 | World can not lean on one business model, says Green World leaders can no longer depend on one dominant model of business, Dame Pauline Green told a gathering of Asian government ministers and co-operators in Bangkok, Thailand. The message she delivered in late February at the conference organised by ICA's Asia Pacific offices was “diversify or risk ongoing global financial crisis”. In the wake of the unresolved G20 meeting in Mexico, the President of the International Co-operative Alliance told Asian government representatives to take back to their G20 group that a greater diversity of corporate structure needs to be pursued in order to ensure economic sustainability and to find a solution to the financial mire in which the global economy finds itself. read more |
 | ICA World Co-operative Monitor launched A new global ranking system for co-operatives called the ICA World Co-operative Monitor is inviting co-operatives to submit their data. "We want to relaunch the Global300 report in 2012 with a much more rigorous methodology," said Chuck Gould, ICA Director-General. "It is already a good, solid report, but as we raise our public profile, we need to notch up our game, and ensure greater accuracy and inclusiveness in our reporting. "To do this we will be working with Euricse - The European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises based in Trento, Italy. Euricse will help us deliver more robust data." The ICA first began ranking the top 300 co-operatives around the globe in 2005. These periodic reports, known as the Global300, demonstrated the scale and impact of co-operatives around the world. read more |
 | Australian co-operative business council to be founded The need for national representation of co-operative and mutual businesses, was a key topic with co-operative business leaders, when ICA President Dame Pauline Green toured Australia in February. Dame Pauline called on the sector to collaborate around their "shared DNA" of democratically-based, ethical and sustainable business - where commercial success goes hand in hand with social purpose. The formation of an Australian business council for co-operative and mutual businesses looks set to occur by the end of this year. Greg Wall, Chair of Australia's Secretariat for IYC 2012 and CEO of the first Australian member of the ICA, the Capricorn Group, said the business council was a legacy objective of the 2012 program that would enable the sector to capitalise on the increased public awareness of co-operative businesses coming out of the year's focus on the sector. read more |
 | Distinguished line up for Quebec conference A Nobel Prize winning professor will deliver the opening session of the 2012 International Summit of Co-operatives. A. Michael Spence, who received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2001, will present the Summit's opening session. His speech will focus on the economic and financial challenges being faced by the co-operative and mutualist community. Spence holds a senior fellowship at the Hoover Institution and is Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Business at Stanford University. The conference has also attracted a former special advisor to the French Republic, Jacques Attali, to take part in the round table “A new role to play – Thinking differently, thinking co-operatively”. This topic is intended to get Summit participants to imagine the future of co-operatives. Author and economist, Attali, is president of PlaNet Finance in France and an Honorary Member of the Council of State. read more |
 | President appeals to globe's biggest coops Global Development Co-operative and ICA staff attended the National Co-operative Consumer Conference in England in late February with the aim of encouraging smaller co-ops to contribute. "The minimum investment is $US250,000 although for very small co-operatives we would be willing to see how we could help them contribute even though they may not be able to raise the funds independently," GDC Fund Manager Stuart Coe said. Meanwhile, Dame Pauline Green, the ICA President, has called upon the world's biggest co-operatives to get behind the GDC. “This project is a clear illustration of one of the founding principles of the movement - self help among co-operatives," said Dame Pauline. read more |
 | Co-operatives undercut by lack of scientific attention With just weeks to go before the "Promoting the understanding of co-operatives for a better world" begins in Venice, leading co-operative academic Carlo Borzaga discusses why the conference will make a difference. Carlo Borzaga, the president of Euricse, believes there is an disconnection between the importance co-operatives play in the global economy and the attention they're given by social sciences. "This contradiction has become even more evident with the economic and financial crisis," he says. "Despite the key role these enterprises play in improving well-being, supporting economic development and maintaining jobs, these institutions continue to not attract the scientific interest they deserve." read more |
 | Bill Gates speaks at Global Poverty Project's initiative launch The Global Poverty Project convinced one of the world's most well-know businessmen to address the launch of an initiative which seeks to sign up everyday people as ambassadors. The project - a three-year-old educational initiative aiming to educate the world's population about poverty - is supported by Bill Gates, the philanthropist, Microsoft founder and one of the world's wealthiest individuals. Gates spoke about extreme poverty at the launch of the Global Poverty Ambassadors initiative in London on January 25. The initiative is supported by the Co-operative Group which is seeking to bring attention to the co-operative model's role in dealing with the problem of poverty. Under the initiative, people from all walks of life are being signed up to take the concept of the poverty project to their communities. read more |
 | Policy proposals and strategic direction key at ICA conference The need to formulate policy proposals and a strategic direction for the global and Canadian co-operative sectors is at the core of an ICA conference to be held in June in Montreal. The Co-operating for Change in the International Year of Co-operatives conference will aim to assemble policy makers from government, from co-operative associations, from civil society organisations, from academia along with educators, researchers and practitioners. At the centre of its theme is a desire to demonstrate how co-operative make people's lives better, while helping build or make communities stronger. read more |
 | Funds raised by ICA help assist Japan's recovery effort "My previous workplace was washed away by tsunami, but JWCU member's smile lifted my soul," says a survivor of Japan's March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. "I want to study care and welfare as my first step to rejoin the society." This survivor's story is an example of the way in which the Japanese co-operative sector has responded and is using funds raised by the global co-operative community to assist in the wake of the natural disaster. This member is part of a new vocational training program by the JWCU Tohuku Reconstruction head office in Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture. It is aimed largely at those who lost their jobs due to the disaster and is training them to become care workers. read more |
 | Promising entries received for Coop'Art The ICA is still accepting submissions for Coop’Art, its global youth art competition. Between now and 31 May 2012, anyone between the ages of 16 and 35 can participate by submitting a creative song, photograph or video that reflects the co-operative principles. The ICA has already received promising entries and looks forward to seeing what other young co-operators will contribute. “Through Coop’Art, the ICA seeks not only to inspire the future leaders of the co-operative movement, but also to share the advantages of the democratic, values-based, co-operative business model,” Euro Coop Secretary General Rodrigo Gouveia, who is helping the ICA manage the contest, said. read more |
 | CONCOBOL of Bolivia joins the ICA Confederacion Nacional de Cooperativas de Bolivia (CONCOBOL) from Bolivia became an ICA member in February. It takes the number of ICA members to 267, across 96 countries. CONCOBOL was founded on 5 August 1993 and is the apex organization of the Bolivian cooperative movement. It proposes guidelines for integration inside and outside their membership in relation to the different national and international organizations related to the co-operative system. read more |
 | March 8th - International Women’s Day As part of our celebrations of the UN International Year of Co-operatives and in partnership with Care International we are inviting you to join us to celebrate the achievements and contributions of women in building a better world. read more |
 | March 12th – 14th ANGKASA event in Malaysia Appreciating the UN's recognition of 2012 as the International year of Cooperatives, the Malaysian National Cooperative Movement (ANGKASA) as the apex cooperative body representing Malaysian cooperative movement will be co-organising an international seminar entitled 'Cooperative Enterprises Build A Better World' with Cooperative College of Malaysia on 13 - 14th March 2012. read more |
 | March 13th – Co-operative Housing event in Estonia The Conference and Trade Fair organized by the Estonian Union of Co-operative Housing Associations is a new platform for housing innovation practitioners from Estonia. read more |
 | March 27th – New Zealand launch of IYC The International Year of Co-operatives will be launched in New Zealand by Minister of Commerce Hon Craig Foss MP in the Grand Hall at Parliament. read more |
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