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Develop the Gift Economy for Community Programmes
Sounds strange? Not really. Volunteering is built on this. Read on!! Cash will be almost non-existent for the next five years or so. FreeCycle + TimeBank could be the basis: But trade time, skills, expertise, project outputs, office space and equipment. eBay style 'reputation' tells who 'gives' most so the more your give, you more people want to give to you. It's not taxable, keeps skills within communities and makes the money go furthest.
16 votes -
Create a Pledge Pot
Many of us have issues within our communities which are un(der)funded, and yet we are passionate about them and can see the socio-economic benefits they would bring if money was available. My issue is broadband. As a business, it is costing me money to not have it. Alone, I can not invest enough to make it happen but with my neighbours, potentially we can raise money to matchfund, borrow etc.
My idea would be a website with a simple backend database to harvest data such as name, address, amount, Parish, email.
Front end would show a map of each parish…
15 votes -
Develop a people-centered framework for local economic development
This approach is based upon the concept of an people-centered form of capitalism which redefines profit in human terms. Going further than a "community investment" company, it advocates business focussed on people and their needs with the neediest having first priority.
Profit making business investing in CDFIs provides funds for seed funding both social enterprise and conventional micro business at the local level.
Once considered radical, it has recently entered the world of mainstream economic thinking when Harvard began advocating the creation of shared value.
A earlier proposal to propagate this approach across the UK may be found at this…
6 votes -
4 votes