Building successful co-operative communities

• What we'll do
We'll be looking at what makes a successful co-operative community, and showcasing some interesting examples. We'll be hearing from:

Linda Wallace, Chief Executive of CDS, a co-operative society which provides, supports and promotes co-op and community-led housing. Linda will discuss the history of the co-operative housing movement, and some exciting things that are happening now to make sure that residents and communities are actively participating in their houses.

Cllr Asima Shaikh is the Labour Councillor for Finsbury Park Ward and the Cabinet Member for Economic Development. She is responsible for Employment & Skills, Economic Development, Business Engagement & Support, and Libraries in Islington. Asima is an advocate of co-operatives as a model for local economic growth and is currently exploring ways to grow these in Islington and beyond. She is developing ideas around governance and financial structures, building relationships across academic, business and government organisations.

Anna Birley is the policy officer at the Co-operative Party, leading the Party's work on areas such as the economy, Brexit, democratic public ownership, community wealth building, housing and energy. She is also a local councillor in Lambeth and deputy cabinet member for partnerships.

Dorota Koziarska is a member of StART, a group of Haringey residents and workers who want to see the St. Ann’s Hospital site used permanently for the good of all our local communities. They have initiated a community-led and transparent process for a housing development, which puts local people in control while providing genuinely affordable homes, promoting health and wellbeing, and creating a green neighbourhood.

Bill Olivier, blockchain and cryptocurrency enthusiast, will be discussing the emerging CoTech Holochain group. This project will start with the time banking app, allowing people to share skills and resources, leading to a mutual credit system initially tested with CoTech but aimed at the wider co-operative community. Participative design and gaining wider buy-in to establish the organisation need to run it - even if highly distributed - will need a large collaborative effort.

Polly Robbins, is Space4 Community Manager at Outlandish. Polly will discuss the Space4 project, 9 months in. This will highlight the successes and opportunities, but also the difficulties in setting up a co=operatively run workspace.

Michael Smith, is a member of Enspiral a New Zealand network of tech workers and tech co-ops. He also works with Root Systems, a co-op that started within Enspiral and eventually spun out to stand on its own feet. He currently lives in London where he is engaged in numerous social enterprises and start-up spaces. He will be sharing some of his intercontinental successes with us.