Parallel sustainable monetary systems are being developed by civil society groups and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), informed by ecological economics perspectives on development, value, economic scale and growth, and responding to the unsustainability of current global financial systems. These parallel systems of exchange (or community currencies) are designed to promote sustainable development by localising economic development, … Continue reading »
The International Journal of Community Currency Research relaunches and publishes a special issue reflecting on 30 years of experience in designing and using parallel currencies to tackle economic, social and environmental issues. Continue reading »
Sustainable consumption is gaining currency as a new environmental policy objective, but there is a limit to the changes in consumption behaviour that individuals can make within current socio-economic frameworks. The ‘new economics’ literature argues that sustainable consumption is characterized by five factors: localization, reducing ecological footprints, community-building, collective action, and building new social institutions. … Continue reading »
Seyfang, G. (2010) ‘Low-Carbon Communities and the Currencies of Change’ in Peters, M., Fudge, S. and Jackson, T. (eds) Low Carbon Communities: Imaginative approaches to combating climate change locally (Edward Elgar, Cheltenham) pp.108-122
Purpose – The paper aims to improve understanding of the UK policy context for the social economy and thereby increase policy effectiveness in promoting the sector. Design/methodology/approach – First the term ‘‘social economy’’ is discussed and defined. Then the range of policy responses to the social economy is reviewed. The interface between the social economy … Continue reading »
