David Fleming drew on the wisdom of Elinor Ostrom, who published ‘Governing the Commons’ in 1990. An article in the Economist records that “collaboration was her watchword. Neighbours thrived if they worked together. The best-laid communal schemes would fall apart once people began to act only as individuals, or formed elites . . . “ She asked two basic questions: how […]
Hartlepool has been hit hard by austerity; in 2017 it was one of ten local authorities with the highest unemployment rate and life expectancy rates have declined. Spending levels were slashed by 33% from 2010-17and government funding is expected to fall by 45% by 2020. Journalist Anoosh Chakelian was told by a Hartlepool Borough Council spokesperson that the Council and Hartlepool’s […]
The West Midlands is bristling with creativity when it comes to community economic development. There is no shortage of people with good ideas to build sustainable communities. But there is a lack of help to get these ideas off the ground. Mutual learning is one of the best ways to help people turn their good ideas from dreams into […]
Localise West Midlands (LWM) are looking to recruit a number of individuals who have knowledge of the community economic development sector in the West Midlands, to carry out community research to support a feasibility study, to explore how best to share learning between people who want to have a positive impact on their communities through new ideas and by developing […]
Jerome Starkey reported earlier this year that Lake District artists, poets, painters and authors have been chosen as the faces of a new local currency. The Lakes Currency Project, an independent, private company run by Ken Royall, who lives near Windermere, will launch a paper currency with themed notes reflecting the culture, landscape and people of the area. The Lake […]
Can you help us build a better economy? Vacancy: Coordinator (jobshare) Localise West Midlands Salary: £24,757 pro rata Hours: 22.5 hours per week (negotiable) Location: Digbeth, Birmingham Deadline: 12 noon on Thursday 17th January 2019 You will be passionate and committed to fairer, more decentralised and less unequal economics, and to the role localisation can play […]
I’ve been in post as coordinator at Localise WM for sixteen years, and have decided the time has come to leave. For the last three years I’ve had an excellent jobshare colleague, Karen McCarthy, so am happy to be leaving the organisation in her hands as well as those of our board and my eventual replacement. We have of course […]
A year ago the residents of Hawes were in the news after launching their own Little White Bus in 2011 to meet the trains at Garsdale station seven miles away. Today they have a fleet of 10 minibuses that rely on 53 volunteer drivers and nine part-time staff, ferrying 65,000 passengers a year. They also have a Land Rover to […]
In the Friend, 19th October 2018, Clíodhna Mulhern remembers living in a market town in Ireland in the 1950s: “We shopped in small independent shops and our food was local: our vegetables came from neighbouring farms, always seasonal, and there was no other kind”. Edited extracts Butter, milk and cheese arrived at our garden gate on flatbed lorries from the local […]
I was fortunate enough to attend the Economics of Happiness conference 2018, in Bristol on the 19th and 20th of October. This series of international conferences are hailed as an ‘antidote to anger, contraction and despair’. I was immediately struck by the energy and optimism on display by delegates and speakers – and by the diverse group of people assembled. […]