RSSMixhttp://www.rssmix.com/This feed was created by mixing existing feeds from various sources.en-gb http://environment.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/12/22/local-energy-sourcing/Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:49:15 -0500We want communities to take a proactive, strategic role in identifying local opportunities to promote renewable, low carbon and decentralised energy systems, consistent with ensuring a competitive market and affordable energy. One example where this is taking off is with the East Midlands Development Agency (emda) who has injected 265,000 into a project which will [...]56a12668d620d269b165ef510df251f2 http://culture.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/12/22/punter-power-in-our-cultural-institutions/Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:17:33 -0500Those that invest passion, energy and commitment in an organisation, whether its their local museum, music venue or sporting ground, should help run it. It is crucial that the opinions of people who care about such organisations and have strong views about them are heard at the point where decisions are made. This [...]f75b2e3373f0d771a41f6f0392bc9fdf http://health.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/12/22/is-there-a-place-for-mutuality-in-public-health-2/Mon, 22 Dec 2008 10:31:05 -0500 Healthy eating and better exercise practices are integral to the wellbeing of communities.But how can we encourage local people to take responsibility for their own health and extend their own skills and knowledge? Are there policies that can support community development approaches to health improvement and challenging health inequalities? The Food Access Partnership, set [...]25a016d9eabe93a2f6ff3438c080bbf2 http://transport.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/12/22/individualised-transport/Mon, 22 Dec 2008 09:50:45 -0500What are the ways that we can help encourage the increased use of individualised transport? The Barcelona Bicing and the Parisian Velib are two examples where bicycles have been successfully incorporated into the public transport systems. Commuters can pick up bicycles at one end of the city and drop them off at (or [...]8c33dd18953bbe73b4b91148a95b4ae0 http://government.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/12/22/co-operative-and-social-enterprise/Mon, 22 Dec 2008 09:30:26 -0500The current crisis climate has made us all question the structural integrity of our economy and forced us to re-consider the way we view wealth. Enterprise, being the life-blood of our economy, is no exception to this. Co-operative and social enterprises offer a unique opportunity to do things differently. Run on the core values of [...]cb6a28cb39f2521589aac4b4dea09d94 http://housing.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/12/22/keeping-community-assets-alive/Mon, 22 Dec 2008 08:41:25 -0500Communities are likely to be socially and economically more successful when power is dispersed democratically and there is transparent accountability.Community assets an umbrella term which seeks to include parks, youth services, leisure centres, town halls etc - are an essential part of providing shared public spaces and activities which give our communities shape, character [...]2a0cfae83e4373b85b9e97f455ae8dbe http://education.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/12/22/britain%e2%80%99s-sleeping-mutuals/Mon, 22 Dec 2008 08:28:08 -0500Over forty percent of all young people now participate in higher education before they reach the age of thirty. This means that they will also find themselves becoming members of a students union, though many will not realise it. Students unions are curious organisations. They are, without exception, charities - following certain legal rulings in [...]b9c630d8721c1bf27e9ff8c3ee34511c http://health.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/25/is-there-a-mutual-solution-to-the-care-problem/Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:23:10 -0500The movement towards direct payments for social care is a transformational approach allowing people to allocate budgets so that they can shape the support and services that they need. Professionals help an individual assess their need and once this is done, the person is given an indicative budget they can use to design the [...]6085f33d0da9560a5d8f0ccc9f1229e0 http://consumer.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/25/a-mutual-response-to-the-financial-crisis/Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:20:15 -0500Of all the numerous and painful lessons of the recent collapse in the financial markets one has been conspicuously missing from the flood of media analysis and commentary. Bradford and Bingleys taxpayer-funded rescue ended all arguments about the potential benefits of demutualisation. As the last of the ex building societies loses its independence, it joins [...]1a0dda9a11fe9d672dd31b7760269eae http://it.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/25/community-broadband/Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:17:09 -0500 The internet is to todays information revolution what coal was to the industrial revolution. It is central to our economy as well as having the same capacity for improving life chances and increasing prosperity. Broadband is one small yet integral part of this technological advance. By speeding up communication, it facilitates the transfer of [...]77b890205c8947cbce35de29babdab2c http://rural.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/25/ethical-food/Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:13:43 -0500 Over the past decade, the ethical food market has moved from a niche area catered for by a few specialist brands, towards the mass-market mainstream. Food certification and other ethical labels have started to become an everyday feature of products sold across the UK, made popular by greater consumer awareness and wider distribution. In [...]21fc474063a5441cc01aa9c651ece933 http://culture.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/25/the-people%e2%80%99s-games/Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:09:34 -0500 The moment of exultation when London was announced as the host city for the 2012 Olympic Games caught all of our imaginations, and united us in pride and joy. This now seems a distant memory in the face of an endless list of planning problems, budget controversy and funding criticism- not to mention the [...]f0c179f55fa20d1f68fdd490ff2ab10d http://government.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/25/anti-poverty-strategies/Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:05:02 -0500 In many communities, agricultural co-operatives, farmers markets, community bus services, credit unions, housing and childcare co-operatives and community land trusts are just some examples of the many mutual social enterprises that are filling the void left by retreating public and private sector providers. These mutually structured organisations are as efficient and dynamic [...]d92032861c10fa3c0be9338f7bdfbaf3 http://education.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/25/youth-services/Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:00:42 -0500 This years Co-operative Party Conference noted the significance of good youth service provision to promoting positive aspirational change and encouraging greater responsibility among our young citizens as they grow up. The motion suggests that the Party should seek to set the agenda for change in youth services through: Needs led assessments and surveys of [...]cc93614058754891fd0b0870ac12a2cb http://housing.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/25/building-sustainable-homes-2/Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:56:56 -0500 In 2005, over a quarter of our carbon emissions came from our homes. The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has estimated that this figure could rise to as much as 55% unless drastic changes are made to the way in which homes are designed. If we are to achieve the Governments target of [...]25600bc2b577f0a93fff3dc5ca389383 http://transport.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/25/public-transport-in-underserved-areas/Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:52:50 -0500Poor public transport provisions can have deep-rooted negative impacts on communities, fuelling issues such as unemployment, lack of social mobility and social exclusion.Rural areas are currently among the most affected by some of these issues. Not only are they predominantly poorly served by public provisions of transport infrastructure, but they are often not considered profitable [...]93492aa3415515f6c567a04d88d45750 http://international.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/25/the-co-operative-model-for-aid-delivery/Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:50:14 -0500The co-operative model offers an alternative in aid delivery to government institutions or private companies. Whilst the former have traditionally suffered from problems of inefficiency, lack of transparency and corruption, the latter has seen shareholder interests come first, with profits often made at the expense of significant social and welfare losses. The co-operative model [...]f62e4f6bc3d782ded0537f0b126cf94e http://enterprise.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/25/social-enterprise/Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:36:06 -0500In view of the current financial climate, the social enterprise model offers a unique alternative to the PLC model. Firmly grounded in co-operative ideals and principles, it adopts a business approach to achieve public benefit through defined social or environmental objectives. Most social enterprises have a particular affiliation to, and an in-depth understanding about the [...]2f06fab01acbe3717ed3bed910911cd2 http://environment.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/25/improving-parks-and-public-spaces/Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:28:22 -0500The public care about their parks and open spaces. For the first time in history, the majority of the worlds population now lives in cities. Green spaces in towns are crucial for urban communties, therefore. Parks are community spaces - areas where children play, where we meet friends, feed the ducks or walk the dog. [...]9191d17c78c500142b373e3620121d56 http://international.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/25/anti-poverty-strategies/Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:07:26 -0500In many communities, mutual social enterprises including agricultural co-operatives, farmers markets, community owned shops, pubs and post offices, community bus service, credit unions, housing co-operatives, childcare co-operatives and community land trusts are filling the void left by retreating public and private sector providers, providing better access to services and solving the many of [...]55c0d3e07a57e9ca726e79751bab1698 http://housing.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/25/building-sustainable-homes/Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:54:06 -0500In 2005, over a quarter of our carbon emissions came from our homes. The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has estimated that this figure could rise to as much as 55% unless drastic changes are made to the way in which homes are designed. If we are to achieve the Governments target of three [...]fc41feb2ed2f3c567d6ae7fd3044ec54 http://it.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/13/one-laptop-per-child/Thu, 13 Nov 2008 07:02:47 -0500The video below is a talk by Nicholas Negroponte, the mastermind behind One Laptop Per Child. The project aims to provide every child in the world with a laptop, whether that child lives in the third world, or a detached house in a western suburb. Computers and the internet have a profound effect on [...]9589ba85e3e0e61dd07e11379463eb68 http://rural.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/12/farmer-controlled-businesses/Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:49:25 -0500The Co-operative Party has supported the establishment and promotion of a number of agricultural co-operatives and other forms of farmer-controlled businesses (FCBs). These enable individual farmers to join together and gain marketing strength to improve the profitability of their core businesses.Since the creation of English Farming and Food Partnerships (EFFB) in 2004, the FCB sector [...]67779ecdee2a8f6df00f457213503065 http://culture.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/12/the-people%e2%80%99s-broadcasting-service/Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:45:24 -0500The aftermath of the Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand affair has led many to question how responsive the BBC is to members of the public.The replacement of the board of governors with the BBC Trust early last year was the first step to increasing its credentials as the voice of the license payer. But does [...]496fec09cb1c8c2040c35c531153a6b9 http://government.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/12/leisure-services/Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:39:13 -0500Co-operatives and mutuals are ideally placed to provide best value for leisure services. They not only help with the provision of local jobs and retain profits within localities stimulating economic development, but also cater to consumer and employee interests, ensuring they have a real say in how services are run. There are now over [...]c82aeef24d0f77f446566eb939628b8e http://consumer.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/12/corporate-social-responsibility/Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:27:16 -0500 The last few years have seen a tremendous shift in public awareness of global issues. Ten years ago, it would have been considered electoral suicide to put international development and climate change as a priority for a political manifesto. Now it would be catastrophic not to. In all sectors of our national community; concern [...]9513da318afd0dad3feb2b0183e968eb http://enterprise.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/12/credit-unions/Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:15:50 -0500 As the banking sector go cap in hand to the government to save them from collapse the mutual financial sector remains a beacon of strength. One of the fastest growing areas of the mutual financial sector is the credit union movement. Credit Unions are essentially consumer co-operatives, which provide financial services to their membership. [...]c7c713e4c0e81e8c5012fab7df158666 http://international.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/12/fair-trade-2/Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:09:05 -0500Fair trade aims at helping marginalised producers and workers move from a position of vulnerability to security and economic self-sufficiency, by giving them greater power in their own organisations.By encouraging smallholder farmers to work together in co-operatives, the rural poor of developing countries are able to help themselves out of poverty. The mutual structures allow [...]5ea8b7797d1a36c2a74eb37c27635254 http://housing.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/12/social-housing-and-community-cohesion/Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:05:01 -0500For a long time we have recognised that social housing is more about building communities than simply providing roofs over heads. With Gordon Brown’s announcement last July to make “housing a national priority”, providers of social housing are in an increasingly key and strategic position to help cement community cohesion. In terms of value [...]a44176e24eaac5e4a2bb80e86d1dfb1d http://education.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/12/working-towards-a-co-operative-curriculum/Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:58:19 -0500As one of the Rochdale Pioneers guiding principles, the Co-operative Movements lifelong commitment to education was established over 150 years ago. The Co-operative Group, through sponsorship of specialist business and enterprise colleges in England, has worked with the Co-operative College to help schools to share the resources of the Co-operative Movement to develop their learning [...]cf5be5337e644682b7feda3040f4649a http://environment.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/12/carbon-neutral-communities/Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:48:05 -0500We all recognise the severity of the threat that climate change poses to our world and the importance of the steep challenge that faces us in drastically reducing our carbon emissions. October saw the Government announce an amendment to the Climate Change Bill, setting a legally binding target to cut 80 per cent of greenhouse [...]5b7c195f1ff308fac1a5a2145bf5c074 http://transport.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/12/could-the-train-operating-companies-be-run-as-mutuals/Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:37:45 -0500 The Peoples Rail campaign rightly highlighted the issue of accountability in Network Rail. The fact that this struck a chord with the public shows the degree to which long suffering passengers really do feel that they deserve better than a network run for the convenience of an unaccountable board, and that we all deserve [...]710e8a9de6ba3179a02a546783900dbf http://health.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/12/should-gp-led-patient-centres-be-run-as-co-operatives/Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:33:38 -0500 Recent government policy has been to encourage a shift in the balance of care from hospital to community settings. In recent pilots where this has taken place, a number of interrelated benefits of this policy have been discovered. Moving to a community setting can prevent people from having to attend hospital unnecessarily, as well [...]4d25c70489a0aa92653067003abc9450 http://it.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/03/open-source/Mon, 03 Nov 2008 09:45:02 -0500Open source technology is software development methodology created by a community of people dedicated to working together in a co-operative manner.The most important difference between software created by open source communities and that sold by vendors is that it is published under licenses that ensure that the source code (the key to understanding the software) [...]ddb26dcba33ab8082328f5fbf1b1d3d0 http://rural.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/11/03/can-community-hubs-rebuild-local-rural-services/Mon, 03 Nov 2008 05:05:44 -0500One of the gravest problems affecting rural communities is the disappearance of local services such as bank branches, village shops, post offices and pubs.One of the ideas to come forward from Co-operative Party Conference to develop a model for ‘Community Hubs’ for rural services. These would be based on co-operative principles, and could include services [...]cb146899d01cf151a3d5f6f5e60836fa http://transport.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/10/31/the-peoples-rail/Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:56:20 -0400Network Rail was created by the government in response to the operational failure and ensuing financial collapse of Railtrack in 2002. Despite much progress being made in relation to safety and delays, Network Rail is still widely acknowledged to be under performing. In relation to the European average, it is inefficient to the tune of [...]db0fac7d8d89c8ab4689f7b66718011f http://international.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/10/31/trade-justice/Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:40:13 -0400Despite the fact that international trade is worth $10 million a minute, poor countries only account for 0.4 per cent of this trade. Unjust trade rules and the imposition of harmful economic policy conditions have become the vehicle for the indiscriminate liberalisation of developing country economies. This has undermined sustainable development, and increased poverty and [...]9f9650584075a2bf84fa0a2317c95f19 http://education.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/10/31/the-co-operative-governance-of-schools/Fri, 31 Oct 2008 08:54:20 -0400This years Annual Conference saw Ed Balls announce funding for the creation of 100 co-operative trust schools. While the idea of running schools co-operatively may be relatively new in the UK, this model has been widely and successfully implemented elsewhere. Today there are almost 600 co-operative schools in Spain, which have developed their own [...]abbe91818b2aa80a37b14a120895d960 http://culture.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/10/31/building-the-supporters-trust-movement/Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:55:05 -0400Through the collective ownership of shares in supporters trusts, and the pooling of individually held shares in a club under the influence of a trust, supporters trusts have given many football fans a real say in the manner in which their clubs are run. While the idea of running football clubs as mutuals may seem [...]9eca215c610468161d239da89bd9c957 http://government.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/10/31/can-ordinary-people-decide-how-local-government-spends-its-money/Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:50:09 -0400Participatory budgeting is a mechanism designed to bring local communities closer to the decision making process around the public budget. It relies on a flexible set of community engagement techniques, adaptable to local circumstances, but which share a common principle that power lies with those who decide how new money is to be spent. [...]c0a6148d4e200d1e0b66f8f4bf5b110d http://consumer.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/10/31/putting-consumers-in-control-of-public-services/Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:40:47 -0400One of the Governments key priorities over the last ten years has been to make public services more responsive to the people that use them. In the last few years, the Co-operative Party and its sister think tank, Mutuo, have been involved in the establishment of a number of new community-based mutuals in the provision [...]a783aae1e28021476347f615726e397e http://enterprise.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/10/31/levelling-the-playing-field/Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:34:10 -0400As we seek to rebuild the economy after the financial collapse, there has never been a time when the co-operative and mutual ideal has been more important. Co-operatives and mutual organisations differ from their plc competitors in one crucial respect; they exist to provide mutual self-help for their members rather than to generate profits for [...]eb6956a48761674b5aa1151c1ef7e715 http://environment.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/10/31/community-energy/Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:25:03 -0400We all know that our continuing reliance on fossil fuels places a dangerous burden on our environment, as well as aggravating international tensions and jeopardising progress towards social justice. To effectively tackle climate change, we need to both reduce our energy usage, and make real progress in making clean, low carbon energy available to all. [...]cac7d6b528fb66b77f30514fb21b31cb http://health.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/10/29/can-we-make-primary-care-more-accountable/Wed, 29 Oct 2008 05:16:15 -0400Since April 2004, the NHS has embarked on perhaps the most radical experiment in public service reform of our generation the establishment of over 100 NHS foundation trust hospitals. Evidence from the Department of Health Membership Governance Review has suggested that the unprecedented level of patient and public involvement in healthcare is making a [...]b76201886081c9c0aaef736a0671f4d9 http://housing.co-operativemanifesto.org/2008/10/28/creating-an-intermediate-housing-market/Tue, 28 Oct 2008 06:19:53 -0400While most crisis talk in the media with regards housing has been focused on falling house prices and the danger of negative equity, for many the real crisis remains that of access to affordable housing. In the post sub-prime world, we will almost certainly see a significant change in the way that mortgage and [...]1c4d37f6b0812730bee3b3594c6e99bb