Schumacher Center for a New Economics
A Massachusetts nonprofit organization advancing locally rooted, ecologically sustainable, and socially just economic systems.
Last updated November 4, 2026
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Overview
The Schumacher Center for a New Economics is a tax-exempt nonprofit organization based in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. It develops and promotes approaches to economic life associated with the work of economist and author E. F. Schumacher, whose ideas emphasized appropriate scale, regional self-reliance, community stewardship, and economic arrangements that serve both people and the natural world. The organization combines research, archival preservation, public education, and practical experimentation rather than treating economics as an exclusively academic discipline. The institution began in 1980 as the E. F. Schumacher Society, founded by Robert Swann and Susan Witt. Its early purpose was to preserve Schumacher’s personal library and continue his work on regional, sustainable, and socially just economics. Beginning in 1981, the society hosted an annual lecture series that brought prominent thinkers into public discussion of economic, social, and ecological transformation. A research library was established in 1990, and Schumacher’s personal library and archives were donated to the organization in 1994. In 2012, the Schumacher Center for a New Economics was formed to receive and manage the assets of the former society and to carry forward and expand its programs. The center’s work covers several interconnected themes, including local purchasing, community currencies, community land ownership, worker ownership, community-supported agriculture, the commons, appropriate technology, and economic self-sufficiency. Its Schumacher Library serves as a research resource for alternative economics and holds approximately 15,000 books, along with archival material and other resources. The collection is housed in a roughly 2,000-square-foot building in the Berkshire region of Massachusetts, near Jug End Mountain, and its catalog is available online. One of the organization’s best-known practical initiatives is BerkShares, a regional currency for Berkshire County, Massachusetts. The program is intended to encourage transactions among local producers, retailers, service providers, nonprofit organizations, and consumers, while drawing attention to the importance of locally controlled economic activity. The center also publishes or maintains educational resources concerning local currencies and has tracked active local-currency projects in the United States. In 2004 it organized the conference Local Currencies in the 21st Century, and the initiative later received national media attention, including coverage of its program leadership by PBS NewsHour. More than 800,000 BerkShares were reported to be in circulation in 2007. Another historical project was SHARE, or the Self-Help Association for a Regional Economy. Operating in southern Berkshire County from 1981 to 1992, SHARE used local deposits held at a bank to collateralize loans to businesses that conventional lenders might consider high risk. The model connected local savers with enterprises producing useful goods or services for the region and sought to restore a personal, community-based dimension to lending. The program collateralized 23 loans and reported full repayment. The Schumacher Center is also associated with the community land trust movement. Robert Swann was an important early advocate of community land trusts, and the E. F. Schumacher Society provided technical assistance in the formation of the Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires in 1980. This work reflects the center’s broader interest in separating land ownership from speculative markets and placing land under long-term community stewardship. Through its lectures, library, publications, and demonstration projects, the center presents the “new economy” as a practical and systemic alternative to highly centralized, extractive economic models. Its stated approach joins theoretical inquiry with implementation at local, regional, national, and international levels, and emphasizes transformative systems together with clear communication. The organization is best understood as a nonprofit research, education, and field-building institution rather than a conventional commercial brand.
History
The organization was established in 1980 as the E. F. Schumacher Society by Robert Swann and Susan Witt. Its founding purpose was to preserve E. F. Schumacher’s personal library and continue his advocacy of regional, sustainable, and socially just economic arrangements. Rather than limiting its activities to scholarship, the society sought to connect economic ideas with institutional experiments that could be applied in communities. In 1981, the society began hosting annual lectures in honor of Schumacher. The lecture series became a central public program, bringing writers, researchers, and other influential speakers into conversations about the transformation of economic, social, and cultural systems. The lectures addressed themes consistent with Schumacher’s legacy, including small-scale economies, responsible land use, ecological limits, and the relationship between economic organization and human well-being. The organization expanded its research function in 1990 by establishing a library devoted to alternative economics. In 1994, Vreni Schumacher donated E. F. Schumacher’s personal library and archives to the institution. The collection subsequently developed into a specialized research resource containing approximately 15,000 books and material on worker ownership, community-supported agriculture, local currencies, the commons, appropriate technology, and related fields. The library is located in the Berkshire region of Massachusetts near Jug End Mountain, in a building of approximately 2,000 square feet, and its catalog can be searched online. The society’s practical work included community finance, local currencies, and community land stewardship. Its SHARE, or Self-Help Association for a Regional Economy, program operated in southern Berkshire County between 1981 and 1992. SHARE enabled residents to place interest-bearing deposits in a local bank, with those deposits supporting collateral for loans to businesses that conventional lenders might regard as risky. The program financed 23 loans and reported a 100 percent repayment rate. Its design sought to make lending more personal and place-based while directing capital toward enterprises with positive regional effects. The society also supported the community land trust movement. Robert Swann became known as a pioneer in that field, which uses collective or nonprofit ownership structures to preserve land for long-term community benefit. In 1980, the E. F. Schumacher Society provided technical assistance for the establishment of the Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires. This work complemented the organization’s interest in reducing speculative pressure on land and strengthening local control over essential resources. Local currencies became another major area of activity. The organization helped establish BerkShares, a regional currency used in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, to encourage spending among locally based businesses and organizations. The initiative was intended to build cooperation among producers, retailers, service providers, nonprofit groups, and consumers while increasing awareness of regional economic interdependence. In 2004, the society organized the Local Currencies in the 21st Century conference. BerkShares later attracted broader attention, and more than 800,000 units were reported in circulation in 2007. In 2012, the Schumacher Center for a New Economics was formed to receive and manage the assets of the E. F. Schumacher Society and to manage, preserve, and further develop its legacy programs. The renamed organization retained the lecture, library, local-currency, and community-economics strands of its predecessor while presenting them within a broader framework of “new economics.” Its stated approach combines theoretical research with practical application at local, regional, national, and international levels. It also emphasizes transformative systems and clear communication as part of its method. The center’s public profile has included media discussion of local currencies, including a 2013 PBS NewsHour interview with Alice Maggio, its Local Currency Program Director. It has also faced criticism: in 2011, the National Catholic Register argued that the society did not give sufficient attention to Catholic influences on Schumacher’s thinking, particularly the significance of Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae. The available reference material does not indicate a formal institutional response. Today, the Schumacher Center is an active nonprofit research, education, and program organization focused on economic alternatives that are locally accountable, ecologically sustainable, and socially equitable. Its work links archival preservation and intellectual history with demonstrations in currency, finance, land, and community development.
- 2013
Local currency work receives PBS coverage
[1]Local Currency Program Director Alice Maggio discussed the subject in a PBS NewsHour interview.
- 2012
Organization renamed and reorganized
[1]The Schumacher Center for a New Economics was formed to receive the former society’s assets and continue and expand its programs.
- 2007
BerkShares reaches reported circulation milestone
[1]More than 800,000 BerkShares were reported to be in circulation in the Berkshire region.
- 2004
Local Currencies in the 21st Century conference
[1]The society organized a conference devoted to the development and role of local currencies.
- 1994
Schumacher library and archives donated
[1]Vreni Schumacher donated E. F. Schumacher’s personal library and archives to the organization.
- 1992
SHARE program concludes
[1]The Southern Berkshire SHARE micro-credit program ended after operating from 1981 and collateralizing 23 loans with reported full repayment.
- 1990
Alternative economics library established
[1]A research library was created to support study of alternative economic systems and related social and ecological subjects.
- 1981
Annual Schumacher lecture series begins
[1]The organization began hosting annual lectures dedicated to E. F. Schumacher’s ideas and the need for economic and social transformation.
- 1980
E. F. Schumacher Society founded
[1]Robert Swann and Susan Witt founded the organization to preserve E. F. Schumacher’s library and continue his work on regional, sustainable, and socially just economics.
- 1980
Support for Southern Berkshires community land trust
[1]The society provided technical assistance toward forming the Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires.
Products and positioning
A nonprofit center for research, education, and practical experimentation in locally rooted, sustainable, and socially just economics.
Research library and archive · 1990
Schumacher Library
A specialized collection for research into alternative economics and community-centered development. The library contains approximately 15,000 books and archival materials associated with E. F. Schumacher, with coverage including worker ownership, community-supported agriculture, local currencies, the commons, and appropriate technology. It is located in the Berkshire region of Massachusetts and provides an online-searchable catalog.
Regional currency initiative
BerkShares
A local currency serving the Berkshire region of Massachusetts. BerkShares is designed to encourage transactions among local businesses, producers, service providers, nonprofit organizations, and consumers. The initiative is also an educational tool intended to show how currency can support regional economic relationships and local self-reliance.
Community micro-credit model · 1981
SHARE
The Self-Help Association for a Regional Economy was a community-based lending model operating in southern Berkshire County from 1981 to 1992. Local members placed interest-bearing deposits in a bank, and those deposits helped collateralize loans to businesses that traditional lenders might consider high risk. The program supported 23 loans and reported complete repayment.
Lecture and public education series · 1981
E. F. Schumacher Lectures
An annual lecture program established in 1981 and continued by the Schumacher Center. The series presents public perspectives on economic, social, cultural, and ecological change, with an emphasis on systems that support both human communities and the planet.
Community development support · 1980
Community land trust technical assistance
Technical assistance and educational work supporting community land trusts, which hold land under community-oriented ownership structures and seek to protect long-term access and stewardship. The organization’s early work included assistance with the Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires.
Marketing campaigns
- 2007BerkShares regional currency expansion
Berkshire region, Massachusetts
The BerkShares initiative promoted spending with local producers, retailers, service providers, nonprofit organizations, and consumers.
Outcome. Reported circulation exceeded 800,000 BerkShares, drawing national attention to the experiment.
- 2004Local Currencies in the 21st Century
United States
A conference organized by the E. F. Schumacher Society to examine the purposes, operation, and future potential of local currencies.
Outcome. The conference strengthened the organization’s role in public education and discussion around community currencies.
Brand decisions
2012
Formation of the Schumacher Center for a New EconomicsStrategyBackground
The E. F. Schumacher Society needed an organizational structure to receive and manage its assets while preserving and developing its legacy programs.
Action taken
A new organization was formed under the Schumacher Center for a New Economics name to manage the former society’s assets and continue its library, lecture, currency, and community-economics work.
Aftermath
The reorganization broadened the institution’s identity from a society focused primarily on Schumacher’s legacy to a center promoting a wider conception of new economics.
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