Hella Dee's Page

Welcome to the Local Economy Network!

We're always glad to see new faces in our group, and as co-convenor I thought I’d give you a summary of what we’ve been working on over the past few months and how you can get involved.

At our first meeting last October, it emerged that concept of community currencies was of great interest to the group, and we decided that we would begin the process of planning a local currency for the Dunbar neighbourhood as a pilot project . Community currencies are forms of money developed by and for a community for various reasons, including relocalising and stimulating the economy,  supporting community projects and non-profits, re-introducing a more social aspect to economic transactions, and more. Using the experiences gained from Dunbar, we hope to be able to eventually either expand the currency to other neighbourhoods, or replicate it to have multiple neighbourhood currencies throughout Vancouver.

Since that meeting, a number of members of this group have been working to determine how a community currency in Dunbar might work, including meetings with LETS and Community Way inventor Michael Linton (a member of LEN) and Janet Morris-Reade, Executive Director of the Dunbar BIA. Both are great, supportive allies in this venture.

Sounds interesting? Check out the discussion on the LEN page where I've posted some useful links. We’re building our project team now, so if you might like to get involved in any way imaginable, please contact me at [email protected].

I should also add that, although community currency has been our primary focus over the past couple of months, it need not be the only project! There are many things that can be done to help create a saner and more localised economy, so all ideas are welcome.

I look forward to meeting you soon!

Jordan