Build a living economy

Build a living economy is a construct that refers to the process of building a society that is centred on well-being. It is a visual way to describe an active society that is inclusive, vibrant, diverse, resilient and built to support human values. Build-A-LIVing-Economy recognises that a society centred on well-being is one that supports the natural environment.
Alexandra Hayles, social-innovator and Vin Sumner, Director, constructed in 2009 the idea of building a living economy. Since then, they have together with Irini Glyki, environmental physicist, developed the concept further.
Build-A-LIVing Economy links sustainability to transformation processes and illustrates how to bring about changes in life-style and culture . It refers to the importance of paying attention to processes in order to bridge the gap between the status quo and a more sustainable society. It is an alternative way of building society that is not based on consumerist goals but on values that e.g. sustain cooperation and sharing.
The approach taken is one that looks <big>beyond-enterprise</big>. That is, a society with informed choice as opposed to our current framework of perceived choice. Underlying this framework are concepts such as degrowth; system dynamics; complexity theory; advanced change management; participatory approaches; parallel currencies that build on social capital, humanity, collaboration, co-creation and new business models.
In order to facilitate change in the process of building a living economy, <big>social-energy</big> is required. A tool which is based on the sharing of environmental and social credits to enable citizen's to support themselves and their communities. Social energy is built on eco-positive behaviours to encourage sharing and joint action.

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