Local Currencies for High Street Regeneration

in iofa •  7 years ago 

2017-10-15_02-27-33

I called a session at the Internet of Agreements Hackday to talk about using local currencies in local high street regeneration projects. The background to this idea is the project I did in Sittingbourne in 2014 called Workshop34.

Soon after I finished that project, I heard about Ethereum and grokked the idea of programmable organisations with their own currency. It seemed to me that it might be a useful way to help keep track of contributions to projects like this. One of the issues is that to do something like this, you need people, and people make decisions about their contribution in the context of their financial status - they might be able to do more if you were able to recompense them, but the project has no money and just giving people money can be problematic from a taxation point of view.

In the session I was pointed to Colony as a way of organising projects and rewarding people for defined tasks in cryptocurrencies.

We also discussed the desirability (or otherwise) of being able to exchange into fiat. Does it want to be insulated from Sterling? Or what? What are the legal and taxation implications? When does it cross into a highly-regulated space?

And we covered crowdfunding as an initial way to get things set up - not everything can be gained for free. Also the possibility of getting a crowdfund match-funded.

At least two people also talked to me about Colu - I saw that a while ago and mentally filed it under something else. So I shall look again.

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An interesting idea. I was introduced to the Internet of Agreements event through a post by @steevc.

I have been involved in local community projects for many years and I have been dabbling about with how steemit might be used in a local context.

My initial thoughts came out in a SteemTowns concept. I am still liking that idea but struggling with effective implementation given the limitations of steemit.

A natural extension of the SteemTowns model would be a local currency based on steem.

I've been thinking about similar things around social care. We already have time banking, where time is the currency of exchange for social/citizen actions. I was wondering whether this could be developed/merged/linked to the blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
It's about creating new wealth and addressing things that need, or we want, to get done, where government and public spending is failing (or destroys the very thing it wants to create through the bureaucratic nature of the organisation).
Thinking about areas like White City and north Kensington in London, where there are large economic and social needs.

I see you already mentioned timebanks.

Yes, but people need money to pay their rent and generally improve their economic situation. Unemployment, underemployment, low wages, zero hours contracts, poor terms and conditions of employment and titchy pension contributions (and only when forced through legislation), mean that many are facing a cumulative financial disadvantage as they age. Time banks can help, but it would be great if the people assets - time, skills, contacts - could be recognised and create wealth.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

I can imagine the people there know about or are behind all sorts of projects in this field. I think it's still difficult to get the concepts over to non - technical people who are used to regular money

Yes, I've just done a community consultation where we asked people about time banking as an alternative to the current volunteering arrangements. Many struggled simply to understand how it would work ... I have raised the potential of the block chain with the trustees of a charity I work with, they have agreed to start exploring it and where (ironically) we might raise some money to do this.

many lucky people I also like that.
How to do....??

Interesting idea

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  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Are you familiar with timebanks? *edit I see @shanibeer already mentioned them.

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