Value Collective supports work that is valuable, but not profitable, using alter-economic thinking and practice.
Valeur Collective soutient le travail qui a de la valeur mais qui n’est pas rentable, en utilisant la pensée et la pratique alteréconomique.
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What we do
Residencies
We host a community of value-driven initiatives. Residents meet regularly, share resources and collaborate.
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Experiments
We organize and participate in alter-economic experiments that decenter money and strengthen local economies.
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Research
We co-produce new knowledge on alter-economies through participatory research and academic collaborations.
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Outreach
We invite dialogue around systemic change through workshops, public engagements, and collaborations.
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About us
We are a collective of value-driven workers based in the former convent La Cité-des-Hospitalières in Tiohtià:ke, or Montreal. We focus on causes, issues, and projects that generate non-financial value, rather than money.
We believe that today’s financialized economy—by coupling basic needs like housing and workspace to large flows of money—excludes a vast variety of valuable, non-profitable work and makes it harder for the people doing it to survive.
To counter this trend and broaden the field of possibilities, we use four main strategies: Residencies, Experiments, Research and Outreach. These help us facilitate value-driven work, encourage new ways of thinking about value and economy, and achieve the following goals:
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Build an empowered and resilient network of value-driven workers supported by alter-economies
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Inspire economic transformation by showing how the nature of work changes when it is done by choice
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Bring more diversity to how we think, feel, act, and organize society
Glossary
Alter-economies
Alter-economies are different ways people work together to meet their needs, without using the usual money-focused approaches. Examples include gift-giving, bartering, time exchanges, new forms of currency, and building strong communities.
Financialization
When financial markets and motives take over, it’s called financialization. This means that decisions affecting the many are often made for profit, rather than social or environmental good.
Non-financial value
Non-financial value springs from all the activities that make life richer—like making and sharing art, protecting nature, and taking care of each other—which do not focus on money.
Value-driven work
Value-driven work happens when people choose to work for reasons they believe in, rather than a paycheck. It is powered by personal motivation and is often hard to turn into a business.
History
Emerging from a class project in 2020, Value Collective’s philosophy, strategy, and visual identity was prototyped by Madelyn Capozzi through a fellowship and multiple design competitions in 2021.
In 2022, Maya Jain, Thomas Heinrich, and Gabriel Townsend Darriau joined Madelyn to form the Value Collective Development Crew, piloting the project with support from the CMHC’s Housing Supply Challenge.
Today, it operates as a volunteer-run, unincorporated entity, collectively governed by its Residents.
Interested in collaborating?
Email us at:
value [dot] valeur [dot] collective [at] gmail.com