Community-led alternatives in the making: a comparative analysis of three initiatives in England and Wales
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Keywords: alternative economic approaches, community-led organisations, place-based transformation, resilience
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract
Authors:
Malu Villela, University of Bristol Business School
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Abstract
This empirical paper is based on a research project that looked at alternative economy initiatives in England and Wales and their ability to build resilience and effect change for the benefit of the wider community. These are three initiatives led by community organisations addressing place-based transformation through inclusive and sustainable approaches to their local economies – a former coal mining Welsh town seeking to establish a relationship between the local community and the local forest guided by sustainable development values; a co-housing project looking at building tiny houses in the southwest of England with a focus on community living, affordability and sustainability; and a food movement promoting food fairness for all in northwestern England. These initiatives build on different alternative economic approaches (e.g. community asset transfer, community wealth building, doughnut economics, regenerative settlements), operate through different forms of leadership and governance (e.g. distributed leadership, participatory governance, co-design, sociocracy), and are located in areas where different forms of progressive development have been tested (e.g. new municipalism, foundational economy, social economy). This paper employs a comparative analysis in order to understand how these initiatives' ambitions for radical progressive change are shaped by the context in which they are embedded and the methods they engage with. It also seeks to understand how, in turn, they influence the configuration of these contexts. It concludes with a discussion of the possibilities and limitations of community-led alternative economic approaches in the making.
Community-led alternatives in the making: a comparative analysis of three initiatives in England and Wales
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Paper Abstract