The Future of Coworking Is Now a Civic Choice
A story about citizenship, connection, and what coworking can still become—if we’re willing to show up.
This Is the Coworking I Know—and Why European Coworking Day Feels Like the Right Moment
As much as I love a beautifully designed, biophilic, neurodiverse-friendly workspace, when someone says coworking, I still think of that photo I’ve had at the top of my social media profile for the last 10 years.
It’s from Coworking Europe in Milan.
A group of us huddled around a table—laptops open, too many wires, talking as much as typing.
That’s what coworking is to me.
As polished as the movement’s become, in my heart, it’s still scrappy, moving, homely, and happening on a laptop.
And that’s exactly why European Coworking Day (14 May) matters more than it might look on paper.
Two Worlds of Coworking: The Big Money Story vs. The Real Deal on the Ground
Say "coworking." What often jumps to mind?
The big, venture-capital-backed chains, right?
Their stories fill the industry mags, and they’re the ones hogging the limelight at the high-profile events.
Think exclusive meetups, yacht parties at MIPIM, or conferences with a full roster of ‘man-els’ and sponsors on the stage.
The time, budget, and headspace required to take part are unattractive to many smaller, independent operators.
Over the last fifteen years, every coworking space I’ve been a member of has been run by a tiny team of two or three people, or it’s been a family show.
When Phil and I were running @Work Hubs in Euston, just getting to something like OuiShare Fest or Coworking Europe meant planning who would run the shop for a week.
We had to scramble to find cover.
That story will resonate with countless micro and small business owners in the UK and Europe.
These are the places where, as Željko Crnjaković from Inspira Hub in Subotica, Serbia, described his beginnings, operators often start because they "needed the space to call my own."
A personal need that blossoms into a community asset.
He was refreshingly honest about the initial struggle, admitting that even after opening, "nobody who said, I will come, came."
That hammers home the sheer hard work it takes to build a community from the ground up, especially in smaller towns.
In these places, you often have to explain what coworking even is!
That’s a challenge many in less urbanised corners of Europe know all too well.
“In 2018 the top 10 brands made up only 34% of the market. A massive 66% was small, local, independent spaces – the real heart of it all, often completely overlooked and seriously underestimated.”
Cat Johnson
However, this focus on corporate interests, often highlighted by those vibrant and costly industry events, tends to obscure the true happenings beneath the surface.
Cat Johnson started writing about coworking on Shareable Magazine in 2012 and is a fierce champion of what she calls ‘indie’ coworking.
Cat pointed to JLL data from 2018 in her recent LinkedIn post.
It showed the top 10 brands only had 34% of the market.
An impressive 66% consisted of small, local, independent spaces.
She said the industry's absolute heart and soul is often "wildly underrepresented and underestimated."
Coworking in Spain 2025
I see this pattern in places like Spain, where I’ve lived in Vigo, Galicia, for the last three years.
The 2025 research shows that independent operators run about 80% of all coworking spaces.
They’re the backbone of the entire sector.
These owner-managed spaces aren’t just businesses but vital local economic engines.
They’re far more likely to hire local people and spend their money in the local area.
That builds community wealth – the kind of local-first approach that resonates across Europe.
My understanding of this has deepened, especially from chatting with people like Maria do Ceu Bastos.
Maria is the driving force behind the European Rural Coworking project and co-founder of NoWhere Desk in Arcos de Valdevez, a small village just over the border in Portugal.
Talking to her and the local coworking community here in Galicia has opened my eyes to the realities and immense possibilities of coworking thriving well away from the buzz of the big city.
These are the kinds of places that, as Shamena Nurse-Kingsley, founder of Cowo & Crèche in Washington D.C. (her perspective from across the Atlantic highlights these universal themes), puts it, offer so much more than just a desk.
They provide a supportive environment where people, especially working parents, can juggle their responsibilities.
It’s a place where the first question is always, "what do you need to get done, and how can we help you do it?"
Shamena Nurse-Kingsley
This isn’t about knocking the big brands.
It’s about spotlighting the vast network of independent spaces that give coworking its true depth and character.
The challenge now is to shift the narrative.
We need to ensure it’s shaped not just by those with the deepest pockets but also by those with the deepest community roots.
European Coworking Day is a brilliant collective platform for that change.
“Coworking isn’t about desks; it’s about the connections between humans.”
Manuel Conti
European Coworking Day: Not Just Marketing Spiel, It’s People Power
Unlike glossy industry events focused on investors and major brands, European Coworking Day invites every coworking space to have a voice.
No matter their size.
No matter their budget.
It first kicked off on May 10th, 2023, and now it’s firmly pencilled every May.
It’s not some top-down, centrally organised thing.
It’s about coworking spaces all over Europe opening their doors, holding events, and showcasing what makes their communities special.
Claudius Krucker of Coworking Switzerland envisioned it as a straightforward, accessible way for all spaces, especially the smaller ones, to get involved and connect.
Years ago, Claudius noticed that the coworking community is the ideal place to meet others for many people, particularly freelancers and one-person operations without a traditional office setup.
It’s about creating what Stacey Sheppard, founder of The Tribe coworking Space for female entrepreneurs in rural Devon – a classic British example of a community built from the grassroots up – calls the antidote to isolation.
It is a place where "having women come in here and the conversations that start around difficulties that people are having" becomes a genuine lifeline.”
Stacey Sheppard
This clicks with Manuel Conti's argument that in coworking, “the important metric is: what is the connection I can establish with that human being?”
This focus on real human interaction, not just cold, hard data, hammers home that coworking exists to build relationships, not just to fill dashboards.
This day is more than just a handy marketing opportunity.
It’s a platform.
A platform for every voice to be heard, regardless of their operation size or bank balance.
It’s an inclusive way to be part of a bigger conversation, a collective movement.
European Coworking Day embodies the spirit of figuring things out together. It’s about spaces openly sharing knowledge, taking responsibility, and getting creative together, rather than just listening to one dominant voice.
As I mentioned when we discussed this, it’s a way for those who can’t afford expensive conference tickets to "Connect and participate and move the industry forward."
It’s a chance to return to the core values of community, collaboration, and genuine human connection.
In a world where, as Conti rightly points out, “We are self-isolating... technology is partly responsible,” European Coworking Day offers shared experiences as a powerful remedy.
He reminds us, “People don’t remember what they’re told—they remember how they feel.
They'll return if we make them feel welcome, heard, and seen.”
From Shopper to Shaper: Getting Coworking’s Purpose Back on Track
Jon Alexander’s book "Citizens: Why the key to fixing everything is all of us" nails a crucial shift. It’s about moving from a passive Consumer mindset – always asking, “What’s in it for me?” – to an active Citizen mindset – thinking, “What can we contribute, together?".
For too long, the dominant coworking narrative has been purely consumerist: pay your money, get your desk, Wi-Fi, and coffee.
European Coworking Day offers a different lens.
Manuel Conti’s call to “Let’s stop projecting five years ahead. Let’s use tech to spend more time with humans today” resonates here.
It starkly contrasts the long-term civic value of European Coworking Day, which is all about present human connection and community building, with the often shallow, buzzword-filled hustle of ‘future-of-work’ hype.
That hype can completely overlook the immediate, tangible needs of local communities.
“We’re not just consumers of coworking—we’re citizens building a shared future.”
This isn’t a direct quote from Jon Alexander, but it perfectly captures his core idea for this context, and the spirit of his second visit to the London Coworking Assembly.
Getting involved?
That becomes an act of citizenship.
Independent spaces participating are planting their flag.
They are not just showing up but helping shape what coworking means moving forward.
Not by branding it, but by living it. Every day.
These spaces aren’t asking to be included in the story.
They are writing it—locally, gently, and on their own local terms.
This approach is powerfully demonstrated by long-time doers like,
.Read: Standing Up to Be Citizens Again: Building the Radical Municipal.
Over the years,
co-founded multiple impactful social ventures, including Impact Hub Westminster and Impact Hub Birmingham—both significant, well-respected UK examples.His work establishing these hubs, which were intertwined with the coworking movement, exemplifies creating new forms of 'civic infrastructure.'
These were community-led initiatives that built local resilience and created real value, and were some of the first examples I saw in the UK ten years ago.
Local Government Everywhere Is Missing a Trick with Coworking
An owner-managed coworking space, deeply embedded in its neighbourhood, is precisely this kind of regenerative civic asset.
It’s not just a business; it’s part of the local fabric.
Stacey Sheppard highlighted The Hive in North Lanarkshire, a local authority-funded coworking space for women, further illustrating this potential.
The HIVE is a new workspace helping North Lanarkshire women get started and grow in business. Based at One Wellwynd, Airdrie, the centre has been designed to help encourage and support more women realise their dream of being a business owner.
In our
interview with Stacey, she points out that while many initiatives aim to support female entrepreneurs, “Coworking spaces are massively overlooked in that roadmap.”And that’s despite their proven ability to create real pathways to entrepreneurship—and provide the practical, emotional, and social support most systems forget.
This is an invitation.
To flex those citizen muscles.
To connect, contribute, and shape something bigger than any one space.
It’s about doing the work, not waiting for someone else's permission.
It’s about building the future we keep saying we believe in.
Coworking Is a Collective Verb: Find the Others
Running an owner-managed coworking space?
It’s demanding work. Hard graft.
European Coworking Day offers a low-barrier, straightforward way to connect with others, to be counted, to “find the others,” as Jon Alexander advocates.
This sentiment is powerfully echoed by Mark Masters, founder of the creator and freelancer collective ‘You Are The Media’ based in Poole, UK.
He’s a big believer that in today’s world, “The smartest voice doesn't win today; figuring it out together does.”
I agree with Mark’s point that:
“Collective knowledge outperforms isolated genius,” and that genuine “Community is essential for filtering truth, sparking creativity, and building trust.”
Mark Masters - You Are The Media
This is the very essence of what European Coworking Day facilitates.
It’s a move away from isolated efforts, towards a shared understanding and collective strength.
Imagine it: hundreds, even thousands, of independent European spaces, all making themselves visible on the same day.
Collectively, they create a constellation.
They demonstrate the true scale and vibrancy of the community-focused sector.
Master’s insight that “Belonging comes before breakthrough” resonates particularly well here.
By creating this sense of belonging and shared purpose, European Coworking Day lays the groundwork for these independent spaces to achieve breakthroughs they might not manage alone.
As Masters puts it, what they build together “becomes a platform.”
A platform for mutual support, shared learning, and a much more powerful collective voice.
This collective visibility does two things: It challenges the dominant big business narrative and attracts more tailored support from service providers who finally recognise the sector's combined strength.
We built this city with 10,000 Independents.
Since its beginning in 2018, I’ve been following the 10,000 Independents project in Philadelphia through Alex Hillman and the Indy Hall coworking space.
10k Independents champions building a local economy “for and by Philadelphians.”
It showcases how a network of small, independent entities can create sustainable, citizen-led economic development.
I’m sure there are UK and European examples, but this is the one I know best. If you have a UK example, I’d love to talk about it, too!
As Alex explains in the 10k Independents manifesto, the math is simple:
5 companies with 10,000 employees
10 companies with 5,000 employees
20 companies with 2,500 employees
50 companies with 1,000 employees
100 companies with 500 employees
200 companies with 250 employees
500 companies with 100 employees
1,000 companies with 50 employees
2,500 companies with 20 employees
Any of these options would be objectively better than relying on a single massive employer, particularly *Amazon—responsible for 50,000 jobs (and all the power that comes with it).
(*This started because in 2017, Amazon was looking to open an HQ in Philly and promised to create 50K jobs—more here.)
Because real economic health isn’t built on monoliths.
It’s built on interdependence—a network of individually resilient people and businesses that grow, adapt, and support each other.
One giant player doesn’t hold up healthy cities.
They’re stitched together by thousands of people choosing to build together.
European Coworking Day allows European spaces to assert their collective importance and impact similarly.
It’s about embodying that core principle: figuring things out together is how progress is made.
The Real Bottom Line: Coworking, Inequality, and What Our Communities Actually Need
The coworking movement, particularly its independent, community-oriented segment, often serves freelancers, micro-businesses, creators, and remote workers who embody the diverse middle class.
But if we’re serious about community, we can’t keep sidestepping the issue of wealth inequality.
Economists like Gary Stevenson have been sounding the alarm for years. On his YouTube channel, he puts it bluntly:
“The way to keep your house if you are a middle-class person is to protect the middle class from the rapidly growing wealth of the rich.”
Gary Stevenson
And yet, this warning rarely makes it into coworking conversations.
If coworking is about connection and care, we can’t ignore the erosion of the people it's supposed to support.
Local, owner-managed coworking spaces—especially those outside major cities—can be quiet engines of economic justice.
They keep money local.
They build resilience in neighbourhoods.
They provide space for individuals to initiate something genuine when no one else supports them.
That’s as true in Manchester or Milan as it is in Madrid.
Where Coworking Is Creating The Local Economy
In places like rural Spain, this isn’t abstract—it’s survival.
Spain is grappling with a rapidly ageing population and widespread rural depopulation called España Vaciada.
But communities aren’t giving up. They’re building coworking infrastructure as a way to fight back.
In La Rioja, Miguel Lucea Jimeno runs Sojuela Joven, a rural coworking and coliving project that has helped increase his village's population by 20% in under a year.
It’s backed by regional funding, but the true impact comes from individuals choosing to stay, engage, and build something together.
In Subotica, Serbia, Željko Crnjaković is doing something similar with Inspira Hub.
As young people move away, he’s working with organisations like IT Subotica 2030 to create reasons for them to stay—or return.
These aren’t shiny tech campuses.
They’re civic infrastructure.
They distinguish between a town in decline and one with a future.
Coworking spaces can achieve this if we consider them more than just property investments.
They can support local economies, nurture untapped talent, and offer community support where traditional systems fall short.
Stacey Sheppard, founder of The Tribe coworking Space, has said this for years.
She’s clear: local authorities investing in spaces like hers would “cure so many problems at the local community and economic level.”
In April 2025, Shamena hosted her first Pause and Pour event at Cowo & Crèche in Washington D.C.
She created a space for people navigating job transitions, burnout, and uncertainty—not just working parents but anyone trying to find their footing in a city that often feels cold and disconnected.
She puts it plainly:
“Nothing’s missing. Nothing’s broken. Everything you need is already in your hands.”
Shamena Nurse-Kingsley
These aren’t isolated stories.
They’re proof.
Proof that coworking—done right—doesn’t just help people work better.
It helps people live better.
But if we ignore the economic and demographic forces pressing down on the people we say we serve, we’re just playing pretend.
We need to look beyond square footage and software demos.
This isn’t about romanticising coworking.
It’s about acknowledging the political, economic, and cultural shitstorm we've sailed into through the Consumer Story—and choosing to do something different.
As
wrote on his recent Brave Ideas post:“If you can’t define who belongs in your space in 2025, you’re not going to make it.”
European Coworking Day isn’t a brand campaign.
It’s a prompt.
Give me a moment to ask—who is this space really for?
And are we willing to show up as if it matters?
Because the truth is:
Belonging doesn't come from strategy decks or slogans.
It comes from decisions. Small ones. Repeated daily. In public.
This is one of them.
Read the London Coworking Assembly 100 Spaces Manifesto here.
As I write this, there are 200 coworking spaces on the European Coworking Day Map—add yours today.
Thanks for your time and attention
Bernie 💚