With the International Co-operative Alliance confirming its action plan for the Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade, the organisation is now looking for a number of delivery agents to help implement the strategy.
The ICA board approved the implementation plan at its March meeting in Moscow, which outlines a roadmap for the Blueprint over the next four years; and now the ICA is seeking proposals from individuals and organisations to put these ideas into practice.
One of the key initiatives identified in the implementation plan is to develop a report and a supporting database that ranks countries according to the progressiveness of their legal and policy framework in supporting co-operative development. The report may be modelled upon the annual Doing Business Report, produced by the International Finance Corporation and World Bank. The purpose of the report is to influence the policymaking process. The study will also explore national practices that discriminate against co-operatives.
The ICA also plans to assess the current state of member participation through a scan of co-operatives from all over the world and summarise the findings in a report on the current status and best practices for increasing engagement. The database will also help to identify the best practices for increasing youth participation and gender diversity while placing a strong emphasis on the use of online platforms and social media.
The Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade marked the beginning of a worldwide campaign to make co-operatives the acknowledged leader in economic, social and environmental sustainability. To achieve this, the ICA will focus on drafting a scan report on sustainability within co-operative enterprises, highlighting best practices to achieve sustainability at economic, social and environmental level. With this report, the ICA will also identify co-operatives or co-operative sectors or supportive bodies that have set up sustainability targets or certification programmes.
In the context of the global recession and the resilience shown by co-operative enterprises across the world, the ICA also hopes to promote co-operatives as key players in boosting sustainable growth. To achieve this, the organisation is seeking a thought leadership paper to define a co-operative perspective on growth and efficiency. With this paper, the ICA will also help to address some of the misconceptions related to the efficiency of co-operatives, supporting the idea that co-operatives can contribute to achieving sustaibale growth.
The paper will be used to influence the global conversation on growth and serve as a policy foundation for the future projects of the ICA.
• To find out more about these reports click here. To submit any proposals, please email: gould@ica.coop
