Early last December, 500 brave souls from around the world got vaccinated, boosted, and tested to brave the pandemic and attend a cooperative conference. An additional 1,500 people joined the conference online. What, you might ask, would generate such a high level of international participation in a cooperative conference? It was an opportunity to explore how to live the values and principles that are the shared identity of the cooperatives throughout the world. To provide a sense of scale for this enterprise, there are about 3 million co-ops in the world that are owned by about 790 million co-op members.
The event was the 33rd World Cooperative Congress sponsored by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA). ICA is the global steward of the internationally accepted Statement of Cooperative Identity which describes the values, principles, and definition of cooperative businesses. The goal of the 2021 Congress was to focus the cooperative movement on exploring and deepening its identity by “examining its values, strengthening its actions, committing to its principles, and living its achievements.” From my perspective, the presentations focused primarily on the cooperative values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity, and our commonly held ethical values of honesty, openness, caring for others, and social responsibility. The statement is the combination of fundamental moral and ethical values and principles that guides all cooperators when we need to make difficult decisions. It is the essence of who we are.
Martin Lowery, the Chair of ICA’s Identity Committee and the force behind the Congress, has explained, “There’s something unique about people who are attracted to the cooperative enterprise that doesn’t show in any sort of obvious way; it shows more in the subtlety of [their] relationships. There’s a sense of wanting to collaborate, a sense of kindness, a sense of caring for one another… There’s a commonality there, a commonality of humanity, of a sense of belonging and caring for one another that one doesn’t always find in society.”
Major Themes
In focusing on our identity, the Congress was informative, vibrant, and inspiring. Here are some of the major themes that came from it: there are many and clear opportunities to increase inclusivity throughout our co-ops; we have increased needs for culturally relevant education and training regarding our cooperative identity in a variety of formats; and climate change demands a new socio-economic model that lies in multilateralism and cooperation. These and other themes were consistent with the nearly 100 year ICA commitment to fostering peace. That is, not only ending overt violence, but creating communities of cooperation and integration, reconciliation, and equality.
This is Our Moment!
In sum, there was a sense of urgency throughout the Congress. To quote one of our speakers, “The time for talking is done. The time for action is now.” And to quote a wise teacher, “I wish we could learn to love ourselves less and our children’s future more.”
You can read more about the Congress at icaworldcoopcongress.coop/stories.
You can find the Cooperative Identity Statement at www.ica.coop/en/cooperatives/cooperative-identity.
