Remaking Money Symposium

on 23. April 2025

Social-Ecological Transformation through Local Money, Non-Profit Banking, and Commons Governance

📅 May 22–23, 2025
📍 Freie Gemeinschaftsbank, Basel

 

Over the past 25 years, local currency initiatives have been a pillar of grassroots monetary reform. While these projects have achieved important outcomes — most notably by expanding public understanding of what money is and how it could be designed differently to better serve people and the planet — they have largely fallen short of generating systemic impact for social-ecological transformation.

In today’s rapidly shifting political and economic landscape — marked by increasing interest in economic localization and the search for resilient, place-based solutions — the question is more urgent than ever:
Can local money play a more prominent and strategic role in driving meaningful transformation?
What institutional innovations, particularly the involvement of area municipalities and non-profit and public-interest banks, are needed to enhance their effectiveness?
And what governance frameworks are required to ensure that such monetary designs are both accountable and scalable?

The Remaking Money Symposium offers a forum for critical dialogue and collaboration among local currency activists, local stakeholders, financial innovators, and researchers. Together, we will examine the current status of local monetary experiments, assess their transformative potential, and explore what it means to truly remake money to enhance and serve a sustainable and just future – locally, socially and environmentally.

Programme Overview

📌 May 22 | Part 1: The Challenges of Local Money
Showcasing Local Currencies and Their Structural Challenges

Morning presentations will highlight local currency projects, focusing on their context, governance, and scaling challenges:

  • Contextual Frames

  • Management and Resilience of Local Currencies

  • Scaling Dynamics: Limits and Levers

Afternoon workshops will explore shared insights and dilemmas:

  • WS 1: Mapping Conditions of Emergence

  • WS 2: Mapping Managerial and Maintenance Challenges

  • WS 3: Mapping Growth Potentials and Growth Barriers

🕙 10:00–17:00 | Symposium Part 1
🕗 20:00–22:00 | Public Evening Panel

The evening session will feature a reflective dialogue with key contributors and open the floor to public discussion and questions.

📌 May 23 | Part 2: The Future of Local Money
From Innovation to Implementation: Designing Local Monetary Architectures

This day focuses on the design and implementation of future-ready monetary systems that align with institutional realities and systemic goals:

  • Multi-stakeholder design and governance frameworks

  • Monetary architecture for regional financial self-sufficiency

  • Implementation pathways and local embeddedness

Sessions include contributions from practitioners, public officials, and financial innovators.

🕘 09:00–17:00 | Symposium Part 2

How to Submit Your Contribution

Please send an email to: mail@ecoloc.org
Subject: Submission – Local Money Symposium 2025

Your submission should include:

  • Title of your contribution

  • Abstract (max. 300 words) outlining your topic, approach, and relevance

  • Your name, affiliation, and role

  • Short bio (2–4 sentences)

🗓 Deadline for submissions: Thursday, April 24, 2025
📬 Final programme will be shared: Monday, April 28, 2025

Language

The symposium will be conducted in English to support international participation.
Presenters from German- or Swiss-based initiatives are kindly asked to prepare their presentations in English. Selective translations will be available.

Confirmed Speakers (in presence):

  • Ester Barinaga, University of Lund

  • Paolo Dini, Informal Systems

  • Tomaz Fleischman, Informal Systems

  • Giuseppe Littera, Informal Systems (Sardex)

  • Goran Jeras, European Ethical Bank Initiative (EEB)

  • Jakub Lanc, South Moravia Development Agency (JINAG), University of Brno

  • Isidor Wallimann, Social Economy Basel

  • Stephan Dilschneider, Ecoloc