Build a cooperative economy.
Co-op's are a great tool in building a green economy. They are member driven, and are grounded in local community needs and values. Let's see how many financial, housing, food, transportation, employment, and product needs can be met in our community by cooperatives.
stella
shared this idea
Need co-op model in different green sectors.
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Juvarya Warsi
commented
Co-ops also are ideally structured to deal with changing paradigms in our society.
We are no longer passive consumers of energy - we can put energy back into the grid and have a different relationship with utilities now.
In the same way, public and private are related in different ways. We don't sit back passively and expect the government to singlehandedly provide the services and goods we need.
Marketing's toolbox is moving away from essentially shouting through advertising, towards advocay through community engagement - just ask Lululemon!
We work with the private sector and think of innovative ways to deliver municipal projects through Public Private Partnerships, like the Sea-to-Sky highway.
We will need new business models that are more adept at working with these new flows of information and resources. Coops are one approach, and there are other forms of social enterprise also.
Further research and innovations in this arena are essential to help shape the successful businesses of the future and to understand how to work with these shifting norms.