This week, we talked with law professor and co-op researcher Ariana Levinson about her research into Union Worker Cooperatives and their collective bargaining agreements. 

Then, David Bollier writes about an innovative new housing cooperative in the Netherlands that was designed from the ground up to encourage commoning and cooperation. 

And don't forget to join the GEO Collective on October, 26th at 8:00 pm ET to celebrate the release of the latest installment of the GEO Journal, where we'll be discussing the theme of the issue: Union Worker Cooperatives. This is a free event, open to all. Register here.

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Win-Win Negotiation in Union Cooperatives

by GEO Collective
Ariana Levinson discusses her recent article on labor agreements in unionized cooperatives.

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The Beauty of Private Sufficiency and Communal Luxury in Affordable Housing

by David Bollier
Rather than adopting the commercial mindset and striving for maximum profitability and marketability of the building, Time to Access wanted to design spaces to could serve diverse people’s actual lifestyles and social needs. Instead of designing spaces for conventional nuclear family, for example – a household structure that describes only one-quarter of all Dutch residences these days – DNM and Time to Access wanted spaces that non-traditional families and co-living groups could enjoy. In the end, 45 percent of the building space was designed for communal use. There is an enormous central courtyard, which facilitates social interactions among residents, including the informal oversight of children playing.

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Jessica Gordon-Nembhard Honors the Cooperative Legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer

Everything Co-op (YouTube) — This episode continues our tribute to the 2026 Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductees with a special conversation featuring Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Ph.D., Professor at John Jay College and social justice advocate. Dr. Gordon Nembhard discusses the life and legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer, who will be posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame as an Unsung Hero, including Hamer's commitment to cooperative economic development. Dr. Gordon Nembhard and Vernon also discuss how Fannie Lou Hamer's legacy lives on today...

Detroit community answers call to support local food co-op

Co-op News — The Black-led, community-owned grocery co-op, launched in 2024 to “provide improved access to healthy food and food education”, has been facing a financial crunch after a summer of refrigeration failures and stock loss, power outages and extreme weather events.Warning it faces a weekly shortfall of US$20,000 to $30,000, it has put out a call to action – urging people to shop at the store, increase their spend, to become paying members or to invest in the co-op...

Rural Housing Cooperatives and Community Land Trusts session highlights

Community of Opportunity (YouTube) — On August 28th, community members and partners gathered for this 2026 COO Cooperative & Community Ownership Models learning series session on housing cooperative and community ownership models...

Best Practices in Indigenous Communities with Trillium Cooperative, Oct 27

Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (Zoom) — Join Trillium Cooperative for a practical introduction to working with Indigenous communities and understanding how cooperative models can support community priorities in Indian Country.

Our well being is tightly tethered to our neighbors

Working Class Stories — Working people do a tremendous amount of charitable work: showing up after long days at work to help staff food pantries and community centers, watching each other’s kids as parents work odd shifts, repairing a neighbor’s alternator so they don’t lose their job come Monday. Some of it is just good neighborliness, but much of it is because we know that keeping the people around us up and running makes life better for all of us...

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