Blogs

Imagine 2012 Opens with "Thinking Thoughts, Big Ideas and those who believe in the Future"

AnthonyMurray — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 14:49:01 +0000

After a wonderfully warm welcome from our hosts at Desjardins (Lynn, you know who you are and we were truly thankful for the time you spent to make us feel welcome) we found ourselves in the Opening Press Conference Room of Imagine 2012.

Agricultural cooperatives critical to fight hunger World Food...

AnthonyMurray — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 08:26:19 +0000

Agricultural cooperatives critical to fight hunger

World Food Day observed in 150 countries

FAO explains that agricultural cooperatives, already enriching millions of small-scale farmers, could expand and make an even greater contribution against poverty and hunger, if they were given the right support by governments, civil society and academia.

Read the rest of the FAO statement and messages from Pope Benedict XVI, UN Secretary General, FAO Director-General, Italian President here.

ILO statement here.

ICAO Statement in English, French and Spanish.

Dame Pauline Green speaks to the IMF and World Bank on how co-ops can aid food scarcity & food security

AnthonyMurray — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 16:16:27 +0000

ICA President, Dame Pauline Green, delivers The Rabobank Duisenberg Lecture to a gathering of international financiers including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday 14 October.

Focusing on the co-operative model as a solution to food scarcity and food security, her lecture looked at the contribution that the co-operative movement is currently making to the global economy, outlines the capacity it has to do more, and concludes with the steps that are needed to help deliver on the reconstruction of a more sustainable, fairer and better balanced global economy.

The lunch meeting for 170 guests was organised and sponsored by Rabobank in memory of Wim Duisenberg, the first Governor of the European Central Bank and a prominent Dutch economist and was the 9th Duisenberg Lecture. Rabobank issued an in-depth study on the same issue to coincide with the speech.

The key messages from the event emphasised the real need to develop a grass roots agricultural co-operative economy in sub Saharan Africa if we are to deal with the key issue of food scarcity by 2050 and allow any benefits of increasing trade and prosperity in Africa to be enjoyed by the African people rather than by the shareholders of remote multinational businesses or predator states.

Pictured: Piet Moerland - President of Rabobank presenting the first copy of the Rabobank study to ICA President Dame Pauline Green.

Read the full Rabobank Duisenberg Lecture here.

Declaration of the International Summit of Cooperatives

AnthonyMurray — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 15:05:26 +0000

The International Summit of Cooperatives in Quebec City concluded with the Declaration of the International Summit of Cooperatives. This Declaration will be presented at the end of October in Manchester, at the ICA General Assembly at Co-operatives United - the global culmination event for the International Year of Co-operatives, which will be attended by 10,000 participants. It will then be presented to the United Nations.

Summit participants acknowledged the important contribution that cooperatives make to the socio-economic well-being of people and communities and to a balanced and more stable plural economy. Cooperatives can make unique and relevant contributions because:

they are committed to their communities for the long term
they get people involved in managing the business
they promote job creation and retention in the communities they serve
they strive to be profitable, not as an end in itself, but to effectively meet the needs of their current members and future generations
they use a business model that is solid and viable, at the local, national and international levels
they are very resilient, as the last financial and economic crisis has shown.

Based on the Summit’s findings and discussions, the participants declare that:

Cooperatives and mutuals are businesses that play a significant role in the global economy while ensuring a sustainable development.

Read the full Declaration here.

International co-operative business movement seeks place on world stage

AnthonyMurray — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 19:14:00 +0000

International co-operative business movement seeks place on world stage:

The international co-operative movement is seeking a greater voice on the international stage and more political influence as it strives for recognition as “a social, human and economic global powerhouse” in a rapidly changing economic environment.

In a joint declaration approved by nearly 3,000 representatives from 91 countries at the first International Summit of Co-operatives in Quebec City, the movement on Thursday announced its plan to become a global player on the world economic stage.

Source: The Globe and Mail

Kooperatif Haber TR -Coop News TR: Prime Minister Erdogan, announced Cooperative Strategy and Action Plan

AnthonyMurray — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 15:52:31 +0000

Kooperatif Haber TR -Coop News TR: Prime Minister Erdogan, announced Cooperative Strategy and Action Plan:

uno58:

“A FIRST IN TURKEY”

This study carries the distinction of being the first strategy covering the whole of Turkey in the cooperative sector, Erdogan stressed, then on cooperative steps to be taken based on this strategy will be emphasized. Erdogan said:”These measures are producers, consumers,…

The Davos for coops being considered for 2014

AnthonyMurray — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 14:58:21 +0000

The first International Summit of Cooperatives in Quebec City was a huge success — so successful, in fact, that the 3 hosts are talking about organizing another Summit in 2014.

“Before making a decision, we want to ensure, based on feedback from participants, that it meets the needs of the cooperative community and that it will advance the cooperative model,” said Monique F. Leroux, Chair of the Board, President and CEO of Desjardins Group. She believes a decision could be made in early 2013.

According to the 3 co-hosts—the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA), Desjardins Group and Saint Mary’s University — the Summit provided an opportunity to demonstrate the amazing power of cooperatives to build a better world and to develop concrete strategies that will enhance their contribution.

"It has been said repeatedly that we have the means to eliminate hunger and malnutrition. What is..."

AnthonyMurray — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 21:50:31 +0000

““It has been said repeatedly that we have the means to eliminate hunger and malnutrition. What
is needed is the establishment of an enabling environment that allows small producers to take
full advantage of available opportunities. Strong cooperatives and producer organizations are
an essential part of that.””

Director-General of FAO, José Graziano da Silva, as part of his message for World Food Day, being celebrated around the world today.

“Agricultural Cooperatives: Key to feeding the world” is this year’s theme. Small farmers can offer a solution to the world’s biggest food problems, and Fairtrade’s producers have a big role to play! Find out more here.

16 October is World Food Day

AnthonyMurray — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 00:12:23 +0000

Democracy, equality, economic participation, independence education and concern for the community…. With the right policies, agricultural cooperatives can be the key to food security. See the FAO video here.

Read the ICAO Statement for World Food Day in English, French and Spanish.

The International Co-operative Agricultural Organisation (ICAO) is a sectoral organisation of the International Co-operative Alliance. It exists to safeguard the interests of its member organizations, to pursue research into the latest developments in the agricultural co-operative movement, to promote mutual understanding and economic collaboration between the agricultural co-operatives on the one hand and the farmer and other types of co-operatives (eg consumers’, fisheries, insurance, housing, etc) on the other, both worldwide and at local level.

Dunsany declaration issued for World Food Day

AnthonyMurray — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 10:57:33 +0000

In the light of World Food Day, the Dunsany Group has issued a declaration highlighting the positive impact of co-ops have on rural development and their key role in feeding a growing population.

The declaration aims to provide an incentive for a decade of co-operative growth in rural communities and feeds into the ICA’s Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade, which is being discussed at the General Assembly at Co-operatives United in Manchester on October 31.

The Dunsany Declaration, a framework for the development of rural co-operatives internationally, was developed by a range of range of participants from individual co-operatives, United Nations agencies, international co-operative agencies, national co-operative support organisations and co-operative sector representatives, who together formed the ‘Dunsany Group’.

The Dunsany Group refers to the following people who attended the World of Rural Co-operation Roundtable Event and signed the Dunsany Declaration in their personal capacity. The group comprised of the following:

Peter Couchman, Plunkett Foundation

Pauline Green, International Co-operative Alliance

David Button, Co-operatives UK

Eve Crowley, Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations

Fayyad Fayyad, Olive Oil Co-operative Union, Palestine

Michael Ward, Centre for Co-operative Studies, UCC

James Graham, Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society

Colette Lebel, La Co-op fédérée, Quebec

Martin Lowery, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, USA

David Cameron, Community Land Scotland

Seamus O’Donohue, Irish Co-operative Organisation Society

Simel Esim, International Labour Office

James J Kennelly, Skidmore College, USA

Hans van Es, Dutch Produce Association / COGECA

Ms. Min Su Kim, NACF/ ICAO

Mike Perry, Plunkett Foundation

Harriet English, Plunkett Foundation

Read the full story here.

Pictured - Dame Pauline Green, ICA President, signing the Dunsany Declaration

Not Business As Usual: The Co-operative Summit

AnthonyMurray — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 09:05:14 +0000

Not Business As Usual: The Co-operative Summit:

charlesgould:

October 16 is World Food Day World Food Day, celebrated in more...

AnthonyMurray — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 10:02:59 +0000

October 16 is World Food Day

World Food Day, celebrated in more than 150 countries today, reminds us of the importance of feeding every member of society-regardless of where he or she lives.

It is particularly fitting that this year’s theme for World Food Day focuses on agricultural co-operatives both because we are about to conclude the UN’s International Year of Co-operatives (IYC) and because it is those agricultural co-operatives that can mean the difference between success and failure of the world’s farmers to earn a decent living and meet global food needs.

We believe that food production is not some distant operation but one that challenges us in our own countries, in our own fields. Farmers in our own communities are working every day on our behalf. And it is through agricultural co-operatives that small farmers - so critical to meeting our food needs - are able to develop the safeguards and receive the education and support that helps individuals, their families and their local agricultural communities. The smallholder farmers are the bedrock of good quality food production underscoring that communities can in many areas of the world provide adequate food for their own populations.

Co-operatives from around the world are working to combat food insecurity and fight poverty.

Read the full statement here.

SHIFTCHANGE: PUTTING DEMOCRACY TO WORK

Rodney North — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 18:38:28 +0000

New England Premier of

SHIFTCHANGE: PUTTING DEMOCRACY TO WORK

An inspirational new documentary by veteran award-winning filmmakers Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin about the real possibilities offered by worker cooperatives during this time of industrial decline, chronic unemployment, and systemic economic crisis. Lively stories of secure, dignified jobs, in democratic workplaces including Boston’s own Equal Exchange and the path-breaking Mondragon Cooperative Corporation.

7 pm, Oct. 21 at Northeastern University’s West Village F Auditorium

7 pm, Oct. 24 at Tufts University, Barnum 104

Join us for a 6 pm reception with coffee & light snacks before the Northeastern showing. Both screenings will be followed by discussion with film-makers and local worker cooperators. Directions and more information about the screenings here; also see shiftchange.org.

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Why Shiftchange is Important: With the long decline in well-paid jobs and today’s economic crisis, millions have been thrown out of work, and many are losing their homes. The usual economic solutions are not working, and growing numbers around the world are ready to employ a different business model to help re-invent our failing economy, generate long-term community resilience and stability, and create a more egalitarian and democratic way of life. Shiftchange visits the more than 50 year old network of cooperative businesses in Mondragon, Spain, and thriving examples of such businesses in the U.S. The film shares on-the-ground experience, lessons, and observations from the worker-owners on the front line of the new economy. Come witness and celebrate together the ingenuity and creativity of worker-owners who are “building the road as we travel” towards a more democratic, just, stable, and sustainable economy.

Sponsors: These Boston screenings of Shiftchange are presented by the Boston Area Solidarity Economy Network (BASEN), a local chapter of the U.S. Solidarity Economy Network (www.ussen.org), and of the Intercontinental Social Solidarity Economy Network (www.ripess.org), which seek to make visible, link together, and grow worker cooperatives and other alternative and transformational economic practices and institutions. The screenings are co-sponsored by Equal Exchange, Trillium Asset Management, Red Sun Press, Northeastern University Social Enterprise Institute, Somerville Climate Action, Boston Collective Delivery, Ownership Associates, South Mountain Company, JP Forum, JP New Economy Transition, New Economics Institute, Cooperative Fund of New England, OwningOurFuture.com at Tellus Institute, Guramylay: Growing the Green Economy, Al Campbell of the Union for Radical Political Economics SC, and Harvest Co-op. Also cooperating to bring this great film to you are the Worker Owned and Run Cooperative Network of Boston (worcn.org), Jobs with Justice, Democratic Socialists of America, Tufts UEP Practical Visionaries Workshop,Somerville Rep. Denise Provost, Dollars & Sense, Mass. Global Action, Jewish Labor Committee, Dorchester Community Food Co-op, Occupy Boston Sustainable Economy Working Group, and Boston Workers Alliance.

Featured Worker Cooperatives: Shiftchange visits several worker owned enterprises in North America, and in the Basque region of Spain, to show the diversity of participants, products and ways of doing business in employee owned firms. Each offers inspiration as well as practical ideas about making these enterprises successful. Stories in the film include:

Our own Equal Exchange, Boston MA: Founded in 1986, Equal Exchange is one of the largest roasters of fair trade coffee in the world. Democratically managed by those who work there, Equal Exchange distributes coffee, tea, chocolate bars, cocoa, and snacks produced by cooperatives in the U.S. and other countries. The more than 100 worker owners seek to demonstrate through their successful business, how worker cooperatives and fair trade contribute to a more equitable, democratic and sustainable world.

Mondragón Cooperative Corporation [MCC]: Begun in the 1950s, the Mondragón co-ops have transformed a depressed area of Spain into one of the most productive in Europe with a high standard of living and an egalitarian way of life. These co-ops produce computer chips, high tech industrial machinery, household appliances, and many other products. They are owned and managed by their workers. Seeing the achievements of the MCC helps to overcome the idea—widespread in North America—that worker run cooperatives can only exist on the economic fringe.

The Evergreen Cooperatives in Cleveland, Ohio: This is an ambitious urban redevelopment model, directly inspired by Mondragón, where local institutions and public officials are supporting green cooperatives of previously marginalized, predominantly African American workers, who provide commercial laundry services, install solar energy systems, and grow vegetables in vast urban greenhouses.

Cooperatives of immigrant workers: Often the most marginalized in our current economic system, immigrant workers are starting cooperatives to create secure, environmentally friendly jobs. The non-profit WAGES helps low income women, largely Latina immigrants, organize green house-cleaning cooperatives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

What people have to say about SHIFTCHANGE: PUTTING DEMOCRACY TO WORK:

One of the barriers to fostering cooperative values and businesses in North America is the lack of awareness of the benefits that well organized cooperatives with good business practices can offer to workers and communities. Educating the public to the cooperative approach to business is an important contribution which Shift Change can make.

Ted Howard, Executive Director of Democracy Collaborative, University of Maryland

The basic purpose of Shift Change is to encourage the development of work cooperatives in North America as one solution to our severe economic problems as well as a means for a regional economy to compete successfully in the global economy.

Dan Swinney, Executive Director of Chicago Manufacturing Renaissance Council

It is my wholehearted belief that worker cooperatives are a huge part of the solution for the world’s woes (for the 99%). The end of publicly held corporations and the equity market is an essential piece of the reform necessary. The centralization of corporate power and wealth must cease. Worker coops offer something to workers that they can’t get from big business. I believe that when people see this alternative to cube farms and life-deadening work environments, there will be an explosion of worker coops, drawing the good, the bright, and the cooperative.

eLiz

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Rodney North, 774-776-7398, Rodney@equalexchange.coop

WEBSITE: shiftchange.org; TWITTER: @Shift Change; FACEBOOK: shiftchangemovie

JOIN BASEN! Contact Julie Matthaei, jmatthaei@wellesley.edu or Wayne Clark,rwayneclark@igc.org

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH SUPPORTS AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES

AnthonyMurray — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 13:52:35 +0000

Vatican City, (VIS) - The Holy Father has sent a Message to Jose Graziano da Silva, director general of the United Nation’s Rome-based Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), for the occasion of World Food Day 2012.

“This year World Food Day is being celebrated while the effects of the economic crisis are increasingly affecting primary needs, including the fundamental right of every person to sufficient and healthy nutrition. In particular, the position of people who live in situations of poverty and underdevelopment is worsening. The current state of affairs is similar to that which led to the establishment of FAO, and it calls on national and international institutions to work to free humankind from hunger through agricultural development and the growth of rural communities. Malnutrition is, in fact, being worsened by gradual disengagement and excessive competitiveness, factors which could make us forget that only shared solutions can adequately respond to the expectations of individuals and peoples”.

In this context, the Holy Father expresses his satisfaction at the decision to dedicate this year’s World Food Day to the theme “Agricultural cooperatives - key to feeding the world”. This, he writes, “does not only mean supporting cooperatives as a different form of economic and social organisation, but also seeing them as a real tool for international action. The experience of many countries shows, in fact, that cooperatives, apart from stimulating agricultural activities, are a way to enable farmers and rural populations to participate in decision making, and an efficient means to achieve an integral development which has human beings as its foundation and goal”.

“As is well known, the Catholic Church considers work and cooperative enterprises as ways to enjoy an experience of unity and solidarity capable of overcoming differences and even social conflicts between people from different groups. For this reason, with her teaching and actions the Church has always supported cooperatives, in the conviction that their activity is not limited only to the economic sphere, but contributes to the human, social, cultural and moral development of those who belong to them, and of the community of which they are part”.

Benedict XVI goes on to recall that, when conflicts or natural disasters impede agricultural work, consideration must always be given “to the vital role played by women, who are often called to administer the activity of cooperatives, to maintain family ties and to safeguard the precious heritage of rural knowledge and techniques”.

“It is indispensable”, the Pope concludes his message, “that national and international authorities provide the necessary legislation and financing to ensure that, in rural areas, cooperatives may become effective instruments of agricultural production, food security, social change and a wider improvement in living conditions. In this new context it is to be hoped that the young may look to their future with renewed confidence, while maintaining their link with agricultural work, the rural world and its traditional values”.

Source: http://visnews-en.blogspot.co.uk/

fairtrade: Today is UN International Day of Rural Women! Join...

AnthonyMurray — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:25:14 +0000

fairtrade:

Today is UN International Day of Rural Women!

Join us in celebrating the strong rural women of the world! As this fascinating FAO info graphic shows, women are the backbone of the rural economy, especially in developing countries.

There are thousands of Fairtrade female farmers around the world. Through Fairtrade they have a joint say in decision-making, and an equal share of the benefits.

Vida Addai is just one of these women. Vida is a cocoa farmer and member of Kuapa Kokoo cocoa Union in Ghana. With the Fairtrade Premium received for their cocoa, she and other members in her village chose to invest in a community borehole.

‘Since the borehole came, we are free from all water borne diseases,’ says Vida.

Meet more of Kuapa Kokoo’s women members here.

Across Fairtrade, women are joining forces to tackle gender equality, form their own cooperatives and tackle problems like poor healthcare and illiteracy. Read some case studies on Fairtrade Africa’s website.

The Co-operative Summit

AnthonyMurray — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 22:53:03 +0000

Well, the Co-operative Summit in Quebec City, Canada lived up this week to all of its promise. 2,500 co-operators from 90+ countries converged on Quebec for Imagine 2012 and the Summit. As one woman noted, with the canopy of the changing Maple leaves all about, the city had decorated itself in the orange and red colors of the International Year of Co-operatives. Desjardins went to great lengths to showcase the artistic talent of the province throughout the week, but in particular in the culmination of the gala dinner, with a rousing performance by the renowned Cirque de Soleil commissioned especially for the Year.

All of this speaks only to the trappings of the event. The substance was at the same world-class level, with specially commissioned reports presented by top-level consulting and public opinion firms. The cream of co-operative thinkers were also in evidence, with every panel at both conferences worth the trip had it been the only one. It’s best to visit the Summit site to access the reports – www.2012intlsummit.coop – there is far too much substance to even attempt to summarise here.

All of this great work is not just for those in attendance. Beyond the web site, press events were held daily to leverage the messages and communicate to the world that co-operatives are a viable solution to the global crisis we face.

A draft Declaration captures the key findings of the week. Together with the expression of the hopes and aspirations of the individual participants for the future, which they are invited to contribute over the coming days, the Declaration will next travel to Manchester, UK for the co-operative community’s close of the International Year of Co-operatives. There it will be presented to ICA’s members.

Already there is talk that the Summit engendered too much excitement and delivered too much substance for it to just have been a one-time occurrence. Conversations are underway among the co-hosts and partners to explore the feasibility of a repetition. For now, we’re focused on the development of the Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade, to convert the energy of the Year into a plan of action for the Decade, but it’s not too soon to consider whether the Summit could provide a format to drive important dimensions of that Blueprint.

Apply to Become a Democracy at Work Network Peer Advisor

Joe Marraffino — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 00:55:18 +0000

The Democracy at Work Network (DAWN) is a network of certified peer advisors, all with strong social and professional ties, who cooperate in training themselves and providing technical assistance services to worker cooperatives. DAWN is a project of the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives.

DAWN is now accepting applications for the 2013 DAWN Peer Advisor Training. Eligibility is limited to worker cooperators - people who have worked or are working as worker-owners in a worker cooperative. It is a peer training, not intended for cooperative developers, consultants or other professionals. (For this type of training, please visit our esteemed colleagues at CooperationWorks! and enroll in their Cooperative Development Institute.) To be eligible for apprentice status, applicants must have worked for at least six months in a worker cooperative within the last five years.

DAWN apprentice training includes:

2 in-person training weekends
10 two hour-long webinars
Internship with a cooperative development organization or in a guided peer advising project
Research project to build the DAWN models library

Cost of the training is $300 (scholarship funds are available upon application) + travel (travel subsidies are available). Upon completion of the training, apprentices may become journeyperson Peer Advisors, offering peer advising to other worker cooperatives, startups, and cooperative development organizations through DAWN. Application deadline: October 22, 2012. Apply now.

Arizmendi Bakery San Rafael Members on Making Contact Radio Show

Joe Marraffino — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 02:51:04 +0000

Worker-owners of Arizmendi Bakery in San Rafael, CA, talk to the radio show Making Contact.

One of the most challenging parts of forming a worker owned business is that there aren’t a lot of models to follow. In some parts of the United States, there are virtually no co-ops. Learning how to manage and run a successful business isn’t easy, especially when you’re trying to do it differently. So many of those co-ops that do exist feel a special responsibility—to support each other, and help grow the number of worker controlled businesses out there. One of the model co-op organizations is located in the San Francisco Bay Area—its called Arizmendi. Making Contact’s Andrew Stelzer brings us this story about how when one of the organizations bakeries fell on hard times, the other businesses pitched in both money and time to help it survive.

A map of the worker cooperatives in the Arizmendi Association:

View Arizmendi Association Locations in a larger map

KOPERASI DAN SYARIAH

Suroto Ph — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 05:26:00 +0000

Oleh : Suroto (1)

Dalam
praktek perkoperasian di Indonesia, seringkali kita dapati penggunaan istilah Koperasi
Syariah seperti halnya dalam istilah Bank Syariah. Padahal dalam kasus ini
jelas berbeda secara prinsip, karena kalau dalam perbankkan konvensional
imbuhan istilah syariah itu dimaksudkan untuk mereduksi sistem bank
konvensional yang mengandung unsur riba atau ekploitasi yang dalam transaksi
keuangan disebut usury. Sedangkan
koperasi sejatinya dalam konsepsinya adalah selaras dengan nilai-nilai syariah
dan sebagai sistem yang berbasis pada nilai yang menolak secara jelas unsur
ekploitasi.

Baca selengkapnya »

Local Sprouts Cooperative Organizes Worker Co-op Week

Joe Marraffino — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 01:10:17 +0000

Portland, Maine's Local Sprouts Cooperative (previously) is organizing a menu of events for Worker Co-op Week in celebration of Co-op Month and the 2012 International Year of Cooperatives.

Shift Change

A new documentary of true stories of dignified jobs in democratic workplaces

Monday, October 22, 7:30pm

Local Sprouts Cafe, 649 Congress St. Portland, Maine

Special Screening with filmmakers Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young

At a time when many are disillusioned with big banks and big business, and growing inequity in our country, employee ownership offers a real solution for workers and communities. Shift Change is a new documentary that highlights worker-owned enterprises in North America and in Mondragon, Spain. The world premier of the film is Oakland, CA on October 18th.

For more info about the film: www.shiftchange.org

Suggested donation of $5-10

Creating Worker Cooperatives in our Community

An afternoon workshop for people interested in starting worker co-ops and for people that want to support worker co-ops

Thursday, October 25

1-7pm

Local Sprouts Cafe, 649 Congress St. Portland, Maine

Worker co-ops around the world are creating jobs, supporting workplace democracy, and promoting a fair economic system. Local Sprouts Cooperative is excited to share our model, about other worker co-ops and how to start worker co-ops with people in our community. This afternoon workshop will spark ideas and collaborations to create new cooperatives in Portland.

This workshop is for:

People who want to start a worker cooperative
Existing businesses that many want to convert to a worker cooperative
Economic development professionals
Small business consultants
Credit unions and local banks
Foundations & philanthropists
Attorneys
Students & teachers
Accountants & bookkeepers
City officials
People interested in a democratic economy

Draft Agenda (more details will be shared before the workshop):

1pm Lunch and Panel Discussion: Worker Co-ops in the Year of the Co-op

2:30pm: Workshops:

Starting Worker Co-op: visions to creation

Supporting Worker Co-ops: for economic development and business support people

4pm: Financing Worker Co-ops

Legal Support for Worker Co-ops

Democracy in Action: culture, process, and decision making in cooperatives

5:30pm: Creating Worker Co-ops in our Community: community discussion sharing ideas and support

People can either stay for the dinner or leave after 6:30pm when the discussion ends

Afternoon Conference & Lunch: Suggestion Donation $15-30

Co-Sponsored by Local Sprouts Cooperative, the Community Building Collaborative and the Southern Maine Worker's Center

Cooperative Feast

a dinner and music celebrating cooperatives, 7pm

Local Sprouts Cooperative cooks will create a delicious dinner and local musicians including Local Sprouts worker-owners will play music. People with worker cooperative ideas are encouraged to share them between (or with) music and through a creative delicious night we will support our community’s new cooperative visions.

Dinner & Music Suggestion Donation: $15-30

For planning purposes please RSVP for the Afternoon Workshop and for the Cooperative Feast. To RSVP please send an email to food@localsprouts.coop.

For more info go to www.localsprouts.coop or call 207-615-9970

MELURUSKAN PEMIKIRAN HATTA TENTANG KOPERASI

Suroto Ph — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 05:28:00 +0000

Oleh : Suroto(1)

Banyak
orang mengenal Bung Hatta sebagai seorang pejuang dan proklamator
kemerdekaan. Tapi yang tidak banyak
dikenal oleh anak-anak muda sekarang ini adalah bahwa Bung Hatta itu juga
seorang bapak koperasi Indonesia. Sumbangsih Bung Hatta terhadap pemikiran
demokrasi mengandung dua inti pemikiran, ialah cita-cita negara hukum yang
demokratis dan penolakan terhadap individualisme yang dijabarkan dalam konsep
koperasi.

Baca selengkapnya »

Nancy Folbre in the NY Times: The Year of the Cooperative

Joe Marraffino — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 23:41:40 +0000

Nancy Folbre (previously) promotes the recent International Summit of Cooperatives in the New York Times:

We live in a competitive world. Yet much of our competition is team-based, requiring cooperation among team members. The biologist Edward O. Wilson describes the resulting tensions as a central dilemma facing all social species – humans as well as ants.

Economists haven’t quite caught up with the implications. Further, they haven’t quite caught on to the reality that cooperative enterprises play an enormously important role in our economic system, one that is likely to grow in decades to come.

Whether set up as worker-owned businesses, consumer memberships, financial institutions or marketing/distribution networks, co-ops pursue more complex goals than maximizing profit. They often put a high priority on democracy, education and the sustainable development of their communities.

Since 1930, cooperative enthusiasts have proclaimed October National Cooperative Month to help publicize their efforts. This year, the United Nations proclaimed the International Year of Cooperatives. The month that begins today promises a grand cooperative convergence, with a number of important events scheduled worldwide.

From Oct. 6 to 11, the city of Quebec will play host to an International Summit of Cooperatives, informally described as the “Davos of the Cooperative Movement,” a reference to the annual gathering of the global elite officially known as the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Shift Change Documentary World Premiere

Joe Marraffino — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 00:38:13 +0000

After a successful Kickstarter campaign and many great clips released along the way, SHIFT CHANGE hits the theaters this week in Oakland.

Tickets are now on sale for the World Premiere of SHIFT CHANGE! We hope you will join us in Oakland, California, on October 18 for what promises to be a great party.

World Premiere Screening!

Thursday, October 18, 2012 | Grand Lake Theater, Oakland, CA | 8:00pm

Tickets: http://shiftchange.bpt.me

The filmmakers and special guests will be joined by many of the Bay Area worker-owners who appear in the film, for this gala screening and celebration of the completion of SHIFT CHANGE. Special guests include Gayle McLaughlin, Mayor of Richmond, CA, Ted Howard, Executive Director of the Democracy Collaborative, and many more to be announced!

There are discounted tickets available for members of the Network of Bay Area Worker Coops. More info is available on the ticketing site.

Videos from the 2012 International Summit of Cooperatives in Quebec

Joe Marraffino — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 23:59:59 +0000

The recent International Summit of Cooperatives in Quebec has posted a gallery of videos from the event. Here are a few (multilingual) samples.

What advantages do cooperatives offer in the present socio-economic context?

How cooperatives can do business differently?

Wolff's Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism

Joe Marraffino — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 00:18:12 +0000

Richard Wolff, Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst promotes his book: Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism with the Democracy at Work project (...not to be confused with the Democracy at Work Network.)