Webinar: Cooperatives in the International Decade of Culture for Sustainable Development

Living heritage through cooperative stories

by Heritage custodians and cooperative representatives

Moderated by Helena Gorroño, Vice President for Europe at the ICA Youth Committee

• Prof. Jieun Kiaer, Young Bin Min-Korea Foundation Professor of Korean Linguistics on the Haenyeo Culture of Jeju Islands, Republic of Korea 
• Prof. Colombia Pérez Muñoz, Director, Institute of Social Economy and Cooperativism. Director, UNESCO Chair in Social and Solidarity Economy
• Miles Hadfield Digital Editor, The Co-operative News, UK
• Maissan Hassan, Head of Collection Development at the International Institute of Social History, The Netherlands 
• Waltteri Katajamaki, Social and Solidarity Economy Specialist, ILO COOP/SSE Unit

Q/A from the floor

The Culture of Cooperation in the United States

Group Photo

Maissan Hassan

Maissan has an interdisciplinary background in social sciences and humanities. She has a BA in Sociology and Film from the American University in Cairo, and an MA in Arts and Culture from Leiden University. She has a rich experience working with a multiplicity of feminist and human rights groups, international NGOs, and research institutes. In 2022, she joined the IISH as a collection developer of historical and contemporary international and non-Dutch collections and data. In 2025, she became Head of Collection Development.

Waltteri Katajamäki

Waltteri works as a Social and Solidarity Economy Specialist in the Cooperative, Social and Solidarity Economy Unit of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva. His experience spans cooperatives and the wider social and solidarity economy, rural development and related decent work issues, including policy development, research and international cooperation at global, regional and country levels.

Prof. Jieun Kiaer

Jieun is the Young Bin Min-Korea Foundation Professor of Korean Linguistics at the University of Oxford and the Founding Director of the Oxford Centre for Korean Studies. Her research explores the relationship between language, culture, identity and communication, with a particular focus on Korean language and society. She led Sea, Song and Survival, a Leverhulme Trust-funded research project documenting the lives, language and traditions of Jeju Haenyeo, Korea's women divers, whose culture was inscribed on UNESCO's List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016.

Prof. Colombia Pérez Muñoz

Colombia is Director of the Institute of Social Economy and Cooperativism (INDESCO) at the Cooperative University of Colombia, which provides training, research and consultancy services in solidarity-based entrepreneurship and social innovation to public, private and solidarity-based organisations at national and international levels. She is Director of the UNESCO Chair on Social and Solidarity Economy for the 2026–2030 period. 

Lutz Möller

Lutz is the Deputy Secretary-General of the German Commission for UNESCO for almost 12 years. He coordinates the Commission’s policy work and its international cooperation, with focus on UNESCO’s international law. Fair Culture currently is one of his most important initiatives. He holds a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics and has joined the German Commission for UNESCO in 2004.

Osamu Nakano

Osamu is the Vice Executive Director of the Japan Workers’ Cooperative Union (JWCU). He joined JWCU in 2014 and has served as a board member and Director of International Relations since 2017. He has also been the President of CICOPA Asia and Pacific and Vice President of CICOPA since 2021. He is member of the ICA Global Board and part of the ICA working group on Cooperative Cultural Heritage.

Harekrishna Misra

Prof. Misra, Ph.D. in Information Systems, is Vice Chair of the ICA-AP Research Committee. He superannuated as a Professor at Institute of Rural Management Anand, India – currently a School of Tribhuvan Sahakari University (TSU). He serves as a member of the Academic Council of the TSU and also is an Adjunct Professor at Development Management Institute (DMI), Patna.

Miles Hadfield

Miles is a writer and journalist based in Manchester, UK. He has been working at Co-op News since 2010, initially as a subeditor and page designer, and as a reporter, feature writer and digital editor since 2016. He has covered a number of key co-op sector events in the UK and around the world, and written about a wide range of topics concerning the movement.

Erbin Crowell

Erbin is Executive Director of the Neighboring Food Co-op Association and chair of DotCooperation, LLC.  He serves on the board of directors of U.S. Co-ops and received his Master of Management: Co-operatives & Credit Unions from Saint Mary's University, where he serves as an adjunct professor with the International Centre for Co-operative Management.

Helena Gorroño

Helena is a Basque entrepreneur and social economy professional working in strategic consulting and impact education. In TZBZ S. Coop., she manages regional development and strategic co-design consulting projects. Additionally, she serves as the Vice President for Europe for the ICA Youth Committee, where she helps promote youth involvement in cooperative business models.