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In contrast to traditional co-operatives that are owned by a single class of members, multi-stakeholder co-operatives are owned and controlled by more than one type of membership class such as consumers, producers, workers, volunteers, or community supporters. Stakeholders can be individuals or organizations such as non-profits, businesses, government agencies, or even other co-operatives.

Today, on their one-third-acre lot in Oakland (California), there are 20 adults and 4 babies living in 6 buildings with 10 units. There's a 4-plex with 5 adults, 2 apartments with 2 or 4 adults upstairs and families downstairs, and 2 houses with families.

Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org and Stroud Commons talks with Tom Woodroof of Local Loop Merseyside and Mutual Credit Services about the Credit Commons – a way to federate different groups all over the world that are building the commons economy (because you can’t get everything you need from just your community) – but it does it without centralised control. I want to get more details from Tom about this world-changing initiative.

Turning football into a common, managed directly by the players and the fans, is a feasible possibility and has already been attempted.

Today we’re visiting community-rooted enterprises where people are rethinking power and participation in their lives. Collective housing and cultural co-ops, land trusts and community banks are providing fundamental shifts in our workplaces, living spaces, and economic understanding of local communities.

The recuperation of enterprises by their workers in Argentina has achieved ample social legitimacy despite its disruptive characteristics. What are the logics that sustain this legitimacy? Does this legitimacy extend to all aspects of the recuperation process, even the most disruptive ones? How do the logics that sustain the legitimacy of the recuperated enterprises interact with the hegemonic values of capitalist society?

For many indigenous peoples of Venezuela, the socialist commune is not new at all but resonates with existing and previous social practices that include communal land tenure and self-governance. That is the case for the Pumé community called “Coporo Indígena,” located in upper Apure just outside Biruaca. Due to its small population, this community is registered as a communal council rather than as a commune. 

I have some things to say about the role of common values in communities, about how to think about community buildings (as distinct from private dwellings), and about how the one relates to the other.

Safouan Azouzi, a Tunisian scholar of the commons and participatory social design, discusses how cultural traditions in desert oases hold important socio-ecological lessons for the world.

In today's video, we bring you an in-depth interview with representatives from the Verona Solidarity Economy District (DES). We will discover how the movement started, its roots in the Lilliput network in Varese, and how it has grown over the years to become an established reality in the field of solidarity economy.