What is in the book?

The book is divided into two parts. Part One gives a non-technical overview of the potential benefits and major pragmatic considerations of community currency projects. As such, it may be particularly useful for those in the policymaking world or people new to the field.

Chapter 1 discusses the rich and varied ancestry of complementary currencies, placing the subsequent sections within a historical legacy.

Chapter 2 then turns to the objectives of community currencies and emphasises the importance of an outcomes-led approach to their design. We focus on four areas of impact that currencies often address: raising the quality of public services; supporting small businesses and the local economy; addressing social inclusion and building social fabric; and improving environmental sustainability.

Chapter 3 gives an overview of the kinds of stakeholders community currency projects typically engage with, and what levels of commitment and contribution can be expected from each. Some of the challenges associated with undertaking such a large, complex and multi-partner project are also discussed. From here, Part Two moves on to consider the ‘nuts and bolts’ of currency design, delivery and implementation. Although this section is necessarily more technical, we hope that the material will be equally valuable and accessible to both unfamiliar and specialist readers.

Chapter 4 summarises the major considerations of designing a currency and – while emphasising that each community currency is unique – provides a set of guiding principles for any currency design process.

We then go on to discuss in greater depth some of the technical design features that community currencies commonly incorporate in Chapter 5.

Moving beyond community currency design features themselves, in Chapter 6 we cover the wider challenges of making a currency project a success. A currency can be fantastic ‘on paper’ – so to speak – but without a sound organisational structure or secure funding channels, it can be difficult to get off the ground.

Chapter 7 focuses on developing an effective communications strategy, something essential for getting a currency project going and bringing the necessary people on board at each stage.

Finally, Chapter 8 covers the evaluation of a currency project. For both individual community currencies and the field as a whole, it is essential to build up a rigorous body of evidence in order to learn what works and what doesn’t, which design features are effective – or ineffective – in different circumstances and how projects can be further refined and improved.

We have avoided overly specialised terminology, but a certain amount of technical vocabulary is unavoidable.

We have included a glossary to cover all of the technical terms used – all entries are underlined in the body of the book for easy reference. The ‘Further Reading’ section includes books, publications and online resources for those wishing to go deeper into the community currency field.

Also included are a number of case studies of ‘currencies in action’. With these we aim to make the book less abstract and give the reader practical examples so as not to get bogged down in the technicalities.

For easy reference, each currency case study is marked with one or more symbols indicating its major objectives. These symbols recur throughout the book and are detailed on page 24 and 25: Democratising services and organisations Supporting the SME economy Countering inequality and social exclusion Addressing environmental impacts CCIA currency The index at the back of the book will help readers to navigate the case studies of over 30 currencies included, as well as further mentions of their features throughout the book. For more information on each currency, and the concepts and terms that surround them, visit our online resource: community-currency.info.

Though re-engineering money is no simple feat, we hope that these examples – and indeed the book in general – help to make currency design and implementation a more tangible, appealing and feasible idea for more people.