The Big Vision
The Big Vision
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The Spark started with a simple idea: the climate transition should leave our communities better off, not worse.
Too often, climate action is something that’s done to people, not with them. Decisions are made far away. Jobs and profits flow out of the area. Communities are left out of the loop.
We believe there’s another way. One where communities lead. One where the benefits of climate action — the jobs, the services, the savings — stay local. One where people work together, not just to reduce emissions, but to build a fairer, more democratic economy.
This is the big vision behind the Spark. It’s about using the climate transition as a chance to do things differently. To create shared wealth. To build power from the ground up. To make cooperation feel normal again.
The Spark was just the beginning. What comes next is up to all of us.
Community Wealth Building
Community Wealth Building
Community wealth building is a way to take back control of the local economy. It is about making sure that the wealth created in a place stays in that place, and works for the people who live there.
Most local economies today are shaped by outside forces. Profits leave the area. Jobs are insecure. Decisions are made far away. Community wealth building is a response to this. It starts from what already exists — people, skills, land, buildings, services — and asks how these can be used to meet local needs.
The goal is to build local ownership, create good jobs, and keep money circulating in the community. This happens by supporting worker-owned businesses, using public spending to support local suppliers, and creating shared infrastructure that communities can rely on.
In Dublin 7, we are linking this approach with climate action. The shift to a zero-carbon society will involve new jobs, new infrastructure, and new investment. Community wealth building helps make sure those changes benefit the people who live here, not just large companies or distant investors.
The Spark was about preparing the ground. It helped build a culture of cooperation and a sense of what’s possible when people work together. Now we are moving into the next phase, where that culture becomes something concrete.
This is not about charity. It is about power. A stronger, fairer local economy is possible — if we build it together.
Community Wealth Builders
Community Wealth Builders
Community wealth building starts by looking at who already shapes the local economy. Hospitals, schools, councils, universities, state agencies — these are anchor institutions. They are not going anywhere. They spend millions every year and employ thousands of people. How they spend, hire and invest has a direct impact on the communities around them.
If not planned, that impact is passive and a unique opportunity can be missed. Goods and services are outsourced. Staff commute in. Local people are left out.
Anchor institutions can be active partners in building local wealth. If they change how they spend and who they work with, they can create reliable demand for local suppliers, social enterprises and cooperatives. That demand becomes the foundation for new kinds of businesses — ones that are owned by workers or rooted in community.
In Dublin 7, the Spark project explored how this could work. We began with the idea that a football club is also an anchor institution. Bohs is a fan-owned football club and has been since 1890. It is place-based. And it has deep, trusted relationships across the community. This reach makes the club more than just a buyer of goods and services. It is also a builder of pathways into employment and can act as a custodian for a younger generation emerging into an ever-changing economy.
When community and anchor institutions move in the same direction, real change becomes possible. The demand is there. The skills are growing. The next step is to link the two through democratic enterprises that can deliver high-quality services while keeping the value local.
This is what community wealth builders do. They connect the dots between what a community needs and what it can provide and they build the structures to make it happen.
The Spark – A Cultural Shift
The Spark – A Cultural Shift
The Spark was never about quick wins. It was about changing how people see their role in the economy and the climate transition. That kind of change starts with culture.
A football club is a powerful place to begin. It’s local. It’s trusted. It brings people together across backgrounds. When that club is community-owned, like Bohemians, it becomes more than a team – it becomes a platform for collective action.
The Spark used that platform to invite people into something new. Through everyday projects like bike libraries, repair cafés, and skills training, it showed what cooperation looks like in practice. Slowly, trust grew. People started to see that they could shape the future of their place, together.
That shift in mindset is the foundation for everything that comes next.
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