The final countdown has started for the closing ceremony of the International Year of Co-operatives.
At the end of October thousands of co-operators will gather in Manchester, UK, at Co-operatives United, which will see delegates discuss the Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade at the ICA Extraordinary General Assembly. While the ICAEXPO will welcome 50 co-operatives from 35 countries in the business-to-business trade show.
ICA President Dame Pauline Green extends a welcome to international delegates visiting the UK for the event (October 29-November 2). In a video, seen above, she explained: “I believe we can come together here: to disseminate best practise, learn from each other, learn about the innovation that’s going on in co-operatives around the world, learn about sustainability as one of our strongest arguments to try and diversify the global economy that desperately needs long term sustainable business that has people at the centre of decision making.
“This is our chance to showcase the British co-op movement, to show the way in which our largest co-ops have come together to extend and develop our offer to the public through the work of the Co-operative Group and other retail outlets.”
A number of events from workshops to many of the other conferences that make up Co-operatives United, will be continuing key themes of the International Year such as scalability of the sector, finance and food, gender and youth equality.
The Closing Ceremony for the event is the ICA-supported Big Debate, which will feature a number of international panellists discussing the major topics that have come out of the week. And there will be an opportunity for delegates at the conference, and those at home, to submit questions to the panel.
For those not attending the event in Manchester, the ICA has teamed up with the Global News Hub to present Co-operatives United: Interactive. This is a new way to connect with a co-op conference through livestream videos, on-demand videos, news reports and blogs. Plus this is an opportunity to talk to co-operators at the conference and around the world through the interactive platform. To find out more, visit: www.thenews.coop/virtualevent
• For more information on Co-operatives United, and to book a place, visit: www.manchester2012.coop/book-now/
