Had three very productive visits last week to actors in transition towns.
First of all Shane from Reconomy. They had already approached many businesses and found that the Transition value which says 'maximising profit is not the only goal in life', was not compatible with the vast majority of existing businesses. Perhaps disheartened, Reconomy was thinking more about how to seed new transition 'enterprises'. It was clear that in order to survive in a competitive economy, transition enterprises, and people should support each other in their trading behaviour. He was open to the idea that credit clearing systems had a role to play in the economy, but correctly concerned that these systems weren't very user friendly. He invited me to participate in the Reconomy day being planned for September, in hope that Gary would organise a session.
Gary is an independent thinker, trustee of the transition network and vigorous local actor with a clear vision of where local communities need to moving, of the types of money we need (Greco was on the shelf!), and of the role of social networking infrastructure to bring it all together. Some years ago I saw some user interface mockups he produced in a project called PlaNet, which affirmed my strategy to build accounting into a social networking platform. To him, payment, reputation systems and the marketplace are just three features in a highly integrated, locally focused online community experience. But where to start?
At Transition Lancaster, Tony, also having read Greco, was leading a wealth and livelihoods group, who agreed that a local credit clearing system was a good idea. He wasn't clear about whether a social system like a timebank was needed, or a commercial B2B. I told him that with Drupal, he could (experimentally) run both within the same community, which idea he lept upon! He's now seeking funding for a Drupal build. He also introduced me to Michael Hallam, another of life's 'independents' who has founded the Ethical Small Traders Association and who is working with the university on a B2B2C reward points system. this system was interesting to me because it would track the trades between members, giving valuable information about the flows. We agreed that this initiative would be well complemented, if not integrated with a credit clearing system. I noted that ESTA business signed a pledge to procure from each other first, congruent with the earlier notion of a transition enterprise.
Too much more to tell...
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