Ecosystem Mapping and Field Building guide (v0.1)

Setup wiki

• Setup the digital garden / wiki using the standard MGF (markdown + github + flowershow) model ✅2025-03-11 done at https://github.com/life-itself/ecosystem-mapping-guide/tree/main
• Put it at mapping.lifeitself.org ✅2025-03-18 https://mapping.lifeitself.org is live

Add some content

• Generate raw content ✅2025-03-11 (by Rufus w/ Catherine)
• Motivating SCQA for the project itself ✅2025-08-28 published on front page of the site
• SCQA about why you want ecosystem mapping
• Initial "zettels" / atomic notes on a few items

Sharing

• Share with research group
• Share on general chat and say we are looking for suggestions for reading setc
• Tweet about it etc
• LinkedIn about it ...
• ...

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Nov 8 2023 (material from other duplicate issue)

We have decided to brainstorm and put together a 'field building guide' which is being explored in this google document. Some of the things it will discuss are outlined in https://github.com/orgs/life-itself/discussions/894

• Our own understanding and perspective on the 'field building process', especially as it relates to the two projects we are working on (DDS and Cohere+)
• Which kinds of methods and resources are helpful for 'field building'
• Resources on field building
• General questions around 'field building', and what is field building?

Acceptance

• The shaping of a field building guide

Tasks

• Initial brainstorm ✅2023-11-08 https://github.com/life-itself/labs/issues/186
• Do recorded interview ✅2023-11-29 see https://otter.ai/u/Sz54zjQgH1wuGSKLsphEvoaTYoU?tab=chat with sketches at https://link.excalidraw.com/l/9u8crB2ZmUo/26003Tt69Ti
  • Proof edit the transcript - tidy up relevant parts (remove umms, ahhs, cohere sentences)✅2023-12-04
• Write a tidied version ...
  • Extract key headings / topics from that and make into a essay plan skeleton **✅2023-11-29 see https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VPQjBeLb4YwHYjhpFIeXb2Da-QGPvPdJ6Ymx5dJ8J3s/edit for a skeleton
  • Draft the essay version ... https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-4m72LDrSQ_14EflNFde7w1oeiw9EWRRZ-drNzsjMaE/edit as the beginning of a write up**
  • Put the OCT 30th call in otter to extract notes.

Notes

Matthew Notes to Self 2023-11-08

Two of our projects are concerned, more or less, with 'field building' (DDS, which is the 'DDS field' itself we are building, and Cohere+, which might be referred to as the 'second renaissance' field, although this might need to be clarified), and building a 'field building guide', and broadly considering what this practice is and how we might offer potential insight into what it is, has become one of our side projects. This discussion post has been opened up as a way to consider some of the more broad questions around 'field building' (which might even be viewed under the lens of 'ontological commoning'?)

At this point, we are considering the term 'field' in whatever way makes sense:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphogenetic_field - I find this example interesting because it illustrates how 'development' of different kinds of cells occur in the body depending on what 'field' they are in. Not necessarily trying to make the connection here with 'development', but the notion that 'fields' are to some degree 'ontological' in the sense that they encourage or enable certain processes might be an interesting perspective to consider.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_theory_(sociology)- This definition: Social fields are environments in which competition between individuals and between groups takes place, such as markets, academic disciplines, musical genres, etc. Each 'field' has different rules; different understandings of what is x and what is not x. It also notes how in fields, people 'struggle in pursuit of desirable resources'. I don't like this framing (as well as the point about 'competition above)- why are fields necessarily a 'struggle for resources'? But one point to consider here: what is the 'resource', if any, that the DDS field is concerned with? One might say that it is 'more being'? It is pointed out that 'stable fields rarely emerge on their own, but must be constructed by skilled entrepreneurs'

Finding the 'core' or 'center of gravity' in the field, and considering this structure and dynamics, and not necessarily focusing on the 'boundary' of the field, is one of our current aims.

Considering a field 'from the outside' --> What is a field, what are some structures of fields, different examples?
Considering a field 'from the inside' --> What are the 'internal' dynamics of a field, what is it like to be 'apart' of a field? How does coordination in a field happen? How does the 'core' coordinate, how can relationships be built in the core? How does 'task management' happen in a field? To what degree is it coordinated, to what degree is it 'self-organized/on its own'?

Perhaps a definition of 'field': a shared space with a common goal?

Some questions that we are considering right now: how is field building different from 'community building'?
What is the 'structure' of a field?
How exactly do we want to consider what a 'field' is?
What are the different actors, capacities, and how are they connected?
Does a 'field' have one 'common goal'?
What are some resources on field building?