Uploaded February 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
We’re interviewing key players in the new economy, to:
a) bring their work to a wider audience
b) try to find ways to co-ordinate their efforts
c) stimulate debate
d) help to grow the new economy.
By new economy, we mean an economy whose component parts are democratic and non-extractive, rather than undemocratic and extractive.
Here, Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org chats with Alex Lawrie, founder director of Go-op, the Ecological Land Co-op and Somerset Co-operative Services.
Here's a transcript of the interview: lowimpact.org/co-operative-train-line-alex-lawrie
Highlights
1. Everyone accepts that the roads can help us get where we want to go without going into and back out of London. Why can’t we apply that logic to rail?
2. With community shares, even very capital-intensive enterprises, which had previously been thought of as something that co-ops couldn’t consider, can actually be taken on by organisations following co-operative principles.
3. Government always says it wants innovation, and for people to be able to try new things; but they inadvertently make decisions that wipe out an entire level of the business ecosystem, which means that smaller organisations can never build their way up to the higher levels. It effectively gives a monopoly to large corporations.
Dave Darby
lowimpact.org
noncorporate.org
Alex Lawrie
http://go-op.coop/
https://ecologicalland.coop/
http://www.somerset.coop/
We’re interviewing key players in the new economy, to:
a) bring their work to a wider audience
b) try to find ways to co-ordinate their efforts
c) stimulate debate
d) help to grow the new economy.
By new economy, we mean an economy whose component parts are democratic and non-extractive, rather than undemocratic and extractive.
Here, Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org chats with Alex Lawrie, founder director of Go-op, the Ecological Land Co-op and Somerset Co-operative Services.
Here's a transcript of the interview: lowimpact.org/co-operative-train-line-alex-lawrie
Highlights
1. Everyone accepts that the roads can help us get where we want to go without going into and back out of London. Why can’t we apply that logic to rail?
2. With community shares, even very capital-intensive enterprises, which had previously been thought of as something that co-ops couldn’t consider, can actually be taken on by organisations following co-operative principles.
3. Government always says it wants innovation, and for people to be able to try new things; but they inadvertently make decisions that wipe out an entire level of the business ecosystem, which means that smaller organisations can never build their way up to the higher levels. It effectively gives a monopoly to large corporations.
Dave Darby
lowimpact.org
noncorporate.org
Alex Lawrie
http://go-op.coop/
https://ecologicalland.coop/
http://www.somerset.coop/
