Cooperative Journal

VinziRast-Mittendrin is a co-housing building located in Vienna, Austria where students, formerly homeless, and refugees live amongst each other. It houses bicycle, woodworking and sewing workshops, a restaurant, and event spaces. It’s a collaboration between students involved with the Vienna Audimax occupation, VinziRast which is a volunteer-run organization that offers housing to formerly homele...

Horta Inteligente (Intelligent Garden) promotes environmental education to children in the oldest favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As a volunteer-run initiative, they collectively create new ways of inhabiting and relating to the city through agroecology, art, community-based education, and creating spaces for cultivating food.  In this episode I speak with project partner and environmental engin...

Green Mountain Spinnery is a 40 year old cooperative based in rural Vermont. They mill high quality yarns made in the U.S., support regional sheep farming, and develop ways of producing natural fibers that are environmentally friendly.  Flat Iron Co-op is a cooperatively owned coffee shop based in Vermont. They are still in the developmental stages but intend to create a model that integrates coff...

Uzupis is a sovereign republic located in the Lithuanian capital of Vilinus. Depicted much like a utopia, they have their own flag, army, currency, cabinet of ministers, constitution, and anthem. Created by artists as a joke on April Fool’s day, it has become home to free-thinkers seeking an alternative society. While it isn’t recognized by foreign governments as a micronation, it’s an inspiring s...

The Valley Alliance of Worker Co-ops is a secondary cooperative, meaning they are a cooperative made up of member co-ops. Their members are apart of a regional network based in Western Massachusetts and Southern Vermont. Through this network, they are able to provide developmental support, cooperative education, and ultimately raise awareness to strengthen the cooperative economy. In this episode...

Oxbow Design Build is a recently converted worker-owned design and construction cooperative in East Hampton, Massachusetts. They practice holistic design and building while creating custom furniture, developing new structures, and renovating. Beyond their impeccable designs and attention to detail, they also pride themselves in supporting local businesses, ethical sourcing, and eco-friendly design...

Altrapo Lab is a cooperative in Madrid, Spain dedicated to training and raising awareness about the impacts of the fashion industry and the promotion of consumer alternatives. They advocate for recycling, textile reuse, and transformative consumption from a creative approach through their courses, workshops and events around circular fashion.  In this episode I speak with worker-owner Zaloa Basald...

Mehr Als Wohnen is a holistic and democratic housing cooperative in Zurich, Switzerland. It is definitely not your typical housing co-op, they have created an innovative complex that is in harmony with the needs of the natural environment and its diverse residents. Members can meet all of their basic needs within the immediate vicinity. Parks, work spaces, retail spaces, care facilities, electric...

Equal Care is a multi-stakeholder cooperative in England that values building trusted relationships between the giver and receiver of support. Their care offerings range from personal care and practical jobs, to help with life admin and community advocacy, to mental health and wellbeing support. Workers get a decent wage without the people getting support having to pay more. The receiver and careg...

The Mobility Factory is a European cooperative alliance consisting of electric car-sharing cooperatives. They offer an e-car sharing platform for their members, open sourced coding to adjust the platform to members needs, and transparent democratic decision making processes. As we are shaping more sustainable and densely populated cities, the mobility factory is driven to increase air quality, ren...

The Global Centre for Advanced Studies otherwise known as GCAS, is the world’s first institution of higher education cooperatively owned by the faculty, staff, investors, and graduates. Students are able to utilize blockchain and earn cryptocurrency while getting debt free education. It is a model designed to challenge the status quo and co-create regenerative systems.  In this episode I interview...

MARSH is a food cooperative in St. Louis, MO with a fully-licensed kitchen, diner, and food collective. They have implemented a unique model where workers, consumers, and producers work reciprocally as owners. Diner workers, non-working public participants, as well as aspiring, emerging, and professional culinary artists collaborate to grow, purchase, prepare, cook, and serve high-quality food.  I...

Fairbnb is a global cooperative that is a non extractive alternative to existing home-sharing platforms. They offer authentic and sustainable travel experiences while funding the development of socially relevant local community projects. In this episode I interview co-founder Jonathan Reyes about the negative effects of Airbnb on communities, the model they’ve created to keep wealth circulating wi...

Soup is a micro-granting dinner that offers a platform to support creative local projects in communities around the world. It eliminates barriers that local projects have to deal with in order to get funding, fosters dialogue on community needs, and allows a space for community change-makers to be heard. In this episode, I speak with the founder of Detroit Soup Amy Kaherl about how Soup has evolve...

Ministry of Space (Ministarstvo Prostora) is a collective from Belgrade, Serbia founded in 2011 with the aim of reflecting on the future of cities. They act in the field of urban and cultural policies, sustainable city development, fair use of common resources, and the involvement of citizens in the urban development of their environment.  Co-founders Iva Čukić and Marko Aksentijević share how to...