Volksmarching as an example of emergent movement design

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jacob
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Volksmarching as an example of emergent movement design

Post by jacob »

An overview: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volksmarching

Quick summary: Volksmarching began in Germany during the 1960s as weekly 20k walks in the countryside for the entire family. People walk a predetermined route following either a map or flags/arrows. After completing an event people would stamp record books for number of events or distance walked. After a certain number of events (10, 30, 50, 75, 100, 125, ...) or certain cumulative distances (500k, 1000k, ...) participants gets an award in the form of a lapel pin. In the US there are more than 2000 such routes. There are multiple local clubs as well as a national one besides the international organization. It's all very very decentralized.

I think it is a very good example of an emergent movement, so perhaps it can serve as an example of what I meant by the "why"-vector and the "4 design rules".

JFK famously(?) asked every American to be able to walk 50 miles in one go. (This was the Cold War standard.). So lets presume that the overall design goal of the emergent movement is to get people to walk more. The "aligned what" is thus to make more people capable of walking a significant distance.

DW and I have become quite active in this "sport". Our different "why"s illustrate why it's important to consider more than one dimension when appealing broadly. In terms of "having, doing, seeing, being", I am about (80, 5, 15, 0) in this regard and DW is maybe (10, 30, 40, 20). IOW, I'm all about collecting stamps and lapel pins. Without that carrot I would not be there. I'd argue that I could just walk around in circles, etc. although I appreciate seeing more of the world---the routes has definitely taken us places we'd otherwise never go to. OTOH, DW cares less about the awards and more about being out, especially nature walks (what I call "long green tunnels"), and exercising regularly and seeing new places, especially if camping is involved, is also a motivating factor.
As such introducing an award-system gets "having"-type people like me aboard. Having many different routes---nature, city, suburbs, historical sites,...---gets DW aboard.

Same walking activity (what), different motivations (why-vector)...

In terms of the 4 design rules, volksmarching also checks all 4 boxes... which I believe is a reason it's still around half a century later.
  1. Any individual can start independently.
  2. The decentralized setup means walks can happen at all times. It's not like organizing an event with police escort, etc.
  3. There's no upper limit to the number of routes possible. More walkers->more volunteers->more routes.
  4. You can walk as much or as little as you want.

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Re: Volksmarching as an example of emergent movement design

Post by chenda »

jacob wrote:
Wed Sep 15, 2021 12:51 pm
JFK famously(?) asked every American to be able to walk 50 miles in one go. (This was the Cold War standard.).
Then what the hell happened ? :lol:

Great idea though I'm up for this :)

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Re: Volksmarching as an example of emergent movement design

Post by Dave »

Nice, I suppose I do some volksmarching without knowing it was a thing.

Biggest yet is ~43 miles in a day with my brother and my SiL several months back. The goal was 100,000 steps on her pedometer, which our various devices estimated at an average of 43 miles. Trying to talk my wife into working up to a 50 mile day with me, but she isn't enthused :lol:.

Maybe I don't understand your terminology (having/doing/seeing/being) well enough, but I don't feel super inclined towards any one of those, but rather a fairly balanced spread. Maybe a bit lower on having and a bit more on doing.

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Re: Volksmarching as an example of emergent movement design

Post by jacob »

Dave wrote:
Wed Sep 15, 2021 3:46 pm
Maybe I don't understand your terminology (having/doing/seeing/being) well enough, but I don't feel super inclined towards any one of those, but rather a fairly balanced spread. Maybe a bit lower on having and a bit more on doing.
Well, if you were running marathons, I'm guessing that "seeing" the course would be the least of your concerns. Insofar you were fast, you might be focusing on "having" the podium placement. Otherwise most of the focus would be on "being" a marathon runner or "doing events" as part of the motivation to train for running.

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Re: Volksmarching as an example of emergent movement design

Post by Dave »

@jacob

Got it.

With that in mind, I'd say 10/40/25/25 (having/doing/seeing/being)!

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Re: Volksmarching as an example of emergent movement design

Post by ducknald_don »

Dave wrote:
Wed Sep 15, 2021 3:46 pm
Biggest yet is ~43 miles in a day with my brother and my SiL several months back. The goal was 100,000 steps on her pedometer, which our various devices estimated at an average of 43 miles. Trying to talk my wife into working up to a 50 mile day with me, but she isn't enthused :lol:.
My son was most disappointed when his pedometer reset back to zero after 65,535 steps.

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Re: Volksmarching as an example of emergent movement design

Post by jacob »

Dave wrote:
Wed Sep 15, 2021 3:46 pm
Biggest yet is ~43 miles in a day with my brother and my SiL several months back. The goal was 100,000 steps on her pedometer, which our various devices estimated at an average of 43 miles. Trying to talk my wife into working up to a 50 mile day with me, but she isn't enthused :lol:.
In case you want to do it as an event, there are various opportunities:
https://fansultraraces.org/Information (100M in 24h) [This is extremely hard. Less than 100 ppl have done it.]
https://raceroster.com/events/2021/1528 ... k-v30-2021 (50M "Kennedy" in 12h or 100M "Centurion" in 24h)
https://www.dodentocht.be/en/ (100k in 24h) [The original as far as I understand]
https://www.kjellerupspecial.dk/ (various)

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Re: Volksmarching as an example of emergent movement design

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

This is kind of like my made-up hobby of Scavenger Walking. You start where you are and you go out walking with a bag/pack, few tools, and a notebook for at least an hour and you have to find/scavenge/identify at least X new or valuable items. It's meant to activate the same happy making chemicals that link foraging to shopping. It's also meant to make just walking around your own neighborhood more like traveling, because it encourages you to bring Beginner Eyes to Seeing. It incorporates Having, because you take notes or gather items, and it incorporates Being, because changing your perspective will also change your sense of yourself. The Do is the walk itself, but also the REQUIRED timely processing of the items and notes you make.

In my Ideal Life Plan, I take a long Scavenger Walk 6 days/week, but I feel like I can't yet afford this luxury level of inefficiency.

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Re: Volksmarching as an example of emergent movement design

Post by sky »

Currently I am walking 3 to 6 miles a day, taking pictures of interesting plants and identifying them when I get home. I am trying to put together a journal of plants in my area. When I learn more about foraging, I will map out locations where edible plants are growing and can be foraged.

I am also trying to meet people by smiling, slowing down, saying hello, and if appropriate, making small talk. Walking is better than a vehicle, a vehicle separates you from other people. When you are walking, you are right there together, face to face, no escape other than to nod "hello" and keep walking. This may frighten some people.

I noticed that the Volksmarch group has a route near my home, I have not seen the map but I would guess my daily route is somewhat similar to the Volksmarch route. I generally walk a slightly different route each day but there are some parts (beach, lighthouse, harbor, bridge) that I usually pass each day.

I notice other people out walking, doing this probably for health reasons. Usually we recognize each other and wave or say hello, but the fitness walkers don't stop. I try to slow down and say hello, if there is any sense that the other person would like to chat, I stop and say something.

I carry an old smartphone which I use with a mapping program to track my path each day, so I know how far, how fast, and where I walked. I also use it to play music using earbuds. I carry a backpack with a bottle of water, a rain poncho and a piece of foam to sit on at the beach. I put my shoes in the backpack while walking the beach.

Some benefits of this "sport":

Fitness level is good when walking every day, it leads to happiness, reduces depression

You get to see what is happening in the neighborhoods

You might meet someone special or at least someone worth a good conversation

You might see treasures discarded along with trash

You can look for driftwood or other drift stuff along the beach

Watch waves and clouds

Beautiful views

You get to experience weather and fresh air

You might find a new plant


I'm not sure how these comments help design an emergent movement. Does a movement need the members to come together in one place? Or to communicate in some way? Perhaps just encouraging people to spend their time in an activity that has positive effects on their own health and that is not harmful to environment? Get people away from computer screens and into the real world? Try to combine one's own subjects of fascination with exploration of the local area, or find new subjects of fascination.

Some additional things which could be done during walks:

Pick up trash

Report damaged things to city

Welcome visitors as an ambassador of the place

Stop at good locations and play music, if one is a musician

Map out nice views, plant locations, drinking water sources, rest rooms, routes worth following, wild areas

Photography, landscape painting, dance, acrobatics, soapbox speaking

Use equipment in parks for fitness, pull up bars, balance bars

Read historical markers

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Re: Volksmarching as an example of emergent movement design

Post by mountainFrugal »

Adding to @sky and @7Wb5:

You could create an edible walk map that has all of the fruit trees that overlap public sidewalks. I have seen this done before, but make sure you pay attention to the vibe of owners of individual trees. Usually people are more than happy to share even if their trees do not overlap a sidewalk.

"Noticing" walks is a similar idea to a scavenger hunt walk. Just walk along and notice details. When you get home make a quick list of 50-100 things you noticed as a form of review (time limits for memory dump are helpful). This is slightly different than carrying the notebook as suggested above, which I would also recommend as a different exercise. The memory exercise very quickly trains you to notice and remember more details and you will start to associate spatial locations with different details of your mental map of an area. This is especially fun for walks that you do over and over again as there are endless details to observe, you notice similar anchor things over time, but the things are always changing.

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Re: Volksmarching as an example of emergent movement design

Post by jacob »

sky wrote:
Thu Sep 16, 2021 9:49 am
I'm not sure how these comments help design an emergent movement. Does a movement need the members to come together in one place? Or to communicate in some way? Perhaps just encouraging people to spend their time in an activity that has positive effects on their own health and that is not harmful to environment? Get people away from computer screens and into the real world? Try to combine one's own subjects of fascination with exploration of the local area, or find new subjects of fascination.
In order for there to be a "movement", there needs to be some aligned action, that is, a growing number of people doing fairly similar things to a degree that it makes a material difference on the aggregate. I don't think meeting physically or even virtually is required.

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Re: Volksmarching as an example of emergent movement design

Post by Ego »

Emergent and design seem contradictory. If it is emergent is it designed or organic? In other words, does the leader design it or does the leader simply model it and allow it to go where it will.....

For instance, https://youtu.be/fW8amMCVAJQ

One of my favorite movements is a workout version of the Volksmarch. The November Project https://november-project.com/

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Re: Volksmarching as an example of emergent movement design

Post by jacob »

Ego wrote:
Thu Sep 16, 2021 10:43 am
Emergent and design seem contradictory. If it is emergent is it designed or organic? In other words, does the leader design it or does the leader simply model it and allow it to go where it will.....
Think of it as LEGO. The bricks are designed. The models emerge.

In order for models to emerge successfully (become popular) the bricks themselves have to follow certain design principles. There have been many more such "building block" toy concepts but none as popular as LEGO. At one point LEGO (the company) tried to change their design principles by introducing very many new non-universal pieces (dinosaurs, etc.) only to see popularity vane. The company was revived by returning to the original design philosophy. IIRC it's called "the system".

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Re: Volksmarching as an example of emergent movement design

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

Culture is our adaptation to the world around us. And design is the conscious process of making culture.
- Peter Bane-"The Permaculture Handbook"

In one of his videos he suggests the simple block iteration of "Plant something every day!" which I thought would be kind of a crazy fun challenge, especially at my latitude. Reforestation and regenerative agriculture aren't enough on their own to solve The Problem, so might not work even if everybody did it, but I think the awareness gained through attempting this exercise would have larger effect.

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Re: Volksmarching as an example of emergent movement design

Post by Dave »

@jacob

Thanks for the links. I'll probably stay outside of the formal channels as I don't want to pay registration fees and am happy to do it in small self-organized groups, but I'm enjoying learning about this!

@ducknald_don

Ouch! I bet so.
7Wannabe5 wrote:
Thu Sep 16, 2021 7:41 am
This is kind of like my made-up hobby of Scavenger Walking...
Cool idea! I tend to focus on the speed and distance and overall aesthetics, but this sounds fun to take a more active approach to looking and noticing things that can keep walks novel and entertaining.

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Re: Volksmarching as an example of emergent movement design

Post by white belt »

jacob wrote:
Wed Sep 15, 2021 12:51 pm
DW and I have become quite active in this "sport". Our different "why"s illustrate why it's important to consider more than one dimension when appealing broadly. In terms of "having, doing, seeing, being", I am about (80, 5, 15, 0) in this regard and DW is maybe (10, 30, 40, 20). IOW, I'm all about collecting stamps and lapel pins. Without that carrot I would not be there. I'd argue that I could just walk around in circles, etc. although I appreciate seeing more of the world---the routes has definitely taken us places we'd otherwise never go to. OTOH, DW cares less about the awards and more about being out, especially nature walks (what I call "long green tunnels"), and exercising regularly and seeing new places, especially if camping is involved, is also a motivating factor.
As such introducing an award-system gets "having"-type people like me aboard. Having many different routes---nature, city, suburbs, historical sites,...---gets DW aboard.

Have you tried combining elements of orienteering with your volksmarches? The first thing that comes to mind would be incorporating pace count to verify landmarks and distances along the route. If you can get a MGRS map of the area, you could incorporate other elements like using a protractor, shooting azimuths, verifying direction with a compass, cross section, resection, and so on. It's a good way to practice some basic skills for navigating without the aid of GPS.

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Re: Volksmarching as an example of emergent movement design

Post by jacob »

Usually, one gets a set of directions (mapquest style) and a bad map. They sometimes differ from each other. I'm not sure orienteering would work on streets. However, at least around here (Chicagoland), orienteering groups have set up routes/challenges in the local forest preserves. Haven't tried one yet, but we've seen the checkpoints.

Map and compass is more for actually finding the volksmarch starting point in the car when it's so far into the BFE that cellphone reception is out.

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Re: Volksmarching as an example of emergent movement design

Post by theanimal »

I've never used/seen MGRS maps but topographical maps have most if not all of the same characteristics and are readily available. They are free to download from USGS (https://store.usgs.gov/map-locator) and there are many digital mapping sites that have them. Caltopo is generally regarded as the best among outdoor recreationists up here.

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Re: Volksmarching as an example of emergent movement design

Post by white belt »

@Jacob

If you're just following straight roads then a compass isn't that useful. However, pace count can still be useful because it allows you to track precise distance traveled (after some practice). Obviously you can get the same information with any device that has a GPS, but that's less fun.

@Animal

Yeah, topographic maps are exactly what I'm talking about. UTM appears to be the common grid numbering system used by USGS.

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Re: Volksmarching as an example of emergent movement design

Post by jacob »

One design-pattern for emergence is to see this as an example of an augmented reality which emphasis on "augmented". Here a pen/paper/award-system is augmented onto "nice walks" that often coincide with festivals, fests, ... but also just "fitness walking" (old people keeping in shape) and tourism(*) in general.

(*) 5k walks usually highlight the local attractions downtown. 10k walks usually add residential neighborhoods. It's a good way to get a feel for a twon/area if you only have 1-2 hours to spend.

A question for an emergent ecology is what kind of augmentation ties existing patterns together in new ways of relating?
For ERE2 is it the renaissance skillset that allows connections outside the earn-buy marketplace.

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