Staalvilla Cooperative
At the Staalvilla we're in the process of setting up a cooperative, why? The Staalvilla is part of the Tolhuistuin a so called: incubator or broedplaats. Amsterdam has the 'creative class' high on the agenda, and these incubators are part of their vision on how the cit should develop. But what is our possition is creatives in this? Especially we as small independent creatives, that are not primarily driven by earning money, but by doing the projects they believe in.
We as 'creatives' have to acknowledge that we are being instrumental:
- IN THE CITY’S IDENTITY A.K.A ‘CREATIVE CAPITAL
- IN THE CITY’S URBAN DEVELOPMENT A.K.A ‘BROEDPLAATS’ OR ‘INCUBATOR’
- IN THE GENERATION OF REAL ESTATE VALUE A.K.A ‘AWARENESS OF A PLACE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC’
- IN THE PROCESS OF ‘GENTRIFICATION’
We as 'creatives' are primary driven by oppurtinism:
- AS LONG AS THE RENT IS LOW ENOUGH
- AS LONG AS THERE ARE ‘KINDRED SPIRITS’ AROUND
It's all OK, because what we want is:
- AS LITTLE HASSLE AS POSSIBLE.
- TIME & SPACE TO CREATE.
So how do we move beyond being used by, the municipality and real estate developers, we could ask ourselves these questions:
ECONOMICALLY
- CAN’T WE GET A BETTER DEAL FOR ‘MAKING A PLACE’ ‘GENERATING REAL ESTATE VALUE’ THAN JUST A “LOW” RENT?
IDEOLOGICALLY
- AS ‘CHANGE AGENTS’ CAN’T WE PLAY A MORE MEANINGFUL ROLE BESIDES KICK-STARTING GENTRIFICATION?
SO: LET'S UNITE!
A perfect way to do this, where economic and ideological interests of the group 'small creatives' can be brougth together is in the cooperative model.
- DEFINITION: A co-operative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.
- VALUES: Co-operatives are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. In the tradition of their founders, co-operative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others. - More can be found here: Statement on the Co-operative identity
So what would be the objectives of a cooperative for small creatives are our interests:
ECONOMIC
- SHORT TERM: GET A BETTER DEAL - LONG TERM: DEVELOP OURSELVES
IDEOLOGIC
- SHORT TERM: GET INFLUENCE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH - LONG TERM: DEVELOP AND EXECUTE ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES OF CITY DEVELOPMENT IN WHICH ‘GENTRIFICATION’ IS COUNTERED
Now we'll work out what would be the first steps in terms of who to enter in dialogue with, and how to actually set up a cooperative in legal terms.
More next time ...
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