Toward Socio-ecological Markets that strengthen regional commons.

The article describes practical strategies—such as making key natural assets inalienable, organizing bounded regional market networks, and using place-based currencies and pooled finance—to keep economic value circulating locally and support ecological stewardship.

The article outlines a range of strategies for building socio-ecological markets at the bioregional scale. It links current experiments and long-standing practices to the goal of keeping economic value circulating within regions. Key proposals include protecting shared assets from private sale, organizing interdependent local market networks, and developing new, place-grounded finance and governance forms. These ideas are presented as ways to strengthen social equity, ecological stewardship, and regional stability. Highlights: - Inalienable shared assets: The piece argues that keeping land, groundwater, housing, forests, and other natural assets off-limits to private purchase can prevent rent extraction and support long-term local access, with community land trusts like Agrarian Trust (US) and Terre de Liens (France) cited as examples. - Bounded market structures: Food-system work by Ken Meter and others organizes farmers, suppliers, processors, and distributors into interdependent regional "food webs" to reduce exposure to national and global market volatility and build local identity. - Peer-organized governance: Projects such as Float are experimenting with community-led innovation prioritization, open-source technologies, and commons-based infrastructures for agroecological sectors. - Stinted markets and gleaning: Historical practices that protected provisioning for commoners are noted, and modern adaptations (including gleaning) are discussed as ways to assure affordable local access. - Complementary bioregional currencies: Place-based currencies like BerkShares in western Massachusetts are presented as mechanisms to retain regional economic value and support local businesses. - Mutual credit and pooled funds: Timebanks, mutual-credit systems, crowdfunding platforms, and ROSCAs (rotating savings and credit associations) are described as existing models for community finance and exchange. Summary: These strategies are framed as ways to keep economic value circulating within regions, support social equity, and strengthen ecological stewardship. The article reports that many experiments are already underway across governance, currencies, production, and procurement. It identifies nurturing new, place-grounded modes of finance and cooperative relationships as an overarching next priority.