![\"goldrush\"](\"https:\/\/www.rudebaguette.com\/assets\/goldrush.png\")
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The following is a guest post from Francesca Pick, Community Leader & OuiShare Fest<\/a> Chair. Follow her on Twitter at\u00a0@francescapick<\/span><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n 5 years on and the enchantment with the \u201cSharing Economy\u201d is over. Many who set out on the initial journey did not make it, and for now, only very few found gold.<\/strong><\/p>\n When the pioneers ventured to California in search of gold in the\u00a0in the 1800s<\/a>, they were heading into the unknown.\u00a0Seduced by the promise of wealth and abundance for all, thousands of migrant workers left their homes behind for this quest, losing many comrades on the way. And when they finally reached the promised land, they realized there was almost no gold at all, or at least not where they expected it.<\/p>\n Why did they set out on their journey in the first place?<\/strong>\u00a0Financial opportunity? Fleeing failing economies? Curiosity? Purpose? While their reasons were likely as diverse as the people themselves, these explorers did have one thing in common: they were leaving something behind in the hope for a better life, freedom, and abundance.<\/p>\n When in 2011 TIME magazine proclaimed Collaborative Consumption (recently mostly referred to as the Sharing Economy) as one of the\u00a0top 10 ideas that will change the world<\/a>, it set high expectations for this nascent movement. After harsh times of economic downturn, it was believed to be able to address social, environmental and economic problems all at once. To idealists it appeared like a salvation. To opportunists, the moment they\u2018d been waiting for.<\/p>\n Now we can only look back fondly<\/strong>\u00a0at those early times of abounding, and possibly naive, excitement and hope for these new models. For now, it appears only few are benefitting from the abundance of value that has been created by communities and entrepreneurs worldwide \u2013 few organizations that are starting to look suspiciously similar to those they were disrupting \u2013\u00a0or worse? The gold rush was not profitable for many who set out on the initial journey. And the biggest sacks of gold are going to those providing the picks, shovels and infrastructure, those fueling the gold rush itself.<\/p>\n Yet the problems we had hoped to solve still remain and are growing:\u00a0refugee crisis, climate change, inequalities. Many are humbly trying to address these challenges, but their social impact is still too small and the\u00a0value they create is not evenly distributed. Furthermore, the majority of entrepreneurs and innovators are choosing legal, financial and governance structures for their ventures that privilege financial investors only and often fuel the system they are trying to change.<\/p>\n But now is not the moment to despair.<\/strong>\u00a0The pioneers in the American West may have been disappointed in their quest for gold, but instead they found something else. They arrived in a Promised Land, where they could start over and build something new. The gold rush stimulated trade, spurred technological innovation and ushered in America\u2019s\u00a0railroad era<\/a>.<\/p>\n What is impactful about a gold rush is not its promise, but the movement it creates and the place it leads us to. And once we have arrived there, what matters most is what we choose to make of it with the people that have come there with us.<\/p>\nLOOK AT MOTHER NATURE ON THE RUN<\/h4>\n
DON\u2019T LET IT BRING YOU DOWN<\/h4>\n
HEART OF GOLD<\/h4>\n