The 1960’s saw Melbourne, Australia sprawling out from Port Phillip Bay into the beautiful green hills that stretch away from the water. Both the city’s population and housing speculation boomed. Developers snatched up land, segmented it into lots, prepped it for construction—tearing out trees and installing streets, sidewalks and utilities—and then sold bits of land […]

What are New Generation Co-operatives and how are they governed? This Prezi will take you through the basics.

A local chemist has a clear picture of a community’’s health needs. In 2004, Brian Frith, the chemist in Charnwood, on Canberra’s northern fringe, compared notes with the organiser of the Neighbourhood Watch group, Roger Nicoll, and with Michael Pilbrow, the chair of his primary school’s Parents and Citizens Committee. All three were concerned that […]

Saturday morning, 6:00 am. The sun is beginning to rise over the Reconcavo, and the landscape is plunged into an intense, lush green light. The four farmers and neighbours Fernando Alvez, Luiz Ribeiro, Eduardo da Cruz and Evaldo Gonzago have been working for around two hours, and have already loaded the 40 year old Ford-pick-up, […]

From the early 1980s, the big banks deserted many smaller country centres in New South Wales. The Community Mutual Group (CMG) stepped into that role, retaining and extending local branches and agencies as well as maintaining local decision-making and the friendly face of local banking. Today CMG is the largest inland credit union in Australia […]