Author: Joshua

We had a great Open Space event on the 8th with group participants coming forward with areas of interest they wanted to discuss. We broke out into groups and had a number of good conversations. It was nice to see new faces in the circle and to benefit from all the perspectives that were shared. Thanks to everyone who participated!

What is the New Economy? We know what the problems are. Now let’s get to solutions! Cooperation Eugene invites you to a discussion at The Eugene Garden Club (1645 High Street) on Friday April 26th from 6:30-8:30pm. (free)

Join us as we explore how our most vexing societal issues, such as income inequality and environmental degradation, have their roots in the way our economy works. Then we’ll look at some of the things groups do as they work to transform our economy from a giant world-devouring machine into something more cooperative that holds sustainability in its core along with supporting the needs of humanity and the natural world.null

Our New Resources Directory is Up And Running

We’re working to make it easier to discover what’s going on with the New Economy in Eugene by mapping our assets. Our new directory and project endeavor to connect the dots between related organizatio#ns and resources, to identify gaps and overlaps in the services that are available locally, and to encourage cooperation. We’ve started adding organizations and other resources already, and you can check it out here. If you would like to get involved or if you know of a resource that should be included let us know!

Cooperation Eugene was invited to share our work at the Neo-Humanism Camp sponsored by Dharmalaya. Clare kicked off the conversation with discussion exploring how we experience the extractive economy in our daily lives.  We then saw how the New Economy movement is part of a larger social change strategy being taken up by communities around the country and world. We wrapped up with a review of the initiatives Cooperation Eugene is launching here. The slideshow is attached below.

If you would like to have a presentation at an event in town let us know!

Our recent potluck and time banking discussion went well. First we enjoyed a nice meal and conversation. Then we played a little game that demonstrated how time banking works. Finally we finished up with a discussion of time banking and how it could be implemented here. There was a lot of participation and good ideas shared. Our next public event will be on Saturday the 27th of April. Stay tuned for details!

We would like to announce our first community potluck, and you’re invited! Join us for this family friendly event at the Eugene Garden Club, 1645 High St, Eugene, on Sunday February 24th from noon to 3pm and bring some food to share. While the venue does have a stocked kitchen, we suggest you bring your own dishes and utensils.

Our plan is to host a potluck like this every-other month as an opportunity to have fun, build community, and give everyone that would like to join in a chance to network and discuss New Economy related ideas.

The discussion theme for this first potluck will be Time Banking. Of all the input we received, most folks who made their opinions known said they’d like to see a Time Bank service-sharing network here in Eugene.

Time Bank Exploration

In a Time Bank everyone’s time is valued equally and skills are traded among members who record hours on a website. For example Ben could spend a couple hours raking leaves for Grace. Then he could turn around and trade those hours to Jill who helps him with her truck when he needs to move his stuff across town. Then Jill could take the hours she earned and trade them for a haircut or Spanish tutoring for her son. It’s a cool concept that is helping people meet their needs outside the traditional economy, and it is being done successfully in a number of other cities around the country.

If this sounds exciting please join us at the potluck! We are working to discover how much genuine interest there is in town. If we are to succeed we’ll need plenty of help with this project from folks like you both before and after we get a system up and running. And, of course, we’ll need a bunch of people who are interested in skill sharing to sign up. So don’t be shy. If you want to see this happen get involved!

In Other News…

We are forming 3 different committees that are pursuing different areas of focus. So if Time Banking doesn’t interest you and you would like to get more involved in this work, we have other options:

1. The Asset Mapping Committee believes it is important to take an inventory of the New Economy related groups, projects, and other resources in town so we know what is being done, and can more clearly see what still needs to be accomplished. This effort is about networking our local groups and resources, and cataloging information online so it is more available and useful. Networkers, researchers, and technical problem solvers this is your moment!
2. The Local Investment & Community Development Committee is looking into a myriad of ways we can improve and localize our economy here in Eugene. If you have skills or interest in economic development, finance, banking, law, or buy local campaigns we would love to hear from you. Topics of interest include:
   • Cataloging existing local investment opportunities
   • Creating new local investment opportunities
   • Making it easier for cooperatives and small businesses to get capital when they need it
   • Finding ways to keep money circulating in our local economy rather than being siphoned off by business interests in other parts of the country or world.
3. And, of course, the Time Bank Exploration Committee is looking into the feasibility and planning of a time bank service-sharing network here in town as described earlier in this article.

We had a nice time at our first Buy-Nothing Day event. It was a great opportunity to meet with friends old and new. We visited, ate snacks, and exchanged things from our lives that we wanted to gift. It felt like a cross between a silent auction and Christmas morning as the gifts were given to those that wanted them most. We are looking forward to doing this again down the road since it was a nice opportunity to step outside of the consumerist aspect of the holiday gift-giving season.