Landscape in Scotland by Gustave Dore. Courtesy of Walters Art Museum.

Scotland’s decision of September 2014 probes connection. Whether for or against independence, one might find common wealth in Charlemagne‘s interconnected centers of learning that may have led to establishment of universities. Erasmus, a modern European educational exchange network, follows the tradition. Another example of the power of connection might be the Hanseatic League of medieval Europe, now known as Hanse. At the time of the guilds, industries traded specialized goods such as wax, cloth, on a regional basis; Hanse was formed for this purpose. When the 14th century league decided to require annual convention, Tagfahrt delegates from 50 cities met in an intricate, and inclusive, system of governance and agreement. New leagues, for new times, may be emerging: whether united or independent, regions of the world are interconnected through shared benefit and responsibility for water, energy. Hanse’s annual meeting was often convened by Lübeck; might Glasgow, Scotland, host Common Ground 2015?

For more:

On Scotland’s September 2014 decision: http://www.bbc.uk/news/magazine-29276463

On Hanse: http://www.hanse.org/en/international-hanse-days/the-traditional-hanseatic-days/

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.