How to find existing collective action projects near you

Not everyone wants to start something from scratch. In fact, one of the most powerful things about ACTionism is recognising that you do not have to.

The chances are there is already something happening near you - a community energy project, a food co-op, a repair café, a housing group - that could use your help, ideas and energy - so when it comes to finding the others, why not start there.

This page is a growing collection of ways to find those projects and start acting together. If you know of something we have missed, please let us know.

What's Happening Near You?

Thanks to the brilliant work of Matt Golding and the team at Antidote, there is now a postcode search tool that finds up to five examples of collective action within five miles of your front door. It is a fantastic asset and a great place to start.

Community Project Finder

Energy

Community-owned and locally-run energy projects are happening all over the UK — from solar co-ops to wind turbines owned by the people who live beneath them. Matt and the Antidote team have mapped many of them.

Find an energy project near you — and if you want to understand how they work, Community Energy England's Getting Started guides are an excellent introduction.

Food

Community food projects from growing schemes and food co-ops to community owned farms and shops and community fridges.

1. Find a food project near you via the Antidote map

2. Sustainable Food Places, a national network connecting food partnerships

3. The Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens is also a fantastic directory of community-managed growing spaces.

Community-Led Housing

From co-housing and community land trusts to housing co-ops

Find a housing project near you via Antidote

Community Led Homes — a partnership resource covering everything from how to find an existing project to what community-led housing actually looks like in practice.

Check out the Community-led housing guides on My Community, too

Repair and Reuse

If repair is your thing, check out the Re-Action Collective — our brilliant sister network co-founded by Gavin Fernie-Jones, Heather Davies, and Ellie Meredith (who you may know from the ACTionism film). Re-Action connects repairers, resellers, rental businesses, and circular economy organisations — particularly in the outdoor sector — with the shared aim of keeping kit in use, skills alive, and communities connected. You can find their member map and join the collective here.

You can also check out

Community Repair Network maps repair groups across the UK
Repair Café International has a global finder.
Transition Together also lists many local groups running repair and reuse projects as part of broader community sustainability work.

Democracy and Governance

Mapping is still catching up with the reality on the ground (a huge amount is happening), and we are still building out this section. If you know of projects or resources we should include here, please do get in touch — and give Matt at Antidote a shout too.

In the meantime, these are worth exploring:

Involve's Citizens Assembly Tracker maps citizens assemblies happening across the UK.
Dem Next is a resource for alternative governance projects.
Citizens Assembly UK has information and background on how citizens assemblies work.

Broader Sustainability and Climate Action

If you are looking for a community group working across multiple themes — energy, food, transport, biodiversity check out Transition Network and Transition Together Between them, they connect hundreds of local groups across the UK who are quietly talking actipon togehter, one community at a time.

This page is a living document. Know something we have missed? Tell us about it.

And once again, thanks to Andidote Studio for all the work they're doing pulling maps together around these collective action projects.

Community Project Finder