message by Mira Luna for "Shareable.com":
The New Economy Coalition (a project of the New Economics Institute) is shining a spotlight on the emerging movement for a new economy with a week of action called New Economy Week. October 11-19th they will be highlighting events, actions, reports, works of art, and other projects across the United States and Canada. By making visible the thousands of things people are doing right now to build a new kind of economy, this event will inspire broader participation and catalyze a conversation for deep, systemic change.
All around the country, people are rolling up their sleeves and getting to work on building an economy that prioritizes people and the planet. From starting cooperative groceries, to implementing citywide participatory budgeting, to municipalizing energy companies, these democratic and decentralized wealth-building strategies are being embraced by communities as a means of systemic transformation. While our political system proves itself incapable of dealing with complex problems, people are creating parallel institutions that meet their needs and lay a foundation for long-term social change.
Right now there are over 40 events listed on the website and counting [neweconomyweek.org/calendar]. Shareable's new Sharing Cities Network is hosting a Sharing Cities Mapping Jam to map the new economy in cities across the country that week [shareable.net/blog/join-the-sharing-cities-network]. In Milwaukee, WI, the Riverwest Cooperative Alliance is throwing a Co-op Fest on October 12th to promote and educate the public about cooperatives [riverwestmke.wix.com/cooperativealliance]. That same day, the Pennsylvania Public Bank Project is hosting a workshop in Philadelphia on public banking for the community and neighborhood leaders [papublicbankproject.org]. Later in the week, in Montpelier, VT, Gus Speth will deliver a speech on “Measuring What Matters” that will be simulcast across the state. Shareable's new Sharing Cities Network is hosting a new economy Mapping Jam across the country that week. While representing only a sliver what’s happening in North America, these events demonstrate the breadth of strategies people are employing to transform our economy.
There’s still plenty of time to get involved. If you’re already hosting an event that falls within New Economy Week, go submit it on their website to get featured on the events page [neweconomyweek.org]. Want inspiration for creating a new event? Check out their action toolkit [neweconomyweek.org/get-involved] and Shareable’s “How To Share” Guide [shareable.net/how-to-share] for ideas about projects and events you can organize with your community. If you are outside the US or Canada, you can still host an event and next year hopefully organize a New Economy Week for your country.
Whether New Economy Week becomes an annual fixture (an Earth Day for the New Economy movement) remains to be seen. This year is very much an experiment. But if the momentum on the ground is any indication, New Economy Week – and all of the incredible work being done to build collective power and healthy communities – is just the beginning.
Join the Sharing Cities Network
Imagine a city where everyone’s needs are met because people make the personal choice to share. Where everyone can create meaningful livelihoods. Where fresh, local food is available to all. Where affordable housing and shared transportation are abundant. Where the poor are lifted up, the middle class is strengthened, and the rich are respected because they all work together for the common good.
Imagine a city where the people decide how the city budget is spent. Where the people own the banks, control credit, and create their own money. Where the people own the utilities that make green energy and internet access available to all.
Imagine a city where all this is possible without relying on the government or big banks. Where we don't have to beg leaders for change or sell ourselves out to “make it” at the expense of others. Where the more we share, the more we have. Where everyone wins.
Our dream at Shareable is that everyone gets to live in such a place. While ambitious, our dream is grounded in reality. Everything that's imagined above already exists. We know this because we’ve written about these pockets of sanity nearly every day for the last five years.
What’s missing is there’s no single city where all these models are brought together. And until now there’s been few efforts to create such cities.
This is a call to change that.
Because there are proven solutions, there’s no need to doubt that it can be done. Because these solutions can be created by ordinary people, there’s no need to ask permission to start. Because there’s great need, there’s no reason to wait.
The time to build sharing cities is now.
So, today Shareable launches the Sharing Cities Network -- a grassroots network for sharing innovators to discover together how to create as many sharing cities around the world as fast as possible.
To kick off the network, Shareable is hosting a Sharing Cities Map Jam October 12-19th. The goal of the Map Jam is to map the sharing economies of 25 cities with 25 local teams.
While there’s no complete sharing city yet, we've found that every city has a much bigger foundation to build on than people think. There are cooperatives, community gardens, tool libraries, timebanks, bike kitchens, coworking and maker spaces, credit unions, farmers' markets, or their ilk nearly everywhere.
We believe that making these oases of sharing visible will be an empowering first step for the network. After the Map Jam, we'll post the maps on Shareable for anyone to use, share, or copy. The network's next steps will be worked out together.
Please fill out the form below this message on the website [shareable.net/blog/join-the-sharing-cities-network] to learn more. We'll be in touch soon.
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