Mass Localism by Laura Bunt and Michael Harris

I want to recommend this paper that I have read today : Mass Localism. You can download it on the website of Nesta. Jonathan Kestenbaum, Chief Executive of Nesta, introduces this paper by saying that « the number of organisations exploring ingenious ways of supporting local solutions to big social challenges. This report sits within this wider movement and outlines our approach – an approach we call ‘mass localism’. »

In the part 2, the authors explains why localism works. They insist on the ‘scale-up’ local action, and on the communities : Small communities can help to tackle big social challenges, and then, can develop and implement new approaches locally, which can make them more effective (page 20 of the document). Finally, local groups can draw on existing social capital and motivate collective action. To sum-up, mass localism is about seeking distributed solutions to
problems and supporting communities to implement them.

If you want to know more about mass localism, go to Nesta’s website.