Alternative Economic Models

A working group for Fibershed Chapter Affiliate Organizers

With a cohort of co-organizers from the NY, SE New England, Acadiana, and Scotland Fibersheds, we conduct monthly meetings to explore how Fibershed organizations can enable financially viable local textile economies that grow and distribute resources and empower participants equitably. 

A local textile economy is one in which all supply chain participants, from raw material producers to retailers, are members of a common bioregion. This Working Group will introduce alternative frameworks to structure our respective fibershed organizations, extending to bioregional Fibershed hubs that connect and grow into emergent textile ecosystems across the world. Alternative economic models will create pathways for social, cultural, and philosophical well-being through the production and exchange of fibers and textiles.