Local regeneration and community wealth building–place making: co-operatives as agents of change

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to provide an introduction to how worker co-operatives and other organisations based on principles of the participatory economy have been adopted in a range of international contexts as a vehicle for transforming places with a strong aspiration to address location-specific social challenges. Design/methodology/approach Through a presentation of four narrative cases, the paper exemplifies international experiences of co-operative approaches to place-making. It critically reflects on the philosophical and strategic underpinnings of the projects implemented in Rochdale, Preston, Bologna, Rome and Cincinnati. Findings The practical experiences of a number of local projects of place-making involving co-operatives are conceptualised. The research has identified the importance of institutional, organisational and legal constraints for transformative cooperative-based place-making initiatives. It shows a strong relevance of the place’s historic legacy and communal governance for the choice of place-making approaches. Research limitations/implications Further investigation is needed to establish whether co-operatives have the same driving force potential in terms of local regeneration and community wealth building place-making in non-Western contexts and less developed locations. Practical implications The paper highlights cases that incorporate place-making practices involving the co-operative organisation and municipal participation and considers their transferability potential. Originality/value The paper advances an important conversation relevant to researchers, educators, co-operators, politicians and local officials on diverse contemporary approaches in towns and cities that seek to reshape and regenerate local socio-economic fabric by engaging tradition, principles and organisation models developed within the co-operative movement.

Italian community co-operatives and their agency role in sustainable community development.

“…The community co-operatives involved in this research present similar characteristics that denote their common belonging to the field of community development. As already demonstrated by the international co-operative movement, the combination of ethical values with practical strategies, adapted to local factors, generates solutions for diverse contexts (Webster et al, 2021). These are bottom-up initiatives from members of the interested communities who decide to take action for economic and social empowerment (Phillips & Pittman, 2015).…”

“…From another perspective, community co-operatives can be considered as a form contributing to the social and solidarity economy (Quarter et al, 2017;Ridley-Duff & Bull, 2019). Additionally, co-operatives have been demonstrated to be an adequate organisational form to promote placemaking development according to community needs and potentialities (Webster et al, 2021). Furthermore, co-operatives are collective businesses, not charities; this implies their constant propensity to enhance business efficacy while they also grow members' inclinations toward democratic participation (Vieta, 2018).…”

Food bank practices, local development and the potential of community wealth building and universal basic services in the UK

“…These approaches – specifically community wealth building (CWB) and universal basic services (UBS) – are focused on addressing underlying inequalities and inequities, which are features of current dominant modes of political economy. CWB and UBS are sometimes referred to as remunicipalisation approaches, in that they seek to reverse or avoid the privatisation of foundational and community services and social infrastructure (Gough, 2019; Brown and Jones, 2021; Guinan and O’ Neill, 2020; Coote, 2021; Webster et al, 2021). Significantly, CWB and UBS are both concerned with economic democracy and the collective ownership of fundamental services as the means by which to address inequalities and inequities, with a strong emphasis on supporting and working with forms of collective organisation such as trade unions and co-operatives (and therefore have a radically different focus to income-oriented interventions such as universal basic income (Coote, 2021)).…”

“…CWB is defined in more detail below but shares with UBS a concern with the democratic ownership of infrastructure and support for the scaling-up of grassroots innovation (Lacey-Barnacle et al, 2023). Such approaches remain relatively marginal to ‘narratives of change’ in the UK, but real-world examples exist (including in Rochdale, Salford, North Ayrshire and Preston, see Brown and Jones (2021); North Ayrshire Council (2022); Webster et al (2021); Lacey-Barnacle et al, 2023). Outside of the UK, there are other examples of similar approaches to local development, including Mondragón in the Basque Country and Bologna in Emilia-Romagna, Italy (Guinan and O’ Neill, 2020).…”