# For the implementation of REEL **by Adaptation Radicale** Translated from: https://adaptationradicale.org/yeswiki/?REEL-Definition 26 December 2025 **Notes:** - REEL = "Réseaux d’Echange et d’Entraide Locaux" ≃ "Networks of Local Exchange and Mutual Aid". - Summary available: [[REEL - Summary by Claude.ai]]. *** For several months now, *Adaptation Radicale* has been particularly concerned with the development of mutual aid, based on the idea that it is one of the obvious, or at least logical and normal, responses to the critical situations caused by the collapse processes we are witnessing repeatedly, and whose frequency and intensity continue to increase. This is part of our [mission](https://adaptationradicale.org/yeswiki/?RaisonDEtre) . One of our recent initiatives in this direction was the creation of the *Mutual Aid Games*, a fun and educational way to spread the idea of ​​the necessity of mutual aid to face adversity. In this respect, our approach is inspired by and closely aligns with the work of Pablo Servigne on the coupling of collapse and mutual aid. Quite naturally, we organized an online discussion with him (on October 16, 2025) to mark the release of his latest book, "The Network of Storms: A Manifesto for Popular Mutual Aid." Our intention from the outset was to explore with him how to implement these local networks of mutual aid so that they become tangible realities. To this end, we embarked on a process of shared reflection with all those wishing to support this initiative, with the aim of transforming it into a project. We are developing a method of collective reflection, designed both to highlight existing initiatives for the development of local mutual aid and to create a space for shared visioning so that these initiatives can be intensified and materialized in everyday life. We have already followed up the evening of dialogue with Pablo Servigne with **two further evenings** dedicated to the reflective and methodological design of such networks. The first evening (November 14, 2025), which brought together about forty people, inspired us to use the acronym "REEL" to designate our approach, based on the intuition that by reflecting on Local Exchange and Mutual Aid Networks, we could, in a way, enter into the reality of mutual aid. The second evening (December 17, 2025) aimed to explore this intuition further, seeking to better understand what these REELs could be. **Around thirty people** participated in this reflection, during workshops facilitated using collective intelligence. **The workshops addressed three questions:** 1. How do you conceive of a REEL? What does this term evoke for you? 2. Do you know of any structures, associations, movements or practices in your area that could support these REELs? In what way? 3. For you, what are or could be the key values ​​of the daily operation of such REELs; and the main difficulties that can hinder them? This text is the result of analyzing the summaries produced at the end of the five workshops conducted and facilitated in parallel. **Question 1:** **How do you conceive of a REEL? What does this term evoke for you?** - One thing emerged very clearly: mutual aid is a multifaceted reality. It does not take a single form. It is both formal and, perhaps more importantly, informal. - Several groups noted that mutual aid already often exists informally and quietly, particularly in rural areas, stimulated, among other things, by the increasing precariousness of the social situations of a growing segment of the population. - Another important observation was made (confirming the work and observations of researchers): mutual aid is a "natural" component of our human species and is expressed spontaneously in social relations between individuals and groups, especially when necessity dictates it. - Beyond this necessity, it is nevertheless possible to reach out to one's neighbors, to not hesitate to ask for help, and also to offer it, in order to initiate relationships of regular exchange (neighborliness), as a form of restoring ancestral practices. - A third observation was noted: these mechanisms of mutual aid, which could be part of rural cultures (linked in particular to the mode of agricultural production requiring the mobilization of a collective workforce in less mechanized periods) and also part of economic logics dictated by the imperative of subsistence, have been largely compressed, eroded, and invalidated by the development of a market economy (based on consumption and monetary exchange). - During one of the workshops, it was also noted that mutual aid likely did not take the same form in cities and in the countryside, or depending on whether it was mediated by computer platforms or social networks. - Regarding the more structured forms of mutual aid today, it also takes on diverse forms. - Mutual aid evokes the idea that it manifests itself primarily through concrete actions tailored to basic needs such as food, shelter, and contributing to collective productive tasks; participatory projects; but that it can also be expressed through support activities of a psychological nature. - One of the conditions for mutual aid in ordinary times is indeed that of proximity between people, for practical reasons, even if, in the event of a disaster, it can develop and manifest itself remotely. - An important point was also debated during the workshops on defining REELs (Networks of Alternative Education and Learning): **the role of the collapse perspective**. The fact that the majority of participants in these workshops identified with the Radical Adaptation perspective gave the idea that mutual aid was necessary to prepare for collapse a rather significant dimension. However, a number of people also asserted that collapse should not be the sole and primary perspective; that it was also important to conceive of these mutual aid networks outside of this horizon, to give them a more ordinary, everyday dimension. **Question 2: Do you know of any structures, associations, movements or practices in your area that could support these REELs? In what way?** The second question, which concerned the identification of existing networks, highlighted their great diversity and scope. Each person could attest to their knowledge of structures, organizations, and associations whose objective is mutual aid in one form or another. While this list is not exhaustive, the following have been mentioned: - Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS) - Crossroads of Possibilities - SOLARIS cells (often inspiring) - Social networks and specific websites (Facebook, [WhatsApp](https://adaptationradicale.org/yeswiki/?WhatsApp/edit&newpage=1&theme=margot&squelette=1col.tpl.html&style=margot.css) , Telegram, TrégorSolidaire, Option A…) - Confraternities (spiritual or religious) - Local currencies - Repair cafés - Reuse centers - Charitable associations - Specific associations (e.g., "Terre de Liens"...) - Neighborhood festivals - Organic Cooperatives - Municipal Security Reserves (RCS), which are beginning to be established - etc. Some of these structures or organizations form networks with an audience across the entire region, while others are isolated, purely local initiatives. This suggests that an inventory should be compiled at the local level to give visibility to these scattered REELs. **Question 3: For you, what are or could be the key values ​​of the daily operation of such REELs; and the main difficulties that can hinder them?** The third question concerned the values ​​and difficulties that could either support or hinder the implementation of REELs. One of the values ​​that could summarize the scope of REEL is openness. This term seeks to highlight the importance, for mutual support to develop, of not being an expression of exclusivity, but of connecting people who do not belong to the same backgrounds and who may also have different, even opposing, opinions, beliefs, and ideologies. Mutual support is a way of transcending differences; but consequently, it presupposes that we can show kindness, active listening, attentiveness, tolerance, and acceptance towards others. It is our human capacity for empathy and compassion that enables this behavioral disposition. Collective reflections also highlighted conditions facilitating the development of REELs: - The development of conviviality - Relational and organizational skills - Skills in facilitating networks and groups - Pedagogical skills to facilitate the understanding of collapse processes - The production of trust - An inventory of the skills and resources of each person on which mutual aid can be based effectively and operationally - Availability – helping each other requires time… - Commitment to concrete action to move beyond “talk” and “rumination” on the situation (Moving forward). The difficulties identified mainly concern: - The availability and effort required to step outside one's comfort zone, to make a decision, and to not hesitate to reach out to others, particularly neighbors whom one may not know - The ability to move beyond more comfortable, affinity-based networks - Balancing commitments so that everything does not rest on a small, "volunteer" core, while simultaneously managing ego-driven behaviors or power struggles (the question of individual sovereignty). ## Conclusion Ultimately, the question arose as to whether, given the very rich existing system upon analysis, it was appropriate to create new structures. This undoubtedly provides an important indication for designing REELs. These are not a new structure replacing a diverse reality of mutual support. REELs can therefore be understood as a proactive approach, not so much about formally gathering or federating existing structures, but rather about increasing the visibility and strengthening of relationships between existing local structures and practices. This aligns with a logic of archipelago formation. Such an approach and ambition undoubtedly requires further in-depth work to be fully understood, perhaps allowing for a more precise methodology for its implementation. Several times, it has been suggested to "start small"; this is likely a way of saying that this ambition requires humility, that one should not think of revolutionizing what already exists, or creating something entirely new, but simply acting locally so that what already exists is better understood by everyone and allows more people to participate in this everyday movement of mutual aid. \###