The Need for IMAGI-NATION: 2023

NETWORK PROBLEM
‍Networks we've inherited are sick.

So here’s the deal: we made something called AIME, been 20 years on the trot, working with kids outside the margins, getting them into mentoring relationships that actually work. We took imagination seriously, like seriously seriously, and found out that if you let people who’ve been overlooked lead, they can flip systems. We started in Australia, backed by the world’s oldest living culture, and now we’re in 52 countries. That’s not bad for a bunch of misfits with hoodies and big hearts.

Then we thought, what if we made a whole nation? Not with borders and flags, but one built on imagination. A virtual space stitched together through stories, knowledge, and the kind of relationships that money can’t buy. We called it IMAGI-NATION. It’s not in one place, it’s everywhere. It’s a nation made of mentors, custodians, kids, thinkers, weirdos, and wise ones. We’re flipping the script, taking Indigenous knowledge and marginal wisdom and putting it right at the start of the design queue.

We’re not selling attention. We’re claiming time together. Trading in knowledge, care, and wonder. Our currency is kindness. Our economy? It’s relational. It’s five people in a circle who shouldn’t have met, building something that couldn’t exist without each other. That’s the UNCx5. It’s the heart of it all. From mentoring lessons to digital embassies, from Hoodie Economics to kids becoming Presidents of their own destiny this is the work.

And like all good things, this has an end date. March 2033. We’ll shut the doors, pass on the notes, and give the IP back to nature. No forever-ever bullshit. Just a good death, with a legacy built on unlikely connections. So if you feel the call, pull on a hoodie, join the network, and come build the future with us. It’s messy. It’s magic. And it just might work.

NETWORK SOLUTION

A relational network, built on UNCx5 — a driving governance model based on unlikely connections, designed to connect people from inside and outside the margins.

‍At its core, this solution disrupts traditional hierarchical and siloed systems of governance by embedding connection, reciprocity, and creativity into the structure itself. Instead of centring power in the usual places, UNCx5 reframes the idea of leadership through distributed influence, where trust and imagination travel across boundaries — social, economic, cultural, and geographic.

This network operates on the principle that real change happens when:
‍Marginalised voices are brought to the centre of decision-making.
‍People who would never normally meet collaborate to solve complex problems.
‍Creative tension and difference are embraced, not avoided.
‍Governance is relational - built through trust, care, and accountability, not just policy.

UNCx5 acts as a scaffolding for this vision: 5 universal constants that guide how we orient, act, and govern across time. These constants enable a dynamic, adaptive, and values-driven infrastructure that can evolve with the challenges it faces.

This relational network isn’t just about building a new organisation - it’s about building a new kind of future, where the governance model itself is the change-maker.

Default Settings
‍These are the inherited codes we rarely question - cultural defaults, institutional norms, and systemic assumptions. They shape how we learn, relate, lead, and solve problems. Change begins when we become aware of these default settings and consciously choose to rewrite them. This step asks: what inherited defaults are no longer serving us, and how can we reconfigure them to foster equity and imagination?

‍Orientation
‍Orientation is about where we’re facing and who we’re facing with. It’s the compass-setting moment that determines direction. In a network built on unlikely connections, orientation means anchoring ourselves to purpose, people, and place often guided by those who’ve been excluded. Before design or action, we ask: who’s already here? Who’s missing? Where are we going together?
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‍Design
‍Design is the blueprint stage where imagination meets structure. It’s how we intentionally shape systems, experiences, and interactions to reflect our values. Good design in a relational network invites participation, embeds equity, and remains flexible enough to evolve. It centres the user, honours complexity, and translates deep principles into clear pathways.

‍Action
‍Action is where intent becomes impact. It’s not just about movement - it’s about meaningful, accountable movement. In this logic, action is iterative and responsive, powered by relationship rather than rigid control. Actions in the network aren’t about grand gestures; they’re about consistent, relational work that nudges systems and stories toward justice.

‍Wondering
‍Wondering is the fuel for imagination. It interrupts the urgency of production and invites curiosity, humility, and open-ended exploration. In a governance model that resists certainty, wondering becomes a discipline a way of asking better questions, sitting with complexity, and allowing surprise. It keeps the work human, adaptive, and alive.

‍Tools
‍Tools are the bridges between vision and implementation. They include frameworks, platforms, language, rituals, and technologies that help us build and maintain relational infrastructure. Importantly, tools in this logic are chosen not for efficiency alone, but for how they support connection, learning, and emergence - tools that serve people, not just outputs.

‍Capital
‍Capital is reconceptualised beyond money including cultural, relational, narrative, and spiritual forms. This model seeks to redistribute and regenerate capital in ways that honour community knowledge and create long-term resilience. Rather than extractive funding cycles, it explores how we can grow shared wealth and power that circulates across the network.

‍Trade
‍Trade represents the mutual exchange of value across nodes in the network - knowledge, resources, support, and ideas. It challenges the idea that value is held only by institutions or markets, and instead lifts up informal economies, cultural exchange, and community-led solutions. Trade here is about reciprocity, not transaction.

‍Kolab
‍Kolab is the relational engine - the space where collaboration becomes culture. It reflects how we govern together, how we make decisions, and how we hold space for emergence. In Kolab, everyone is both teacher and learner, and leadership is fluid. It’s where the work gets messy, creative, and transformational, the beating heart of the network.