MeentCoop: the Incubator for the Community Economy
Together we develop the Amsterdam community economy.
Commons Network is always looking for new ways to activate the commons. That’s why we’ve launched MeentCoop, together with a broad coalition of civil society organisations, who will support the new generation of initiatives in Amsterdam’s community economy. We do this by building and strengthening an ecosystem around the community economy. We invite all Amsterdammers to participate in becoming the cooperative capital of Europe. So that by 2035 at least 35% of the Amsterdam economy is in common hands!
Today’s major social challenges call for a different connection between people. Sustainability, social inequality, diversity and digitization require self-organization and a stronger local economy. Smaller connections are important to tackle these challenges democratically and in solidarity. There is a call for a different economy everywhere: what kind of economy do we actually want?
When we look at our neighborhoods, they are full of social initiatives! Amsterdammers feel responsible for the future and want to contribute to it. New common forms of organization are emerging everywhere, such as energy co-ops and housing co-ops, or innovative practices in healthcare and in the neighborhood. Elsewhere, we see alternative business forms emerging to challenge the power of large tech companies in the form of platform co-ops. There is a movement in which initiatives and companies flourish that are democratic in ownership and governance, and that create value for the neighborhood or region. In these organizations, common goals and values are linked to economic and social issues.
It is high time that governments, knowledge institutions and civil society join forces to further drive this sector. That is why Commons Network, together with a broad coalition of civil society organizations launched MeentCoop in Amsterdam as an incubator for the community economy. The incubator will help citizens, entrepreneurs and governments to further unite. We share knowledge, money and network and offer sustainable support.
The incubator is a project that was started by Commons Network together with the municipality of Amsterdam, and has now been re-started as a coalition of civil society partners. In our coalition are now, next to Commons Network: Waag, KasKantine, Ru Pare, HvA, Oranje Energie, 02025, CommonsLab, StadmakersCooperatie. This group is growing.
What is the community economy?
In the community economy, communities often organize themselves through cooperatives. The members are the boss and any profits remain within the cooperative and do not go to the bank account of shareholders. Such a cooperative has three characteristics that commercial companies do not have: they are democratically organized, they strive for social rather than monetary, private value creation and they are local, close, connected and approachable.
Currently there is a lot of activity around the community economy. In science, business, politics, and SMEs, the need for other forms of organization is felt. Models such as the cooperative, holocracy, sociocracy and employee participation are re-emerging. On a local scale, there are many successful initiatives such as neighborhood cooperatives. Experiments are also being carried out with credit unions, bread funds and social impact unions.
Think of restaurants that start a delivery service together or a neighborhood that set up an energy cooperative together. In Garyp (Friesland) all the houses have been off the gas by the energy cooperative, with the million euro profit per year the construction of homes for the old and young villagers has been financed. In more and more Amsterdam neighborhoods, neighbors organize their own local economy, from the maintenance of the green to care, from the community center to the local hospitality industry. These communities are part of the city’s economy and contribute to the urban household.
In all these initiatives, an emancipatory effect is central: the neighborhood itself takes responsibility for the products and services they need. Things are often organized decentrally and, in addition to economic needs, a lot of attention is paid to the social and social.
Why an incubator for the community economy?
Initiatives run into obstacles: the institutional frameworks are not yet set up and there is a lack of knowledge about collective processes, financing, technical and legal possibilities and best practices. It is necessary to support these initiatives sustainably and to boost the sector.
That is why MeentCoop, an incubator for the community economy, is starting. The incubator works with initiatives:
- who create value for the local and for the community in their organizational model and in their business model.
- who want to make their business model social and regenerative, rather than purely profit-driven and extractive.
- who want to democratize their organizational model, in ownership and/or in governance.
With this, we focus on many different forms of community economy in the city, including neighborhood commons, energy cooperatives and new city-wide enterprises. The legal form of these partnerships is important, but can take different forms. In the incubator we work together and it’s about learning from each other.
First of all, it involves a change of course in what kind of economy we are driving: from a capitalist economic system to an economy that serves the community. The incubator will be a public-civil partnership, a collaboration in which communities and civil society organizations will pull the wagon and in which the government also has its own role.
Celebrating the First Day of the Community Economy
On 20 June, we celebrated the very first Day of the Community Economy in Amsterdam. More than 300 people came to listen, share and build a new economy. Together with Meentcoop, Marineterrein, Amsterdam Donut Coalition, APEC, and Amsterdam municipality, we celebrated the first day of the community economy.
Publications
Commons Network published an exploration, together with the city of Amsterdam, in which we investigate the potential of the incubator. Read it here.
In this first explainer in our series, you’ll learn what the community economy is, how it works in practice, and the role that residents, organizations, and governments can play in helping it grow. Not a utopia, but a growing alternative that’s becoming visible in more and more towns and neighborhoods.
Run time:
Autumn 2021 till now
Team
