[post_thumbnail size="550"]
Fundación Pachamama has begun pilot projects with three credit and savings cooperatives to encourage local sustainable development in Ecuador. These pilot programs create business and commercial networks and self-employment initiatives that use a local form of complementary payment to promote greater local consumption and production and greater recirculation of local resources. The projects are affiliated with the National Network of Popular Finances and Solidarity of Ecuador (RENAFIPSE in Spanish).
After focusing on capacity building and adapting to internal processes, the projects will begin at full scale next month. Various workshops have been held with the administration and staff of each of the cooperatives to develop methodologies so that communities can adapt to the implementation of these new systems. Two promoters have been hired for each cooperative project that will be in charge of communicating project information on all levels. Furthermore, various promotional materials have been developed so that people in the communities can be appropriately informed of the benefits that local exchange networks can generate.
In December, workshops were held with the Central Bank of Ecuador and the Forth National Encounter. In this last meeting, STRO Foundation of the Netherlands had an important role in presenting their work on a global level, and Fundación Pachamama presented the work that is being developed in the three cooperatives. RENAFIPSE has great expectations of promoting the project of complementary currency systems to generate sustainable community development, with integral participation of credit and saving cooperatives as the driving force behind the economy.
