthat

Communitiesthat is a term used to describe the networked space in which multiple communities interact, share resources, and coordinate actions across organizational, geographic, or platform boundaries.

It focuses on the infrastructures, norms, and governance arrangements that enable collaboration beyond a single member group, including joint funding, data or resource sharing, and coordinated volunteering.

Examples include open-source software ecosystems, mutual-aid networks, urban commons, and federated social platforms that connect independent communities.

Key governance features are consensus or representative decision making, transparency, and accountability, with attention to inclusivity and power dynamics.

Benefits can include greater resilience, knowledge exchange, and social capital; challenges include coordination costs, misaligned incentives, misinformation, and disparities in digital access.

The concept draws on ideas from the commons and networked governance, and is related to platform cooperativism and federated governance models.

See also commoning, platform cooperativism, open governance.