Come as you are

ArtGeneration initiative

The exile program "Come as you are"

Exile program "Come as you are"

The exile program "Come as you are" is aimed at people who are seeking a conscious break from everyday life or who can envision a long-term new beginning in a different location. A key obstacle to taking this step is often their residency status.

This is where ArtGeneration Worker Cooperatives (Worker Co-ops) come in. They offer a forward-looking model for digital workers from overseas in the EU by enabling democratic participation, collective ownership, and fair working conditions in the platform economy. Employees are not merely users, but co-owners of the digital infrastructure and shape their own working conditions. Precarious dependencies on centralized platforms are thus replaced by collective, self-managed structures.

Relevance of Worker Co-ops:

Democratic control: Decisions are made collectively by the working members.
Economic participation: Profits and added value remain with the workers.
Security and stability: Collective organization creates social security and more reliable income structures.
Digital Implementation: Platform cooperatives utilize modern digital tools without relinquishing control to external investors.

Areas of application range from freelance and care services to the creative and IT sectors, as well as collaboratively operated cloud and software solutions.

Opportunities lie particularly in the international scalability of such models and in the support provided by European funding programs to strengthen inclusive, participatory digitalization.

Abbildungen www.ReCollection-Art.de

The "Sava-a-village" initiative is also involved. It combines a fresh start with concrete added value for rural regions—for example, through participation in construction, renovation, or creative and social projects that sustainably strengthen local communities.

In principle, anyone who is willing to take responsibility for their own path and openly integrate into a new social and cultural environment can participate—regardless of whether it's for a temporary break or a permanent home.

“Come as you are” represents an approach without pressure to conform: It is not about reinvention, but about self-acceptance and living and working in a place where diversity, independence and participation are expressly welcome.