As a serial social entrepreneur in poverty alleviation and mindset shift, Runa is constantly pioneering new ways of learning, working, and living together. Runa's journey starts with her upbringing and the influential role of her parents in cultivating a lifelong...
THe MArches hive
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In 1997 the Robert Owen Group launched a co-operative school centred initial teacher training project through the Marches Consortium and in partnership with the University of Gloucester. The scheme rapidly grew and became the largest of its type in the United Kingdom , successfully training over 3,700 post graduates who now work in our schools and colleges with many at senior leadership levels. Alongside this we launched a Master’s level programme for trainers in schools and for former trainees and teachers to access as career progression.
It became clear that the absence of an institute of higher education in the Marches sub region posed a real impediment to developing research, seminal thinking and platonic discourse. We often ignore the valuable infrastructure that comes with a quality centre of higher education. The Directors of the Marches Consortium developed a Robert Owen Learning Academy in Leominster and encouraged many ‘hub’ schools to have satellite post graduate libraries for their ‘clusters’.
This is all now background history but our 1998 creation of “query” as a radical journal of left field thinking has now in 2021 led to the addition of this section to the Marches Hive website. We want to stimulate thinking, discussion and the sharing of relevant news and knowledge.
We called the original 1990’s journal query because our minds turned to the creation in the 1870’s of the Tredegar Medical Aid Society which started life as as ‘Health and Education Fund’. In 1920 Walter Conway , Aneurin Bevan and others formed the radical Query Club as a new development. The Club was a cross between a debating society, a mutual support group , a focus for sharing contemporary knowledge and a body set on advancing radical thinking to address the issues of the day. In those times adult education was very much in cells following on the model of the early Methodist house groups.
We believe the challenges of today in many ways mirror those of one hundred years ago and we do encourage everyone’s to engage with query and to share your thoughts, views, knowledge and understanding so that we can all grow together . Thank you
News Articles
Co-op Credit Union offers affordable electric transport loans to Midcounties colleagues
The deal, which will help staff buy Silence scooters, is part of the co-op movement's efforts to tackle climate change Employees at Midcounties Co-op will be offered loans for electric scooter-style motorcycles under a new partnership between the retailer, Co-op...
Care, co-ops and the common good: Can we protect our health from the profit motive?
'In an increasingly crowded planet with limited resources, humanity cannot afford to stand by and watch competition for private gain dominate the world' “The profit motive does not sit well with care of any kind”. These are the words of Greater Manchester mayor Andy...
Sundance Housing Co-op
Sundance Housing Co-operative is dedicated to sustainable living. Sundance’s first homes were occupied in 1979. After operating for more than 40 years, this Edmonton co-op has begun a deep energy retrofit (DER) project to increase the energy efficiency of their Main...
Fraserview Co-op
This year, families started moving into the first phase of Fraserview Housing Co-op in Vancouver on the north bank of the Fraser River. Developed in partnership with the City, this innovative project will provide affordable community housing desperately...
Faethorne Place Housing Co-op
Faethorne Place Housing Co-op has taken the greening of its co-op to another level. This Sarnia, Ontario, co-op already had a large community garden with 16 plots. What it needed next to become a green leader was a greenhouse. Now it has one, thanks to a $4,000...
Unified Saint John Housing Co-op
In 2012, nine small Saint John, New Brunswick, co-ops got together and realized they shared similar goals and values. They wanted strong governance, engaged community building and acknowledgement of the changing needs of their members. But most importantly, they...
CIVIL SOCIETY, Part 2, Community Cohesion
Many thanks to those of our readers who offered thoughts on our first article on Civil Society. Responses came through Facebook and Twitter and tended to focus upon the rather vague concept they felt we offered of civil society. We accept that these comments are valid...
Lambeth Community Solar: A co‑operative career springboard
Lambeth Community Solar not only works to combat the climate crisis and improve the quality of life for local people, it also empowers individuals and gives them the opportunity to develop crucial skills. When 31-year-old Masharof Ahmed lost his job in a...
HM Queen Elizabeth ll – A tribute
The Directors, members and staff of the Robert Owen Society share the family grief and sense of national loss of our Queen. She was an emblem of our Nation for most of our lives such that so many of us measured our lives against hers. The national grief is very...
CIVIL SOCIETY
PART 1 – WHERE WE ARE TODAY By Amelia Washbourne and Christopher Morgan We feel that through query we now need to raise the level of Socratic discussion if we are to salvage some vestiges of UK democracy. At one level civil society can be understood as society...
