[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6539\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EAlternative currencies in rapid growth phase \u2013 researchers\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s the kind of alternative, community-based system of exchange that is now in a rapid growth phase, researchers believe, as people respond locally to fight challenges like reducing CO2 emissions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnlike internet-based cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, these so-called complementary or community currencies are often centred around a specific region or conviction. The Belgian scheme, called Limburg.net, is run in conjunction with the local waste company and is focussed on getting people to behave sustainably.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The idea is to motivate people to have more environmentally friendly behaviour,\u2019 said Dr Georgina G\u00f3mez, a lecturer in local development at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018This is something useful, you help each other out, you build this community \u2026 and at the same time this is something that is good for you.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr G\u00f3mez is supervising the EU-funded MICCO project, which was born out of the Greek economic crisis of the start of the decade. Its objective is to use modelling techniques to analyse what makes a successful community currency.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018People feel that \u2026 because of the failings of the capitalist system in general, something needs to be done,\u2019 she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne example is the Bangla-Pesa scheme, set up in Mombasa, Kenya, in 2013 to help tackle poverty and make up for a shortage of Kenyan shillings.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMember businesses are given free Bangla-Pesa when they join the scheme, which they can then exchange for goods and services.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018It\u2019s helping micro, very, very small entrepreneurs, people who produce goods and services at home in extreme poverty,\u2019 said Dr G\u00f3mez. \u2018It has helped them to create more business, to be able to pay their children\u2019s school fees.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018If we could learn from these examples, I think that would be extremely useful.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAn EU-funded project, CCIA, produced a \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/community-currency.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ccia-book-people-powered-money.pdf\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ebook \u003C\/a\u003Eon how to set up alternative currency scheme.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWave\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy their nature, each community-based currency remains small enough not to fall under official financial regulations. However, the number of community currencies has already grown from a few hundred to a few thousand over the last 10 years.\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018You help each other out, you build this community\u2026 and at the same time this is something that is good for you.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EDr Georgina G\u00f3mez, Erasmus University, the Netherlands\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr G\u00f3mez believes that we are in the midst of a wave of growth in these schemes as people realise that they can tackle climate change by promoting sustainable behaviour or help to integrate refugees into European society.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s a belief shared by Dr Jose Luis de La Rosa Esteva, from the University of Girona, Spain, whose EU-funded project VirCoin2SME interviewed companies involved in alternative currency schemes that have been designed to help support local businesses.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe idea behind these types of schemes is that they encourage people to shop locally, and the project put together a series of recommendations for small businesses, which they tested in a pilot.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Complementary currencies create a circle of purchases,\u2019 he said. \u2018These complementary currencies lead to an increase of up to 10 % of the turnover of companies.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese kinds of clear economic benefits for small retailers will be a strong incentive, he thinks, for the number of schemes to grow rapidly.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Because they are specifically targeted to a community, a region, a city \u2026 they will tend to be small,\u2019 he said. \u2018But many will come up.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022 class=\u0022@alignleft@\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022Germany has the highest number of complementary currencies, but Spain has the most users. Figures are based on data from the Complementary Currency Resource Center\u0022 height=\u0022880\u0022 src=\u0022\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/AlternativeCurrencies-graphic.jpg\u0022 style=\u0022width: 100%;\u0022 title=\u0022Germany has the highest number of complementary currencies, but Spain has the most users. Figures are based on data from the Complementary Currency Resource Center\u0022 width=\u0022983\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003EGermany has the highest number of complementary currencies, but Spain has the most users. 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