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CEDTAP Forum 2000
Proceedings: Co-operatives
This
workshop focused on the range of co-operative options and the factors
for determining when the co-operative structure is the best choice.
Use
both the summary below and the handouts for a complete overview
of the workshop.
Motivations
for Developing Co-ops Include:
- Crises in the economy, and the effects of globalization.
- Marginalization.
- Resource-based
crunches.
- Ecological
issues.
- Privatization.
- Tradition
or local history: some parts of the country have a strong co-op
and CED history.
- Personal
and community values.
Co-ops
Develop the Community Economy because they:
- Lock capital into the community.
- Have
a community ownership structure.
- Employ
local people, while at the same time developing their skills and
their capacity.
- Capture
economic benefits that may not work in the market model.
- Are
accountable to the community.
Difficulties
Faced in the Development of Co-ops Include:
- A lack of capital.
- The
image of co-ops.
- Their
non-conventional model.
- The
need for membership.
- The
need for technical assistance.
- That
professional and technical people (that is, lawyers or accountants)
aren't familiar with the model.
Challenges
Facing the Co-op Sector:
- The need to take community-based/co-op development to a national
level in business/policy strategic actions.
- The
development of technical assistance capacity in fields such as
law and accounting.
Opportunities
for the Co-op Sector:
- The globalization and privatization of public services open
up the prospect of co-operative development as an alternative.
- Using
a multi-stakeholder model, ensuring that workers' democratic rights
are captured with issues of economic equity and environmental
sustainability.
Facilitators:
Marty
Frost, Human Ventures Consulting; Melanie Conn, WomenFutures
Hand-outs
(forthcoming):
Overview
of the Types of Co-ops
Statement on the Co-operative Identity
When is the Co-op Model the Right Choice?
Forms of Incorporation -- Some Comparisons
Taux
de survie des entreprises coopératives au Québec
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