There’s a deep multi-cultural history of integrating social and economic co-operation with agricultural systems via a pattern widely referred to as “mutual aid”. Some examples of historical mutual aid societies which explicitly help farmers include The Grange, Via Campesina, Italian farming co-ops, and Cherokee Gadugi. Since land is the basis of all survival and of wealth, communities who manage landscapes together over long periods of time develop trust and co-operative resource sharing as survival strategies. Zev Friedman will share about his co-operative experience living at Earthaven Ecovillage and founding/participating in many co-op organizations, the intensive research he’s been engaged in for the last 4 years around mutual aid history, and the progress made so far to establish Co-operate WNC, a regional mutual aid organization. We’ll emphasize how to apply lessons from Mondragon and other co-operative endeavors to our own region in practical ways and give you clues to begin mutual aid in your own life and community as well as get engaged in Co-operate WNC. In part 8, Zev begins with the overview of utilizing collaborative economics to support a regional network of community centers and examples of what services could be provided by such an infrastructure.
VIDEO: Cooperative Economic Models For Our Region Part 8
There’s a deep multi-cultural history of integrating social and economic co-operation with agricultural systems via a pattern widely referred to as “mutual aid”. Some examples of historical mutual aid societies which explicitly help farmers include The Grange, Via Campesina, Italian farming co-ops, and Cherokee Gadugi. Since land is the basis of all survival and of wealth, communities who manage landscapes together over long periods of time develop trust and co-operative resource sharing as survival strategies. Zev Friedman will share about his co-operative experience living at Earthaven Ecovillage and founding/participating in many co-op organizations, the intensive research he’s been engaged in for the last 4 years around mutual aid history, and the progress made so far to establish Co-operate WNC, a regional mutual aid organization. We’ll emphasize how to apply lessons from Mondragon and other co-operative endeavors to our own region in practical ways and give you clues to begin mutual aid in your own life and community as well as get engaged in Co-operate WNC. In part 8, Zev begins with the overview of utilizing collaborative economics to support a regional network of community centers and examples of what services could be provided by such an infrastructure.
The 'tool library' for patrons/citizens to borrow & return equipment they don't own sounds really interesting. I wonder if Habitat for Humanity has any type of program like this.
I would enjoy having a tractor repair/implement swap with a welding shop addendum
available to use. Having a shop to learn and do welding projects (homestead level) would be very beneficial. Knowing a tractor mechanic to brainstorm with over repairs & maintenance of
older (eg affordable) functional tractor would be godsend.
This is amazing stuff and I'm much interested in this. At 16:40 a suggestion was to get in contact with you technical working group about a platform to implement this types of Integrated saving groups. Who do I contact about this?
Have you heard about this indigenous practice where a group of people come together, maybe 10 or 20. They all contribute an equal amount of money. Let's say a $100 a month. Then that money is given to an individual who needs a lump sum of about $1500. Each individual continues to contribute a $100 a month for 15 months. And each month a different individual will receive a lump sum of $1500 based on who needs it most . This custom is often called a committee. It is generally informal and requires no paper work. People continue to make payments based on the understanding that if they default no one will ever trust them to participate in another committee. This is particularly powerful in communities that have more experiences with economic need. For example an immigrant community. I was introduced to this concept through my ex husband's community, Pakistani immigrants to the United States.