Local People rebuilding their communities – an exploration of Welsh time banking

Drawing on previous research, this paper explores the development of the 'Welsh' model of time banking: its history, practice and association with co-production. Attention is given to a critical evaluation of this model as regards community and participation in order to draw out general lessons for the time bank movement: first that there is a need to realize where exclusion is generated and how this need can be reduced; second, that the theory and practice of time banking can potentially be in conflict – notably, with regard to political goals and technical implementation; and, finally, that time banking itself is a potential tool for increasing participation of local people in redeveloping their communities.