Axiom News founder and CEO Peter Pula joins gatherings in the Netherlands and Belgium this week to continue an exploration around building a narrative capacity for the transition agenda.

“My intention is to follow and amplify energy for co-creating a network of news sites for the transition narrative,” says Peter.

“This visit is all about going to the energy. There is very real energy, intention and commitment here. For me, it is important to come closer together, to see each other.

“As this community takes shapes it is very important for us to have long talks. That is also my hope for this trip.”

Peter is hosting workshops on the practice of Generative Journalism as well as engaging in exploratory conversations around building local capacity for delivering Generative Journalism.

Violet Rouwhorst, communications adviser for the City of Amsterdam, co-ordinated a Feb. 18 workshop engaging about 35 people. Violet dreams of more cities and countries around the world filled with people committed to creating a news story ecosystem centred on people taking ownership to create the world they want to live in. “I hope it really becomes more common in society to talk about what we want more of, about the world we want to see.”

Russell Kerkhoven and Dries van Gemert, both change consultants and Netherlands residents, along with their colleagues Gabriela van Gemert and Annemieke Mintjes, have been in previous conversations with Peter on creating generative news capacity in the Netherlands. They are hosting conversations on the subject this week in the cities of Amsterdam, Leeuwarden and Maastrich.

“I think generative communication is a special method we can use in transformation,” says Dries. “(Here in the Netherlands) we are building up with each other a new kind of economy where it’s very important to listen to (citizens). I think the last 20 years we have done everything except that. We are creating processes, ideas, strategies, but leadership is not supportive enough, so we have to use another way of connecting.”

Dries says he’s highly confident in the generative news process, especially given the proof of concept and professionalism Peter and his team bring to the table.

Joining Peter on this trip is his daughter, Amber Pula, who is conducting multimedia reporting as the events and gatherings unfold. “It’s really exciting and it’s a big adventure and it’s going to be a learning curve,” says Amber, who plans to publish some of the content throughout the trip so that people can follow as this story happens.

From recent efforts to help launch a generative news co-op in Calgary to the formation of Axiomnieuws Belgium, which is inspired by Axiom News Canada to a unique engagement with the media firm, The Gazette Company, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a number of happenings internationally touch and are aligned with the Axiom News hope and intention.

“Just as we are loosely formed in the Netherlands, so are we loosely formed internationally,” says Peter.

“This is an exciting time. We straddle the old and new world. This network is alive in our lives as a bridge.”

Peter adds his hope is that sometime soon all those finding resonance with the notion of creating a news story ecology centred on the economic and social transition can come together to have more of those “discovery and seeing each other experiences.”
 
“In Cedar Rapids there is something different but connected to what is happening here (in the Netherlands). The same is true of Calgary. The same is true in Griet (Bouwen) and Arno (Vansichen)’s network in Belgium. The possibilities are emerging as the mist dispels.”

Picturing his flight home next week Peter says he hopes to be energized by learning new things, by having experienced some refinement of actions, expansion of applications for Generative Journalism and some deepening relationships.

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