We live in a society not an economy
An economy is a system of creating and exchanging goods and services. A society is a group of people that live together under an agreed set of rules called laws.
Many economists spend years attempting to predict the impact of actions on an economy, many failing because the individuals concerned reacted to events as unpredictable humans do, rather than as parts of an economic model.
However an economy is defined, the heart and soul of any discussion or examination is resources and how the people in a society use them.
Mercury believes that the use and distribution of those resources should be on an equitable and sustainable basis.
Collaborative enterprise is people sharing resources
Collaboration enterprise can range from informal neighbourhood sharing to formal multi-nation organisations, and many variations in between. In many cases formal collaboration as legal entities and organisations commences with informal sharing. The sharing is driven by people needing to share or people wanting to share.
Many great ideas and initiatives have stumbled on their journey as key people depart. Those people can range from the tireless volunteer who stacks the shelves to the vision preacher who inspires others maintain involvement, and everything in between. When they leave, it is often a lack of structure that prevents the baton being passed, retaining the knowledge and memories of how things happen, and helping new people learn so they need not reinvent the wheel.
The goal is to maximise the retention of resources
It has long been our mission to encourage and support people as they collaborate to maximise the resources that stay within their communities.
We seek to expand the vision of what could be done, and the knowledge of how it could be done, examining how others are tackling the problem, and what ways and means could be used locally.
Our work has always been diverse. For example, in the past we have worked with Monash University to offer the Australian Certificate in Co-operative Management, and the University of the South Pacific to offer the South Pacific Certificate in Enterprise Development. We have worked with peak bodies such as the Co-operative Federation of NSW to deliver training packages for boards and staff. We have worked with individual groups of people to build co-operatives and associations, watched some grow and learnt from those that were not successful.
We continue to support collaborative enterprise
We work with others, as opportunities permit, to showcase collaborative enterprise, with these partnerships amplifying what we could achieve on our own.
We help groups face the change and challenges of incorporation through ownership planning, and approaches to structure and governance.