The International Journal of Community Currency Research (IJCCR) is a small, online journal that is run from the School of Environmental Science at the University of East Anglia. We have just edited a special edition which details some of the recent developments in the field of complementary currencies. Experiments in community and complementary currencies have been ongoing since the early 1980s. Over this period there has been increasing awareness, diffusion and experimentation in the field. The joint stimuli of economic and ecological crises now appears to be underpinning a new wave of experimentation.
The special edition contains fifteen short papers encompassing discussions of the wider field, geographic reviews and reports on new forms of currency innovation. The edition highlights the growing range of experiments and contexts within which complementary currencies are being mobilised to solve economic, social and environmental problems. It includes papers on
- Developments in Greece, Germany, Japan and South America
- A range of new models including the Transition Currencies (UK), The SOL (France) and the Kekfrank (Hungary)
Many of these currency experiments could be considered as forms of grassroots innovation in that they originate from within civil society. Increasingly systems are also being developed that are linked explicitly to sustainability objectives.
A complete version of the PDF and separate papers can be downloaded from the IJCCR website: www.ijccr.net
Grassroots Innovations 