La Leche League Oxford runs a Maternity Clothes Library, for a small fee per item (currently £2) maternity clothes can be hired and kept for the whole pregnancy. They have many sizes and styles available as well as smart wear for that special night out before the baby arrives. They also have a small number of breastfeeding clothes available.

This idea is something I’ve never come across before, but such a simple and meaningful one. The idea of a library of (fill word in here) extending beyond books like this one, has such great potential to help out communities and individuals in need.

http://www.llloxford.org.uk/LLLmcl.html

Imagine you are walking around your city, and you see an amazing piece of street art in the wall of a building. You go next to it, like in a museum, and take a look at the tag next to the piece of art, identifying the artists, the techniques he used, and also, if you have your iPod in hand, an audioguide track recorded by the artist himself, talking about his art and inspirations.

That’s exactly what we did in Lisbon, with the World’s First Ephemeral Museum. We cataloged more than 100 pieces of street art in 3 major neighborhoods around Lisbon, and with your mp3 player and map in hands, that you previously downloaded from the Ephemeral Museum Website, you can walk the city streets like a real museum.

Every important piece of street art is tagged and identified. This way people could enjoy and understand more Street Art while walking through the biggest museum in the world, the streets of Lisbon.

We are working to open new galleries in Madrid, Barcelona, and São Paulo.

http://www.museuefemero.com/

Just like the Brixton Pound, Ithaca Hours is a local currency system that promotes local economic strength and community reliance that will support economic and social justice, ecology, community participation and human aspirations.

In Ithaca, New York, the group who started the alternative currency have gained control of the social and environmental effects of commerce by issuing over $110,000 of their own local paper money, to thousands of residents, since 1991. Tens of thousands of purchases and many new friendships have been made with this cash, and millions of dollars value of local trading has been added to the Grassroots National Product. They printed their own money because they watched Federal dollars come to town, shake a few hands, then leave to buy rainforest lumber and fight wars. Ithaca’s Hours, by contrast, stay in the region to help people hire each other. While dollars make people increasingly dependent on transnational corporations and bankers, Hours reinforce community trading and expand commerce which is more accountable to the concerns for ecology and social justice.

Here’s how it works: the Ithaca Hour is Ithaca’s $10.00 bill, because ten dollars per hour is the average of wages/salaries in Tompkins County. These Hour notes, in five denominations, buy plumbing, carpentry, electrical work, roofing, nursing, chiropractic, child care, car and bike repair, food, eyeglasses, firewood, gifts, and thousands of other goods and services. Credit unions accept them for mortgage and loan fees. People pay rent with Hours. The best restaurants take them, as do movie theaters, bowling alleys, two large locally-owned grocery stores, the local hospital, many garage sales, 55 farmer’s market vendors, the Chamber of Commerce, and 300 other businesses. Hundreds more have earned and spent Hours who are not in the Hour Town directory.

The Success Stories of 300 participants published so far testify to the acts of generosity and community that the system prompts. A community is being made while making a living. As the Hours do so, they relieve the social desperation which has led to compulsive shopping and wasted resources. At the same time Ithaca’s locally-owned stores, which keep more wealth local, make sales and get spending power they otherwise would not have. And over $10,000 of local currency has been donated to over 100 community organizations so far, by the elected Hour board of directors. We regard Ithaca’s Hours as real money, backed by real people, real time, real skills and tools. Dollars, by contrast, are funny money, backed no longer by gold or silver but by less than nothing- $8.4 trillion of national debt.

HOURS expand the local money supply
HOURS promote and expand local shopping, with an endless multiplier
HOURS double the local minimum wage to $10.00, benefitting not only workers but businesses as well, who find new and loyal customers.
HOURS enable shoppers to afford premium prices for locally-crafted goods and for locally-grown organic food.
HOURS help start new businesses and jobs
HOURS reduce dependence on imports and transport fuels
HOURS make grants to nonprofit community organizations
HOURS make zero-interest loans
HOURS stimulate community pride

http://www.ithacahours.org/index.php

In the Summer and Autumn 2007, thousands of people living and working in the town of Middlesbrough, Tees Valley participated in a project to increase local food production and reduce food miles. Along the way, young, old, rich and poor worked together, growing food and realising new relationships with local food producers and existing growers in the town and its surrounding area. Their goal has was to pioneer a new sustainable future – not just for Middlesbrough but also for other post-industrial communities across the UK

They were also working to raise awareness of the benefits of and opportunities for growing and securing food for our towns and cities. Local growers need to be connected to existing and new markets, a new relationship needs to be struck between urban and rural, and communities need inspirational and educational ‘soil to plate’ experiences.

Middlesbrough Council and David Barrie, senior producer for Dott 07, have led the project, working in close partnership with Groundwork South Tees, Middlesbrough Primary Care Trust, more than 15 primary and secondary schools, many local community and voluntary sector organisations, and existing allotment growers in the town. It was driven by Bioregional’s commitment to the concept of one planet living, developed in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund and endorsed by the Minister of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The groups from the schools identified locations in which to grow food and the produce they would like to cultivate. Then, in May 2007, about 1,000 people began growing fruit and vegetables in containers at locations across the town. They received support from local horticulturalists, allotment growers, farmers and food producers. Between June and September, this new team of urban farmers brought their harvested ingredients to a ‘kitchen playground’ event: three week-long blocks of activity in which people prepared, cooked and ate dishes based on ingredients that they had grown themselves. The frenzy of food production culminated in September in a ‘Meal for Middlesbrough’ – a banquet for 1,500 in the town’s main square. Participants in the growing project created the menu from produce they’d harvested. Local producers provided meat and vegetables to supplement the meal, which was cooked and eaten in the open air.

Finally, several containers grown in Middlesbrough were presented at the Dott 07 Festival and participating groups prepared food for visitors in a special-edition kitchen playground.

A fantastic sustainable idea which involves everyone from the local community and has endless amounts of benefits.

http://www.dott07.com/go/food/urban-farming

As discussed earlier about people food sharing during the Northeast Blackout in 2003, The Big Lunch is an initiative to get everyone in the UK to stop what they are doing for one moment and sit down and have lunch with their neighbours. They have wanted to put a smile back on the faces of Brits and strengthen communities. The first Big Lunch took place on the 19th of July this year and the original idea came from the Eden Project which encouraged people to get together to solve problems and share things as a community.

Most of us are shy, many of us lead single lives and even when we are together often go our own way. We all know about the problems in our society and don’t need to be preached at. But inside almost everyone there is a notion that, despite our differences, the ties that bind us are important. The shared enjoyment of eating together, laughter, play, music and conversation bring us together and for all the fact that we are so fabulously different in our outlook and experience on many things, we know a simple truth – together we are strong. Wouldn’t it be great if for just one day we remind ourselves about all that is good about us and bring about a moment that ignites a spark. It may be tricky, it may feel slightly uncomfortable to start with. It takes a bit of courage to stop being a stranger. But think of the prize – to be able to walk down the street and into the wider neighbourhood and realise how many good people there are: people who, acting together, can create a real sense of community – a word that in Latin means ‘together, in gift’.

Individual countries are famous for their signature food dishes, England/Fish and Chips, Japan/Sushi, Italy/Pasta, Switzerland/Chocolate so wouldn’t it be great if one day a year the concept of The Big Lunch was brought into action in different countries as well them exporting their signature foods to other countries. Similar to culture festivals, so for example in Japan, one day a year, there would be an England/Fish and Chips festival. I could see that being very interesting to say the least.

http://www.thebiglunch.com/

Transition Towns start off when a small collection of individuals within a community come together with a shared concern.

They begin by forming an initiating group with the intention of engaging a significant proportion of the people in their community to kick off a Transition Initiative. A Transition Initiative is a community working together to look at problems squarely in the eye and address them.

After going through a comprehensive and creative process of: awareness raising, connecting with existing groups in the community, building bridges to local government, forming groups to look at all the key areas of life and kicking off projects aimed at building people’s understanding of resilience, 15-20 year projects are formed.

This results in a coordinated range of projects across all  areas of life that strives to rebuild the resilience towns have lost as a result of problems such as cheap oil and carbon emissions.

The communities also recognise two crucial points: that they immense amounts of creativity, ingenuity and adaptability on the way up the energy upslope, and that there’s no reason for us not to do the same on the downslope, if we collectively plan and act early enough there’s every likelihood that we can create a way of living that’s significantly more connected, more vibrant and more in touch with our environment.

Examples of existing Transition Towns can be found here. From the UK to Australia to New Zealand to Italy to Japan, Transition Towns are currently evolving everywhere.

http://www.transitiontowns.org/

After speaking to my friend from Toronto, she explained to be about The Northeast Blackout of 2003. It was a massive widespread power outage that occurred throughout parts of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Ontario, Canada on Thursday, August 14, 2003, at approximately 4:15 p.m. EDT (20:15 UTC). At the time, it was the most widespread electrical blackout in history. The blackout affected an estimated 10 million people in Ontario and 45 million people in eight U.S. states.

“A few years ago we had a city-wide blackout that lasted two or three days.  There was no electricity, they had to give food away at the stores because it was going off. People who were neighbours for several years got together in their backyards and shared dinner!  It was amazing. I think this sort of thing should happen once a year on purpose!  We could all get together with a common thread.  Not to mention, it saves so much on the environment.”

If you think about the amount of food you waste, it could be easily shared or reused again, for example as compost heaps. The Ontario blackout forced people to share food, and while not new, food sharing should be publicised a lot more in my opinion. Maybe an ‘organised’ blackout could be arranged monthly, where people have to switch off their fridges in their communities and get together to share all the food.

Brands such as Pret A Manger have already tapped into food sharing for good causes with their Pret Charity Run scheme. They distribute uneaten food at the end of the day from all of their London stores to homeless people around the capital. Over 12,000 meals are distributed every week.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_Blackout_of_2003

http://www.pret.com/about/charities.htm

Cities x Design as featured on DESIGN 21, is a 35-city trans-media research trip across the United States that is recorded online and will later be released in film, exhibition and book form. Through visits, observations, and interviews Cities x Design will examine, during this time of economic instability and questioning about America’s future, the connections between cities, local culture and people in the United States. It will highlight how investing in design can change perceptions, boost economies and create unique places.

The documentary created will explore cities where local creativity, commerce and culture merge. It will highlight people, organizations and businesses that use design as a medium to reflect a deeper understanding of their city’s identity. It will reveal the diversity that lives in America’s most creative corners: from a cutting-edge entrepreneur who is working with the New Orleans Government to regenerate a historic riverfront, to a graphic design firm in Austin working with local musicians, a Native-American fashion designer in Santa Fe, or a small furniture company in Denver that uses domestically sourced material. The website, book, exhibition and film will showcase people who play an important role in the regeneration, tourism, branding, and creative economy of their cities. Their ideas are inspired by authenticity, craftsmanship, local identity and culture. These people are charting a new course for a sustainable future in American cities.

Cities x Design began in Orlando, Florida and will pass through New Orleans, Austin, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Boise, Salt Lake City, Boulder, Denver, Omaha, Iowa City, Minneapolis, Madison, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, Boston, Providence, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Pittsburgh, Columbus, Lexington, Knoxville, Atlanta, Charleston, Savannah and Miami.

The idea of taking around a group of people in a sort of ‘tour’ format, to travel around individual countries trying to solve problems has such potential, and doesn’t just need to be design. Imagine taking an MP, philosopher, plumber, businessman, student and a vicar around your country putting their heads together to try and solve local problems within communities. More of this type of conversation I think should take place regularly and documented online like Cities x Design does. A worldwide network of ‘tour buses’ could be created perhaps?

http://trip.citiesxdesign.org/

Team Green Britain held its first ‘Green Britain Day’ in July this year where 5 teams worked together to make a difference. The idea behind Team Green Britain, and in partnership with EDF Energy, London 2012 and the Eden Project, is to group together, no matter how small or big, with your friends, family, neighbours, strangers or anybody to make a change. If everyone does something small, when added together, makes something big. This is Team Green Britain’s philosophy.

Existing teams consist of Team Energy, Team Swap, Team Big Lunch, Team A to B and EcoTeams with more on the way. Teams can try everything from persuading friends to switch their TV off, not just on standby, to getting together with whole communities and having a big lunch together. Team Green Britain then rewards people for their hard work with prizes like London 2012 tickets for example.

I think this could work as Team Green Sweden, Team Green Brazil and perhaps every other country. Rewarding people for doing good with big incentives, this in itself is a great idea to get people thinking more about the environment.

http://www.teamgreenbritain.org/

FreshSight is an innovative and unique proposition which was formed in Edinburgh, UK, in late 2007.

The organisation, formerly known as ‘The Edinburgh Group’, links university students to the Third-Sector in an unprecedented way.

FreshSight, now operative in Edinburgh and Glasgow, offers university students a chance to learn about consultancy skills in the area of business, but with a particular focus on the Third-Sector. It does this by giving weekly training sessions to students in the skills and tools needed to be a good consultant.

Simultaneously, these students are matched with a non-profit organisation in need of some kind of help or advice. The students carry out semester-long projects, pro-bono, which ultimately give the non-profit organisations valuable insights into ways in which their problems can be solved.

So, the benefits are three-fold:

1) Charities are able to receive well-researched advice by a team of talented and enthusiastic students, for free.

2) Students are able to “give something back” to their community, as well as learn skills that often prove invaluable in the workplace post-graduation.

3) The community as a whole becomes stronger and more integrated, with students and the Third-Sector no longer completely unrelated entities.

FreshSight believes that this model is special and unique, and could one day prove to be an inspiration for students and wider communities around the world.

www.freshsight.org