Community Wealth

Anyone in Paris Can Decide How the City Spends Its Money

From Reasons to be Cheerful: Through ‘participatory budgeting,’ residents as young as eight years old can propose major urban projects, over 1,000 of which have been implemented. Read more

The UK’s high streets have reached a tipping point – but not in Plymouth 

From The Guardian: In Plymouth, a brilliant social enterprise called Nudge has spent the past eight years putting long-empty buildings in the middle of the city to new uses. A former YMCA now houses 22 businesses; a large former shop is now a space for community groups, choir rehearsals and adult education; there are plans to use a huge space that was a cinema and nightclub before falling empty for 15 years for work spaces, exhibitions and a new music venue. What the story boils down to is clear: a lesson in letting people on the ground get on with it. Read more

A National Trust for Pubs

From The Mint: The figures are stark. In 1980, there were about 70,000 pubs in Britain. Today, there are fewer than 40,000, and closures continue at a rate of more than seven a week. A People’s Pub movement — a National Trust for Pubs — could change the picture. A regional or national organisation could pool finance, employ professional negotiators, and hold pubs in perpetuity. Local groups would still shape and run their pubs, but the risk would be spread across a portfolio, and professional support would be built in. Read more

In France, the ‘Civic Hour’ Is Reinventing Volunteering

From Reasons to be Cheerful: In an age of declining civic participation, France is creating no-strings opportunities for people to make an impact. L’Heure Civique asks people to simply volunteer for at least an hour each month — tending to someone’s garden, delivering groceries, or giving schoolkids help with homework. “It’s a new form of commitment, everyone does what they can,” explains Périfan, who is deputy mayor for Paris’ 17th district. “There are 65 million people in France. If each person contributes just one hour — and who doesn’t have an hour? — the potential is massive.” Read more