tools to relocate the economy and put life at the center – Athenaeum

Faced with a globalized economic model that often disconnects consumption from social and environmental impacts, local currencies emerge as a transformative tool to foster more rooted, supportive and sustainable economies. From the social and solidarity economy (ESS), these initiatives become a lever to relocate economic activity and strengthen community ties.

A local currency is a means of exchange complementary to the euro, designed to circulate in a specific territory and promote consumption within a network of entities, shops and services committed to the values ​​of the ESS. Its objective is not speculative, but social: to retain wealth in the territory, strengthen the local fabric and encourage responsible economic practices.

In recent years, several Catalan municipalities have promoted local currency projects such as Turuta (Vilanova and Geltrú), the REC – Ciutadà Economic Resource (Barcelona) or EcoSol (Santa Coloma de Gramenet). These initiatives, often born in collaboration between public administrations, ESS entities and organized citizens, have shown that it is possible to rethink the economy from a more collective and close logic.

The benefits are multiple: from promoting local trade and reducing the ecological footprint, to facilitating innovative social policies (such as social aid payments with local currency, which strengthen the neighborhood’s economy). In addition, they are often linked with digital applications, reward mechanisms or community participation that strengthen the local ecosystem.

From the Baix Llobregat Cooperative University, we want to join this conversation and open the debate on the potential of local currencies in our territory. How can community currencies strengthen the ESS in Baix Llobregat? What role can they play in promoting cooperative projects, short marketing circuits or new forms of economic relationship?

We believe that it is an opportune time to explore these tools as a response to the challenges we face: the ecological crisis, inflation, the loss of commercial fabric, the increase in precariousness… The local currency, well thought out and collectively managed, can be much more than a curiosity: it can become a tool of economic justice.

To deepen this reflection, next March a day will be held in Sant Feliu de Llobregat focused on local currencies and social economy, where successful experiences will be presented and new scenarios for implementing this type of transformative tools will be discussed. This meeting will focus, among others, on the experience of the local currency of Sant Feliu de Llobregat, a pioneering initiative in the territory that has allowed to promote local consumption and strengthen the links between local commerce and citizens.

We invite all entities, cooperatives, administrations and people in the territory to participate in this day and to continue opening paths for a more humane, rooted and transformative economy. Because every coin that bets for the territory is also a bet for life in common.