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265I CCIA Community Currency In Action
General Information | Filestore
Project priority: Strong and prosperous communities
Strategic Initiatives: unspecified
Start date: 01-02-2011
End date: 01-02-2015
Website: unspecified
ERDF Grant: 3,126,979.01
Total eligible cost: 6,253,958.02
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Lead Partner contact person
Name: Judith Stone
Organisation: Wales Council for Voluntary Action
Address: Baltic House, Mount Stuart Square CF10 5FH Cardiff ,
Tel: +44 (0)29 2043 1744
Email: jstone@wcva.org.uk
Country: UK
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Project partners
1. Wales Council for Voluntary Action [UK]
2. Spice Innovations Limited [UK]
3. New Economic Foundation [UK]
4. London Borough of Lambeth [UK]
5. Stitching Points [NL]
6. Gemeente Amsterdam, Stadsdeel Oost [NL]
7. Humanvillage [FR]
8. Limburg.Net [BE]
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Summary description
The CCIA aim is to transfer diverse and regionally dispersed knowledge relating to the design, development and application of community currencies (CCs) in a variety of contexts through cooperation, co-working and effective communication.
The goal of this transfer is to provide for the innovative development of a centralised, formalised and empirically driven set of tools that can be picked up and used by various governmental and non-governmental actors at a community level, and that provides a rigorously tested package of support structures. By doing so, the concept of community currencies will energise citizens and communities, making them more inclusive and prosperous, and local economies more resilient and environmentally sustainable.
CCIA will make communities more attractive; improve business climate; strengthen the economic and social performance of cities, towns and rural areas.
Our project objectives are:
1) Implement CC demonstrations, to strengthen communities and deliver positive social, environmental and economic outcomes in a range of localities across the NWE region in 3 years (WP1)
2) Deliver clear guidance on the role of the government and transformation of public services, and create a common set of recommendations for local implementation (WP2)
3) Create basic conditions for a sustainable infrastructure needed for implementation, taking into account differences in rural/urban, and in CC-methodologies (eg. loyalty, time-points) to enable reproducibility (WP3)
4) Promote CCs as credible vehicles for achieving social, economic and environmental outcomes, and clarify the chances, opportunities and benefits for other communities to enable CC uptake (WP4)
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Detailed description
The project has been designed to ensure full cooperation between partners to share knowhow & experience. All WP's & all actions are executed as a joint effort. During the projects lifetime, partners will be involved mutually via workshops, internships, seconding & teleworking, jointly achieving mutual results. The Project Management Team, which includes all partners, will be responsible for the execution of all activities & achievement of all results. Senior representatives of all partners will monitor the process via Steering Group. WCVA acts as dedicated project manager to ensuring all partners continuously bring in their expertise + effort during the projects lifetime.
In WP1A1 partners will share, compare, enrich & consolidate their joint knowhow & experience into one first framework describing how to design, implement and manage CC programs. On basis of this joint result, the partners will jointly enhance 4 existing prototype CC programs & design & implement
2 new CC programs, using this framework (WP1A2 — WP1A4 & WP2). while managing the 6 programs, partners will monitor the programs & generated outcomes, will assess results, share learning (WP4), improve the framework & implement these new finding into the 6 applied programs (WP1).
Partners will jointly establish a back office organisation with shared activities / responsibilities (WP3): jointly partners will develop a legal framework to comply to laws & regulations, enhance & complement ICT systems + develop strategies to improve connection between systems, formalise administrative processes & procedures and establish a helpdesk in which partners will assist each other + new communities outside the partnership to run their CC programs.
Partners will jointly assist communities outside the partnership to set up and launch CC programs, by disseminating our findings (WP1-4), the framework, results in the 6 applied programs, training & assisting communities. (WP1A5 + WP3A13).
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Objectives description
The CCIA project's aim is to transfer regionally dispersed knowledge relating to the design, development and application of community currency models in a variety of contexts through cooperation, co-working and effective communication. The goal is to deliver the innovative development of a centralised, formalised and empirically driven set of tools that can be picked up and used by various (non-) governmental actors, that provides a tested package of support structures. The concept of CC will energise citizens and communities, making them more inclusive and prosperous, and local economies more resilient and environmentally sustainable. It is the first time that local and regional governments, CC-expert organizations and local stakeholders will be mobilized for a co-production.
The project will contribute to the following NWE priorities:
4.1: by activating ‘unused' capacities and create a local market for SME's
4.3: by involving migrants, and younger and older people for a meaningful contribution to local society.
Project objectives:
1) To demonstrate CC as a means to strengthen communities and deliver positive social, environmental and economic outcomes across the NWE region in 3 years, as a local answer on globalisation (WP1)
2) To deliver guidance on the role of the government and transformation of public services, and create a common set of recommendation (WP2)
3) To create basic conditions for a sustainable (ICT-)infrastructure for broad implementation, including different geographical situations in NWE (rural/urban) as well as methodologies (local currency, time-points, etc.) to enable reproducibility (WP3)
4) To promote CC as credible vehicles to achieve social, economic and environmental outcomes, and clarify the chances, opportunities and benefits for other NWE-communities to enable them to make their own decisive steps for CC introduction (WP4)
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Activities description
The added value of the project is to gain information, material and experiences, to make an assessment of the different approaches, to combine the data into a coherent and robust model, and supply the NWE with a full-package of tools to implement CC. All products and knowledge from CCIA will be in the public, leading to a booming uptake in NWE. Listed:
* CCIA demonstrates 6 CC programs that will: design a toolkit, be benchmarked from the start; develop a stakeholders network; engage end-users; build networks throughout NWE leading to upscaling and replication.
* CCIA engages with, co-create, and secures acceptance and support by public sector agencies, and develops alternative delivery models for major municipal services.
* CCIA ensures execution within compliancy rules and other regulations; builds a governance structure for after the project; convergences ICT systems and administrative processes; provides a ‘support desk'.
* CCIA develops key performance indicators and data collection; evaluates impacts; shares learning; helps other start-ups; provides a knowledge centre.
CCs are a strong tool for public players in reaching their policy objectives and in building new delivery models for public services. Local actors will be: more aware; activate unused qualities; get more self-esteem (confirmed by 66% of time-bank users). This leads to social cohesion; energy reduction; waste separation and avoidance; changing buying behaviour (14% of the participants increased their consumption of sustainable products); increased sales of regional products; stronger neighbourhood economies; increased sales at local SMEs.
* In 2015: 6 demonstrations > 200.000 citizens, > 1000 SMEs > 1000 interested municipalities/governmental organisations, of which 60 will set up an CC.
* In 2020: > 18 million citizens and > 500.000 micro-businesses and SME's in 10.000 communities in NWE.
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Innovation
Governments apply legal, financial and social instruments to create social fabric, to encourage change of behaviour, and to support the local economy. However, their experience is that many existing instruments — like taxes and awareness campaigns - have often little direct impact. CCIA provides them with a new instrument. We build a new transnational implementation infrastructure (inc. policy framework, legal framework, ICT and payment systems, monitoring and evaluation) to develop the next level of CC. This is innovative in itself. Furthermore the individual demonstrations some have unique aspects; the SME demonstration is unprecedented in NWE. The Spice demonstration introduces a model in which a timebank is linked to use of green energy. The project in Lambeth is unique because it is the first time a community currency scheme is implemented in a fully digital way. It is the first time that several models and methodologies on CC are demonstrated and assessed in a NWE context.
Partners will jointly co-produce and demonstrate CC that can be used by citizens, local organisations and local and regional governments. We add an extra instrument for local, regional policies on care, waste, local economy, transport, etc., and offer a learning process for the development of effective local currencies and demonstrate this in the social domain and for local economies.
CCIA is an example of creating a partnership with local actors, including local governments. Our project doesn't have a top down, but a bottom up character, and is ‘co-produced'. This is a new way of approaching the role of government. CCIA addresses several local issues in one: CCIA provides a new way to build social inclusion and stimulate civic action, it tackles inclusivity through economic competitiveness, it provides a new way of waste and CO2 reduction, it stimulates eco-innovation and economic resilience and attractiveness of cities, towns and rural areas throughout NWE.
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Project specifics
Governments apply several legal, financial and social instruments to create social fabric, to encourage change of behaviour, and to support the local economy. However, their experience is that many existing instruments — like taxes and awareness campaigns - have often to little direct impact. Therefore, governments are looking for new instruments. Community Currencies (CCs) is such a new instrument. It is the first time that local and regional governments, CC-expert organizations and local stakeholders will be mobilized for a joint coproduction. This is a new way of approaching the role of government. Our project offers an opportunity to develop this new role.
Also, it is the first time that several models and methodologies on community currency are demonstrated and assessed in a NWE context. Within this project, partners will jointly co-produce and demonstrate community currencies that can be used by citizens,
local organisations and local and regional governments. By doing so we 1) add an extra instrument for local, regional policies on care, waste, local economy, transport, etc. 2) offer a learning process for the development of effective local currencies and 3) demonstrate this in the social domain, the environmental area, and for local economies. We build a transnational implementation infrastructure (inc. policy framework, legal framework, ICT and payment systems, monitoring and evaluation) that will be set up and the innovation that will take place in our project enables us to develop the next level of CCs.
Also our project addressing several local issues in one: CCIA provides a new way to build social inclusion and stimulate civic action, it tackles inclusivity through economic competitiveness, it provides a new way of waste and CO2 reduction, it stimulates eco-innovation and economic resilience and attractiveness of cities, towns and rural areas throughout NWE.
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Other EU projects involvement
There have been several important (EU-funded) projects in the last ten years in the field of community currencies. In all projects (except SOL and Regiogeld) a partner was involved. Some projects are still running. CCIA builds on the experience and learning:
• Transition Currencies (UK, Transition Network is observer)
• Barataria project (DG for Employment, 1998)
• NU-spaarpas (Rotterdam, LIFE-3 2000)
• SOL (France, EQUAL 2003)
• Spice (Wales, objective 1 SF 2003)
• Regiogeld (Germany, Interreg 4a 2008)
• SUCCESS (NWE, interreg IVB, 2009)
The Nu-Spaarpas project used public loyalties, normally only used by commercial companies, now used by a governmental organisation. In France, SOL combined three different currency types to be used by the same target group; although never done before, this was successfully demonstrated in this project. In Wales a welfare organisation and a governmental organisation collectively introduced a timebank for the first time.
In the Regiogeld project three different types of community currencies were successfully linked together and made exchangeable. For the first time all these experiences and features are now combined in a project.
The added value of the CCIA project is to gain the information, material and experiences to make an assessment of the different approaches, to combine the data into a coherent and robust model and supply the NWE with a full-package of tools to implement CC in their own community. CCIA will provide added value as it will apply a broader approach, covering the social, environmental and local economy domains and will focus on effective monitoring systems. The projects mentioned above were quite ‘isolated' projects. The CCIA adds a transnational dimension, as partners will join in networks and co-produce a transnational applicable Transnational Service Infrastructure. All products and knowledge from CCIA will be in the public domain, leading to a booming impact in NWE.
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Previous EU projects involvement
There have been several important (EU-funded) projects in the last ten years in the field of community currencies. In all projects (except SOL and Regiogeld) a partner was involved. Some projects are still running. CCIA builds on the experience and learning:
• Transition Currencies (UK, Transition Network is observer)
• Barataria project (DG for Employment, 1998)
• NU-spaarpas (Rotterdam, LIFE-3 2000)
• SOL (France, EQUAL 2003)
• Spice (Wales, objective 1 SF 2003)
• Regiogeld (Germany, Interreg 4a 2008)
• SUCCESS (NWE, interreg IVB, 2009)
The Nu-Spaarpas project used public loyalties, normally only used by commercial companies, now used by a governmental organisation. In France, SOL combined three different currency types to be used by the same target group; although never done before, this was successfully demonstrated in this project. In Wales a welfare organisation and a governmental organisation collectively introduced a timebank for the first time.
In the Regiogeld project three different types of community currencies were successfully linked together and made exchangeable. For the first time all these experiences and features are now combined in a project.
The added value of the CCIA project is to gain the information, material and experiences to make an assessment of the different approaches, to combine the data into a coherent and robust model and supply the NWE with a full-package of tools to implement CC in their own community. CCIA will provide added value as it will apply a broader approach, covering the social, environmental and local economy domains and will focus on effective monitoring systems. The projects mentioned above were quite ‘isolated' projects. The CCIA adds a transnational dimension, as partners will join in networks and co-produce a transnational applicable Transnational Service Infrastructure. All products and knowledge from CCIA will be in the public domain, leading to a booming impact in NWE.
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