This week, close to 1000 delegates will join the International Co-operative Alliance’sGlobal Conference and General Assembly in Antalya, Turkey. Attendees will take part in workshops and seminars, hear from internationally renowned keynote speakers, and take part in break-out sessions on the themes of participation, sustainability, identity, legal frameworks and capital.
If you are attending the conference this week, and even if you are following from where you live, download the conference app. It has all the reports, the attendee list (great for networking), and we update it every day with new materials. It's also staying online after the conference. A great way to have all our reports bundled in one location!
Speakers include author, academic and activist Raj Patel and Yochai Benkler, reknowned author of bestsellers such as The Penguin and the Leviathan and The Wealth of Networks.
The essentials on the conference, in a row:
Built on the Blueprint's 5 pillars: The conference will tackle key themes of the Alliance’s Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade.
Participation: Looking for the future co-operative leaders, tackling co-operative governance and stimulating membership
Sustainability: Defining co-operative sustainability and implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Identity: Exploring the values and principles, leading with identity in a digital world.
Legal frameworks: Representation and advocacy, alongside a focus on food/agriculture and employment
Capital: Innovative tools and sources of capital, trade to trade co-operation and looking for reliable capital sources.
The power of human co-operation: Author Yochai Benkler, Berkman Professor of Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, will discuss the opportunity for co-operatives to capitalise on the information commons in the future economy.
The World Co-operative Monitor and the global economic impact of co-operatives: Last year theMonitor showed that over the past three years, the world’s largest 300 co-ops have grown by 11.6% to reach US $2.2 trillion. Research organisation Euricse, along with the Alliance, will present this year’s edition. It's on Wednesday afternoon!
The Paper on Co-operative Governance: How to make co-operative Governance fit to build resilience in the face of complexity? As co-operatives innovate in their sectors of activity and in their typologies, the Alliance has gathered leading thought from around the world and across sectors to reflect on the balance between rigidity and flexibility we must achieve in our governance strategies and practices in order to continue building a better world.
Young co-operators: A collaborative video, made by Cicopa, with support from Cooperar, will tell the experience and motivations of nine co-operatives in nine countries.
Reclaiming markets through democracy: The global economy today is creating deepening inequalities. Moving towards 2020, how can co-operatives help reverse this trend? Controversial author, journalist, professor and food policy expert Raj Patel continuously challenges presumptions about the global economy with his work both as a policy analyst and activist. Come over for the plenary session on Thursday and hear what Raj has to say about the role of co-operatives.
Presidential election: There are four candidates standing for the Alliance presidency following the early retirement of Dame Pauline Green. The delegates will be canvassing for votes throughout the conference, which will culminate in a big debate moderated by Dame Pauline on the future of the co-operative movement beyond 2020. Those standing for election are:
Jean-Louis Bancel, president and chief executive officer, Crédit Coopératif, France
Ariel Guarco, president, Confederation of Argentinian Cooperatives (COOPERAR), Argentina
Monique Leroux, chair of the board, president and chief executive officer, Desjardins Group, Canada
Presentation of the Rochdale Pioneers Award: Two years ago the Plunkett Foundation won the award for its contribution to the global movement. The award will again be given to the organisation, or person, that has made an impact for co-operatives. Who's the winner? We'll know on Thursday night!
Presenting the Guidance Notes to the Co-operative Principles: As the global steward of the Statement of Co-operative Identity – the Values and Principles of the co-operative movement, the International Co-operative Alliance is responsible for ensuring that the seven principles can be appropriately interpreted.
International Day of Co-operatives 2016: The Alliance is proposing to launch a response to the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals by tailoring the theme of next year’s global day around one of the UN’s goals. We will be calling for co-ops to adopt these goals by launching an online platform that informs the sector of the benefits. Stay tuned!
