Rural Urban Synthesis Society at Sanford

The Rural Urban Synthesis Society and Living Space Housing Co-op are hosting an event at Sanford on 8th & 9th December called A Positive Development, Watergate SE13. 

Very excitingly they'll be discussing getting their hands on some derelict land and doing something good with it. 

This is their vision:

Imagine a community that generated more energy than it consumed.

Imagine a community that produced food instead of waste.

Imagine a community that made the environment healthier and more fertile with time.

Now imagine this community was your community.

This is our vision.

See James in H12 for more details.

Cooperatives: globalisation from below?

Found on a stand at the Cooperatives United expo:

Cooperatives United expo - #1

Three members of Sanford recently went up to Manchester to visit the Cooperatives United world festival and ICAexpo - the culmination of UN's International Year of the Coop 2012.

There was lots to see and do at the expo, and it was great to see all sorts of cooperatives represented. Each of our members will report their highlights on the blog; the first comes from Craig in House 12, who's done a run down of his best bits:

Craig's Top 6 Cooperatives United moments

1. The Cooperative Party. Did you know that there's a Co-operative political party? They're closely aligned with Labour and have 29 joint Labour/Cooperative MPs in parliament - all of whom are joint candidates. Ed Balls MP, the Shadow Chancellor, is the most prominent Labour/Cooperative candidate.

2. Co-op Marque. The International Cooperatives Alliance (ICA), who organised the expo, are considering putting together a marque, like the Fairtrade symbol, to show which brands and products are cooperatively made.

3. Co-ops on Film. There were a number of films shown at the expo about cooperatives and cooperation. They included Together, Four Horsemen, The Take and The Rochdale Pioneers.

4. Revolver Records. The first record label to sign the Stone Roses also has a commodities arm, which is run as a workers co-op. They sell coffee, tea and cakes from their HQ in Wolverhampton.

5. Coop URL shortener. Shorten your URLs the cooperative way with s.coop

6. The Smile Bus. Co-operatives UK, the body that officially registers all cooperatives in the UK, have been touring the country with their 'Smile Bus' to promote the UN's International Year of the Coop 2012. And Sanford was splashed all across the side of it - looking suitably smiley!