Third Euricse Conference on Cooperative Finance and Sustainable Development

Registration is now open for the 3rd Euricse International Conference on Cooperative Finance and Sustainable Development on 14th - 15th June 2012 in Trento. Both structural changes and the recent financial crisis have created a context where, at least at the local level, the model of financial intermediation that credit co-operatives follow is encouraged to flourish: there are certain sections of the population that face increased difficulties to gain access to the financial system, while some peripheral communities and sectors are confronted with a more restricted set of options. Such a context is indicative of the role that credit co-operatives can play in “plugging the gap between local need and the mainstream services”. A cooperative bank’s internal evaluation should not focus only on its capacity to make profits and surpluses, but also on the effects on the territory of its activity, conciliating business efficiency and regional efficiency. This framework has opened ample opportunities to cooperative banks: to translate and implement in a modern way the constitutive principles of the cooperative movement; to demonstrate the strength of a third way of organising economic activities, different even if not completely alternative, but complementary to the market and the state; to experiment new institutions and efficient organisation more consistent with grass-root initiatives and values; to favour competitiveness and quality of life within the territories and local societies. For more informarion: http://euricse.eu/en/node/1755