Cooperative Journal

Equal Care is a multi-stakeholder cooperative in England that values building trusted relationships between the giver and receiver of support. Their care offerings range from personal care and practical jobs, to help with life admin and community advocacy, to mental health and wellbeing support. Workers get a decent wage without the people getting support having to pay more. The receiver and caregiver are involved in the decision making process and intentionally choose each other to create lasting, respectful, quality care and support relationships.

In this episode I speak with care worker member Eleanor Bennett and founder Emma Back about the voids they are filling within the current care system, benefits of being an independent care worker of the co-op, using sociacricy for decision-making, their organization model for members, funding opportunities and developmental support for co-ops in the UK, plus more.

Equal Care Co-op Website

Co-operatives UK:Cooperative Support Network

Community Shares:Capital investment for community businesses

The Hive:Offers business support, mentoring, and training for start up co-ops in the UK

The Mobility Factory is a European cooperative alliance consisting of electric car-sharing cooperatives. They offer an e-car sharing platform for their members, open sourced coding to adjust the platform to members needs, and transparent democratic decision making processes. As we are shaping more sustainable and densely populated cities, the mobility factory is driven to increase air quality, renewable energy, living space, and user engagement.

In this episode I speak with Lukas Reichel about the environmental and societal benefits of electric car-sharing platforms, benefits of open-source technology, the challenges of sustaining an electric car-sharing platform, innovative features on the platform, and the policies/infrastructure needed to support the development of electric car-sharing in cities.

The Mobility Factory Website

The Global Centre for Advanced Studies otherwise known as GCAS, is the world’s first institution of higher education cooperatively owned by the faculty, staff, investors, and graduates. Students are able to utilize blockchain and earn cryptocurrency while getting debt free education. It is a model designed to challenge the status quo and co-create regenerative systems.

In this episode I interview the founder Creston Davis and PhD researcher Kim Miller about how GCAS is filling the voids within a traditional college model by implementing blockchain and cryptocurrency, supporting students during and post education, creating collaborative learning environments, securing graduates with assets instead of debt, and more innovative tools.

GCAS Website

GCAS Facebook

GCAS Instagram

GCAS Twitter

MARSH is a food cooperative in St. Louis, MO with a fully-licensed kitchen, diner, and food collective. They have implemented a unique model where workers, consumers, and producers work reciprocally as owners. Diner workers, non-working public participants, as well as aspiring, emerging, and professional culinary artists collaborate to grow, purchase, prepare, cook, and serve high-quality food.

In this episode I interview co-founder Beth Neff about how they are developing an inclusive and circular cooperative food system in a marginalized city. You’ll learn how they are fostering resilience and food sovereignty by offering an affordable and organic varieties of food, supporting local food producers as well as entrepreneurs, establishing a sliding scale market and diner, and more.

MARSH Website

MARSH Instagram

MARSH Facebook

MARSH Food Cooperative Brochure

Fairbnb is a global cooperative that is a non extractive alternative to existing home-sharing platforms. They offer authentic and sustainable travel experiences while funding the development of socially relevant local community projects.

In this episode I interview co-founder Jonathan Reyes about the negative effects of Airbnb on communities, the model they’ve created to keep wealth circulating within local economies, how they are creating a cooperative ecosystem, challenges faced, and more.

Soup is a micro-granting dinner that offers a platform to support creative local projects in communities around the world. It eliminates barriers that local projects have to deal with in order to get funding, fosters dialogue on community needs, and allows a space for community change-makers to be heard.

In this episode, I speak with the founder of Detroit Soup Amy Kaherl about how Soup has evolved into a global movement, the economic paradigm in Detroit, the human needs that are nourished during these dinners, and some inspiring successful projects that were seeded from Soup.

Ministry of Space (Ministarstvo Prostora) is a collective from Belgrade, Serbia founded in 2011 with the aim of reflecting on the future of cities. They act in the field of urban and cultural policies, sustainable city development, fair use of common resources, and the involvement of citizens in the urban development of their environment.

Co-founders Iva Čukić and Marko Aksentijević share how to shift ownership of the commons into the hands of citizens, tips on fostering citizen engagement, resistance they’ve received from the government, some of their DIY projects, and they offer advice on how we can revitalize cities to be people-centered post-pandemic.

Ministry of Space Website

Ministry of Space Facebook

Ministry of Space Instagram

Street Gallery Website

Don’t Let Belgrade D(r)own(Ne da(vi)mo Beograd) Facebook