Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Simone Cicero In recent months, I have worked a lot with currencies, as I’m involved with Dropis, a team of developers, researchers, and designers dedicated to creating a currency for the sharing economy. So, when I came across “Love is our Currency,” a TEDx talk by Manjil Rana, cofounder and president of Maya Universe Academy, my curiosity was piqued…
Inspired by the idea of building resilience around local, grassroots economies in response to peak oil and climate change, the transition movement has evolved into a global network of cities, towns, and neighborhoods that self-organize around the principles not only of reducing CO2 emissions but doing it by fostering happy, healthy, and creative communities.
As the price of solar has plummeted and leases have become more widespread, many more Americans have been able to go solar. But what about the 75% who can’t?
Asheville North Carolina is situated in the Southern Appalachian mountains, a region with a wealth of sharing traditions. Historically, the relative isolation of the mountains and the necessity of making do with less have meant that relying on community is a means to survival. Regardless, it has never gone out of style to share music, food, stories and medicine. As one native Ashevillian says "We help each other out. It’s not complicated." These days, Asheville’s sharing culture is a healthy mix of the traditional and the cosmopolitan. The economic downturn in the past half-decade has spurred an abundance of community activities and projects for which dollars are not a requirement.
“I’ve never had my driver’s license,” Kevin Campbell says. A curly-headed 22-year-old with a Movember ‘stache, Kevin is the newest staff member at the groundbreaking Reno Bike Project. There’s a reason he’s never driven: A few years back, he was struck by a car while walking in a crosswalk.
My ecological journey started in the forests of the Himalaya. My father was a forest conservator, and my mother became a farmer after fleeing the tragic partition of India and Pakistan. It is from the Himalayan forests and ecosystems that I learned most of what I know about ecology. The songs and poems our mother composed for us were about trees, forests, and India’s forest civilizations.
I was inspired enough by the set up of Share Tompkins that I decided to host an occasional swap of my own with a very specific focus: fiber arts. People who are not interested in working with string may not be aware of this, but Ithaca has dozens — if not hundreds — of talented spinners, knitters, crocheters, and lacemakers. I happen to know a bunch of them, and I happen to know that this is a group that often has big plans that don’t pan out, so we usually end up with extra materials.
Compared to the default method of economic development – which usually involves giving tax breaks to lure an out-of-town corporation – local coops may be one of the best ways to bring quality jobs back to America.
What if the vacant lots in Mission Bay were activated into garden and event spaces?
Cooperation is the basis of human society. However, most societies today have been deformed and oppressed by small authoritarian groups for a very long time.
It’s a normal day at River School Farm, a central hub in Reno’s local food scene. I’m here to find out what that scene looks like, and what part River School Farm plays in its past and future.
While pundits debated failing macro-economic strategies in the media frenzy surrounding election day, students at NASCO Institute shared proven community-driven economic solutions, from coops to alternative currencies.
