Uploaded February 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
How can we make our local communities healthy and resilient, and make sure that the voices and concerns of local people are heard? In this episode of the Planet Local Voices Series, Kate Taylor-Smith, Patricia Patterson Vanegas and Ben Christie, share their experience from Forest Row - a small town of 5000 people in East Sussex in the UK. They talk about localization and the process of building direct democracy, with genuine community representation in local, county and state-level governments.
It all started with FROCAL - a grassroots project that explores what the Forest Row might be like if they all lived and acted more locally. What would it mean for the sourcing of food, water and energy, for the local economy and livelihoods? Overall, the aim is to care for the land and each other to improve collective wellbeing.
Follow the Planet Local Voices interview series: localfutures.org/programs/planet-local-voices
Listen to this interview as a podcast: localfutures.org/programs/global-to-local/local-futures-podcast/localization-and-direct-democracy-in-forest-row-uk
Local Futures is an international non-profit organization, dedicated to renewing ecological and social well-being by strengthening communities and local economies. To learn more about our work, visit:
localfutures.org
Subscribe to our email newsletter:
localfutures.org/sign-up-to-our-newsletter
How can we make our local communities healthy and resilient, and make sure that the voices and concerns of local people are heard? In this episode of the Planet Local Voices Series, Kate Taylor-Smith, Patricia Patterson Vanegas and Ben Christie, share their experience from Forest Row - a small town of 5000 people in East Sussex in the UK. They talk about localization and the process of building direct democracy, with genuine community representation in local, county and state-level governments.
It all started with FROCAL - a grassroots project that explores what the Forest Row might be like if they all lived and acted more locally. What would it mean for the sourcing of food, water and energy, for the local economy and livelihoods? Overall, the aim is to care for the land and each other to improve collective wellbeing.
Follow the Planet Local Voices interview series: localfutures.org/programs/planet-local-voices
Listen to this interview as a podcast: localfutures.org/programs/global-to-local/local-futures-podcast/localization-and-direct-democracy-in-forest-row-uk
Local Futures is an international non-profit organization, dedicated to renewing ecological and social well-being by strengthening communities and local economies. To learn more about our work, visit:
localfutures.org
Subscribe to our email newsletter:
localfutures.org/sign-up-to-our-newsletter
