For a just and sustainable city that puts people and planet first
Solidarity Oxford is a website and digital map which has been produced as part of the Solidarity Economy Association’s Mapping the Solidarity Economy in Oxford pilot project.
Oxford has a whole host of organisations, projects and people working to create a just and sustainable city. From swap shops and childcare circles to housing co-ops and community farms, we’ve got a thriving network of initiatives meeting the needs of our communities in ways that put people, and our environment, first.
Around the world, activity like this is known as the solidarity economy. In many cities and countries – from New York City to Barcelona, and from Mali to Brazil – solidarity economy initiatives play a fundamental role in people’s lives.
In New York City, a group of people came together to create a map of their solidarity economy, and this map has helped to make their city’s communities more connected, their projects and initiatives stronger, and has helped more people to be able to access the products and services they need in ethical and sustainable ways.
We’ve been exploring whether creating a map in Oxford is similarly helpful for our communities.
A big part of SEA’s mission is to make the solidarity economy in the UK stronger, and to encourage more people to find out about it and support in their local area. Our Mapping the Solidarity Economy in Oxford pilot project is about celebrating what’s important in our city’s communities, and showing how all the different projects, initiatives and organisations are helping to create a more just and sustainable world.
We often talk about the solidarity economy as being a global movement of people, organisations, economic initiatives, projects and activity all committed to building a better world together and transforming our economic system.
In reality, it’s made up of a wide range of local and regional activity (think community farms, co-operative housing, swap shops, migrant savings clubs, informal childcare circles, neighbourhood initiatives, alternative currencies, community land trusts…), which can look different depending on where in the world they are, and the context in which they have been created.
One of the most important things to understand about the solidarity economy is that no matter where it is, or what it looks like, it can be identified because the actors within it all share a commitment to pursuing a set of values.
These are:
We’ve been working with communities across the city to create a digital map of Oxford’s solidarity economy.
We’re doing this because we want to:
Our longer-term vision is also to show how the solidarity economy that exists in communities, cities and regions around the UK are part of a much bigger movement of people all over the world, all working to transform our economic system into one that works for everybody.
We need your help to create our digital map of Oxford’s solidarity economy. If you are part of an initiative and would like to be on the map, please click the button below to answer a few questions about your project. But, before you do so, please note:
We are asking initiatives to self-nominate (using this short survey) if they feel they are fulfilling, or are working towards fulfilling, some or all of the values of the solidarity economy.
We need your help to spread the word as far as we can about this! If you think there’s an initiative that should be on the map, you can copy and paste the text and link below to invite them to fill in our short survey.
Cut and paste this text into an email and send it to your contacts!
The Solidarity Economy Association is working on a project to map Oxford’s solidarity economy – all of the organisations, projects and people working to create a just and sustainable city, meeting the needs of our communities in ways that put people, and our environment, first.
They want to celebrate what’s happening in our communities; help local people find and support local projects and initiatives; and help projects and initiatives work together. They’re asking people who would like to be on this map to fill in this survey. More information about the project, and the Solidarity Economy Association, is here.
If you’d like to chat to us about what we’re doing in more detail, we’d love to hear from you. We’re based in Oxford and will happily come to meet you, or we’re always available via phone and email.
email: info@solidarityeconomy.coop
phone: 07983 390434
Solidarity Economy Association (formerly known as the Institute for Solidarity Economics) is a not-for-profit, multi-stakeholder co-operative working to support the growth of the Solidarity Economy Movement. We’re based in Oxford and work in the UK primarily, although we do undertake some activity internationally when we can.
Our vision is a thriving Solidarity Economy for the UK – an economy that embodies the values of economic and social justice, diversity and pluralism, cooperation, self-management, and ecological sustainability.