mercoledì 15 maggio 2013

2nd International Conference on Complementary Currency Systems

Multiple moneys and development: making payments in diverse economies

http://www.iss.nl/research/conferences_and_seminars/periodic_conferences_debates_and_seminars/complementary_currency_systems/

2nd International Conference on Complementary Currency Systems (CCS)

19 – 23 June 2013

About the conference
Structure of the Conference
Registration, fees and important details
1. The academic conference
2. Policy makers and government officials conference
3. Practitioners, doers, grassroots organizations
ISS Organizing Committee

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

The conference will be hosted by the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of the Erasmus University, located in The Hague. It seeks to discuss the social, economic and political significance of multiple currency systems for development.

The conference is bilingual (English and Spanish), with sessions organized in either language. It offers space to academics, local government officials and practitioners alike to organize panels, workshops, and other session formats that participants see fit to stimulate the exchange of ideas and experiences.

Community and complementary currency systems include initiatives like the LETS, time banks, the Argentine Redes de Trueque, the Ithaca Hours in the USA, the German Regiogeld, the Brasilian community banks with surrogate currencies, the SOL currency in France, the ‘Transition Towns’ in the UK, the RES in Belgium and the Wir in Switzerland, mobile-phone payment systems in Uganda and Kenya, and for digital remittances in El Salvador.

STRUCTURE OF THE CONFERENCE

The conference will get together academics, local government officials and other policy makers, practitioners and representatives of grassroots organisations related to Complementary Currency Systems. The conference will have three strands with special events for each one of these publics (more information on each one of them below)

Day 1 & Day 2 (June 19 and June 20) specialized events for academics. This strand of the conference is organized by the Civic Innovation Research Initiative at ISS. More information here.

Day 3 (June 21) specialized events for local government officials and policy-makers. This strand of the conference is organized by QOIN. More information here.

Day 4 & day 5 (June 22 and June 23) are open events for representatives of grassroots organisations, doers, practitioners and activists. More information here.

REGISTRATION, FEES AND IMPORTANT DETAILS

Registration opens on the 1^st of March 2013, at 09:00. All participants are requested to register on-line for each one of the three strands of events. The relevant registration form can be found in the section for 1) academics, 2) local government officials and policy makers, or 3) practitioners and grassroots organisations.

Provisional programme

LOCATION: International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University of Rotterdam
Address:
Kortenaerkade 12
2518 AX The Hague
The Netherlands
Phone:
+31 70 426 0460

Directions from the airport:

Participants arriving in The Netherlands will land at Schiphol Airport, near Amsterdam. The distance from the airport to The Hague is about 40 kilometres and the train provides the fastest and cheapest way to reach The Hague. The use of a taxi between Schiphol and The Hague is very expensive. Although ISS is part of Erasmus University of Rotterdam, the ISS is located in THE HAGUE. Please make sure that you take the train to DEN HAAG (Dutch for THE HAGUE) and not to Rotterdam. You can check the timetable at www.ns.nl

You should buy a one way train ticket to DEN HAAG and a one way ticket costs about 8 Euro. The train takes approximately 45 minutes to reach The Hague. The train usually leaves from platform 5, but please check this when you buy the ticket. The Hague has 2 train stations, 'Den Haag Centraal Station'(CS) and 'Den Haag Hollands Spoor' (HS). Both are equally convenient.

Public transport in The Hague:

From Centraal Station (CS): Tram 17 or Bus 22 and 24 Stop: Mauritskade
From Hollands Spoor (HS): Tram 1 Stop: Mauritskade

At both stations you will also taxis. Ask the driver to take you to Kortenaerkade 12. The taxi ride will cost approximately 12 Euro.

Click here for directions with Google Maps

Accomodation:

The registration fee does not include accomodation. Please find here information about hotels we have agreed a special rate for the conference.

For the CCS2013 participants, the Parkhotel Den Haag has made us a special group offer of Euro 100 for single rooms, Euro 120 for a double room with single occupancy, and 135 Euro for a double room with double occupancy. All prices include breakfast with organic products.

When making your reservation in the Park Hotel Den Haag or any of the other hotels mentioned, make sure to mention that you are a participant of the CCS Conference at the ISS.

1. THE ACADEMIC CONFERENCE

The 2nd International Conference on Complementary and Community Currency Systems invites you to explore the ways in which CCS and the multiplicity of monetary circuits affect local development, households’ welfare, governance and civil society organizations. It follows from the previous International Conference on Complementary and Community Currencies organised in Lyon in February 2011.

The concept of development has a variety of meanings to different social groups, including economic and environmental sustainability, community resilience after shocks, political autonomy, and culturally embedded economic systems. Moreover, the conference seeks to consolidate the practice of meeting every two years to share and discuss research in the area of CCS, the ontology of money and alternative economic systems with own means of payment. The conference seeks to advance knowledge on three aspects of CCS: 1) Their innovativeness; 2) Their viability, and 3) Their Impact. Papers will be arranged around these three aspects. The academic closing will summarize the collective learning achieved in them, which will later be reflected in the conference publications.

How to participate:

There is a registration fee of 200 euros for the academic strand of the conference. It includes conference materials, access to conference papers, free wifi, cultural events and all meals on 19th June and 20th June (coffee, lunch and dinner on both days). You can pay using Paypal, iDeal (Dutch banking payment system) or your credit card. You can also make a direct transfer to the bank account of the International Institute of Social Studies. Once you submit your registration form you will receive an automatic confirmation and you will be redirected to a secure online payment page. Only those participants that have received a waiver by e-mail are exempted from paying conference fees.

If you wish to stay after the academic strand of the conference to attend the Policy makers - Local government officials’ Meeting (June 21st) and/or the Practitioners / Grassroots Organisations Meeting (June 22nd and June 23rd), please send us an e-mail (space is limited) to ccsconf@iss.nl

To register, please fill in this form for Academics

Keynote speakers on the academic event:

	Professor Katherine Gibson, Institute of Culture and Society (ICS), University of Western Sydney, Human and Economic Geography, Australia www.communityeconomies.org
	Akinobu Kuroda is professor of Financial History at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia at the University of Tokyo 'Locality of Money Ubiquitous through Human History' Abstract The global history of money is full of local colour. Some communities, such as early modern England and Japan depended on communal credit to make transactions. And certain merchants, like those in traditional China, shared an accounting unit which was different from the one used outside their town or business. Some municipal governments or institutions, such as the chambers of commerce in USA in the midst of Great Depression, issued currencies acceptable within their spheres. Less grand-scale, but just as important schemes were set up by smaller communities. Currencies supplied by unofficial agents like a grocery or a liquor shop were often in circulation among locals, although they did not have any legal guarantees nor were they intrinsically valued. Local currencies appeared in varied forms, from cowry shells to paper notes. Some of them appeared as solutions to specific emergencies.However, the frequent emergence of currencies at the local level suggests that locality may be one of the necessary characteristics and basic preconditions for currencies to become generally acceptable, instead of just a temporary solution. The ubiquity of local currencies throughout history suggests that both state oriented perspectives on the acceptability of currencies (macro point of view) and individually based perspectives (micro) are inadequate to explain the emergence of money.
	Professor Keith Hart is Extraordinary Visiting Professor in the Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship and Co-Director of the Human Economy Program at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He is also Professor of Anthropology Emeritus at Goldsmiths, University of London and Honorary Professor of Development Studies, University of Kwazulu-Natal, Durban.

2. POLICY MAKERS AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS CONFERENCE

Today’s governments are confronted with enormous challenges: a pressing need to cut in public budget expenditures. Complementary currencies seem to be a potential instrument for governments that can be employed to realize specific social goals while saving on the expenses of (ordinary) money and public expenditures. Globally, a vast amount of diverse complementary currencies is in place. These programs try to solve very specific social issues within society.

Complementary currencies depart from the notion that money is essentially a human invention and instrument to influence the relations between citizens and organizations. A solid theoretical framework legitimizes this idea and in the past hundred years a lot of experimentation and experience was picked up with realizing social goals by the implementation of complementary currencies.

However, intelligence on complementary currencies is dispersed: there’s an abundance of authors, academics and experts that have published books, websites, articles and leaflets and organized seminars, congresses and workshops. Information is often insufficiently documented and on some relevant subjects sources seem to be contradictory. This body of knowledge aims for bringing understanding and clarity; it provides an overview of the most important complementary currencies that exist today. Its goal is to provide and disclose information in an impartial manner, making it easier to apply and integrate knowledge on complementary currencies to real issues.

How to participate:

There is a registration fee of 200 euros for the strand of the conference specialized in policy makers and local government officials. It includes conference materials, access to conference papers, free wifi, cultural events and all meals on 21st June. You can pay using Paypal, iDeal (Dutch banking payment system) or your credit card. You can also make a direct transfer to the bank account of the International Institute of Social Studies. Once you submit your registration form you will receive an automatic confirmation and you will be redirected to a secure online payment page. Only those participants that have received a waiver by e-mail are exempted from paying conference fees.

If you wish to participate in the academic strand of the conference (June 19th and June 20th) and/or the Practitioners / Grassroots organizations Meeting (June 22nd and June 23rd), please send us an e-mail (space is limited), to ccsconf@iss.nl

To register, please fill in the form for government officials/policy makers

This strand of the conference is organized by www.qoin.org as part of the EU Interreg fundedCommunity Currency in Action project.

3. PRACTITIONERS, DOERS, GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATIONS

Following the experiences and feedback of the first International Conference on Complementary Currency Systems in Lyon, February 2011, these two day following the academic and policy-makers orientated days oft he 2nd International Conference of Complementary Currency Systems are dedicated to practitioners, doers, organizers, advocates, networkers and activists in the field of complementary and community currencies.

Objectives and Programme

These two days will provide participants with an opportunity to meet, interact, exchange, collaborate, teach, train, learn, develop, work, plan, strategize and explore the present and future of the community currency “movement“ together.

In the spirit of true participation, this event will be organized in an “Open Space“ format, allowing the participants themselves to determine the topics and objectives of the individual sessions.

Prior to the event, registered participants will be invited to suggest topics and sessions in an on-line process.

How to participate:

The event will take place at the same venue as the the other meetings on preceding days, or within walking distance from there. Participation in these two days is free of charge, but registration is obligatory.

The working language of these two days will be English, but break-out session in other languages are welcome and impromptu translation for plenary sessions will be organized.

Please complete the practitioners registration form to participate in this strand only.

For any particular questions, please contact Leander Bindewald at ccia@neweconomics.org

The practitioners event is co-organized with the EU funded Community Currency in Action project represented by the New Economics Foundation in London, the Banco Palmas Institute Europe and FMCV.