They are not new, but refill shops are growing in popularity. The UK for example, “now has hundreds of refill or zero-waste shops, helping people reduce packaging.” I’m posting this short article for a few reasons, first because it’s interesting to see how value-based commerce can often be better integrated into their neighbourhood while also including other good practices. Gather, whose founder is interviewed in the article, holds events to gather (pun intended) the community in her space but also built it up differently than other businesses.

Excellent short introduction on the city of Bologna, Italy, and why its history lends itself very well to a culture of co-ops. Over the last few decades, it’s been in the habit of various instances there to have the city act as both a “top-down catalytic developer” and as “backers of bottom-up grassroots movements,” combining the two approaches and cultivating complementary initiatives, which results in stronger partnerships that strengthen the local ecosystem.