BIOME: Operationalizing the Cooperative and Solidarity Economy

Real Change in Thessaloniki

Fair Trade Hellas TV

[Editor's note: This short film documents the current state of BIOME (which also gets rendered as Viome, Vio.me, and VIOME) a cooperative and solidarity enterprise initiated by workers at a factory in Thessaloniki, Greece that was abandonded by its former owners during the financial crisis. Workers and local community members took over the factory and managed it through a participatory process. Today, 22 worker-owners at BIOME produce environmentally friendly cleaning products that are affordable for everyone. While small, BIOME is proving the viability of radically different business models that not only democratize the economy, but that also serve the needs of the poorest members of the community. Despite their successes, corporate and state authorities are still attempting bring an end to this enterprise, most recently by trying to hold the cooperative acountable for the ex-owners debts. GEO wishes the worker-owners and community members who have created BIOME the best of luck in their continuting effort to build an economy based on cooperation and solidarity. To read more about BIOME and the obstacles they have overcome, visit their website at viome.org.]