School of Commons Town Hall

We warmly invite you to a School of Commons Town Hall, where we’ll share an update on SoC’s current situation and gather to collectively shape our next steps.

This comes at a pivotal moment. As of January 2027, our institutional home and financial partner, Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), will no longer support the programme in its current form. School of Commons is now actively seeking a new institutional home and exploring (re)newed forms of existence.

For nearly a decade, School of Commons has existed because people like you believed in mutualism, peer learning, experimentation, and accessible knowledge. This moment asks us, again, to practice these commitments together. We need your support. Alongside your presence, we also ask for your help in informing and reaching all SoC alumn* within your networks, so this invitation circulates as widely as possible. Whether you join to listen, to share, to write, or simply to be present, your participation helps sustain and strengthen the future of School of Commons.

During the Town Hall, we will collectively co-write and co-sign an Open Letter, ensuring voices from across the School of Commons network are included, while also identifying pathways forward for its continuation. 18:00–18:10 — Welcome & Framing (10 min) Introductions, intentions, and an opening reflection on tensile structures as a guiding metaphor.

18:10–18:25 — Where We Are Now (15 min) An update on SoC’s current position and what the discontinuation of ZHdK’s support means in practice.

18:25–18:50 — Open Conversation / Brainstorm (25 min) Open discussion on structural pressures, institutional homes, funding, and sustainability — surfacing shared concerns, tensions, and possibilities.

18:50–18:55 — Short Break (5 min) Stretch, pause, or add quick notes in the Etherpad.

18:55–19:05 — Open Letter: Context & Invitation (10 min) Presentation of the draft Open Letter: its purpose, audience, and how it will be used.

19:05–19:25 — Collective Co-Writing (20 min) Live contributions to the Open Letter and related reflections.

19:25–19:55 — Pathways Forward (30 min) Focused collective work on next steps

19:55–20:00 — Closing & Next Steps (5 min) What happens after the Town Hall, timelines, and how we stay connected.

*A link to the EtherPad will be shared on the day Together, we aim to sustain this commons of learning as it transitions into new ground, supported by solidarities of care and collective imagination.

We hope you can join us. Solidarity, School of Commons