CICOPA, an organization that represents 65,000 cooperatives around the world, has released a short film that amplifies the voices of young cooperators from nine countries. (Including our friends at The Worcester Roots Project in Massachusetts!) In a statement, Manuel Mariscal, President of CICOPA, said that the youth was the future of the co-op movement.
“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.”
The film, called “Working Together for a Cooperative Future,” spotlights youth from Argentina, Italy, Japan, France, Brazil, Spain, the United States, Poland, and South Africa. CICOPA gives a brief overview of the video –
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 best part? You can watch it for free! Check out the film below.
More on cooperatives: