Organizing REKO

The project investigates the operation of the local food network REKO (Rejäl Konsumption) in three different countries around the Baltic Sea: Finland, Sweden and Latvia. REKO is a Finnish innovation that has quickly grown into a viable alternative to the global and industrialized food system. The project examines the operation and organization of REKO networks in three variously mature contexts. In Finland, the operation is already established, as the network started operating in 2013. Sweden's REKO network was established in 2016, so it represents a fairly well-established operation. In Latvia, the REKO phenomenon is in the beginning, as the first local ring was founded in the spring of 2023. The project uses the theory of organization to study how a self-organized and loose social formation like REKO remains viable. Selected REKO rings (2 in Finland, 2 in Sweden, and 1 in Latvia) are studied using ethnographic methods, and the aim is to analyse how REKO's identity, actorhood and decision-making are produced in different contexts and how they affect to REKO's viability.