Towards 2020: the cooperative movement meets in Turkey
In a few weeks the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) will hold its global conference in Antalya (Turkey). The theme for this year is “Towards 2020 – what will your cooperative look like?” The event spread over 3 days, from the 10th to the 12th of November will tackle topics linked to the cooperative pillars: participation, sustainability, identity, legal frameworks and capital. Moreover, this year marks the 120th Anniversary of the ICA which will be celebrated during the global conference. A Research Conference on Cooperatives and the World of Work organized by the International Labor Organization (ILO) will be held on 9-10 November and a video on youth cooperation produced by CICOPA and its regional organisations in Mercosur and Europe: CICOPA Mercosur and CECOP – CICOPA Europe with the support of Cooperar, will be launched on 11 November.
14 October 2015
CICOPA will be involved in different events at the global conference, and will take center stage while presenting the video “Working together for a cooperative future”. The project was filmed in a collaborative manner that shares the experiences, challenges and motivations of young cooperators in 9 countries of the world. It will be presented by Gabriela Buffa, ICA representative of the Youth Committee on 11 November after the plenary session (5:10 pm, local time). Additionally, Bruno Roelants, secretary general to CICOPA, will participate in a break-out session about legal frameworks. During the first part, the focus will be set on employment and CICOPA’s ground breaking report on cooperatives and employment will be presented.
The International Cooperative Alliance Committee on Cooperative Research and the ILO will host a research conference on 10 November bringing together researchers, students, practitioners, advocates, policy makers and representatives of employers’ and workers’ organizations working in areas of cooperative enterprises and social and solidarity economy organizations, as well as labor research and themes related to the world of work.
The theme of the 2015 global conference is future oriented and why so? Dame Pauline Green, the President of the International Cooperative Alliance declared that “Society and trade are evolving at increasing speed and the organization is forward looking. We protect the cooperative model but also build it for the future using the Blueprint for a Cooperative Decade. This event will allow the cooperators, practitioners, policy maker, academia and experts to exchange views about the achievements of the cooperative movement and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead”.
Focus: topics of discussion
One of the important topics that will be discussed about during the conference is sustainability. The cooperative system is considered by many, including governments, as a sustainable system of enterprise. Thus cooperatives need to work towards keeping that status and proving that they truly are the leaders in sustainability and represent the business model of the future. Moreover, a second topic of great significance to the conference is participation, which includes inclusiveness and equality.
The need for capital and a favorable legal framework is crucial for all enterprises, cooperatives alike. The ways in which cooperatives can ensure a raise in their capital without damaging their nature and the different reliable sources for co-operative capitals will be evaluated throughout the breakout sessions.
Identity, the cooperative principles that define the core of the cooperative identity will be re-discussed and brought into contemporary terms. The cooperative marque, since 2013, binds a great amount of cooperatives and organizations together, furthering the impact of the co-operative identity.