I <3 the Participatory City Foundation's "Every One Every Day" initiative. There is so much wisdom baked into their approach, wonderfully summed up as creating as many opportunities as possible for people to: Co-produce something tangible as a group of equal peers. Thereby creating a participatory culture. Please watch the below video, take the time to study their Illustrated Guide and delve into their Designed to Scale report. And if you work in central or local Government, be sure to … [Read more...]
What if… Co-operatives UK had £70 million a year?
This article was originally written for Issue 14 of STIR, the magazine for the new economy and was also published online at Co-operatives UK What if...? blog that fed into the UK National Co-operative Development Strategy. I recently noticed that blog has since gone offline and so have re-posted the article here so I'm able to share it with people. The first in a four-part series looking at 1) the scale and success of co-ops funding co-ops internationally, 2) existing examples and recent … [Read more...]
Open Co-ops: Inspirations, Legal Structure and Tools
this post originally appeared in Stir Magazine illustration by Daksheeta Pattni In 2002 I described United Diversity as “a member owned and stakeholder governed network of mutual advantage.” In truth, it was aspirational. At the time, the flexible off-the-shelf legal structures and open source tools needed to make such a network a reality simply didn’t exist. Now they do. Co-ops that combine best practices from the international co-operative movement with best practices from the open source … [Read more...]
United Diversity at the London Permaculture Festival
I'm off to Cloud Cuckoo Land Festival now, but thought I'd better whack this presentation I did at the London Permaculture Festival up first. I gives a brief history of United Diversity plus details of our exciting plans going forward. The sound isn't too good so when I get the time I'll do a full transcript with links any everything, but for now, enjoy! … [Read more...]
TOGETHER. How cooperatives show resilience to the crisis
This great new documentary, featuring Mondragon and other co-operative inspirations shows how it is not just financial co-operatives who are more resilient to crisis, but all co-ops. The examples are from around Europe, but the same is true in the UK. The UK co-operative economy is performing significantly better than the UK economy as a whole with things like Community-owned Village Shops proving to have much higher survival rates than others. … [Read more...]
Homes and Hands – Community Land Trusts in Action
We'll never have a peaceful, just and sustainable world (or, as Charles Eisenstein says 'the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible') whilst the land that sustains us all is owned and controlled by a tiny minority of the population. We need to transcend private land ownership. But what is the alternative? Community Land Trusts are a good option and Homes and Hands is a great video that illustrates the different ways that community land trusts operate in the U.S. Produced by Women's … [Read more...]
The Mondragon Co-operative Corporation
The Mondragón Corporation is an inspiration. The largest cooperative in the world, they are a federated network of over 250 co-operative businesses who together are the seventh biggest group in Spain. They employ over 80,000 people, have their own banks, universities, research laboratories and social security systems. They have proven to be incredibly resilient to the on going economic crisis. Unemployment in the Basque region where they are based is less than half than the rest of Spain … [Read more...]
Time to replicate WIR Bank?
The WIR Bank in Switzerland has been successfully running for over 60 years. It was started in the 1930s in response to the great economic crises of the time. Studies have shown that it's turnover is extremely counter-cyclical, adding to the resilience and stability of the Swiss Economy. They are a great long-term example of how financial co-operatives prove to be more resilient in times of crisis. Almost 20% of all Swiss Businesses are members and they have an annual turnover of nearly £3 … [Read more...]
Financial co-operatives: A safe bet in a crisis
The Co-opreative News has reported news about a study by the International Labour Organization called Resilience in a downturn: The power of financial cooperatives. You can download find the report on the Co-operatives shelf of of online library or read it now below. Resilience in a Downturn - The Power of Financial Cooperatives … [Read more...]
How Cooperatives and Community Enterprise Will Get Us Out of this Gigantic Mess
I've posted this excellent talk by Janelle Orsi from the brilliant Sustainable Economies Law Center a few times over on our facebook page. The whole presentation is well worth watching, but I particularly like it when she says: What is the entity structure that is most going to ensure that our communities are protected? and what is going to most ensure that the wealth in society becomes distributed more equitably? I keep coming back to the answer of: Co-operatives. Co-operatives, Co-operatives, … [Read more...]