Info, news & debate
Commoning
Farm Hack is coming to Wales! Join in 6-7 October at the CSA Gathering
You’re invited to participate in skill shares and farm hacks from 6-7 October 2018 at Tyddyn Teg Co-operative near Caernarfon. A joint event between Farm Hack and the Community Supported Agriculture network in Wales, Frank White tells us more.
The future of land ownership: interview with Oli Rodker of the Ecological Land Co-op and the Landworkers’ Alliance
This week we’re talking with Oli Rodker, founder director of the Ecological Land Co-operative and the Landworkers’ Alliance, about his work, and how we might change the nature of land ownership in the UK, where 0.06% of the population own 50% of rural land in England and Wales, according to the Country Land & Business …
My mutual credit journey (and how you can join in the fun)
I often trawl the web just speculatively looking for new people or new ideas, clicking on links from interesting sites. TEDx talks are a favourite. A few years ago I came across an intriguing TEDx talk by Professor Jem Bendell called ‘the Money Myth’.
Join the Land Justice Network national gathering on 18 August in Sheffield
The Land Justice Network national gathering is your chance to learn about their work campaigning for land reform and to together help plan next steps.
Models of repopulation: bringing low-impact living to life in rural Europe
We hear from yurt and tent builders and suppliers Spirits Intent about their new mission to revive low-impact living and rural economies in southern Europe through the Heartland Association.
Announcing the launch of NonCorporate.org – how to move away from multinational corporations
We’re pleased to announce the launch of NonCorporate.org – our sister site, dedicated to helping people move away from multinational corporations (MNCs) for everything they need.
Public debate on capitalism: what happened and what I learnt
You may remember that I was invited to take part in a public debate in London recently (see here) about whether capitalism is ‘the best system for a sustainable future’. I was asked to deliver the ‘no’ position.
Public debate featuring yours truly: is capitalism the best system for a sustainable future?
If you’re in London on April 18th, there’s a public debate you might be interested in, upstairs in a pub in Tooting. I’ve been asked to put the case against capitalism. There will be initial presentations, rebuttals, questions from the audience, and then a summing up.
Reclaiming our ancient indigenous wisdom and a sense of ‘the village’
I think I am unusual. I can find a confidence inside that allows me to take risks. This confidence allows me to initiate things that I feel passionate about and because I see their worth in the world. I can do this even if I think I don’t know what I’m doing.
Lords vs commoners: week of action for land rights, April 14-22
Land ownership in Britain is one of the most unequal in the world. This is a call out to groups and individuals all over the country who think the time has come for us to have more control of our land.
Interview with Matthew Slater: what’s mutual credit, how can it boost the Solidarity Economy, and what can we do to help? (plus webinar)
See yesterday’s blog post for an introduction to this article. This is an interview with Matthew Slater, who co-authored the Money & Society MOOC, a free masters level multidisciplinary online course. He co-drafted the Credit Commons white paper, a proposal for a global solidarity economy money system
The next great transition will be to the Solidarity Economy with a mutual credit exchange system
I’ve been working in the environmental field for over 20 years, and I believe, like the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, that we’re headed for ‘biological annihilation’, and like the good folk at the Dark Mountain Project, that a crash is coming that we may or may not recover from
Why much criticism of the Fair Trade movement is invalid – designed to disguise corporate exploitation of small farmers
The Fair Trade movement was set up to secure better prices for struggling small farmers and craft producers in poor countries, and to provide funds for various improvements in their communities. It has, however, come in for some criticism for various reasons.
The potential power of sharing: from Share Shops to Streetbank
In this post Sophie Paterson of Lowimpact.org explores the power of sharing in a growing movement including The Library of Things, Streetbank, Share Shops and more.
£30, credit-card-sized, non-corporate, low-energy computers set up to run Linux; any boxes not ticked there?
These are cheap (£30) mini computers that run Linux and will make a good second computer for children (for example), a media player in another room, or a data server. It might save people buying another laptop and it means you can reuse the peripherals of older PCs (screen, mouse etc).
Resilient networks: building a low-tech internet
A solution to the absence of high-speed wireless networks across some developing countries and increasingly appearing in the form of WiFi based community networks in numerous countries in Europe, building a low-tech internet could have benefits for all. With excerpts from an original Low-tech Magazine article by Kris De Decker, we explore how a less resource-intensive and more energy-efficient …
Farm Hack : growing innovative open-source agriculture
In response to the pervasive reach of the global agro-industrial complex, growing numbers of farmers across the world are coming together as co-operative organisations to promote and protect small-scale organic food production and environmental stewardship. We take a look below at some of the groups promoting open source agriculture with farmer driven technologies, spearheaded by the …
Why an economy that’s not dominated by the corporate sector would be much better for individuals, communities and nature
Lowimpact.org is an organisation that was founded by two people in 2001 because of concerns about ecological damage and what that might mean for the future of humanity. The focus has always been on individual lifestyle change
Let’s build a sustainable, non-corporate world; but what exactly does ‘non-corporate’ mean?
This is the first of two articles examining the non-corporate sector, and its advantages for ecology, democracy, communities and individuals. Here’s a checklist of the benefits of reducing the reach of the corporate sector, but first, let’s work out what kind of organisations comprise the non-corporate sector.
Low-impact & the city 11: buying a laptop without Windows – with Linux or with no operating system at all
This is the last in a series of articles to help you to jettison Windows and corporate software generally.