Nigeria, the “Giant of Africa”, has the continent’s largest population and economy, now worth over $500 billion thanks in large part to its oil reserves. This wealth, however, has not stopped 60% of Nigerians living in extreme poverty, nor youth unemployment being close to 80%. Peter Obiorah, president of the De Parach Multipurpose Co-operative Society, […]
A Quiet Revolution: Co-operative schools in the UK
The Co-operative Schools in the UK case stud7 written by Linda Shaw discusses the growth of a new co-operative sector in England during the past ten years which has been one of the movement’s success stories. The development of more than 700 schools as multi stakeholder co-operatives has been aptly described as ‘a quiet […]
The case of H’Nord: Not just a housing cooperative
The H’Nord case study was written by Jimmy Carollo. H’Nord is an eco-neighbourhood housing redevelopment project under construction within the Des Chartrons district in the northern part of Bordeaux. The project started when, in 2004, three long standing residents of the neighbourhood began to think about how to exploit a vast industrial area left […]
A Visit with the San Francisco Bay Area Co-ops
Out at the edge of the Western United States, the San Francisco Bay Area is home to dozens of unique, cooperatively-owned businesses. California has long engendered hopes and dreams of epic proportion and lured prospectors seeking wonder and wealth. In the 1840s the world heard a rumor that gold lay in California’s northern hills. Cooperatives […]
From Village Shops to Online Banking
Finland is one of most cooperative countries in the world, with almost 4 million cooperative members out of a total population of 5.4 million. Over 1.9 million of them are members of the Suomen Osuuskauppojen Keskuskunta (SOK) Corporation, also known as the S Group, a union of 22 regional retail and service cooperatives. The S […]
Working Together to Kill Zombies
Die2Nite is a computer game about zombies. But it is also, according to one review, an interactive piece of social commentary, in which you join 39 other players in a town repeatedly beset upon by the living dead. Its your choice whether or not to help the community or live (and die) alone. With its […]
Celebrating the success of the co-operative cuppa
Tea is enjoyed by many people many times a day. So it’s refreshing to know that thanks to Essential Trading you can choose a cuppa that will make a real difference to the livelihoods of thousands of people involved in co-operative, biodynamic tea production. Egypt is not the first country that springs to mind when […]
How a Cooperative Saved a Home
You’ve lived for 25 years in a wonderful house in the Welsh countryside. Your grown children want to come back to live with you and raise their own children there. But your ex-husband wants a payout of his share of the value of your family home, which you can’t afford. What do you do? If […]
Cooperating for Free Software
A cooperative resolves the need to work in a democratic way, to reclaim work as a creative enterprise, to build with others. Thus, work is not simply done for profit maximization, but also for the growth of the people who do it, taking into account the social and environmental impact thereby generated, writes Pablo A. […]
Kigayaza Youth Co-operative, Kayunga District, Uganda
Kigayaza members not only sell products together, but they also have shared projects including pigs and growing trees. They concentrate on sharing information with each other, including through training and meetings which they see as a way to build each others knowledge. They have received a series of sensitisation and training meetings provided by Uganda […]