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Local Resilience in a Time of Crisis by Jay Tompt.
Local Resilience in a Time of Crisis by Jay Tompt.
To state the obvious, political and economic change happens in all kinds of ways including through crisis and calamity.
For those of us working for change at local, municipal and regional scales, this is the moment when many of the solutions we’ve been promoting are needed and the conditions for building the foundations for longer term change are favourable.
There’s much to explore on this topic, obviously, but let’s just focus on a few points which might inspire immediate action and kick off a continuing conversation in our wider community of changemakers, and especially here in the South West, UK.
My friend and fellow Devon-based organiser, Ben, provides the perfect jumping off point with his recent question:
“Are there economic moves we can make locally that might start addressing our needs outside of the main economic system to maintain incomes, access to the essentials, exchange our labour, distribute goods etc?”
The first move to make is one of attention. Let’s learn the lessons this crisis is teaching about the importance of economic inclusion, decentralisation and bioregionalism, as well as about the divisive patterns of rivalry, blame and authoritarianism.
And let’s be especially observant, noticing the practical opportunities to facilitate more diversity, local ownership and provisioning, positive influence on local government actors, and citizen participation.
Second, organise and work online using collaborative tools of all sorts. The work of organising is, above all, about education and information sharing, spreading knowhow, building relationships and working collectively, and ultimately, developing political and economic power.
Until now, the barriers that have limited participation for many citizens have been time scarcity and physical distance. Now, these barriers have shifted, creating new opportunities to spread knowhow, build coalitions and collaboration.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Top 10 Reasons to Read “Vermont Dollars, Vermont Sense
Top 10 Reasons to Read “Vermont Dollars, Vermont Sense
This week marks the official publication of Post Carbon Institute’s first handbook on local investment, written by myself and Gwen Hallsmith.
Vermont Dollars, Vermont Sense, builds on my 2012 book on local investment, Local Dollars, Local Sense: How to Shift Your Money from Wall Street to Main Street and Achieve Real Prosperity.” The new handbook presents 28 specific tools for promoting local investment, and presents examples of people, initiatives, and programs in Vermont carrying out each of them. We are now planning similar handbooks for several states in the Pacific Northwest, and hope that ultimately there will be an edition for every state in the nation.
Why did we start with Vermont? The state has a long history of community resilience, from local food and energy systems to town meetings. More recently, Vermonters have taken the lead in reclaiming that tradition, for example by setting a goal of 90 percent renewable power by 2050 (Burlington, the state’s largest city, has already hit that goal). We also were impressed with the state’s long embrace of local investment. One of the earliest and best examples was carried out by two ice cream entrepreneurs named Ben and Jerry in 1984, who insisted that shares in their initial public offering be owned solely by Vermonters.
Whether or not you live in Vermont, here are the top ten reasons you might want to take a gander at this handbook (Spoiler Alert: the #1 reason is that it’s free!):
(10) It’s Important – Americans are still putting almost 100 percent of their long-term savings into Wall Street, even though more than half the economy is made up of locally owned businesses that are highly profitable and competitive. If you think that Wall Street has too much power, then stop wishing for change, and start putting your money where your idealism is. This handbook will show you how.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
