Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Banco Popular (BPDC)
Summary: Costa Rica’s Banco Popular (or BPDC by its Spanish acronym) is a public-like cooperative bank that is worker-owned and controlled, with the mission to serve the social and sustainable welfare of Costa Rican. Its clients include workers, peasants, micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises, and communal, cooperative, and municipal development associations. Any worker holding a savings account for over a year has the right to share ownership. BPDC has a democratic assembly made up of 290 representatives selected from among the bank’s member-owners. The assembly advises on strategic direction and selects four of the seven board members, with the other three appointed by the government. The bank also requires that 50 percent of board members are women. BPDC combines commercial and developmental functions such that earning financial returns is placed on a par with serving the environmental and social good.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: costa rica
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 6
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Cabfair: a cooperative owned alternative to Uber
Summary: Cabfair is a proposed driver-owned minicab firm and ride-hailing app being created by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) that will provide an ethical, co-operative alternative to Uber. This platform is just one of many Uber alternatives being created across Europe and the US. It can be seen as part of the broader platform cooperativism movement which aims to decentralize the power of apps, protocols, and websites, allowing low income communities to benefit from the shift of labour markets to the Internet. (This example is UK-wide)
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: London
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 12
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: John Lewis Partnership
Summary: John Lewis Partnership has sustained itself as an employee-owned business for nearly a century. It has approximately 85,500 staff, better known as Partners, each of which owns shares in 50 John Lewis shops, 353 Waitrose supermarkets, an online and catalogue business, a production unit, and a farm. The John Lewis Partnership is managed through a democratic model based on their constitution which sets out the Partnership’s governance system. The Partnership Council is the highest management institution, comprised of Partner representatives from across the business (including 5 representatives of non-management levels) and is responsible for holding the Chairman and the Board to account and acts as a sounding board for Partner opinion. This council has a role in influencing Partnership policy on how profits are spent, particularly on things that affect Partners directly, like pay, pensions and discount policies.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: United Kingdom
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 3
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Malawi Tea 2020
Summary: Malawi Tea 2020 was developed by the Tea Association of Malawi (TAML), Oxfam, IDH (the Sustainable Trade Initiative), and GIZ (German Development Agency) to bring together stakeholders from across the entire tea value chain to create a just tea industry that can sustain living wages for workers and living incomes for smallholders, while remaining globally competitive. In total, 21 actors entered a Memorandum of Understanding in 2015, and are working towards a common roadmap of activities across the sector. Achievements include: a new wage-setting process with worker representation through collective bargaining between TAML and the Plantation Agricultural Workers Union (PAWU); wage increases for tea workers, which are now 40% more than the minimum wage; local savings groups in tea communities to provide additional income to smallholder farmers; as well as non-financial benefits, such as improved nutrition.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Malawi
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 7
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Etico
Summary: The Ethical Trading Company (Etico) is an association of small farmers, companies, consumers and charities aimed at producing high-quality products while improving the quality of life of producer communities through fair trading practices, joint analysis of costs, sharing of information, and trusting relationships. Cooperatives and charities are invited to buy shares of Etico, giving farmers an opportunity to own a portion of the supply chain. Profits from the business operations are reinvested in smallholder farmers through the charities and cooperatives. These investments assist farmers in improving quality of produce, infrastructure, and social and ecological sustainability. Some examples include construction of cupping laboratories for coffee growers, loans to enable land ownership, facilitation of honey production to avoid deforestation and reduce pesticide use, and cattle purchases to diversify livelihood strategies.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Nicaragua
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 4
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Slow Money
Summary: Slow Money is a non-profit organisation aimed at redirecting the flow of capital to local food systems. Since beginning in 2010, Slow Money has facilitated the movement of $57 million into 632 food enterprises. Slow Money catalyses the formation of self-organizing local groups, which use a diversity of approaches to funding: public meetings, on-farm events, pitch fests, peer-to-peer loans, investment clubs and, most recently, non-profit clubs making 0% loans. So far, seventeen local networks and 11 investment clubs have formed to support local enterprises focused on locally grown produce.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Denver
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 11
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: SEWA Sangini Child Care Workers’ Cooperative
Summary: SEWA Sangini Child Care Workers’ Cooperative (SCCWC) was developed as a response to SEWA workers’ requests for quality childcare provision. SCCWC child care centres are owned jointly by the care providers and the mothers of the children. The board of SCCWC is comprised of cooperative members and is elected every 3-5 years. The board manages activities and any issues that arise during the parent-teacher meetings or care provider meetings; ensures that financial regulations are observed; and sets nominal fees which parents pay each month, but operation costs are subsidised by SEWA, donors and local government. The SCCWCs are also unique in the fact that they offer an integrated care approach so that children receive basic education and social skills, adequate nutrition, and health services.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Ahmedabad, India
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 11
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Preston Model
Summary: After the financial crisis of 2007/8 Preston, a city in Lancashire, UK, lost half of its government grants and nearly a billion pounds (US$1.3 bn) in private investments. In order to revitalise local businesses, Preston reoriented its plans towards a community wealth project. In partnership with the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES), the project is centred on several large anchor institutions (e.g. the local hospital), who shift their procurement practices from external to local sources, bringing money back into the Preston economy. Simultaneously, the project developed worker cooperatives to create enterprises to address identified gaps in local supply capacity, supporting a local cooperative economy. Preston continues to explore alternative ways of bringing wealth back into the community, such as through a windfarm for local energy generation and redirection of pension investments to the regional economy.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Preston, Lancashire
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 11
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Catalan Integral Cooperative
Summary: Catalan Integral Cooperative (CIC) is a network of consumer and service cooperatives based in Catalonia, Spain as well as an activist project. CIC integrates economic alternatives, such as peer-to-peer exchange, social currency, protection of economic activity between the associate cooperatives, and reduction of individualised liability. Liability is reduced through the legal cooperative framework: individual debts of the members cannot be claimed from the cooperatives and the debts of the cooperative cannot be claimed from the members. Furthermore, the CIC has set up a series of entities, whose legal form allows its self-employed members to issue invoices, usually a process requiring a prohibitively expensive license.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Catalonia, Spain
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 11
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Evergreen Cooperatives
Summary: Launched in 2008 Cleveland-based institutions (e.g. the Cleveland Foundation, University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University, and the municipal government), the Evergreen Cooperative Initiative creates living-wage jobs in six low-income neighbourhoods of Cleveland. Rather than training workers for employment that doesn’t exist, it focuses on building a local economy by catalysing new cooperative businesses. Examples include Evergreen Energy Solutions, Green City Growers and the Evergreen Cooperative Laundry. The initiative thus starts by creating jobs, and then recruiting and training local residents to fill them. The model has been successful in creating new cooperatives, redirecting local profits to local communities, preventing outsourcing, giving ownership to employees, and further consolidating profits within the community.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Cleveland, Ohio
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 11
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Mondragon
Summary: Mondragon is the tenth largest industrial group in Spain and is comprised of over 260 cooperative bodies. It is, in short, a corporation of cooperatives, which are legally independent but bound by solidarity mechanisms. Mondragon also has its own university and a network of 15 technology centres to encourage and support education and innovation. The Mondragon governance structure is divided into two levels: the individual cooperatives that compose Mondragon and the Mondragon Corporation’s governing bodies. These are: the Cooperative Congress made up of 650 members of the cooperatives involved in administration of Mondragon business units; associations of cooperatives that work in the same area; the Standing Committee governed by a delegation from the Cooperative Congress; the General Council, which creates the corporate strategy and coordinates policies pursued by the Divisions and cooperatives; and lastly, the Industrial Council responsible for coordinating the Industry area’s Divisions.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Basque Region
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 11
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Marange Development Trust
Summary: In 2008, the Zimbabwean government and private companies began mining in the Marange diamond fields, displacing communities throughout the region. In 2015, several of these companies were united to form the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC). With the help of the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA), two communities founded their own organisations to combat the negative impacts of mining, including the Marange Development Trust (MDT). They began by monitoring the mining companies’ operations and gathered information on violations. In August 2017, the MDT filed a lawsuit against the ZCDC, on the grounds that it had not conducted an environmental impact assessment (EIA). The lawsuit was ultimately successful, with the ZCDC forced to halt operations pending approval of an EIA certificate, and to enter a memorandum of understanding with the affected community.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Marange, Manicaland
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 4
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (GCMMF)
Summary: Gujarati smallholder dairy farmers, once exploited by milk traders, now control one of India’s largest food product businesses. Starting in 1945, dairy farmers, with help from the leaders of the Indian Independence movement, started to organise. Through public protests, the farmers gained rights to supply the Bombay Milk Scheme and formally registered as the Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union. Further successes include leasing of part of a government creamery, which secured market access, the lobbying of the government to limit butter imports so that the Union could supply the local market, and the development of other milk products under the “Amul” brand. In 1973, the Union joined with other cooperatives to form the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (GCMMF), which inherited the Amul brand. Since 1940, dairy farmers have successfully negotiated so that they now receive over 70% of market price of dairy products.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Gujarat
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 11
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC)
Summary: In 1927, Colombian coffee growers organised themselves into the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC), a non-profit organisation aimed at: increasing the quality of life for coffee growers; promoting sustainable practices; and marketing Colombian coffee internationally. The FNC now represents over 540,000 coffee growers and their families. Since 1930, the coffee industry in Colombia has grown 350% and small holder farmers now receive 60%–70% of the final export price of coffee. Furthermore, the FNC is a democratically managed with elections every four years to appoint members to the various branches of the FNC, including the national Congress of Coffee Growers and departmental committees, who define the policies and programs that will be executed within their organization. The last coffee elections saw a 65% voter turn-out.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Colombia
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 11
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Kenya Tea Development Agency
Summary: Over the past 60 years, Kenya’s tea industry has transformed from large estates to smallholder farms. Smallholders pooled their resources through strong federated bodies to build economies of scale and succeed in competitive markets. They organised to analyse the value-chain; identified areas of perceived weakness; and addressed and rebranded their product in response. They were aided by a combination of new technology platforms, such as mobile money, and a supportive political environment—a nationalist government that halted the expansion of larger multinational players, creating space for the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), the smallholder tea initiative. Kenyan tea now commands a price premium compared to international competitors; it constitutes a major part of foreign exchange earnings; and 70% of the export value of tea is distributed to smallholders at the community level.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Kenya
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 11
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA)
Summary: The Bronx-based, worker-owned Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA) employs more than 2,200 staff, originally unemployed women or low-paid workers, and stands as the largest worker cooperative in the United States. Eight employees are represented in the Board, thus, taking part directly into decision-making processes through their home care experiences. CHCA also employs ‘peer mentors’ and trains its supervisors to be coaches rather than disciplinarians. With its affiliate PHI, CHCA provides free trainings to hundreds of women trainees each year and guarantees secure employment. By doing this they counter an industry paradigm that regards direct-care staff as temporary, low paid and easily replaceable.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: New York
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 4
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Once Again Nut Butter
Summary: Once Again Nut Butter is a 100% employee-owned company with an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). The company is also governed as a worker-owned cooperative. The company functions on the basis of fair compensation: income that is generated in the business is distributed at a 4:1 compensation ratio of highest to lowest paid employees and profit-sharing bonuses are distributed equally to all owners. The employee-owners meet on a regular basis and have a vote on how the company is managed. Company meetings address the company policies, operational issues, and financial strategies. Committees are also formed to help resolve issues, which are subject to a final company vote (1 person = 1 vote). At upper management, there are at least 3 employee-owners sitting on the Board of Directors.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: New York
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 6
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Buen Vivir Fund
Summary: The Buen Vivir Fund seeks to promote financial models and practices that support communities’ holistic wellbeing, as opposed to focusing on maximizing capital accumulation. In early 2018, the Buen Vivir Fund launched its first round of investments to support nine unique projects led by organisations across Latin America, North America, Southern Africa, and South Asia. The Buen Vivir Fund investment model identifies lending practices developed by grassroots groups that are already proving effective on the ground, and then working collaboratively with them to uplift and apply these practices to the level of a global investment fund. Investors and on-the-ground experts have equal voting rights in decision-making; loan terms shift risk away from the small grassroots groups investees; borrowers make a solidarity contribution of their choosing based on the rate of growth and success of projects
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: San Francisco
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 4
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: IBEKA: community-owned and managed mini grids in Indonesia
Summary: IBEKA supports rural electrification by installing small-scale hydro or wind mini grids and setting up village-based organisations to own and operate the systems. Elements that support participation include community ownership of energy infrastructure (mini grid) alongside community-managed enterprises to run them. Revenues generated are shared through a community fund.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Indonesia
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 2
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: PEKKA
Summary: PEKKA (which stands for Female Headed Family Empowerment Programme) supports savings and borrowing cooperatives and increased economic productivity through group and individual enterprises as an independent source of livelihood for households. PEKKA is now a self-governing network of associations involving over 29,000 rural widows and abandoned and divorced women in savings and loan cooperatives in 900 villages across Indonesia. PEKKA also promotes economic empowerment by creating market spaces for members and through political empowerment by providing education on political rights and obligations as citizens to build critical awareness; developing the leadership potential of PEKKA cadres in participating in decision-making processes in the community; and facilitating the active participation of PEKKA cadres in political processes in Indonesia.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Indonesia
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 11
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Up & Go Cooperative
Summary: Up & Go is an online platform which brings together several cooperatively-owned cleaning businesses for fair work conditions and liveable wages in a sector usually characterised by informal, precarious and low-paid work. It is a “sharing economy” platform owned by its workers. Together they set prices, and 95 percent of the profits go to supporting the cooperatively-owned businesses. The remaining 5 percent is invested in Up & Go for advancing the platform’s technology and providing customer service. Furthermore, through business meetings Up & Go builds capacity, shares ideas and delivers training to its worker-owners. During these meetings the members of the cooperative set up the rules and structures for making decisions about how to run their business, discuss their rates, and establish their standards of service.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: New York
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 11
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Bright Exchange
Summary: LETS - Local Exchange Trading Systems or Schemes allow people to exchange goods and services with one another in a local, co-created currency which can only be spent within the LETS group. Each group trades in its own currency and a record of transactions is kept by an accountant. The balances, which always add up to zero, are made available to the members with a listing of what is offered and wanted within the network. Detailed rules are decided by elected officers, who also carry out all the other tasks and planning. There are several LETS throughout the UK. For example, in Brighton, UK, skilled tradespeople and community members trade skills, services and goods through the Bright Exchange. “Brights” is the local currency, managed online, and each service is worth a certain number of “Brights”. Feedback cites a more cohesive and inclusive community, with opportunities to learn and share skills.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Brighton, UK
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 11
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Banco Palmas
Summary: Banco Palmas is one of the early examples of what has been termed solidarity finance. Emerging from an urban slum in Brazil, this initiative is based on three key pillars: small, community-sanctioned loans; local currency (to keep wealth circulating within the neighbourhood); and professional training (to generate local entrepreneurship and a skilled workforce). Banco Palmas created participatory deliberative and decision-making spaces: Local Socioeconomic Forum, Management Council, and Block Councils. The impact of Banco Palmas has gone well beyond Conjunto Palmeiras; it has prompted the creation of a network of community-based banks across Brazil and is at the forefront of technological innovation on e-currencies and other financial instruments such as credit cards backed by social currencies.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Brazil
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 11
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Citizen Helpdesks in Liberia
Summary: In Liberia, the Citizen Helpdesks work to address accountability challenges related to large gold mining concessions. Community Frontline Associates selected by communities and led by local journalists are trained in community engagement, constructive dialogue techniques and methodologies for data collection and analysis. They work with affected communities to understand key issues and community concerns in relation to mining operations, and assist communities in acting upon Mineral Development Agreements (MDAs). MDAs establish incentives, payments, and responsibilities between the mining company, the government, and the community, but the language is legalistic and technical, and ordinary citizens have little knowledge as to what they permit and restrict. The goal is to use the information generated from community members to better inform future decision-making, ensure fair treatment of community members, and build trust and accountability among communities, government and the mining company.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Liberia
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 20
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Gore-Tex: Workplace democracy in a transnational corporation
Summary: W. L. Gore and Associates is a privately-held multinational company founded in 1958. Since its founding, it has operated through a "lattice" system of employee self-management which is said to verge on true workplace participatory democracy. Key features include a flat hierarchy in which the CEO is elected, self-managed work teams with small team sizes to secure ownership in collective decision-making, and free information flow. "Associates" (as the workers are known) step forward to lead when they have the expertise to do so; a practice referred to as "knowledge-based decision-making".
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: United States
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 3
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Root Capital and coffee cooperatives in Guatemala
Summary: The case explores how Root Capital, an agricultural impact investor, has begun conducting an assessment (using participatory methodologies) of their impact on men and women farmers, as well as on the enterprises they invest in. The learning has generated actionable data for the Root Capital as well as for the enterprises, who use the information as a baseline for decision-making, a snapshot of performance and member demographics, and for marketing materials. Any benefits for farmers, however, are indirect.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Guatemala
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 6
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Participatory Guarantee Systems in Tanzania
Summary: Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) are alternative certification schemes, built on trust and social networks and intended for local markets. In contrast to third party export-oriented certification schemes, farmers are directly involved in the design of the system. Farmer-to-farmer peer-review is an essential feature, built on equality and knowledge-sharing between the inspector and the inspected.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Tanzania
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 7
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: FENACOOP: Women’s participation for collective mobilisation
Summary: FENACOOP is a farmers' marketing cooperative in Nicaragua, with mixed membership of men and women farmers. Following an internal gender audit involving both men and women, and increasing participation of women within the cooperative, land access for women was identified as a key issue. Collective strategies for promoting these demands were developed, and advocacy in solidarity with others at the national level led to the creation of a Women's Land Fund.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Nicaragua
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 9
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: RUDI Multi-trading Company
Summary: The Rural Urban Distribution Initiative (RUDI) set up in 2004 by the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) creates a local exchange network owned by small-scale farmers and workers. It links small-scale farmers, women who work at local processing centres and distribution hubs, and 'Rubiden' or sales women within a value chain, allowing rural capital and good quality food to circulate locally.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: India
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 14
Icon colour: 99
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Worker recovered enterprises movement in Argentina
Summary: The 'Empresas Recuperadas' or worker-recovered enterprise movement in Argentina emerged as a response to the country's crisis of 2001, with workers fighting for their right to run abandoned factories. Central to the movement is an ethos of solidarity, with worker-owned enterprises based on horizontal authority, collective decision-making and shared returns from the business.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Argentina
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 15
Icon colour: 99
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Local Exchange Trading Schemes (LETS): the case of Puma in Spain
Summary: The Local Exchange Trading Scheme (LETS) in the Pumarejo neighbourhood of Seville is one of many examples of solidarity economies rooted in alternative forms of exchange. Based on an alternative currency, the Puma, the scheme supports collective decision-making, localised consumption and the redeployment of under-utilised skills and competencies. Since no interest is paid on 'pumas', the system encourages exchange rather than accumulation and wealth maximisation.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Spain
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 17
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Jubilee Debt Campaign
Summary: Jubilee 2000 was a highly successful global campaign to bring about debt relief for developing countries, which galvanised activists into a shared global project and brought them into negotiations with creditors. The Jubilee campaign lodged the concept of odious debt in the public consciousness. Its successes proved that debt relief was not only economically and politically feasible, but also could lead to desirable social outcomes. (Note - this example has no specific location)
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Global
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 20
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: People’s Credit Cooperative Society (KKR)
Summary: The People’s Credit Cooperative Society (Koperasi Kredit Rakyat (KKR)) was founded in 1975 in the rural town of Batang Berjuntai, Malaysia, to improve the socio-economic status of estate and mine workers through their increased involvement in economic activities. Funds are mobilised through members’ savings, and support KKR’s economic projects such as group insurance schemes, income generating activities, and community credit unions that provide financial services to members. KKR therefore links savers and borrowers in the same community. Members participate in the governance of the credit unions through the Area Committee and its sub committees, which meet on a monthly basis. At the annual General Meeting members have a chance to elect members of sub-committees and voice any concerns with the wider cooperative community.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Batang Berjuntai
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 11
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Civil Society Mechanism to the UN Committee on CFS
Summary: The Civil Society Mechanism (CSM), an autonomous unit of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), is the largest space for civil society organisations working on food security and nutrition. Civil society has a formally guaranteed right of participation, rather than just observer status, including representatives of: smallholder farmers, pastoralists, fisherfolk, indigenous peoples, agricultural and food workers, landless, women, youth (among others). Policy working groups (WGs) provide a space for dialogue and information exchange amongst these organisations, to develop strong policy positions. Of particular relevance is the Connecting Smallholders to Markets WG, which provides information on the experience of small-scale producers’ organizations, consumers and the urban poor, and has highlighted the importance of informal, territorial markets (rather than assuming all smallholder farmers needed to be connected to more distant formal markets).
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Rome
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 20
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: RE4R
Summary: Renewable Energy for Refugees (RE4R) was developed to reduce the cost of energy provision for refugees living in displacement camps in Jordan and Rwanda. The majority of refugees and displaced people do not have access to reliable energy sources and those that do typically have to spend a large portion of their yearly budget on fuel. The RE4R project helps refugees and their communities to access finance, training, technology, and expertise to develop their own renewable energy sources. The aim of RE4R is to enable entrepreneurs to grow and move from reliance on aid to economic independence by making renewable energy a key element of services provided to displaced communities.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Irbid, Jordan
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 5
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Engagement of informal workers’ organisations in policy-making
Summary: The integration of the informal waste workers (catadores) of Belo Horizonte within the city's selective waste collection scheme began with the founding of the first association of catadores, ASMARE, in 1990. While initial NGO support was catalytic, the catadores were then able to form their own collectives and voice their own demands. The change from working in the streets with no organization into the semi-formality of associations supported empowerment, improvements in working and living conditions, and greater self-esteem; foundations for later development including a formal role in policy and ownership of recycling facilities.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Brazil
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 20
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union and Divine Chocolates
Summary: Kuapa Kokoo is a cocoa farmers' cooperative organisation in Ghana and it is the largest Fairtrade-certified cocoa cooperative worldwide. The cooperative owns the majority of shares of a chocolate brand, Divine Chocolate, and has direct involvement in the management of the company. Kuapa Kokoo farmers benefit from Divine's efforts at growing the fair-trade market for their produce, from insights into the chocolate industry, and through direct dividend payments.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Ghana
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 9
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Markets for Change: Women's participation in market governance
Summary: Markets for Change seeks to increase voice and participation for women market vendors in the Pacific Islands. Alongside the creation and formalisation of vendors' associations and developing women's skills and knowledge, workshops bring women together and support them to identify issues of concern. Workshop participants lead a mapping process, asking fellow market vendors about the changes they would like to see, making the process highly participatory.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Solomon Islands
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 6
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Enabling smallholder farmers to advocate for their rights
Summary: The Empowering Smallholder Farmers in Markets (ESFIM) programme aimed to support national farmers' organisations (in Benin, Bolivia, Costa Rica, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Peru, Philippines, Uganda, and Uruguay) to use evidence in their advocacy processes. Through the programme, farmers identified their advocacy objectives, set up an action plan, and gained access to local experts to analyse key issues and strengthen the evidence base of their proposals. These processes were carried out in a collaborative and participatory way with the members of the farmers' organisations.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Bolivia
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 20
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Spark MicroGrants
Summary: Spark MicroGrants was founded in 2010 to promote community-driven development. The Spark Approach is based on six key phases: community building, goal setting, proposal development, technical advisor review, implementation, and future envisioning. Each Spark process begins with a local university graduate who enters the facilitator fellowship programme. Over the course of two years, each facilitator works with seven communities through the phases. The community, facilitator, and external experts work together to design and implement a community development plan using a microgrant from Spark, with projects in areas such as infrastructure, agriculture, enterprise, education and health. In the last phase, communities generate a plan for continuing their project independently. Part of this final phase also includes networking and relationship building with local governments, NGOs, and businesses. 94% of Spark MicroGrants projects are self-sustaining and demonstrate the success of the approach.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Kampala
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 4
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: Economic Governance Platform
Summary: The Economic Governance Platform (previously known as Civil Society Platform on the IMF Bailout) is a coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) that came together to advocate for civil society inclusiveness in major public financial management issues and in particular the IMF negotiations as well as the implementation of the final agreement. The initiative was supported by Oxfam in Ghana, who believed that ordinary Ghanaians should not shoulder the burden of needed structural and economic reforms. Through the platform, a diverse coalition of CSOs and think tanks worked together to facilitate a participatory deliberation process to agree on common advocacy messages; supported civil society monitoring of public sector spending; and also linked to global initiatives as levers for top-down influence. It led to CSO consultation being instituted as an integral part of the negotiation process, protection of pro-poor spending and the setting of transparency and accountability measures to address the underlying causes of indiscipline in public spending.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: Accra
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 20
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: RSF Social Finance
Summary: RSF Social Finance is an innovative public benefit financial services organisation dedicated to transforming the way the world works with money. RSF offers investing, lending, and giving (i.e. grants) services to individuals and enterprises committed to improving society and the environment. Since 1984, RSF has given out more than $285 million in loans and more than $100 million in grants. RSF is unique in that it holds quarterly pricing meetings for its borrowers and investors to discuss and influence what the interest and spread rates should be, rather than use the commonly-accepted LIBOR rates. Each participant discusses their interests—investors talk about their motivations, borrowers talk about their use of the loan, and RSF discusses the resources needed for them to work as an intermediary, and together the group gains insight into each other’s financial needs, priorities, and plans.
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: San Francisco
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 2
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: NASVI: Lobbying for a national urban street vendor policy in India
Summary: The National Street Vendor Association (NASVI), a federation of street traders, advocated for and then co-authored the first national policy on street vendors in India, which enabled more equitable economic participation. Working through coalitions, they combined using sound evidence to inform policy advocacy and creating new spaces for policy deliberation with more confrontational strategies through demonstrations and marches on elected assemblies
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: India
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 20
Icon colour:
Timestamp:
Email Address:
Case Title: RSA Citizens' Economic Council programme
Summary: The Citizens' Economic Council Programme explores how citizen voice can be embedded in macro-economic policy processes such as setting interest rates or making budget decisions. Deliberation processes, educational tools and technical support build people's understanding and strengthen their voice. Economically excluded communities are reached, through an 'economic inclusion roadshow', with access support, e.g. for people with disabilities or those who face language barriers. (This example is UK-wide)
Context / Background:
Whose voices are heard?:
Who created and led this initiative? Who funds it? Who owns it?:
How was participation achieved?:
What were the outcomes of participation?:
What lessons were learned?:
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?:
Supporting information:
Where do you hope to go next?:
First name:
Family name:
Affiliation:
Role:
Country of residence: United Kingdom
Do you consent to your information being used in the ways described?:
icon type: 20
Icon colour: