Prof. Dr. Steffen Farny, Dr. Frederic Penz, Charlotte von Wulffen
8 episodes
1 month ago
Unicorns or startups that have become billion-dollar enterprises are (almost) every entrepreneur’s big goal. But let’s raise the question: What if we work together and create a community-driven Unicorn? Welcome to Communicorn: the podcast where we explore different ways of building and engaging communities.
With the Communicorn podcast we uncover the roles of social innovation in driving social change. And we ask: What can we learn from them in reshaping the economy beyond profit?
The podcast is part of the Leuphana Social Innovation Community at Leuphana University of Lüneburg. We want to connect social innovations, social entrepreneurs in an innovation community setting, where we learn from each other, make knowledge and innovative ideas tangible and visible.
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Unicorns or startups that have become billion-dollar enterprises are (almost) every entrepreneur’s big goal. But let’s raise the question: What if we work together and create a community-driven Unicorn? Welcome to Communicorn: the podcast where we explore different ways of building and engaging communities.
With the Communicorn podcast we uncover the roles of social innovation in driving social change. And we ask: What can we learn from them in reshaping the economy beyond profit?
The podcast is part of the Leuphana Social Innovation Community at Leuphana University of Lüneburg. We want to connect social innovations, social entrepreneurs in an innovation community setting, where we learn from each other, make knowledge and innovative ideas tangible and visible.
Shaping the Future of Cooperatives – Fabian Gebert / #GenoDigital
Communicorn
23 minutes 23 seconds
4 months ago
Shaping the Future of Cooperatives – Fabian Gebert / #GenoDigital
What happens when a community isn’t just part of a business but becomes a force that transforms an entire legal framework? In this episode, we talk to Fabian Gebert about #GenoDigital, a project that empowers cooperatives in Germany to work more digitally, more effectively, and more collaboratively.
Fabian has founded several companies himself, including a cooperative. He works as a strategic advisor to start-ups and co-ops and is active in various NGOs focused on regenerative agriculture and socio-ecological urban development. At #GenoDigital, he and his colleagues advocate for the digital empowerment of cooperatives. What began as a community-led initiative to modernize outdated cooperative law turned into coordinated political advocacy. The result? As of last year, cooperatives have become the most digitally enabled legal form in Germany.
But #GenoDigital’s work doesn’t stop at legal reform or digital infrastructure. Today, it serves as a platform for community-driven innovation, through open barcamps, digital gatherings, and a growing network of actors from across the cooperative landscape. It's about sparking new ideas for democratic participation, diversity, mutual inspiration, and collaborative learning. In short: a community that doesn’t just support, but actively shapes fields, sets new norms, and co-creates the future of economic life.
This episode offers a hopeful blueprint for how collective ownership, legal reform, and community culture can come together, to shape more inclusive and resilient futures.
Chapters00:00 – Introduction of Fabian Gebert / #GenoDigital
05:44 – Vision and community practices of Geno.digital
11:30 – Role and Understanding of Community
20:20 – Understanding Scaling
25:07 – Game: Enterprise, Impact or Community?
BackgroundThe podcast is part of the Leuphana Social Innovation Community at Leuphana University of Lüneburg. We want to connect social innovations, social entrepreneurs in an innovation community setting, where we learn from each other, make knowledge and innovative ideas tangible and visible.
Communicorn
Unicorns or startups that have become billion-dollar enterprises are (almost) every entrepreneur’s big goal. But let’s raise the question: What if we work together and create a community-driven Unicorn? Welcome to Communicorn: the podcast where we explore different ways of building and engaging communities.
With the Communicorn podcast we uncover the roles of social innovation in driving social change. And we ask: What can we learn from them in reshaping the economy beyond profit?
The podcast is part of the Leuphana Social Innovation Community at Leuphana University of Lüneburg. We want to connect social innovations, social entrepreneurs in an innovation community setting, where we learn from each other, make knowledge and innovative ideas tangible and visible.
