Stories.coop – founded in 2012
Stories.coop is the world’s first global, digital campaign to spread the benefits of cooperation through the tradition of story-telling. The aim of Stories.coop is to present stories of cooperation from around the world by exploring a wide variety of sectors, sizes and countries. The project promotes the cooperative model in all its diversity, highlighting cooperatives’ contribution to social and economic development and supporting the formation and growth of cooperative enterprises at an international level.
The International Cooperative Alliance is an independent, non-governmental
association established in 1895 to advance the cooperative social enterprise
model. 12 % of humanity are cooperators. The International Cooperative Alliance is
a voice for cooperatives worldwide. Through its membership, the International
Cooperative Alliance represents more than 1 billion people from 3 million
cooperatives worldwide.
Play your part
Stories connect people through the power of words and the power of pictures.
Stories recount facts and connect to our emotions, so your story of cooperation can make a lasting impact.
We want to share stories of cooperation from every corner of the globe; from the smallest cooperative to the biggest; personal stories or those of business successes; or even observations on the cooperative model.
We want to demonstrate to the globe the benefits of the cooperative way of doing business, through your story of cooperation. Your stories will paint a picture of the enormous diversity of the cooperative experience.
Please play your part in our campaign. Share your experience.
We need your story: wherever you are, whatever you do. Share it, tell it, shout it!
About Cooperatives
Cooperatives put people at the heart of their business.
They follow a broader set of values than businesses where the main aim is to make a profit. Rather than rewarding outside investors, cooperatives share their profits amongst their members, which makes it fair and worthwhile. Cooperatives share the same 7 International Principles of Cooperation. Cooperatives are owned by their members – which can be individuals or groups and even capital enterprises themselves – and members have an equal say in how their cooperative is run.
Cooperatives work in these tricky financial times because they balance the need to be profitable with the needs of their members and the broader interests of the community and the world.
There are more cooperatives in the world than most people realise. There are more than one billion people in the world who are involved in a cooperative in some form. Cooperatives operate across almost all sectors of the economy, from banking and financial markets, to housing, to food and agriculture, to publishing and to education.
Here are some interesting (and stunning, we think) facts about cooperatives that you might want to know:
- In Japan 91 per cent of farmers operate as part of a cooperative.
- In France, cooperatives account for 60 per cent of retail banking, 40 per cent of food and agricultural production and 25 per cent of retail sales.
- In Kenya, cooperatives are responsible for 45 per cent of GDP.
- In Bolivia, one third of the population has cooperative membership.
That’s just the beginning!
Join our campaign to make these facts common knowledge around the world.
Cooperatives are an important part of the global economy – let’s make sure that the world knows too. Now is the time to fly the cooperative flag.
All photos used on this site are by permission and remain the property of their respective owners.
Partners
An initiative of:
Euricse is a research centre focused on cooperative and social enterprises located in Italy and international in scope. Euricse’s mission is to promote knowledge development and innovation for the field of cooperatives, social enterprises and other nonprofit organizations engaged in the production of goods and services. The Institute aims to deepen the understanding of these types of organizations and their impact on economic and social development, furthering their growth and assisting them to work more effectively. Through activities directed toward and in partnership with both the scholarly community and practitioners, including primarily theoretical and applied research and training, we address issues of national and international interest to this sector, favouring openness and collaboration.
The International Co-operative Alliance is an independent, non-governmental association which unites, represents and serves co-operatives worldwide. Founded in 1895, the International Co-operative Alliance has 285 member organisations from 96 countries active in all sectors of the economy. Together these co-operatives represent nearly one billion individuals worldwide.
DotCoop’s goal is to support the global movement by helping Cooperatives identify themselves online through a distinctive .coop domain name. The .coop domain is reserved for cooperatives and Cooperative organizations. The .coop domain registry is managed by DotCooperation LLC. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) recognised .coop as the Cooperative movement’s internet domain in 2002. DotCooperation LLC is jointly owned by the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA CLUSA) and The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), non-profit organisations charged with developing the global Cooperative movement.
Founded on the occasion of:
