Reports

How Can Municipalities Help Local Currencies Flourish?

Across Europe, municipalities are increasingly exploring local currencies as tools to strengthen local economies, enhance community resilience, and support sustainability goals. But how exactly do local governments become involved in these initiatives? What motivates them to act, and what roles do they take up in these projects? Our upcoming research investigates the key factors that shape municipal engagement with local currencies, drawing on real-world experiences from across the NGI LocalforLocal project.

This study examines how complementary currencies and municipalities can form effective partnerships. Based on case studies and interviews with officials, project partners, and practitioners, the research uncovers what has worked, what hasn’t, and what new opportunities are emerging. We look at how municipalities approach these projects—from policy decisions and stakeholder involvement to funding models and integration with public services.

Key insights include:

• Why municipalities choose to support local currency initiatives
• What forms of support (funding, infrastructure, policy) prove most effective
• How complementary currencies engage with public authorities
• Lessons learned from successful and stalled collaborations
• Early findings on what municipal involvement actually delivers in practice

Whether you're a public official, policy designer, or community innovator, this article will offer grounded insights into the conditions that support successful adoption. Scheduled for publication in Winter or Spring 2026, the piece will provide practical knowledge for anyone working at the intersection of governance, local economies, and social innovation.

What Can Currency Circulation Tell Us About Socio-Economic Impact?

Local currencies promise more than just an alternative to euros or pounds—they aim to strengthen community resilience, support local businesses, and deepen social ties. But how do we measure these impacts? Our upcoming research investigates the socio-economic effects of digital complementary currencies across Europe by analyzing how they circulate through communities. Using network analysis, we map the real-life transaction data from five pilots in the NGI LocalforLocal project to uncover patterns, strengths, and weaknesses in these local economies.

This study draws on transaction-level data from Esuko, Leman, Ecoxara, Le Val’Heureux, and United Economy. With these datasets, we analyze how currencies move through their networks over time, identifying transaction loops, hubs, and clustering behavior. We investigate how different patterns of currency use relate to local economic dynamics. Do decentralized networks foster more resilient economies? Do currency "hubs" help or hinder adoption? What happens during economic shocks like the COVID-19 crisis?

Key contributions:

• Map and compare circulation patterns across five European complementary currencies
• Define and link network metrics (e.g. centrality, clustering, diversity) to socio-economic indicators
• Propose a standardized template for assessing the impact of currency pilots
• Identify strategies that correlate with greater socio-economic impact

The paper will offer a rigorous methodology and clear findings for policymakers, platform developers, and researchers seeking to evaluate or improve complementary currency systems. Targeted for release by Summer 2026, the study will be presented at the International Forum on Knowledge Asset Dynamics (IFKAD).