Localism

Localism as used here is about local needs met locally.

A vibrant, diverse local economy is a healthy and resilient economy. Meeting local needs locally can mean less pollution and CO2 emissions from unnecessary transport, as well as providing economic opportunities. Some have tried to argue that this approach is anti-trade, whilst its supporters contend it is just anti dependence on trade.


What communities can do

  • develop Community currencies
  • develop Community energy schemes
  • encourage local and collaborative enterprise
  • encourage local purchasing, recycling and sharing via for example skill-sharing schemes and other community resources
  • local directories and maps
  • ownership surveys and websites promoting local and independent shops and suppliers
  • promote local food, via
  • local food challenges such as a 100 mile diet
  • local food directories and maps
  • local food weeks or other food events
  • supporting local farm shops, farmers' markets and pick your own schemes, perhaps encouraging car sharing to these
  • support local crafts, such as basketmaking, or crafted (non-plastic) shopping bags which can replace plastic bags
  • support local markets, including farmers' markets and WI (Women's Institute) markets
  • surveys of the local economy to find out what proportion of spend is local

Bioregionalism

Bioregionalism is a political, cultural, and ecological system or set of views based on naturally defined areas called bioregions, similar to ecoregions. Bioregions are defined through physical and environmental features, including watershed boundaries and soil and terrain characteristics. Bioregionalism stresses that the determination of a bioregion is also a cultural phenomenon, and emphasizes local populations, knowledge, and solutions. W

Cosmo localism

section needed

Resources

Citizens data initiative

Studies show that people at farmers’ markets have as many as 10 times more conversations, greetings, and other social interactions than people in supermarkets. [1]

Other resources

Quotes

"...the best hope for transition to a ‘post carbon’ — or, better, a sustainable society (a much broader goal) — lies in a process of radical societal reconstruction, focused on the building, in the here and now, of self-governing and self-reliant settlements, starting at the micro-local level. Jonathan Rutherford, summarising from Ted Trainer [2]

“Every increase in local capacity to grow food, generate energy, repair, build and finance will strengthen the capacity to withstand disturbances of all kinds. Distributed energy in the form of widely disbursed solar and wind technology, for example, buffers communities from supply interruptions, failure of the electrical grid, and price shocks. Similarly, a regionally based, solar-powered food system would restore small farms, preserve soil, create local employment, rebuilt stable economies, and provide better food while reducing carbon emissions and dependence on long-distance transport from distant suppliers. The primary goal in rethinking development and economic growth is to create resilience – capacity to withstand the disturbances that will become more frequent and severe in the decades ahead”. David Orr, ‘Down to the Wire’ [3]

Research

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Reclaiming Public Services, How cities and citizens are turning back privatisation tni.org, Jun 2017

Video

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News and comment

2020

Joe’s not sleepy, but he should wake up to American localism, Nov 8 [4] ...US news

Accessible local alternatives to Amazon Prime, Apr 23 [5] ...Towards sustainable economies US

Valsamoggia: making the local visible, Apr 7 [6] ...Italy news

2019

This Really Is From The Grassroots Up, Sep 15 [7] ...Localism UK

The next egg: Investing our retirement savings in our local communities, Apr 6 [8] ...Funding community action

2018

Lesley Riddoch on the "power of local" - communities taking control in their own way, Nov 10 [9] ...Scotland news

One way to challenge the preeminence of big banks is to build a small one. The story of Avon Mutual. Oct 30 [10] ...Localism UK

Citizen-led Economic Transition – a four point framework for guiding action, Oct 27 [11] ...Towards sustainable economies UK news

How do we utilize local knowledge so that others can benefit from it? A guide from the Danish Island of Samsø, Apr 17 [12]

2017

Forget nimbys. Yimby housing policy can transform the UK – with the political will, Aug 11 [13]

A Just Future Starts at the Local Level, Jul 10 [14]

“I’m welling up just talking about it”: the marvel of Totnes LEF6, May 16 [15]

How ‘Grown in Totnes’ are reimagining the local food economy, May 2 [16]

2015

Why White Dog Café Founder Judy Wicks Believes in the Power of a Local Economy, Dec 15 [17]

The 8 Paradigm Shifts at the Heart of REconomy, May 6 [18]

2014

How to transform your local economy in one day, July [19]

Five ways to bring money and investment into your local area, May 22 [20]

See also

local information can be found, or shared, via our many location pages

  • Wikipedia: Localism (politics), Localist activism, Local community, Local purchasing, Fiscal localism, Positive aspects of peak oil, Transition town, Community development corporation, Bioregionalism W

YIMBY (Yes In My Backyard) wiki

Creative commons

  • REconomy, Helping you transform your local economy. Part of the Transition Network

Other

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  • Local Futures (formerly the International Society for Ecology and Culture) is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to raise awareness about what it identifies as the root causes of contemporary social, environmental and economic crises.
The group argues that focusing on single issues – saving whales, blocking nuclear power plants, feeding the hungry, etc. – only overwhelms people and ultimately fails as a strategy. Instead, Local Futures believes that the focus must be on changing the fundamental forces that create or exacerbate all of these problems. Among those forces are economic globalization, corporate power, and conventional notions of technological and economic "progress". As a solution, Local Futures promotes economic localization and other locally based alternatives to the global consumer culture, as a means to protect both biological and cultural diversity. W

References

  1. ↑ Worldwatch Institute
  2. ↑ medium.com
  3. ↑ Oxford University Press
  4. ↑ thealternative.org.uk
  5. ↑ @shareable
  6. ↑ municipalitiesintransition.org
  7. ↑ The Alternative UK
  8. ↑ Shareable
  9. ↑ The Alternative UK
  10. ↑ The Alternative UK
  11. ↑ Enterprising Ecosystems
  12. ↑ thealternative.org.uk
  13. ↑ The Guardian
  14. ↑ piratetimes.net
  15. ↑ Transition Network
  16. ↑ Transition Network
  17. ↑ bthechange.com
  18. ↑ Transition Network
  19. ↑ Transition Network
  20. ↑ NewStart
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