En quoi cette initiative est-elle unique ?
The Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative (BCDI) is a community-led effort to build an equitable, sustainable and democratic local economy that creates wealth and ownership for low-income people of colour. One of the primary ways it does this is by building a network of local leaders committed economic democracy, and helping them shift their organisations and institutions to take forward-looking, coordinated action to build shared wealth.
Résultats les plus remarquables
BCDI’s Planning and Policy Lab supports long-standing community-based organisations to develop community-driven solutions with additional research, enhanced analytical tools and strategy support. The Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative began when local grassroots organisations realised they needed to ensure that their communities, particularly working class people of colour who make up the majority of the Bronx’s 1.5 million residents, would be the primary decision-makers when it came to planning and economic development. They were galvanised by injustices such as the City’s disregard for a community-led plan to redevelop a vacant armory into much-needed schools, and its proposal instead for a shopping mall that would create low-quality jobs and threaten locally-owned businesses.
Over the past three years BCDI has trained over 250 Bronx residents – most of whom have been leaders or staff of community-based organisations – in principles of economic democracy and systems of cooperative ownership. In part due to these trainings, several of these organizations have shifted their work to support economic democracy. One has made it an explicit goal and is supporting the creation of a community land trust. Another, whose work has long centred on environmental justice and resiliency, is now advocating for community ownership of resilience infrastructure.
Citation du comité d'évaluation
"Plusieurs éléments sont très inspirants dans cette initiative, notamment des questions clés qui ne sont généralement pas abordées dans d'autres affaires, comme la justice raciale et la démocratie économique. En termes de stratégies, il est également remarquable de constater la conscience claire de la nécessité de passer de la résistance aux propositions, du barrio à l'échelle de la ville, et des besoins et objectifs à court terme à la transformation à long terme".
– Lorena Zárate
En savoir plus
Pour en savoir plus, vous pouvez lire cet article approfondi sur The IndypendentVous pouvez également télécharger le formulaire de candidature rempli par cette initiative pour participer au prix Villes Transformatrices.