The Schumacher Center has dedicated itself to building sustainable local economies that link people, land, and community. The Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures and resultant publications are a forum for visionary voices in this work. The Library provides a written record of theory and practice for shaping decentralized economies. Our model programs of citizen support for farmers and other small productive businesses provide working examples for communities concerned with the future of their local economies. For the purpose of sharing ideas and fellowship the Schumacher conferences gather together those hard at work developing innovative programs.
Over the past few years an increasing number of young people have been drawn to the work of the Schumacher Center because it offers practical steps for building more stable economies and communities. Like Gandhi, they feel intuitively that there is a limit to the effectiveness of protest, sensing that the truly radical approach is to shape an alternative to that which they oppose.
These young people bring new energy, new skills, new approaches, new contacts to the growing work of the Schumacher Center. They reinvigorate us, giving a young voice to the now classic body of thought and action. The Center’s content-rich web site reflects twenty-five years of the dedicated work of an earlier generation, but the site itself was built by a younger generation wishing to share the material in a contemporary format. Last month the site drew on average 5,800 “hits” per day.
Throughout its twenty five years the Center has been supported primarily by the generosity of its members—individuals who share a vision of a better world fashioned by a complex of vibrant and diverse regional economies and regional cultures. Our basic operating budget has grown from $2,500 in 1980 to $25,000 in 1985 to $280,000 in 2005. We still rely on donations from concerned individuals. There is much more to be done, but without your help it won’t happen.
Please add your support for the Schumacher Center with a 2005 tax-deductible membership gift at a level of your choice.