Miyuki Kinoshita and Helena Norberg-Hodge: Solidarity Economics- Solutions for Scaling Up Consumer Cooperatives & Local Economic Empowerment

How can we build our economy to ensure everyone has access to sustainable livelihoods and economic opportunities, and that this is done within ecological limits? Right Livelihood Laureates Miyuki Kinoshita of Seikatsu Club Consumers’ Cooperative (Japan) and Helena Norberg-Hodge of Local Futures (Global) provide important lessons and insights. The Seikatsu Club Consumers’ Cooperative combines formidable business and professional skills with strict social and ecological principles and a vision of a community- and people-centered economy that provides a radical alternative to both socialist and capitalist industrialization. Local Futures works to renew ecological, social, and spiritual well-being by promoting a systemic shift towards economic localization.