This week, we've got a great video from the North Missoula CDC about two housing cooperatives they have helped get off the ground in Missoula, Montana using a Community Land Trust model to ensure long-term affordability.
Then, members of the Rio Cataniapo Commune in Venezuela talk about how their Amazonian community, composed of both indigenous and criollo people, cares for the environment that sustains them and the community that they call home.
And finally, our content manager writes about why GEO is still posting on corporate social media sites, despite their many, well-documented, problems.
Housing Cooperatives: Preserving Affordability and Community Ownership in Missoula, Montana
by North Missoula CDC
With affordable housing becoming increasingly scarce in Montana, innovative solutions are more important than ever. This documentary short highlights an inspiring cooperative housing model designed to prevent displacement and create home ownership opportunities for Missoula residents.
‘The Commune Is Nothing New Here’: The Rio Cataniapo Commune
by Chris Gilbert & Cira Pascual Marquina
"The Indigenous cosmovision – their way of being in the world, organizing, and decision-making – was important in the making of the Cataniapo River Commune. The Indigenous relationship with nature is different and more respectful, and they have a much more collective conception of life. This, of course, feeds into our organization in a positive way: we have weekly assemblies, which is – I think – a far more regular practice than in criollo communes. After the assemblies, those who attend return to their communities to inform of the decisions."
Some Thoughts on Social Media
by Josh Davis
Social media, I think it's safe to say at this point, has been a distinctly mixed blessing. On the one hand, our ability to directly connect with each other has been greatly enhanced by this technology; on the other, these platforms and their algorithms have probably increased polarization and certainly enabled plenty of unsavory behavior as well.
The Story of Cooperative Veterinary Care
UW Center for Cooperatives (YouTube) — We are thrilled to share UW Extension’s video feature of a recently converted co-op: Cooperative Veterinary Care in Spring Green and Mazomanie, WI. In late 2021, the retiring business owners came to UWCC to explore whether the cooperative model could work for their business. With the help of Kristin Forde and Courtney Berner, the business became the first worker cooperative veterinary practice in the country in January, 2023...
The 2024 World Social Report recognises the potential of cooperatives
Cooperatives Europe — Overall, the report estimates that the economic cost of crisis mitigation from 2020 until 2030 will translate into “a cumulative output loss of over $50 trillion”, to the detriment of social development. It is a global plea to prioritise people and the planet over profit, and for public-private social investments to be at the same level as their economic counterparts...
Keep It In The Culture Cooperative
MENAFN — Since January 2023, Keep It In The Culture , a worker-owned cooperative, has been committed to supporting the New Orleans culture bearer community by offering affordable craft and costume materials. Located at 3400 Claiborne Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana, the cooperative provides essential items like plumes, beads, and other materials required to create the iconic suits worn by the Mardi Gras Indians, also known as Black Masking Indians-an art form both costly and labor-intensive to maintain...
The ICA Global Cooperative Conference and ICA General Assembly
Indian Express — Speaking on the occasion, PM Modi said, “Global conference of the International Cooperative Alliance is being organised for the first time in India. In India, we are expanding the cooperative movement. I am convinced we will get insights into India’s future cooperative journey through this conference. Besides, through the experiences of India, the Global Cooperative movement will get tools of the 21st century and a new spirit.”...
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