How do we finance the transition? With special guest: David Bollier

Invitation | How to Fund the Transition – Towards a financial ecosystem for the community economy in Amsterdam. On Tuesday 23 June, we are organising an afternoon event at CRCL Park focusing on the commons, financing and the future of the transition in Amsterdam. We are grappling with a central question: what does funding look like when it contributes to communal, local and regenerative practices? Across Amsterdam, we are already seeing many initiatives emerge: energy and food communities, cooperative housing schemes, community land trusts, steward-owned enterprises and new forms of public and collective financing. At the same time, these initiatives often face the same structural challenge: how do you keep this financially viable within existing funding models? During this meeting, we will bring together practice, policy, knowledge and the movement to kick-start and advance this conversation together. What can you expect? We will combine three strands: Analysis: why does the current financial system often fail to align with citizens’ collectives? Practice: what alternative forms of financing and organisation currently exist that are helpful? Exploration: what holds promise and what is needed to strengthen this? Programme (outline) Opening: the tension between transition and financing Discussion with David Bollier: from extractive to relational financing Good examples and promising approaches: from public funds to collaborative programmes, from grants to funds. Roundtable discussions on topics including land, money, governance and the commons. Joint reflection: what is needed for the next step? Aim of the afternoon Not a traditional conference, but a working meeting space where we: make the existing ecosystem visible; share and explore bottlenecks and opportunities; and consider what a commons-friendly financial ecosystem could mean and what that might look like for Amsterdam Practical details CRCL Park, Amsterdam 14:00 – 18:00 Closing with drinks & informal discussion We hope you’ll join us to contribute ideas, connect and help build the next phase in commons & finance! This event is a collaboration between the Schumacher Centre for New Economics and the City of Amsterdam (AmsterDOEN Action Programme).