Commons Governance Work Group
Our Mission: We seek to assist in the creation of an integral model of co-governance that can be applied both within existing and emergent commons in various developmental stages and contexts. The Commons Defined: We understand the commons to be a sphere of life that is distinct, both from the public sphere of government provision and distribution, a ...learn more
GROUP DETAILS
Created: Feb 26, 2009
Updated: Nov 19, 2009
Membership: Open
Semi-Private
Cascadian Co-op Alliance
I am one of the core volunteers for my local co-op [vancouverfood.coop]. Cooperatives all support the tenet of cooperation among cooperatives, and I have seen the cooperatives of cascadia step up and back this tenet. Given the "times", one of the projects I have slowly been working on is a cooperative alliance, specifically the food cooperatives in my bio-region/cascadia.
These cooperatives are already intimately aware of their membership, of local supply chains, and are all pretty much adherents of local first philosophies and practices. It would help Cascadia to no end to acknowledge and utilize the already existing local and sustainable supply chains.
I have already started [along with some other like minded people] to contact and connect the various CSAs, producers, farmers, cooperatives, and farmer's markets through Cascadia. The feeling that we should be working more closely is there, what is needed now is an actual process/plan whereby the ties between these frameworks are actually connected.
I am looking for any and all input at this stage, and I know that others are working on similar projects. My region is Clark county and the Portland/metro area, but I am also connected with Bellingham co-op and Moscow ID.
best,
heather
Comments (1 - 4 of 4)
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Flag comment for removal savecascadia17 9 months ago
Cascadia Commons (seeking 501(c)8) recently joined the Cascadia Education Project umbrella. Tim Calvert, one of my fellow board members at CEP has worked many years on a regional co-op alliance. The attempt was to mimic Monodragon in Spain. He has only had some success on this project, but I believe there are many new complementary endeavors that could bring real life to a bioregional cooperative alliance. Send me an email at cascadia.info@gmail.com.
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Great to hear of more folks inspired by projects similar to that which has been inspiring me. Just a heads-up that our group based here in Olympia is attempting to identify all local co-ops in the region, among other sustainable endeavors to put into a regional guide that will at first appear as a website. See my profile for more details and feel free to send an email if you'd like to chat about future collaboration opportunities.
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That is wonderful - many thanks. I think that setting up these lines of communication will reveal that many of us, if not the majority of us [cascadians], are bound by similar goals. Nothing but good can come out of this.
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Nice! I have sent a link of this page to a friend who is on the board of the Olympia Food Co-op. They are really democratic and ethical; OG-to-the-core!
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