Living Together
Participatory governance, cooperatives, commons — new forms of the collective.
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Buying without speculating: the quiet revolution of community land trusts
For 40 years, community land trusts have proved that a family can own a home at an affordable price — and that it stays affordable for whoever comes next. A mechanism born in Burlington, flourishing in Brussels, now arriving in France.
Read article →In Oslo, 40% of Housing Is Participatory. This Is Not a Utopia.
Individualism as inevitable, cohousing reserved for idealists? Across Europe, tens of thousands of people prove otherwise — with measured data on loneliness, health and life satisfaction.
Read article →Participatory budgeting: water 75% to 98% in 10 years
Porto Alegre: water access 75%→98% in 10 years; health budgets nearly tripled. 7,000+ cities now use participatory budgeting — data over dogma.
Read article →The Citizens' Assembly: How Ordinary People Change Constitutions
Selected like jurors, 99 Irish citizens made possible what politicians had avoided for decades. Deliberative democracy works — here is the evidence, and its real limits.
Read article →Mondragon at 70: What the World's Largest Worker Cooperative Actually Proves
Founded in 1956, Mondragon brings together 70,000 worker-owners and posts a 97% survival rate over three decades. If the model is this solid, why does it remain marginal?
Read article →The Commons: How One Billion People Cooperate Without Markets or States
In 1968, Hardin theorised that shared resources inevitably get plundered. In 2009, Ostrom won the Nobel Prize for refuting that thesis with 800 real cases. Meanwhile, 10 million volunteers mapped the entire world for free.
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Briefs
Pontevedra pedestrianised its centre in 1999 — zero road deaths since 2011
In 1999, the Spanish city of Pontevedra pedestrianised 300,000 m² of its town centre and reduced traffic from 80,000 to 7,000 vehicles per day. Result: CO2 emissions down more than 70%, no fatal accident since 2011, and 12,000 new residents attracted to the city.
Read →Mondragon: the salary ratio that puzzles economists
A study by the International Cooperative Alliance published in late April 2026 highlights a striking figure: at Mondragon, the gap between the lowest and highest salary is 1 to 9. In a FTSE 100 company, it is 1 to 129.
Read →Porto Alegre: when residents decide how their city is built
In 1989, Porto Alegre handed part of its municipal budget to citizens. Within nine years, water and sewage connections rose from 75% to 98% of households. The model has since been replicated in more than 11,500 cities around the world.
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