Merging New Institutions
Dear Friends,
Building sustainable local economies requires combining a number of new
institutions. In Small is Beautiful E. F. Schumacher called for a plethora
of diverse small-scale businesses, workers who own and manage the means of
production, the use of appropriate technology, affordable access to land,
cultural renewal, organic farming practices, ecological restoration, energy
conservation, and renewable sources of energy production. In isolation
these ideas supply needed changes to the current system. Applied together
they provide a path to a more sustainable future.
Community land trust founder Bob Swann believed that at the heart of
changing our current path is a reevaluation of the way we treat land. The
speculative market that has arisen around land ownership is having a
threefold effect: denying affordable access, tying up community capital, and
limiting local employment. Alternately, creating a trust for land excludes
the possibility of a profit from inflating land values, making productive
use the most profitable venture. When land is no longer viewed as an
investment in itself, capital is freed for other investment. Both of these
processes, access to useable land and the release of investment capital,
serve to create new employment opportunities. Our treatment of land is
primary to how we treat all other systems.
What are the characteristics of a community that realizes the possibility of
its resources? Here in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, the
Community Land Trust is providing an affordable means to homeownership for
forty local residents and land access to farmers who are providing organic
food to numerous local families. We have embarked on a community currency
program that is supporting local businesses and nurturing an environment for
new business creation. We are engaging in energy conservation measures and
discussions about the possibilities for renewable energy production. A new
vision of land ownership results from the merging of these actions. There
has been great progress, but there are still many options our community has
yet to explore.
On Martha’s Vineyard, John Abrams is applying a number of Schumacher’s ideas
with exceptional results. He is the co-founder and CEO of the South
Mountain Company (http://www.somoco.com), which for over thirty years has
designed and built homes using human-scaled, well-crafted, environmentally
sound architecture. The company is democratically managed and worker owned,
providing employees with a say in everyday practices and decisions.
Abrams is chairman of the Island Affordable Housing Fund
(http://www.islandaffordable.org), which has completed a first-ever housing
needs assessment of Martha's Vineyard and helped thirty-three families move
into affordable houses of their own. He is also vice-chairman of the Island
Housing Trust (http://www.islandhousingtrustmv.org), a community land trust
"bridg[ing] the gap between the island’s increasingly high property values
and the families and individuals who live and work here earning low and
moderate incomes."
John Abrams is a frequent speaker on affordable housing, socially
responsible business, and ecological buildings. His articles about green
building and workplace democracy have appeared in national publications such
as Business Ethics and Fine Homebuilding. South Mountain Company and its
work have been featured in The New York Times, Environmental Building News,
and Solar Today. Abrams has contributed to How Buildings Learn (Viking
Press), The Naturally Elegant Home (Little Brown), and The Healing House
(Hay House).
His most recent book, The Company We Keep: Reinventing Small Business for
People, Community, and Place, published by Chelsea Green Publishing
(http://www.chelseagreen.com), demonstrates that one can bring commendable
personal values to the workplace, protect natural resources, uphold high
standards of craftsmanship, control growth, and still run a successful (and
highly collaborative) enterprise.
John Abrams is bringing his projects together in such a way that he is
providing a framework for the sustainability of Martha’s Vineyard. He sees
that planning for worker ownership and management, community ownership of
land, green building and design, and affordable housing are all part of
creating a just society that supports and cares for all its citizens. His
work is building a better community for his neighbors and providing all of
us with a vision of the integrated path we must take to achieve sustainable
communities.
The Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires will be hosting John
Abrams as part of its annual meeting at 4 pm on January 27, 2008, at the
First Congregational Church in Great Barrington, MA. Tickets are 5
BerkShares at the door. For more information, call (413) 528.1737 or visit
http://www.clandtrust.org.
This event is co-sponsored by the E.F. Schumacher Society.
Sincerely
Michael Gordon on behalf of the
Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires
P. O. Box 276
Great Barrington, MA 01230
(413) 528.1737
efssociety@smallisbeautiful.org
www.clandtrust.org
Board of Directors: Christopher Blair, Deborah Brantner, Harry Conklin,
Peter Flemming, David Long, Lita Moses, Kathy Orlando, John Root, Sr., and
Alex Thorp
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