Why and first and foremost why are youth cooperating?

CICOPA and its regional organization in Europe and Mercosur: CECOP-CICOPA Europe and CICOPA Mercosur have produced, with the support of Cooperar, the Cooperative Confederation of the Republic of Argentina, a video that gives the floor to young cooperators from worker and social cooperatives in 9 countries around the world, 4 of them coming from Europe.

“Young people are the present and future leaders of our cooperative movement; moreover they also hold the tools to transform their reality in a better world. The worker and social cooperatives, as enterprises controlled democratically by their workers, are especially prepared to achieve this goal as they already promote equality, solidarity, social justice: they are present to help us through this change”, has declared Manuel Mariscal, President of CICOPA. “Working together for a cooperative future” was created in a collaborative manner, and shares the experiences, challenges and motivations of young cooperators in 9 different countries across the globe, it is available in English

The youth committee chairperson of the ICA, Gabriela Buffa has emphasized the fact that the video “reflects the fact that the youth choose the cooperative model as a way of life because it allows them to work in a way which is coherent with their thinking, working with the others, and taking decisions between all”. Young cooperators from worker and social cooperatives tell their stories from Japan, Argentina, Italy, Spain, France, United States, Brazil, Poland, and South Africa. Among these we meet: Agresta (Spain) a cooperative created by a group of friends after their university studies, specialized in consulting and forestry engineering; AGURIĪN (Japan) a social cooperative that produces renewable energy from used cooking oil, and that integrates young people with psychological problems and Ugu Coop Produce (South Africa), a cooperative that works in the agricultural sector, in the Natal region, and produces organic vegetables.

The video was, from the beginning, created collaboratively by organizations that represent worker and social cooperatives and the cooperatives that got involved in this project, from the filming to the editing process. The film lasts 15 minutes. 

English version available

 

Spanish version available

Do you want to translate it in other language? Send your request to leire.luengo@cecop.coop