CEN Newsletter – February 2026
Greetings to all out there in the CEN universe. We trust you are finding solace within your local communities even if the wider world appears to be losing its mind.
As you will read, work continues towards our goal of building further resilience to the platform to support both existing and new exchanges across the world.
As headlines track market fluctuations and GDP growth, the world’s “visible economy” is measured in prices and profits. Meanwhile, an enormous economy of care, time, and mutual support operates unseen—because money cannot easily capture it.
In his recent article “The Unseen Economy,” Tim Jenkin reminds us that CES does something quietly radical: it makes this hidden work visible without commodifying it. By allowing members to list offerings like listening, caregiving, tutoring, gardening, or advice, CES acknowledges these activities as legitimate contributions—searchable and usable, but never reduced to wages or products.
This visibility matters. When contribution is recognised, it can be shared more evenly. When skills are acknowledged, confidence grows. People are less likely to burn out or withdraw.
CES does not create the unseen economy. It reveals it. As you’ll read in this month’s updates, communities worldwide are discovering the power of this recognition.
Valencia Conference
A report by Maria Nikolopoulou- from the Association for the Development of Time Banks
On January 29-30, 2026, the 1st International Congress on Time-Value Social Networks (I CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE REDES SOCIALES DE VALOR-TIEMPO) took place in Valencia, organised by the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Valencia and the Association for the Development of Time Banks (ADBdT).
Over the two days, activists from different Time Banks and individuals from other exchange networks and local currencies, as well as academics from Spain, Portugal, and England, shared spaces and ideas. The presentations covered a range of topics, from specific aspects of time banks to reflections on the commodification of our time, human rights, and gender equality, among many others. And, as usual, the ADBdT’s annual members’ meeting was held, where we planned our next steps.
We have also organised more practical workshops focused on the effective operation of time banks, such as the Time Bank Digitalisation Report, which discussed the ADBdT’s participation in the Community Exchange Network project.
You can see the full program here, and we will soon share some of the presentation videos on the ADBdT YouTube channel.
The in-person events we organise each year in different locations throughout Spain always help us strengthen ties between time bank managers and create new synergies and future collaborations. We want to continue along the path we began at the Congress to involve more universities in future conferences and studies.
Follow ADBdT on Facebook or Instagram to find out about our next steps.
Technical Development Update
The CES2 development team is making excellent progress toward launching a pilot version in Spring 2026. Our current focus is on creating an intuitive, welcoming user experience that emphasises community connections and meaningful exchanges rather than financial transactions.
Komunitin: The Engine of CES2
Komunitin is the open-source modern platform that will be powering CES2 and TimeOverFlow2. This collaborative approach means we’re building on proven technology while sharing development with partner organisations in the mutual credit ecosystem.
User Interface Improvements
The team has redesigned the mobile interface of Komunitin to make navigation simpler and more intuitive. The Profile button has been relocated to the top-right for one-click access to profile, needs, offers, and account functions. The new bottom navigation bar and reorganised menu put everything users need just a tap away. We’re also working on clearer layouts for community pages, member directories, and statistics, making it easier for people to discover offers and connect with others in their exchange network.
Smart Notifications
We’re improving the notification system that keeps users informed without overwhelming them. Instead of constant alerts, the system groups updates intelligently—urgent offers that are expiring soon get immediate notifications, while other updates arrive in a convenient weekly digest. Users can customise what they receive and when. The personalised Komunitin monthly newsletter is already showing great results, with members engaging three times more than typical newsletters.
The rebuilt notification system will provide better coverage of community activities while using less battery and memory on users’ phones, since the processing now happens on the server rather than on each device.
Language and Accessibility
French translation is now complete and available in the demo version (ces2demo.community-exchange.org) The Bulgarian translation is on the way. We’re working on adapting the terminology across all languages to better reflect CES’ values. Rather than using banking and financial language, we’re shifting toward words that emphasise community relationships, activities, and social connections. This change helps new members understand that CES is fundamentally about people helping each other, not about monetary transactions.
Continuous Support for CES Legacy Platform
While the team develops CES2, Tim Jenkin continues to maintain and update the original CES platform, providing daily technical support to new and existing groups joining the network. This ensures that communities can continue their exchanges without interruption while we prepare the migration to the new system.
The team continues to coordinate with CommunityForge in France, TimeOverflow in Spain and other exchange networks, building toward an interconnected global community of local exchange systems and time banks. With this focused effort on accessibility and user experience, we’re on track to welcome our first pilot CES2 community in the coming months.
Latest Articles on Community Exchange
We continue to add at least one new article about community exchange per week. There is now a growing collection of articles, helping users to understand what community exchange is all about. We hope to keep up this pace, and include with each article a video presentation and an infographic that summarises the key points of the article.
The CES Mailing List distributes these same articles, and they can also be found on Substack.
We encourage administrators to submit articles and videos about the achievements of their communities. These will be made available through the CES website. Successes inspire other administrators, who can pass on the news to their members.
👉 Below are articles that have been added to the CES website in the past month. These can all be reached from this link.
The Collapse of Old Money
A historical and systemic look at why conventional money is reaching its limits. For most of human history, money has been treated as a neutral tool — a measuring stick, a lubricant of exchange, a harmless intermediary between effort and reward. We are taught to see it…
The Economics of Trust
Most economic theories begin with money. Prices, incentives, markets, efficiency. Trust, if mentioned at all, appears as a background assumption — something helpful, but not essential.
In lived reality, the opposite is true.
The Unseen Economy
When people talk about “the economy,” they usually mean markets, money, jobs, and growth. Charts are drawn, indicators measured, and success is tallied in prices and profits. Yet this visible economy rests on a far larger one that rarely appears in statistics — an…
The Ecology of Exchange
Modern societies often speak about ecology as something external — forests, oceans, climate systems — while overlooking the fact that our systems of exchange are themselves ecological forces. The way we organise trade, value, and obligation shapes how resources flow,…
An Economy That Shapes Who We Become
Every economy carries an ethical message. Whether explicitly stated or quietly assumed, the way we organise exchange teaches us something about what matters, how we should relate to one another, and what kind of behaviour is rewarded. Over time, these lessons shape…
CES YouTube Channel
The CES YouTube channel now contains a series of videos based on the articles mentioned above. Videos of older articles are being created and added, and in the future, every new article will be accompanied by a video and an infographic. This will help those interested in community exchange to understand the concepts and philosophy of CES.
In the future, we also hope to have training videos explaining how the apps under development are used.
👉 Access the CES YouTube channel here.