Solidarity Economy Mapping
From Cultivate.Coop
Solidarity economy mapping refers to the visual/spatial depiction of places that do work related to the solidarity economy. These places may include community-supported agriculture (CSA) farms, credit unions, social justice nonprofit organizations, worker, buyer, and producer cooperatives, farmers’ markets, and so many other initiatives. More examples of solidarity economy work can be seen here. Maps serve to connect these initiatives to one another and to others in and around a community.
Benefits of Mapping [1] [2]
- Increase visibility of projects and initiatives -- free advertising!
- Help community assess its strengths, gaps, and connections
- Connect SE entities, social movements, and activists through social networking
- Develop mutual support and common infrastructure among projects
- Facilitate creation of viable solidarity economy supply chains
- Serve as foundation for research and data collection to make the case for allocating resources and policies to support the solidarity economy
Some Solidarity Economy Mapping Projects
- Solidarity NYC
- Farejador da Economia Solidária (Brazil, site in Portuguese)
- ESS Global (includes Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Luxemborg, Quebec and Spain as of July 2014)
- Zoes (Italy, site in Italian)
- Pioneer Valley, MA
- Boston
- Philadelphia
- Jersey Shore
- Ann Arbor
- Detroit
- Chicago