Lake Atitlán lies in the remote Guatemalan highlands. The extraordinary beauty of the lake and the three volcanoes which almost appear to stand guard is in contrast to the poverty in which many of its indigenous people live. Luisa Rosario Xicay Tacaxoy is head of the Artesanas Atitlán Cooperative in one of the indigenous villages […]
Tenants unite to become owners
On the 27th of January 2000, after only weeks of rash preparation and planning, 51 tenants from the more than 100 year old buildings that make up the Bremer Höhe in Berlin, Prenzlauer Berg, founded the Bremer Höhe Housing Cooperative. The concept behind this new cooperative was to prevent the sale of the historically protected […]
Ethics girls – sustainable fashion
“If you are the kind of woman who likes quality, longer lasting clothes and cares about where they have come from, you have come to the right place. Good for your wardrobe, great for your style and better value for money. Fashion is easy, style demands character,” Sam Roger, Ethics Girls. Ethics Girls is an […]
Co-operatives UK
Co-operatives UK is the national trade body that campaigns for co-operation and works to promote, develop and unite co-operative enterprises.We have a unique role as a trade association for co-operatives. We aim to bring together all those with a passion and interest in co-operative action.We work to promote the co-operative alternative across many sectors of […]
Royah – Ethical Design from Afghanistan
Afghanistan used to produce fantastic silk, but it lost much of its talent and capacity over 27 years of conflict, explains Gabriella Ghidoni. In 2005, Ghidoni, then an aid worker with the United Nations in Kabul, joined talents with two Afghan women to form Royah, a design co-operative with a two-fold mission: to revive the […]
Get the new International Year of Co-operatives twibbon
Key co-operative organisations across the world are supporting a new global twibbon, which is to be released on 12 April, to enable people on Twitter and Facebook around the world to show their support for the International Year of Co-operatives. International Co-operative Alliance, Global News Hub, Co-operatives UK, National Co-operative Business Association, Canadian Co-operative Association […]
No longer a sleepy hollow
Michael Barrett was born and raised in the suburbs of Toronto, Canadas big smoke. He trained as a teacher but then went to work in a stock market-listed multinational. In 1999 he went to work for a small dairy cooperative, Gay Lea Foods. Certainly Gay Lea was seen as sleepy hollow, Barrett reflects. It was […]
Unipol does its bit to get Italy back on its feet
In November 2011 Italy was on the brink of oblivion with bond markets set to send it tumbling into insolvency. Government and regulators were asked to act incisively and responsibly to re-establish the confidence of financial markets in the country. High volatility made it difficult to make even short-time financial forecasts. One month later Italy’s […]
Maltese islands haven for restoration and conservation coop
For a team of art lovers, the restoration work at hand becomes a source of major satisfaction. One starts off with a filthy wall with dirt and surface damage which as it is being documented, studied and conserved finds its way back to its strengthened and uncovered original splendor, explains Agatha Grima, director of the […]
Health Is More Than a Prescription
The streets surrounding the Coomsocial basic-care health clinics bustle with activity: buses and taxies pull up to curbs, trucks deliver supplies, merchants sell to throngs of customers. The clinics are a hub of all this activity. Taxi drivers, bus companies, food vendors, medical suppliers, and many other small businesses depend on the traffic of patients […]