Who we are
Stories.coop was founded by the International Cooperative Alliance and Euricse in 2012 to celebrate the International Year of Cooperatives. This platform was created to showcase the cooperative identity and demonstrate how this model can make a tangible impact to build a better world. For the duration of 2012, one story was published each day promoting the work and successes of cooperatives everywhere. Since then, Identity.coop has joined this initiative to strengthen this ongoing global campaign: To celebrate the inspiring work of cooperatives around the world, using the tradition of storytelling.
What is a cooperative?
A cooperative is an independent enterprise that is owned and democratically controlled by the people who come together voluntarily to meet their common social, cultural and social needs. These member-owned entities operate under the universally accepted Seven Cooperative Principles and are guided by values that prioritize people over profit.
The cooperative advantage
Cooperatives are driven by the needs of the people they serve and are governed by leaders who are elected by their members through a democratic process. All profits generated from a cooperative are either reinvested in the enterprise or returned to the members. Because the economic and social benefits stay within the communities they serve, the cooperative model instills pride of ownership, strengthens the community, resulting in sustainable and high-quality service. Today, there are an estimated 1 million cooperatives worldwide, serving a total of 3 billion cooperative members across all sectors.
Partners
An initiative of:
Euricse, located in Trento, Italy, is a research institute that focuses on advancing knowledge and innovation in cooperatives, social enterprises, and other nonprofit organizations involved in producing goods and services. The institute’s goal is to enhance the understanding of these organizations and their impact on economic and social development, supporting their growth and effectiveness. Through these various activities, including research and training in collaboration with the scientific community and practitioners, EURICSE tackles issues relevant to this sector at both national and international levels, promoting openness and collaboration.
The International Cooperative Alliance unites, represents, and serves cooperatives worldwide. Founded in 1895, it is one of the oldest non-governmental organisations and one of the largest ones measured by the number of people represented: 1 billion cooperative members on the planet. It is the apex body representing cooperatives, which are estimated to be around 3 million worldwide, providing a global voice and forum for knowledge, expertise and coordinated action for and about cooperatives. More than 310 organisations from 107 countries are members of the International Cooperative Alliance. The ICA’s members are international and national cooperative organisations from all sectors of the economy, namely agriculture, banking, consumer, fisheries, health, housing, insurance, and industry & services.
DotCooperation Identity.coop is a wholesale/registry of the .coop domain, with a subsidiary domain name retailer (registrar) domains.coop. The .COOP domain is a top-level domain specifically designed for cooperative businesses worldwide, or entities within the cooperative movement. It provides them with a distinct online identity that highlights their cooperative identity, their values and principles. The .coop domain helps in building trust and credibility among customers, partners, and stakeholders by indicating a commitment to cooperative identity, allowing cooperatives to differentiate themselves in the digital world, while also promoting the cooperative business model as the most sustainable form of enterprise.
We also manage a global network of .coop domain name retail partners to better provide for the global cooperative ecosystem. DotCooperation is not only a domain name manager – we are also actively involved in promoting the cooperative identity, building data systems for the co-op network, and educating businesses on digital competency and branding. We do this through our initiatives; the Global Directory and Map (www.directory.coop), Co-ops Connect, Stories.coop, Events.coop and a full program of in-person and online content provision.