Localization
a solution-multiplier
Let’s imagine a very different world, one in which most of your food comes from nearby farmers who ensure food security year round, in which children are free to explore their world safely under the watch of neighbors who you trust.
Imagine the money you spend on everyday goods continuing to recirculate in the local economy. Imagine local businesses providing ample, meaningful employment opportunities. Economic localization can make these visions a reality for all.
Localization is about bringing the economy back to a human scale. It is the process of building economic structures that allow the goods and services a community needs to be produced locally and regionally whenever possible. This can strengthen community cohesion and lead to greater human health and material well-being, all while reducing pollution and degradation of the natural world.
Localization isn't about ending all trade. Communities can still export surpluses once local needs are met, and they can still import goods that can’t be produced locally. But localization allows local, regional, and even national self-reliance to replace dependence on distant, unaccountable corporations.
Localization does not mean total isolation. Localized economies are a reflection of particular cultures, resources and needs, but they still encourage the free exchange of knowledge and ideas across borders. In fact, localization requires international collaboration to address global problems and to forge agreements to scale back the rapacious power of global corporations and banks.
What are the benefits of going local?
A worldwide shift towards localized economies would bring many big-picture changes as well, encompassing nearly every issue that activists are currently working to tackle. Use the tabs below to explore each of these changes in more detail:
Improving mental health
Improving mental health
Reducing the scale of economic activity is essential for slowing climate change and reversing ecological degradation. This doesn’t mean our quality of life will also be reduced: place-based economies excel at promoting both human well-being and environmental health. For example, small-scale ecological farms produce more food per acre than industrial monocultures, while also supporting soil health and wildlife.
Increasing place-based jobs
Increasing place-based jobs
Stricter regulation of global corporations and banks, coupled with the revitalization of local businesses and local food systems, would lead to an increase in place-based jobs that directly contribute to community health and prosperity.
Reducing global poverty
Reducing global poverty
An emphasis on local production for local markets would lead countries in the global South – which currently export vast quantities of food, timber, minerals, and commodities – to instead preserve these resources for their own use and for future generations. 550 Million people in Asia, Africa, and Oceania could be fed from land that has been taken over by foreign governments and corporations.
Invigorating democracy
Invigorating democracy
Localization shifts power away from huge corporations, giving ordinary people a bigger voice in the democratic process. The localization movement has enormous potential to help us move beyond the entrenched Left/Right divide: it upholds the livelihoods of small-business owners while addressing the concerns of environmentalists, and can appeal to free market conservatives as much as to progressive socialists.
Making business more accountable
Making business more accountable
The huge distances involved in global trade make it impossible for most people to know the impacts of their purchasing decisions. Because local economies shorten the distances between producers and consumers, it becomes easier to know whether your food was grown with respect for the land, and whether your clothes were made by workers who were treated well and paid fairly.
Bridging divides
Bridging divides
Local economies help heal religious, ethnic and intergenerational rifts by promoting greater interdependence and more frequent interpersonal interactions. They also foster personal, economic and political security and minimize the fear and divisiveness on which authoritarian leaders thrive.
Slowing urban sprawl
Slowing urban sprawl
Many people face psychological, economic, and political pressure to move from villages to urban centers. Nearly half of the world’s population still lives on the land. These people have a smaller ecological footprint and a greater degree of
self-reliance than their urban counterparts. Localization encourages investment in place-based resources and jobs, helping stem the tide of urbanization and leading to a better balance between urban and rural.
Increasing happiness
Increasing happiness
Local economies contribute to a more grounded sense of self at the individual level because their personal validation depends on face-to-face interpersonal relationships, rather than digital media and consumerism. Strong community networks also reduce pressure on families, counteract the spread of depression, and create a sense of purpose and fulfillment among their members.
How can we shift from global to local?
Top-down policy changes and bottom-up grassroots initiatives are both needed to strengthen local economies and communities. A strategic restructuring of economic supports and policies would create the conditions for grassroots localization initiatives to flourish and multiply. For example, ending subsidies for fossil fuels, pesticides, mechanized agriculture, and long-distance trade would enable healthy local food to become the most affordable and accessible food on the market. We can increase the pressure on our governments to make policy changes, such as:
Planet Local library
Local initiatives are a necessary part of building a new economy from the ground up. Millions of local and regional enterprises are already demonstrating that they can do a better job providing for basic needs – including the fundamental human need for community – than the handful of giant corporations that currently dominate the world’s economy.
We've collected scores of examples of successful projects happening right now in our Planet Local library. View four examples below and browse the library for more inspiration:
Find out more
Dive deeper into the drivers and impacts of globalization, find out about Big Picture Activism, and find tools and resources in our Action Guide. Choose one of the topics below to find out:
