Helen Dew

Alf and I enjoy life in Carterton's rural township, where together we've successfully raised four children in the home we had built and still live in. We grow most of our fruit and vegetables, and we're active members of our church and community.

The experience of complementary currency (cc) systems gained through 17 years involvement in the local Green Dollar Exchange laid the foundation for my commitment to the bigger picture of cc development. In 2002, inspired by Margrit and Declan Kennedy during their NZ lecture tour, I joined the Board of the Stable Money Trust and became the NZ distributor of Margrit's book Interest and Inflation Free Money. (The Trust has since been re-named Living Economies Educational Trust, and sells a wide range of resources on local currencies and sustainablity related subjects.)

Further reading, such as Bernard Lietaer's The Future of Money, caused me to regard attention to the design of the money system as a necessary imperative. I believe that the implementation of bio-regional payment systems and local currencies, complementary to the conventional money system, can provide an essential lever in society's quest to address environmental, social and economic challenges.

My attendance at international 'Money' conferences in Germany (2003) and New York (2004) enabled effective networking with others committed to researching and promoting regional and local currency projects appropriate for varying needs.

Information and human resource networks now established will be made available to the various local and national interest groups that I am associated with, such as Transition Towns, Wairarapa Organics, Sustainable Wairarapa and other Community organisations.