A living glossary for Ethereum Localism & Cosmo-Local Collaboration
Welcome to the Shared Definitions page. This is a collaboratively curated glossary of core concepts frequently used across the Ethereum Localism and cosmo-localist ecosystems. This page is for everyone - it's meant to help us align our language as we co-create regenerative, locally rooted, and globally connected futures.
Ethereum Localism is listed first as the anchoring concept; all other terms follow in alphabetical order.
Living Definitions: This glossary is at a starting point. It will evolve with input from our communities. To contribute: use the Edit on GitHub link at the top of this page to propose changes directly—GitHub will prompt you to fork and open a pull request if you're not a collaborator. You can also reach out or see the Contribution Guide →.
For real-world applications of these concepts, see Field Reports and Implementation Guides.
Ethereum Localism
A movement to apply Ethereum's decentralized infrastructure to support locally grounded, participatory economies and governance models. It leverages the programmable nature of blockchains to coordinate community-scale initiatives, fund public goods, and build transparent institutions—while resisting extractive, one-size-fits-all globalism.
Ethereum Localism is not about tech for tech's sake. It is about using Web3 to deepen place-based relationships, enable networked mutual aid, and protect the right to self-organize.
From the field:
“Ethereum as a substrate… localism is where that change really matters and needs to be rooted in place, in service of people and ecologies” -GFEL Boulder Opening
Bioregionalism
An orientation to organizing human systems around natural ecological boundaries (e.g. watersheds, mountain ranges) rather than arbitrary geopolitical borders. It prioritizes stewardship of place—honoring the limits and rhythms of local ecosystems—while forming alliances with others doing the same elsewhere.
In cosmo-localism, bioregionalism is not isolationist, but relational and networked (GFEL Boulder Opening).
Commitment Pooling
A community-led economic protocol in which people make and track commitments to one another—often through non-monetary agreements—before engaging in exchange. Developed by the Grassroots Economics Foundation, commitment pooling revives ancestral traditions of reciprocity and mutual care using tools like mobile tech and blockchain for transparency.
It shifts the economic emphasis from transaction to relationship and from profit to cooperative care (Grassroots Economics Foundation).
Cosmo-Localism
"What is heavy should be local, what is light should be global and shared."
Cosmo-localism is a systems-thinking paradigm that combines local autonomy with global collaboration. It promotes the local production of physical goods (e.g. food, shelter, energy) while sharing digital resources and knowledge (e.g. open-source code, design blueprints, cultural wisdom) globally. The goal is to enable communities to steward their own territories while participating in a shared global commons.
Key Sources: Michel Bauwens, P2P Foundation; GFEL Boulder
DAO
A Decentralized Autonomous Organization is a member-owned, member-governed group without centralized control. DAOs use blockchain-based rules and smart contracts to coordinate decision-making, treasury management, and collective action. In Ethereum Localism, local DAOs often focus on community-scale governance, mutual aid distribution, and place-based coordination—combining Web3 tooling with IRL relationships and accountability.
See also: Fun DAO for a low-barrier local DAO example.
Extitution
An organizational form that appears institutional (business, nonprofit, government office) but is oriented toward open protocols and commons rather than enclosure or profit. Extitutions "hijack instruments of enclosure" to protect and propagate free, permissionless knowledge and practice. They often operate at the edges of legibility, balancing standardization demands with experimentation.
Key Sources: Primavera de Filippi, Jessy Kate Schingler; An Introduction to Open Protocols
Global Commons
The collective knowledge, resources, and protocols that are openly accessible and stewarded for the benefit of all. This includes open-source software, climate data, indigenous wisdom, scientific research, and public goods infrastructures.
In cosmo-local systems, global commons act as shared libraries that local communities can draw from to solve unique, place-based challenges.
Local Coordination
The human and technological capacity for self-organization at the community level. It encompasses how we govern shared resources, distribute mutual aid, make collective decisions, and build relational trust in real time and place.
Examples include:
- Neighborhood resource mapping
- Mutual aid logistics
- Local DAOs or co-ops
- Civic assemblies and relational governance protocols
Key Insight: Coordination is not just technical—it’s relational and cultural (GFEL Boulder Local Coordination Panel).
Mutual Aid
A practice of collective care and resource-sharing based on solidarity rather than charity or exchange. Mutual aid networks organize horizontally to meet community needs—from disaster relief to ongoing support—and build lasting relationships of reciprocity. In Ethereum Localism, mutual aid is both an end (strengthening local bonds) and a coordination challenge that Web3 tools can help address transparently and inclusively.
Related terms: Commitment Pooling, Local Coordination, Networked Mutual Aid.
Mycelial Coordination
Inspired by fungal networks, this metaphor describes non-hierarchical, polycentric coordination strategies. Like mycelium, mycelial networks connect diverse nodes (people, projects, regions) through decentralized, responsive, and trust-based pathways. It’s about creating meshworks of care, rather than centralized pipelines of control.
This concept often informs Web3 governance experiments, regenerative networks, and ecosystem restoration initiatives.
Narrative Shifting
The work of challenging dominant cultural stories (e.g. scarcity, separation, extraction) and co-creating new ones rooted in interdependence, sufficiency, and regeneration. Narrative work includes media, art, language, and myth-making—all of which shape what people believe is possible.
Shifting the story means reprogramming the cultural operating system.
See also: Mythic Infrastructure, Meta-Narrative Ecology (GFEL Boulder Narrative Shifts Discussion).
Regenerative Infrastructure
Infrastructure (technological, social, or ecological) that restores, replenishes, and strengthens the systems it supports. Unlike extractive systems that deplete resources, regenerative infrastructure is designed to cycle value, build ecological resilience, and foster social cohesion.
Examples include:
- Community land trusts
- Local energy microgrids
- Distributed cooperative technologies
- Watershed stewardship models
Related terms: Bioregionalism, Circular Economies, Ecological Restoration. See the BioFi Project for bioregional financing applications.
Stakeholder Prototyping
A participatory design process that involves all affected actors—from local community members to digital nomads—in imagining and iterating new governance, economic, or technical models. It’s about “prototyping with” rather than “designing for.”
This practice helps ensure that solutions are contextually grounded, inclusive, and able to evolve with community feedback.