JUNE 2018

JUNE 2018
SUSTAINABILITY
How co-ops are
working towards
the Sustainable
Development Goals
Plus ... Q&A with
fiction writer Cadwell
Turnbull ... and looking
ahead to Congress and
Co-operatives Fortnight
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CONNECTING, CHAMPIONING AND
CHALLENGING THE GLOBAL CO-OP
MOVEMENT SINCE 1871
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news
cooperativenews
Co-ops and the Sustainable
Development Goals – how to
contribute to the UN’s agenda
This month we bring you an overview of what the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) mean for co-operative businesses.
Whether co-ops should play a role in driving the UN’s sustainable development
agenda is not only a question of their concern for community (principle 7), but
also their business performance (From p34). As citizens become more aware of
sustainable development and the UN’s agenda, there is a serious business case for
co-ops to be involved with the SDGs (p37).
Co-operatives across the world are already embracing sustainable development. In
addition to case studies from the UK, we look at how co-ops around the globe are
approaching the idea of sustainable development – and how they are promoting it.
In Italy, co-operatives are being used as a means to build successful businesses on
lands confiscated from the mafia, helping to provide jobs for the local population,
including disadvantaged groups (p40). Of course, pioneering sustainability also
comes with challenges, particularly as the goals are interconnected. Some co-ops
may choose to focus on certain SDGs, neglecting the impact their business can have
on other goals. Palm oil co-ops in Malaysia help to create employment and drive the
country’s economy, yet the palm oil industry has been criticised for contributing to
deforestation and pushing wildlife to extinction (p42).
In 2016, the International Co-operative Alliance launched the website Coopsfor2030.
coop, which features case studies of co-operatives making pledges around the SDGs
(p38). Co-ops have made over 300 pledges on the platform, some of them making
more than one pledge.
According to a study by PwC, around 67% of people in the UK are more likely to buy
the goods and services of companies that sign up to the SDGs. But the same report
shows that the SDGs prioritised by businesses are often different to those thought
of as important by the public.
If co-ops are to make the most of their pledges to the SDGs, they need a strategic
approach to the goals, taking all of them into account, rather than simply aiming at
specific targets.
ANCA VOINEA - EDITORIAL TEAM
Co-operative News is printed using vegetable oil-based
inks on 80% recycled paper (with 60% from post-consumer
waste) with the remaining 20% produced from FSC or PEFC
certified sources. It is made in a totally chlorine free process.
JUNE 2018 | 3

fiction writer Cadwell
Turnbull ... and looking
ahead to Congress and
Co-operatives Fortnight
ISSN 0009-9821
01
9 770009 982010
THIS ISSUE
CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT
Science fiction writer Cadwell Turnbull talks
about how social fictions can help develop a
co-operative culture (p44); the countdown to
Congress and Co-operatives Fortnight (p30-
31); security concerns have been addressed
by UK retail societies (p32-33); and can palm
oil co-ops ever be sustainable? (p42-43)
news Issue #7296 JUNE 2018
Connecting, championing, challenging
JUNE 2018
SUSTAINABILITY
How co-ops are
working towards
the sustainable
development goals
Plus ... Q&A with
£4.20
www.thenews.coop
COVER: How are co-operatives
helping to implement the UN’s
Sustainable Development Goals?
Read more: p34-43
20-21 MEET... SIMEL ESIM
Head of the ILO’s Cooperatives Unit
24-25 CO-OP GROUP AGM
Delegates hear how the retailer will
build its business by ‘closing the
virtuous circle’
26-28 CO-OP EDUCATION & RESEARCH
CONFERENCE
The Co-operative College’s annual
conference heard from the ICA’s Ariel
Guarco and Bruno Roelants, Co-op
Digital’s Emer Coleman, the TUC’s Kevin
Rowan and Greater Manchester Mayor,
Andy Burnham, among others
29 CONFEDERATION OF CO-OPERATIVE
HOUSING CONFERENCE
Updates from the confederation’s annual
conference
30-31 CO-OPERATIVE CONGRESS
A preview of Congress 2018 – and tips on
how you and your co-op can get involved
in Co-operatives Fortnight
32-33 RETAIL RAMRAIDS
What are co-ops doing to tackle security
concerns?
34-43 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
34-35 What are the SDGs?
36 How will the SDGs impact co-op
businesses?
37 Southern Co-op’s SDG strategy
38-39 SDG Case studies: Midcounties
and the Co-op Group
40-41 Italy: SDGs and the mafia
42-43 Malaysia: Can palm oil
co-operatives ever be sustainable?
44-47 Q&A: CADWELL TURNBULL
Science fiction and the power of
collaborative narrative
REGULARS
5-15 UK updates
16-19 Global updates
22-23 Letters
48 Reviews
4 | JUNE 2018

NEWS
FINANCIAL RESULTS
Co-op and mutual sector
unveils its performance
A number of co-operative and mutual
organistions have released their annual
results, showing the sector in good health.
Retail societies Chelmsford Star,
Midcounties, Southern, East of England
and – in its half-yearly report – Lincolnshire
all announced profits.
Meanwhile, ethical lender the Ecology
Building Society celebrated more than 30
years’ profitability and sector apex body
Co-operatives UK reported a surplus.
p Clockwise from top left: Ecology, Midcounties, Co-operatives UK and Chelmsford Star
CHELMSFORD STAR
Chelmsford Star Co-op’s annual results
to 27 January show trading profit after
depreciation down 28.5% to £1,098,714
(2017: £1,536,729).
Gross takings were £110,413,252, up
6.6% from £103,584,570 last year, and
gross profit was £24,001,745, up 6.2% from
£22,594,252 in 2017.
Net profit was £914,833 and, after
meeting the costs of all distributions, the
society achieved a surplus of £180,276,
(2017: £367,314).
During the year, Chelmsford Star
acquired an additional convenience store
in Woodford Green, furthering expansion
inside the M25, and eight stores were
refurbished as the society accelerated its
store upgrade programme.
The society has rebranded its funerals
business and in November opened
another funeral home in the George Yard
Shopping Centre, Braintree.
MIDCOUNTIES CO-OP
Midcounties’ operating profit for the year
to 27 January 2018 was up 16.5% to £13.3m
before significant items. Gross sales rose
10.2% to £1.48bn, and pre-tax profits were
£5.4m, up from £4.3m the previous year.
Group chief executive Ben Reid said:
“There were exceptional performances
by Childcare, Funeral and Travel, each
of which declared record levels of profit,
increasing profits by 30% between them.
“Our Food business continued its
strong performance with positive like-forlike
sales performances in each quarter.
Flexible Benefits also performed strongly
with profits ahead of plan by nearly 70%.
“However, neither Healthcare nor
Energy achieved their budgets due to
external factors.”
He said Midcounties was investing
£25.1m on site acquisitions, branch
refurbishments and our IT infrastructure.
ECOLOGY
The Ecology Building Society’s results
for the year to 31 December 2017 show
record assets of £178.7m, an increase from
£173.1m in 2016, and gross lending of
£28.2, a decrease from £30.7m in 2016.
Last year Ecology lent over £28.2m for
sustainable properties and projects, with
78% of mortgages advanced on residential
properties and 22% on community-led
housing and non-residential properties
such as sustainable businesses.
Profit was maintained at £915,000 from
£920,000 in 2016, marking more than 30
years of uninterrupted profitability for the
building society.
Chief executive Paul Ellis said: “Recent
initiatives such as the report of the
government’s Green Finance Taskforce
are positive signs of a growing interest
in Ecology’s sustainable lending model,
demonstrating how finance can support
the transition to a low-carbon economy.”
CO-OPERATIVES UK
Co-operatives UK ended 2017 with a pretax
surplus of a £480,232 – which for
the first time includes equity investment
funding of £477,805 from Power to Change
under the Booster Project.
Its surplus before this funding, which
Co-operatives UK has invested in various
societies, was £2,427. The annual report
said its total income for the year was
£2,957,264 (previous year: £2,919,171).
New targets were set for the period 2017-
2020 and in July 2017 Co-operatives UK
launched Do it Ourselves, a national cooperative
development strategy.
Overall, Co-operatives UK has delivered
144 pieces of bespoke advice via the
Contact Package, helped 78 new co-ops
set up, and received 97% satisfaction for
governance and consultancy work.
Through the Hive, a programme backed
by the Co-operative Bank, Co-operatives
UK supported 355 groups and co-ops with
expert advice worth more than £100,000 in
its second year – and helped communities
raise more than £2m through community
shares to save local assets and services.
In 2017 the projects team delivered
£698,000 worth of funding for
programmes across the UK based around
three key themes: place-based economic
development; co-operative development;
and community shares. And the
organisation saw its best membership
retention figures (89%) in seven years.
JUNE 2018 | 5

FINANCIAL RESULTS
SOUTHERN CO-OP LINCOLNSHIRE CO-OP EAST OF ENGLAND
At Southern Co-operative, total income for
the year to 27 January was £431m, up 9%
on the previous year, following investment
in new stores and funeral homes.
Like-for-like sales grew 1.63% and the
society, which trades across 11 counties in
the south of England, opened 16 new food
stores in 2017, bringing the total to 216.
Gross profit increased to £121m from
£111m, with members’ share of profits
totalling £2.9m.
Chief executive Mark Smith said:
“The margin earned on the significant
additional sales we achieved last
year has been offset by cost increases
beyond our control such as National
Living Wage, business rates and the
Apprenticeship Levy.”
He added: “We have built a strategic
partnership with COOK, the highly
regarded specialist frozen food business,
following the introduction of items from
its range into a number of our stores, and
we will grow this further next year.
“2017 was also the first full year of
operation for our community engagement
strategy Love Your Neighbourhood, which
gives local stores and funeral homes
the chance to contribute to the creation
of safer, greener, healthier and more
inclusive neighbourhoods.”
Throughout the year the society
contributed £1.26m to communities,
up 24% on the previous year, as well as
colleague fundraising and donations from
members, suppliers and customers.
The funeral business acquired the East
Devon Crematorium in 2017, extending its
operations in the south-west of England,
and launched online funeral plans. The
funeral business’ total income reached
£18.1m. The society plans to open a further
four funeral homes in 2018.
Lincolnshire Co-operative has released
its half-year results to 5 March, with sales
rising by £7m (4.6%) to £160m.
It says the group trading surplus for
the six months was £7.7m, “well ahead
of budget”, but lower than the last half
year’s £8.5m because of continuing cuts
to pharmacy income and rising costs such
as repairs, wages and rates.
Food stores saw sales grow by 6.1% –
and the Love Local range, sourced from
producers in the region, rose 61%, helped
by a new arrangement putting products
with others of their type instead of
together in a specific display.
All of Lincolnshire Co-op’s pharmacies
achieved healthy living status and the
number of prescriptions dispensed went
up by 2.1% to 2.8 million, says the report.
And sales at the society’s travel
branches rose 2.6%.
Lincolnshire says the increased sales
performance helped it plough £16m
into capital projects including a new
travel agency in Retford, funeral homes
in Market Rasen and Coningsby and an
arrangement office in Caistor. Travel
agencies in Lincoln and Grantham, plus a
pharmacy in Hull’s Bransholme, were also
relocated to new homes.
Large property developments led by
the society moved forward thanks to
continued capital investment during the
half year. The M&S Food Hall in Lincoln’s
Tritton Road opened and new businesses
restaurant Cosy Club and Thomas Cook
moved into the refurbished Corn Exchange
building in Lincoln’s city centre.
Donations made through the
Community Champions scheme, along
with money from the carrier bag levy,
raised £108,000 for 167 local charities and
community groups.
The East of England Co-op reported a drop
in underlying trading profits from £4.4m
to £4.2m, partly because ATM ram raids
and robberies had forced it to spend more
in security (see news, p9, and report, p32).
But profit before distributions and
taxation rose to £6.6m from £6.1m the
previous year, said the society in its results
for the year to 27 January 2018.
Turnover rose £5.9m to £353.6m and
members’ funds were up from £207.5m to
£212.5m. Trading profits were up across
the society’s food, funerals and property
businesses.
The society said its food business saw a
17% growth in profits, with a 2.3% like-forlike
increase in sales on a comparable 52
week basis. New food stores in Acle and
Harleston replaced existing smaller stores
in those towns.
It opened 11 new funeral branches
across the region, including a second
branch in Cambridgeshire.
The society’s property portfolio has also
continued to grow in value, with housing
developments completed in Colchester
and Dovercourt contributing to a 5.2%
increase in investment property income.
Joint CEO Doug Field said: “Our success
in recent years is in part due to ensuring
that we have the right stores and branches
in the right places.
“We will continue to offer our
apprenticeship programme, which has
seen 100% retention rates with many
graduates going on to higher level
education and management opportunities
within the business.
“We will also continue to develop our
Co-op Guide to Dating initiative to save
more food from going to landfill, as well
as looking at new ways to reduce single
use plastics in our stores.”
6 | JUNE 2018

ENERGY
Boost for community business as survey shows investors warming
to ethical funds
p Heart of England Community Energy’s solar installation
New research from Mongoose Energy,
the UK’s largest manager of communityowned
renewable energy assets, has
found that investors are willing to take on
higher-risk funds if their money delivers
an ethical impact.
The survey shows that 60%
of consumers would prefer their
investment to ‘do good’, as opposed
to investing in less impactful, lowerrisk
options.
This is a growing trend, says Mongoose,
with 21% of people more likely to invest
in this type of fund now than they were
five years ago. And almost a quarter
(24%) of people would consider investing
in an ethical fund that shares its
profits with the local community or
supports renewable energy generation.
This desire for impact has also led to
consumers demanding more transparency
about how their money is used once
invested, with two thirds (61%) stating
that this is important to them.
The insights coincide with the launch
of over £4m in bond and share offers in
community-owned, renewable energy
by Mongoose.
Chief executive Mark Kenber said:
“The findings of this research show an
increasingly purpose-minded public of
all ages seeking out alternative ways to
invest their money. Their investment
choices are no longer driven solely
by high rates of return but also by a
desire for tangible, positive impact on
local communities.
“With the public now demanding
that their money is invested in ways
beneficial to both people and planet,
2018 is showing all the signs of being the
year that investing in community energy
goes mainstream.”
Mongoose Energy has launched two
new bond offers and a share offer.
The first bond offer has been established
by Heart of England Community Energy
(HECE) and is for the UK’s largest
community-owned renewable energy
project, based outside of Stratfordupon-Avon,
Warwickshire. HECE is
seeking to raise £1,000,000 in funding
and is offering investors target returns
of 5%, paid annually over four years.
Our Community Energy (OUCE) has
established a bond and share offer
for its wind farm projects in Pogbie
and Brockholes, Scotland. These
offers are seeking to raise £1,200,000
and £1,845,000 respectively and offer
inflation-linked interest rates which,
while they may rise and fall over 20 years,
currently deliver returns of 6.6% and 8.1%
respectively.
Those who sign up and invest in
these offers before the first half of the
target funds are raised will earn an
additional 1% of interest in the first year –
although capital is at risk and returns are
not guaranteed.
The offer also includes an ISA option.
Investors still needing to use their ISA
allowance can take advantage of it, or
alternatively transfer their existing cash
ISAs at any time.
The surplus profit from these projects,
estimated at £2.7m and £1.9m respectively,
will be invested into helping to protect
the elderly and vulnerable in
Warwickshire, and into helping alleviate
fuel poverty in Scotland.
More information is available at
s.coop/26czj, with a full risk warning at
s.coop/26czi
JUNE 2018 | 7

HUMAN RIGHTS
MPs criticise government’s strategy for tackling modern slavery
The government’s approach to tackling
modern slavery suffers from a lack of
data and poor monitoring, says the Public
Accounts Committee, which is chaired by
Labour/Co-op MP Meg Hillier (pictured).
In a recent report, the committee said
coordinated action was critical to helping
victims, but the government lacks the
data or systems to understand the crime.
It also found that the National Referral
Mechanism (NRM), a framework for
identifying victims of human trafficking
and ensuring they receive the appropriate
protection and support, is inefficient,
which leads to long waits for the victims.
NRF does not capture what happens to
victims after they leave it, which means
the Home Office does not know whether
victims have been re-trafficked.
The committee says the Home Office
has no means of monitoring progress or
knowing if its Modern Slavery Strategy is
working. The report suggests the Home
Office should set targets, a means of
tracking resources, and clear roles and
responsibilities within the programme,
and asks it to report back by December.
Legislation on supply chain
transparency can also be made more
effective by actively administering
and monitoring compliance as well as
publishing a list of companies who have,
and have not, complied, says the report.
Other recommendations include setting
standards for the current victim care
contract to ensure adequate care; and
good practice guidance to show why there
are regional variations in tackling the
issue, and identify ways to reduce them.
Ms Hillier said: “Victims of modern
slavery can face unimaginable horrors but
the government’s good intentions have yet
to result in coherent action to help them.
“Government cannot hope to target
resources in an effective manner until
it properly understands the scale and
nature of the challenge. This crime is
complex and a piecemeal approach will
not cut it. Government must get a grip on
what works and what doesn’t.”
The UK has had a Modern Slavery
Strategy since 2014, making it the first
country in the world to launch such an
initiative. According to the Home Office,
there are more than 600 live modern
slavery police operations under way. Its
figures show that in 2017 a total of 5,145
potential victims of modern slavery were
referred to the UK’s National Referral
Mechanism, a 35% increase on 2016.
The Co-op
Group has been
leading efforts
in tackling
the problem,
including a
work placement
scheme for
survivors – and
has just become
the first business
in the world to
sign up to the
Anti-Slavery International Charter.
In response to the committee, the
Home Office said: “We introduced the
world-leading Modern Slavery Act in
2015 and have put in place the Modern
Slavery Strategy. The Public Accounts
Committee recognises that the UK is
ahead of many countries in responding
to modern slavery and the government’s
Modern Slavery Taskforce will consider its
recommendations carefully.
“We have recently announced reforms
to the National Referral Mechanism
to make sure it supports more victims
at a quicker pace and we are taking
action to eradicate modern slavery from
the economy.”
POLITICS
Local election results: Record number of Labour/Co-op councillors elected
p Rokhsana Fiaz, Dan Jarvis, Damien Egan and Philip Glanville all won
mayoral elections
The Co-operative Party is celebrating a record 396 Labour
/Co-op councillors elected in May’s local elections.
It had more than 250 new councillors elected, with others
re-elected. London saw 271 Labour/Co-op councillors elected,
including the biggest number in a single council – 39 in
Greenwich. Other areas elected a record number of councillors –
Lambeth (22), Waltham Forest (21), and Lewisham (16).
Polling day also saw a series of mayoral elections, with the
Party notching up four successes.
Rokhsana Fiaz won in Newham after receiving 73.4% of first
preference votes in the first round.
Dan Jarvis was elected as the first mayor of the Sheffield
City Region with 144,154 votes after second preference votes
were counted. He had taken 48% of the vote in the first count.
Tory candidate Ian Walker came second with 50,619 votes. Mr
Jarvis was allowed by the Labour Party’s NEC to also stay on as
an MP for Barnsley Central.
Damien Egan was elected mayor for Lewisham, with 54.30%
of the total vote.
And Philip Glanville was re-elected as mayor of Hackney after
receiving 65.9% of first preference votes in the first round.
To build on these results, the Co-operative Party is hosting
a conference in London on 9 June where councillors will come
together to discuss how to tackle common challenges.
The conference will feature a speech from Matthew Brown,
newly elected leader of Preston Council, on its approach to
economic development, the Preston model.
8 | JUNE 2018

RETAIL
East of England Co-operative launches Co-op Secure Response
The East of England Co-operative is using
the expertise gained through securing its
own stores to venture into a new sector.
The co-op has announced the launch
of a new arm of its business – Co-op
Secure Response. Through this initiative,
the retailer is extending its in-house
security services to external businesses
and communities.
Co-op Secure Response will provide
various services, including site guarding,
intruder and fire alarms and recovery
when incidents do occur. In addition to
24/7 CCTV monitoring, the business will
offer tailored technology for rural teams,
lone workers, schools and churches.
Lee Hammond, head of security at Coop
Secure Response, said: “Co-op Secure
Response is all about the people. Our
work revolves around the hard-working
and friendly team who get to know our
clients on a first-name basis. There’s
really no hard sell with us. It’s important
that we get to know what keeps business
owners up at night so we understand what
matters most to them.
“This is a really exciting time for us, as
we have worked hard over the past seven
years to ensure that the services we offer
p A member of the Secure Response team
are the very best for us and our clients’
businesses. We look forward to continuing
the hard work that we do for the local
community as part of the East of England
Co-op, as well as protecting businesses
and staff locally and nationally.”
Co-op Secure Response’s Alarm
Receiving Centre (ARC) is run 24 hours
a day, 365 days a year, by a team of
accredited security professionals. The
ARC uses state-of-the-art technology
to monitor almost 7,000 CCTV cameras
across the country as well as GPS trackers
installed on items as small as a packets
of cigarettes to as large as a tractor,
protecting clients against theft and
trespassers. The team is also working
closely with the police and local
authorities to raise awareness of the
impact of anti-social behaviour.
The ARC was built in January 2014 at
Wherstead Park – which is home to East
of England’s head office. The service was
initially used to support the society’s own
business.
The co-op’s businesses include food
retail, funeral, travel, pharmacy, post
offices, opticians and investment property.
It runs over 230 branches across Norfolk,
Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire.
ECONOMY
Six steps co-ops can take towards an inclusive economy in Wales
The social business sector, which includes
co-ops, plays a key role in building an
inclusive economy in Wales, according to
a new study.
Published by the Wales Co-operative
Centre and the Bevan Foundation, the
report highlights six steps to an inclusive
economy in Wales. It argues that boosting
equality should be put at the centre of
economic development.
The report identifies four separate,
but linked, dimensions of an inclusive
economy: diverse and resilient businesses;
decent work for everyone; knowledge and
skills so people can secure a livelihood;
and a say in economic decisions.
The study notes that worker
representation can be achieved through
worker co-operatives and other forms of
employee ownership, or through unions
and similar representation.
The report was written by Victoria
Winckler, director of the Bevan
Foundation, who said: “There is growing
evidence that the most resilient places
across Europe have strong networks
between public, private and social
sectors. Yet most economic development
decisions, like the existing Welsh City
Deals, are taken by public sector leaders
and big businesses that are far removed
from civil society.
“How do we ensure places such as the
south Wales valleys and groups of people
such as disabled people or black and
minority ethnic communities actually
benefit from growth? Our report looks at
practical proposals that can help achieve
an inclusive economy in Wales.”
Derek Walker, chief executive of the
Wales Co-operative Centre, added:
“Creating an inclusive economy goes
much further than getting a citizen voice
around the City deal table. It is about
changing the way we connect with people
and do business with one another. It
means increasing equality an integral part
of the process of creating prosperity. It is
in effect a new economic model.
“The vote to leave the EU was a strong
signal that the current economic system
is not working for everyone. The Welsh
Government’s recognition within its
latest economic action plan of spreading
opportunity and promoting well-being, is
a welcome first step.
“However, there is a great deal more
to do to ensure that commitment is
translated into action.
The Wales Co-operative Centre intends
to set out a 10-year development strategy
for the social business sector, working
with the sector and the Welsh government.
JUNE 2018 | 9

RETAIL
What has been happening at the Co-operative Group?
NO-FRILLS CREMATION SERVICE
Co-op Funeralcare is offering a direct to
cremation service in response to a shift in
consumers’ choices.
Demand for direct cremations, allowing
mourners to arrange their own separate
services, has been increasing from 0.3%
in 2015 to 5% today.
The Co-op is due to launch the
new service over the coming months,
and estimates the price for a direct to
cremation service at £1,000-£1,500 – less
than half the price of a traditional funeral.
FORMER SITE FACES THE BULLDOZER
A former Co-operative Insurance building
on Portland Street, Manchester, could be
demolished to make way for a new hotel if
a planning application is granted.
Developers want to clear the 40m,
13-storey steel framed office building,
which dates back to 1961 and was one
of the first “curtain walled” modern
buildings in the city.
The Co-op Insurance Society occupied
the site from the late 1990s to 2010, and
installed micro-wind turbines on the
roof. Since CIS left the site has remained
underused with nine of its floors vacant.
TRAINING THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
The Co-op Group is calling on UK
businesses to support education to help
tackle the country’s productivity gap –
16.3% with the rest of the G7 in 2016.
The Group supports 12 academy schools
and plans to increase that to 40 over the
next three years. Deputy CEO Pippa Wicks
said: “Industry can offer schools and their
pupils so much more – from providing
senior managers as governors to offering
structured work experience programmes
and site visits.”
UNCORKING A NEW FAIRTRADE DEAL
The Co-op is converting more of its South
African wines to Fairtrade standards –
increasing the volume of Fairtrade wine
sold by 2.5 million litres over the next year.
The wines come from Lutzville
Vineyards, which has worked with the
Group to convert to Fairtrade standards.
LAST-MINUTE FOOD SALES AXED
To tackle food waste and help community
organisations, the Group is ending lastminute
food sales and sending fresh items
to thousands of small community groups
in time for them to cook or freeze. The Coop
Food Share scheme will take products
off sale earlier so charities will receive
them within their use-by date.
Report from the Co-op Group AGM on
pages 24-25
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10 | JUNE 2018

RETAIL
Radstock Co-op unveils
revamp plans for its
town centre flagship
Radstock Co-operative is to redevelop its
town centre Radco superstore as it marks
its 150th anniversary.
The site, which includes a food hall
and non-food departments – electrical,
clothing, shoes and homeware – has
already undergone refurbishment and
extension projects but the society wants
to give it a more thorough revamp.
Chief executive Don Morris said: “The
site is a prime location and a central,
focal point for local residents, visitors
to the town and commuters. We feel our
customers, members and staff deserve a
better retail offering.
“We have listened to much feedback
from key stakeholders in the community
regarding the future of the Radco site...
We are in discussions with the local
planning office regarding proposals for
the redevelopment which we feel would
offer a much improved proposition for the
local community providing a brand new,
purpose-built shopping facility.
“This of course, will include a Radstock
Co-op store incorporating core services
such as the Travel shop and Post Office,
thus retaining vital facilities that many
local residents rely upon.”
Mr Morris said the plans would be
sympathetic to local ecology and wildlife,
and care would be taken to minimise the
impact during redevelopment work. He
confirmed there would be no job losses
from the project, adding that maximum
use of the site would probably create new
jobs.
Founded in 1868, the society comprises
18 convenience stores, a large supermarket
with a non-food offering, food hall and
travel agency and a 1,000-acre dairy farm.
Scotmid Co-op announces £50,000 community funding
Scotmid Co-operative has announced
the latest winners of its Community
Connect initiative, with six local charities
receiving a share of £50,000 funding
generated from the carrier bag levy.
Scotmid chief executive John Brodie said:
“It is great to be able to award all the
shortlisted groups with funding to enable
them to continue the good work that
they do.”
East of England to sell pharmacy and opticians stores
East of England Co-op has announced the
sale of its opticians and pharmacies. The
society said the 11 stores were not making
enough money despite investment, in a
market described as “exceptionally tough”
by the National Pharmacy Association
(NPA). The NPA says government funding
cuts and inflated wholesale prices for
medicines have squeezed the industry.
Treasury boosts funding to promote credit unions
HM Treasury has announced it will be
allocating new funding to tackle unlawful
lending. Over £5.5m will be spent to
investigate and prosecute illegal lenders,
and support their victims. As part of the
initiative, £100,000 already seized from
loan sharks will be spent on encouraging
people to join a credit union instead.
Record charity fundraising by Chelmsford Star
Essex-based Chelmsford Star Co-op
has raised £77,912 for its 2017-18
charity partner, Little Havens Hospice,
which is the only place in the county
dedicated to looking after children with
a life-shortening illness. The society’s
colleagues and customers collected the
funds through marathon runs, fancy
dress, book sales, and sponsored walks.
Heart of England Co-operative names corporate charity
The Heart of England Co-operative will
be helping Zoë’s Place Baby Hospice
fundraise money to cover a recent
£80,000 shortfall. The society announced
the hospice as its corporate partner
of the year. Zoë’s Place has been providing
palliative, respite and end of life care to
babies and infants.
JUNE 2018 | 11

AWARDS
Shortlist announced for
Co-operative of the Year
The shortlist has been announced for the
Co-operative of the Year Awards 2018,
with 17 co-ops and seven co-op councils
being nominated across four categories.
The award are organised by apex body
Co-operatives UK and sponsored by the
Co-operative Council Innovation Network,
across four categories – including one,
Co-operative Council, that is new to 2018.
You can read statements from shortlisted
co-ops and vote at www.uk.coop/COTY_
Shortlist until 15 June, with the winner
announced at Co-operative Congress in
London on 23 June.
The shortlists are as follows:
Leading Co-operative of the Year
• Central England Co-operative
• East of England Co-operative
• The Co-op Group
• Midcounties Co-operative
• The Organic Milk Suppliers
Co-operative (OMSCo)
p Last year’s winners celebrate at Co-operative Congress in Wakefield
Inspiring Co-operative of the Year
• Cartrefi Cymru, a co-operative which
supports people with learning
disabilities in Wales
• financial services provider London
Mutual Credit Union, which operates in
some of London’s most disadvantaged
communities
• Somerset-based independent retailer
Radstock Co-operative Society
• Foster Care Co-operative, the UK’s only
co-operative fostering agency
• Manchester-based wholefoods worker
co-operative Unicorn Grocery
Breakthrough Co-operative of the Year
• Co-Cars, a hire-by-the-hour social
enterprise in Exeter and the south west
• community-owned traditional Welsh
pub Cymdeithas Tafarn Sinc
• Fairtrade sports balls supplier
Bala Sport
• Glenwyvis Distillery, the world’s first
community-owned distillery
• Manchester architects Loop Systems
• film producers The Service
• worker co-op Third Sector Accountancy
Co-operative Council of the Year
• Cardiff
• Croydon
• Newcastle upon Tyne
• Oldham
• South Tyneside
• Greenwich
• Stevenage
RETAIL
Radical co-op bookshop launches crowdfunder to secure its future
A radical bookstore co-op in Southampton
has launched a crowdfunder to help
secure its long-term future.
October Books, which currently rents
a space on Portswood Road, is looking
to buy the old NatWest building in
Portswood, which is large enough for its
retail space and a large, accessible area for
events and community activities.
The co-op was founded in 1977, and
now sells general popular fiction, nonfiction
and children’s books, alongside
a range of specialised radical books and
magazines – and organic and Fairtrade
foods and green household items.
In March, it announced that its proposal
to buy the bank building been accepted in
principle. The co-op now needs to raise
£510,000.
“We are doing this to secure the longterm
future of the shop by establishing
a permanent base, where we are not
paying rent to a distant landlord,” said a
statement from the organisation. “We also
want to connect to our local community
and so the space we are buying is large
enough to house a community hub.”
October Books is raising this money
in three ways: through a £150,000 loan
from a specialist co-operative lender; by
offering repayable Loanstock for sale to
the value of £340,000; and by asking
supporters for non-repayable donations
to the value of £20,000.
“Loanstock is a way that co-operatives
raise finance and is an investment in the
shop and Community Hub,” said the
co-op, which is already over 50% of the
way to its Loanstock target. “You invest
a sum of your choosing for a period of
one, five or 10 years, and then when the
Loanstock matures, you receive the money
back with optional 1.5% interest.”
The non-repayable donations can
be made through the co-operative’s
Crowdfunder site; by cash, card or cheque
in the shop; or by bank transfer or Paypal.
“Donations will help towards building
plans, design and renovations in the
new space so we will keep you updated,”
added the co-op.
“It’s an exciting time for a bookshop
which has been serving our community
for over 40 years. If you would like to
help out you can always volunteer with
us or if you would like to be more involved
in decision making you can become a
member of the co-operative, too. Together,
we can do this.”
More details at www.octoberbooks.org
12 | JUNE 2018

UTILITIES
Phone Co-op members agree transfer of engagements to Midcounties
p Nick Thompson, Jane Watts and Ben Reid at the special general meeting
A special meeting of the Phone Co-op has
agreed a transfer of engagements to the
Midcounties Co-operative.
Under the move, agreed by 202 votes to
17, with four abstentions, the Phone Co-op
brand will continue, and staff will retain
their terms of conditions of employment
through a two-year transition. Operations
will continue from its Chipping Norton
and Manchester offices. But the merger
will mean an end to the Phone Co-op as
an entity with a distinct board.
Chair Jane Watts said: “The Phone
Co-op will cease, we will not be directors –
there will a committee within Midcounties
for the transitional period, and two of our
directors will sit on it for continuity.”
Proposing the motion, Ms Watts said
Midcounties, which is looking to grow its
utilities presence by developing telecoms
alongside its Co-op Energy business, had
made the initial approach.
This prompted Ms Watts’ team to
undertake some “soul-searching” and to
consider the Phone Co-op’s main purpose:
“To provide telecoms co-operatively to as
many people as possible … we wanted to
show there was a better way,” she added.
“We think Midcounties is a good fit and
a good home for us.”
She said there was an “alignment of
values” between the societies and the
merger would help the Phone Co-op to
extend its reach and offer better deals.
Ben Reid, group CEO of Midcounties,
said the Phone Co-op had been an
inspiration for Co-op Energy.
He said tighter data regulations against
cross-selling between two organisations
would have made it impossible for
Midcounties to act merely as an agent for
the Phone Co-op.
The rise of smart metering and water
deregulation meant a changing landscape
for utilities businesses, he added, and
the merger would open up the possibility
of a utility co-op that enters homes and
“makes them into co-op homes”.
Furthermore, Midcounties could
provide volume, with its 670,000 members
and its Co-op Energy customers offering
internal marketing opportunities.
The Phone Co-op’s Chipping Norton HQ
needs refurbishment, Mr Reid said, but
he insisted Midcounties was committed
to the site. “My job will be to find a way
of improving facilities for our colleagues.
Don’t think we’re going to whip this thing
over into Warwick, we’re just not.”
The Phone Co-op’s vice-chair Shelagh
Young said there had been concerns over
the merger – over member involvement,
customer service and staff terms and
conditions – but that these had been
addressed in discussion.
“Any change has areas of concern,” she
added. “Bringing any two organisations
together has potential negatives. We can’t
say there are no risks but we feel that the
negatives have been addressed.
“We will lose the old Phone Co-op to
some extent, it won’t be the same, but that
change is outweighed by the benefits.”
And Vivian Woodell, who founded the
Phone Co-op, told the meeting: “There is a
real logic in putting the two together. There
are enormous cross-selling opportunities,
which offer greater scale within a valuescentred
co-op. Other combined utilities
providers such as Utility Warehouse have
shown the model works.”
He warned that the alternative to a
merger was “not very attractive”. The
Phone Co-op’s new strategy has brought
“a big rise in costs bringing significant
losses,” he added, and if the board
follows FCA guidance “this may well
mean withdrawals of share capital could
be suspended”.
This strategy was also put to the vote at
the meeting and received a more mixed
reception, with 136 votes for; 50 against;
and 37 abstentions.
Members were still concerned about the
risks of the strategy, with former Phone
Co-op chair Simon Blackley warning
about the implications of committing
Midcounties to underwriting it after a
merger went through.
But Phone Co-op chief executive Nick
Thompson said the organisation had
to prepare for a new stage in the digital
revolution. BT is preparing to replace the
UK’s copper-based network with an fibrebased
one between 2020 and 2025, he said,
which would render the telecoms systems
used by many businesses obsolete.
The Phone Co-op had to be ready to take
advantage of this, he told members.
The transfer of engagements required a
confirmation vote, which took place at a
second general meeting in Droitwich on
held on 28 April.
It was passed by 75 votes out of 76.
Work is now afoot for the transfer to
Midcounties, for 1 June, said a Phone
Co-op spokesperson.
JUNE 2018 | 13

p The Toad Lane site is now home to the Rochdale Pioneers Museum
HERITAGE
A monument to change: Rochdale Pioneers store
named one of 10 key sites in Britain’s industrial history
The Rochdale Pioneers Shop was chosen
as one of England’s top ten industry, trade
and commerce sites that have shaped the
nation’s history.
The museum was selected as one of
the ten places selected by judge Tristram
Hunt, a former Labour MP, who is
currently director of the V&A Museum,
from a list of 799 public nominations.
The Toad Lane building dates back
to 1844 when a group of 28 men, mostly
weavers, set up the Rochdale Society of
Equitable Pioneers to sell quality food
at affordable prices. Their initiative
developed in the context of extreme
poverty affecting the local community
due to the mechanisation of industry. The
shop was owned and run by the members
based on co-operative principles that
were later adopted by other communities
across the world, making Rochdale
the birthplace of the modern day
co-operative movement.
The list is part of Historic England’s
A History of England in 100 Places
campaign, which aims to raise awareness
of important sites across England and
the role they played in pioneering,
experimenting and breaking new ground.
The campaign is sponsored by
Ecclesiastical and will run a podcast
series and a handbook featuring all 100
sites selected by the panel of judges.
Duncan Wilson, chief executive
of Historic England, said: “We had
an overwhelming response from the
public in this category, with nearly 800
nominations of places which help tell the
story of our industrial and commercial
past. Each of these 10 places chosen by
Tristram Hunt demonstrate that many
different industries and enterprises, from
brewing and coal mining to financial
services, have defined who we are as a
nation and although some have changed
uses, they remain a central part of
our lives today.”
Mr Hunt said: “Out of the Industrial
Revolution came new ideas about the
organisation of society and what the
Rochdale Pioneers did was to bring a new
model of sharing wealth to the world.
On the one hand, industrialisation was
a celebration of capitalism – but on the
other hand, ideas around socialism,
communism and co-operation emerged
which changed the country.”
The campaign comes in response to
a national poll carried out by YouGov,
which showed that the public is unaware
about where ground-breaking moments in
England’s history happened.
The Toad Lane shop is now home to
the Rochdale Pioneers Museum, acting to
preserve the original store of the Rochdale
Pioneers and generate an understanding
of the ideals and principles of the
co-operative movement.
Kate Gronow, visitor experience and
operations co-ordinator at the Rochdale
Pioneers Museum said: “The whole team
at are thrilled that the movement has been
recognised nationally with this accolade.
The Rochdale Pioneers came together to
improve the lives of the working people of
the town. We celebrate this and continue
to make our museum an active participant
in co-operation.”
14 | JUNE 2018

ECONOMY
Rochdale Council launches Co-op Connections
Heritage Action Zone to regenerate the town
Co-operative heritage will be at the centre
of a plan to regenerate Rochdale, the tenth
most deprived area in the country.
The five-year project is part of the
Heritage Action Zone programme run by
Historic England, a public body sponsored
by the Department for Culture, Media and
Sport (DCMS), in partnership with local
councils and other organisations.
The council is working on the project
with Historic England, Link4Life,
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing co-op
(RBH), the Co-operative Heritage Trust
and Rochdale Town Centre Management.
Rochdale is celebrated as the birthplace
of modern co-operation and through the
Co-operative Connections Heritage Action
Zone (HAZ), the council will focus on
buildings from the movement’s past.
It plans to create 200 new homes and
renovate a number of historic buildings
in the area to bring them off Historic
England’s At Risk Register. Last month
housing co-op RBH pledged £25m of its
own resources over the next five years to
deliver regeneration plans.
The council plans a heritage trail to
tell the story of the historic buildings
in the area and better link the railway
station with the town centre. The HAZ
will also support a co-op enterprise hub,
developing new co-operative businesses,
funded through the Co-operative Group’s
“Together Enterprise” programme.
The hub will be run by the Co-operative
College, in partnership with the council,
and hosted in the former Butterworth
jewellers building at 14 Drake Street.
The pilot will see young people from the
Rochdale area learn about co-operatives,
co-operative ways of working and
enterprise in interactive sessions, while
developing key co-operative skills such as
team working, self-confidence and group
decision making.
Approximately 10 shop fronts will be
improved within the HAZ area by 2023
and a further eight heritage assets in the
HAZ area will be repaired or restored and,
if vacant, brought back in to use.
Furthermore, the project will carry out a
‘Historic Area Assessment’ to understand
the significance of the buildings within
the HAZ area, including co-operative
heritage, and engage with 11 schools
through ‘Heritage Schools’ project.
HAZ was launched at Rochdale Town
Hall on 16 May, where Councillor Janet
Emsley, cabinet member for leisure and
culture at Rochdale Borough Council,
p Project partners in front of the former jewellery, which will host the co-op enterprise hub
said: “We are lucky enough to have some
spectacular heritage buildings here in
Rochdale, so no plan to regenerate our
town centre would be complete without
major investment in these assets.
“Since we achieved Heritage Action
Zone status, we’ve already had a major
boost, with grant one funding approval
from the Heritage Lottery Fund for the
redevelopment of the town hall, so we’re
already well on our way to bringing our
fabulous heritage to life.”
Catherine Dewar, planning director for
Historic England North West, said: “We’re
delighted to be working with Rochdale. It
has such fantastic historic buildings and
spaces and we want to work together to
make the most of its heritage. We have
a great opportunity to work with other
organisations and the community in
partnership, continuing the fascinating
history of co-operation in the town.”
Liz McIvor, Co-operative Heritage Trust
manager for the Co-operative College,
added: “Co-ops are popular around
the world, but we need to ensure their
influence remains strong in Rochdale,
because this is where it all started.
“By celebrating this international
movement and its Rochdale roots, we will
help restore a sense of place, a sense of
something great having gone before and
something great still to come.”
Paul Cocker, funding and partnerships
development officer at the College, added:
“As we look back to co-operative history,
we have to opportunity to look forward
towards a co-op future, use co-op values
and principles to make a co-op town.”
John Searle, director of economy
of Rochdale Council, said Greater
Manchester mayor Andy Burnham also
had a role to play in supporting residential
growth in Rochdale. He said: “Rochdale is
not a failing town centre, but has to move
on to the next level.”
Around £250m has been invested in the
core town centre area since 2011 as part of
the council’s regeneration efforts.
Rochdale Borough Council has
committed £1,600,000 to the Heritage
Action Zone, which will complement a
£611,000 investment by Historic England.
The council and its partners plan to invest
a total of £25m in Rochdale town centre
over the next five years. The investment
is expected to attract private sector
investment in excess of £15m.
JUNE 2018 | 15

GLOBAL UPDATES
NETHERLANDS
Dutch dairy co-op to pay farmers a
premium for hitting sustainability standards
Dutch dairy co-op FrieslandCampina
has announced a new line, Top Dairy,
which will pay farmers a premium
for milk reaching certified standards
of sustainability and animal welfare.
The move is the latest step in the
co-op’s Nourishing by Nature strategy and
includes commitments on biodiversity
and reducing climate emissions.
FrieslandCampina – Europe’s largest
dairy co-op – is now discussing the
project with its members before deciding
on the exact nature of the standards,
which are expected to come into effect
on 1 January 2019.
Chief executive Hein Schumacher said:
“By accelerating our sustainability efforts
we set the bar higher for dairy in general
... With this we strengthen our purpose
of nourishing by nature ... better nutrition
for our consumers and a good living for
our dairy farmers. This is what it’s all
about, now and in the future.”
Growth of the milk supply volume is
possible within the scope of a pre-agreed
growth arrangement, which aims to set an
expected dairy market growth percentage,
the co-op adds.
Frans Keurentjes, chair of
Zuivelcoöperatie, the co-op that owns
FrieslandCampina, said: “Sustainable
milk will pay off, we are convinced of that.
“Being one of the leading dairy
co-operatives in the world, we ask our
members to show strong commitment
to meeting the demand for more
sustainable and special milk flows.
In addition to the higher payment for
p The standards come into effect next year
sustainability, we are aiming at wellbalanced
and market-driven growth.
This will help us create a co-operative
in which a next generation of farmers is
guaranteed a future.”
EUROPE
European co-operatives release vision
paper on growing the collaborative economy
p The paper was presented to MEPs
Cooperatives Europe has published a
vision paper highlighting the role of
co-ops in the collaborative economy.
The document is a response to the
European agenda for the collaborative
economy, adopted by the European
Parliament last June, which outlines
the importance of the single market and
creating an enabling environment for
relevant economic actors such as co-ops.
23
The collaborative economy had a
revenue of €28bn in 2015 in Europe. A
report by PwC estimates that by 2025 the
collaborative economy will have platforms
in five sectors, generating revenues worth
over €80bn and facilitating nearly €570bn
of transactions.
Cooperatives Europe’s paper says
the sector has continued to grow,
disrupting markets and having an
impact on fair competition, labour rights,
consumer protection, service levels and
transparency.
It follows consultation with sectoral
co-op organisations and European
co-operators. One of the issues
highlighted was the fundamental role
played by communities in the collaborative
economy. This should be recognised
through a European enabling ecosystem,
the report adds, with existing regulations
modernised to enable the development of
a co-op-based collaborative economy.
The document also calls for publicprivate
partnerships between European
institutions and community-based
organisations to unleash the full potential
of the collaborative economy.
Jean-Louis Bancel, president of
Cooperatives Europe, said: “The
collaborative economy is booming, and
our responsibility is to create a positive
ground to enable its maturation.
“This vision paper demonstrates the
importance of a co-operative-based
collaborative economy to reconnect
people and their communities at a time
when creating social cohesion is needed
more than ever.”
Nicola Danti, an MEP in the Progressive
Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
group and the parliament’s rapporteur
on collaborative economy, added: “The
collaborative economy can represent a big
opportunity for the European co-operative
movement to reinvent, and benefit from
the technological revolution. At the same
time, co-operatives can provide added
value for a balanced and sustainable
development of this new phenomenon.”
16 | JUNE 2018

USA
Help space cats fight galactic fascism in
a new game from TESA Collective
The collective behind the Co-opoly board
game have launched their newest project
on Kickstarter.
Space Cats Fight Fascism is the fourth
in a series of social justice games from
the TESA Collective, which designed
and published the tabletop games Rise
Up: The Game of People and Power and
Co-opoly: The Game of Cooperatives,
and the fast-paced social justice word
association card game Loud & Proud.
TESA is running a Kickstarter
campaign with the goal of raising at
least $20,000 to support the design
and printing of the first run of the
game. The campaign includes a backer
level where players can have their own
cats represented in the game.
Rise Up and Co-opoly were
both supported by successful
Kickstarter campaigns.
The new game imagines a future where
intergalactic animals vie to defeat a fascist
stronghold that seeks to limit their rights
and freedoms. Characters use strategy,
alliances and feline cleverness to take
down powerful opposition and free
occupied planets.
It is set in the year three million, when
the animals of Earth inhabit the galaxy in
advanced societies. An oppressive regime
known as The Rat Pack has decided
that all cats must be tightly controlled
and forced into feline exile – prompting
a cat revolution.
TESA says the game was inspired by the
current political climate in the US.
“I know plenty of folks who are fighting
fascism in real life, but even serious
activists need to laugh and blow off
steam every now and then,” said Brian
Van Slyke, the game’s designer and
a worker-owner at TESA. “Space Cats
Fight Fascism is for them.”
Vermont state representative Kiah
Morris, a member of TESA, added: “As
someone on the front lines of working
to create a just world, this game is
p Can you help this cat fight fascism?
exactly what is needed to lift our spirits,
build teamwork and have more fun
than imaginable.
“And it’s cats. In space. Who doesn’t
love the concept of freedom-fighting cats
in space?”
NORWAY
Coop Norway runs litter clean-up in war on
plastic waste
p Efforts focused on beaches, lakes and rivers.
With global concern mounting over plastic
pollution, retailer Coop Norway called on
employees, customers and co-owners to
join a nationwide clean-up campaign.
The “Coop rydder Norge” campaign,
run with the organisation Hold Norge
Rent (Keep Norway Beautiful), ran from
30 April to 5 May 2018, and saw the
co-op’s stores hand out free cleaning kits
with gloves and bags and set up collection
points for rubbish.
The clean-up, which focuses on coastal
areas, lakes and rivers, also saw volunteers
upload images and register details of
collected waste to help Hold Norge Rent
compile a report on marine pollution.
“Littering affects all of us and we in
Coop will have a responsibility to do our
part,” said Knut Lutnæs, environmental
manager at Coop Norway. “Together with
our customers, who are also our owners,
we will now contribute to clearing Norway
of marine litter.”
He added: “We in Coop are lucky to
have over 1.6 million co-owners and many
stores across Norway. Together we can
strengthen our efforts to effect change. In
addition to being a small but important
contribution, the goal of the campaign is
to raise awareness and understanding of
the scale of plastic waste.”
Mr Lutnæs added that creating
awareness, was important for waste
prevention. An estimated 36,000 tonnes
of waste is dumped into Norway’s waters
every year; of this, 70% of this sinks to the
bottom of the sea, lakes and rivers, 15%
floats and accumulates, and 15% is washed
up on land.
“In addition to helping to clean up, Coop
is committed to optimising packaging and
reducing plastic usage, including finding
replacement for more plastic products,”
said Mr Lutnæs.
“The entire operations of Coop in the
Nordic region are collaborating on this, in
addition to measures with other sectors of
the grocery industry.”
JUNE 2018 | 17

The right ingredients
/sumawholefoods
Perfected over 40 years of worker co-operation
Find us in your nearest independent grocery store
SWITZERLAND
Swiss co-ops tunnel into tomorrow with
underground transit system
Switzerland could have a new
underground logistics delivery system
by 2040, to help the country cope with a
projected 35% increase in freight traffic.
The country’s largest retailers, co-ops
Migros and Coop, are among the backers
of the project, which will be developed by
a group of private companies.
Cargo Sous Terrain (CST), the company
leading the initiative, proposes a 500km
automated tunnel system that will
integrate sensor data from pallets and
wagons into the overall logistics and
delivery mechanisms.
The fully automated network will run
from Geneva to St Gallen and from Basel
to Lucerne, with an additional branch
from Bern to Thun, connecting around
80 hubs, where goods can be loaded and
unloaded. Once fully completed, CST is
expected to reduce freight transport in
towns and cities by 30% and save 40% of
lorry journeys on motorways.
On 23 January a delegation of CST
presented its roadmap for the next phase
of development of the logistics network
p A delegation of CST to federal councillors
to federal councillor Doris Leuthard.
The roadmap includes a funding plan of
CHF1000m in equity to obtain a building
permit for the first section from Härkingen
to Zurich. According to CST, a number of
existing partners intend to increase their
share capital once the CST dedicated
federal law is in effect.
The organisation estimates the total
construction costs will amount to 33
billion Swiss francs. It plans to conduct
the first operational underground
transports starting in 2030 by which time
the first network from Gäu to Zurich will
have been completed. The entire network
is scheduled to be commissioned and
completed by 2045.
The vehicles will be self-driving and
will be able to intelligently connect
and disconnect themselves to and from
convoys in the driving and monorail
lanes. The speed limit will be 30 kph for
freight vehicles in the driving lanes and 60
kph for the monorail conveyor.
Coop and Migros say their co-operative
structure allows them to make longterm
investments in the future of Swiss
infrastructure.
“A quick and efficient supply is crucial
when it comes to ensuring that our
customers can find the products they want
in their local shops. We need innovative
and environmentally friendly solutions
so that we can continue to guarantee
this in the future. This is why we have
strongly advocated Cargo Sous Terrain
from the very start,” said Joos Sutter, chief
executive of Coop Switzerland.
“Even today, we need to think about
how we are going to be able to provide
a reliable supply of fresh goods for our
customers 20 years from now,” added
Migros boss Herbert Bolliger.
18 | JUNE 2018

CANADA
Mountain
Equipment Co-op to
kit out a series of
scientific expeditions
p The remote Waddington Range
Canadian outdoor retailer Mountain
Equipment Co-op (MEC) is working with
The Royal Canadian Geographical Society
(RCGS) to kit out a series of important
explorations.
As Canada’s largest co-op by
membership, MEC says it is committed
to sustainability, community and the
stewardship of wild places.
Chief executive David Labistour said:
“Gear that’s designed, made and tested to
perform in the challenging and often harsh
conditions that Canadian explorers find
themselves in, can mean the difference
between success or failure.
“It’s a tremendous honour to bring
MEC’s expertise in making gear for
millions of Canadian outdoor enthusiasts
to the RCGS Expeditions Program as its
official outfitter.”
The RCGS has been supporting
Canadian exploration since 1929. In 1992,
it partnered with MEC on a 13-member
expedition to measure the height of Mount
Logan, the country’s highest peak.
The new expeditions include a scientific
exploration of the Bisaro Plateau Caves,
which were discovered in a remote area
of British Columbia in 2012. The project
which will involve cave diving and staying
in underground camp for as long as seven
days at a time.
There will also be canoe journeys
through remote river systems and fjords,
and recreations of historic journeys.
These include the Bayne/Coleman
Project, a documentary about the search
for the grave of Sir John Franklin, who
disappeared in 1847 while searching for
the North West Passage, and the Mystery
Mountain Project, a re-enactment of
the first exploration, in 1926, of British
Columbia’s Waddington Range.
ICA-AP Research Conference to address sustainability
The Asia-Pacific region of the International
Co-operative Alliance (ICA-AP) is hosting
the 13th ICA-AP Cooperative Research
Conference in November in Tehran,
Iran, looking at how the movement
can contribute to more sustainable and
resilient societies.. Two best-paper awards
(US$500 and US$300) will go to young
researchers presenting papers.
Evergreen Cooperative Laundry to manage second plant
Cleveland’s Evergreen Cooperative
Laundry will triple its workforce after
taking over management of the Cleveland
Clinic’s laundry facility. The new plant
brings more than 100 new employees into
the organisation, joining the 50 workers
employed at its original laundry in
Glenville. The Cleveland model has been
adopted by other communities across the
US, as well as in Preston, UK.
Artificial intelligence created to help tackle fraud
CO-OP Financial Services has brought in
a new data-driven platform to help US
credit unions detect and tackle fraud more
quickly. The organisation, which operates
an interbank network connecting the
ATMs of credit unions in the US and
Canada, says its COOPER platform uses
machine learning to keep up with patterns
of online crime.
Carbon-neutral coffee brewed up in Costa Rica
As news emerges that one in five Costa
Ricans is associated with a co-operative,
the country’s Coopedota coffee coop
has brewed up the world’s first
officially certified carbon-neutral coffee.
Coopedota tracks the emissions produced
at each stage of production, and buys
carbon credits to offset part of its impact.
Kenyan co-operators join blood donation campaign
The co-op movement in Kenya called on
members to join a two-day blood donation
drive to help raise 2,000 pints of blood.
“It only takes 15 minutes to donate one
unit - and because the demand for blood
transfusions doesn’t stop, we made this
an annual campaign,” said Coop Alliance
of Kenya chief executive, Daniel Marube.
JUNE 2018 | 19

MEET...
... Simel Esim, head of the ILO’s
Cooperatives Unit, Geneva
Simel Esim heads the Cooperatives Unit of the International Labour
Organization in Geneva. Prior to this, she was a senior technical
specialist in the ILO’s Regional Office for Arab States. Her experience
includes working in policy advocacy, research, capacity building,
programme management, and monitoring and evaluation. She focuses
on co-operative and social and solidarity economy development,
informal employment and women’s economic empowerment issues.
She holds an MA in International Economics and Middle East Studies
and a Ph.D. in Economics.
WHAT DOES A TYPICAL WORKING DAY LOOK LIKE
FOR YOU?
I often wake up with a bunch of new ideas and
can’t wait to share them with my colleagues. Once
I arrive at the office, there is a lot of diversity to
the work – there are impromptu consultations
and brainstorming sessions within the ILO COOP
team. We also prioritise engagement with our
colleagues in the field offices and requests from ILO
constituents and partners. As with most of us in the
changing world of work, a lot is done through video
conferences and Skype, as well as email and phone
calls, even if we may not be able to engage face to
face. I am usually surprised how fast the work day
comes to an end. There is often little time for reading
and writing substantive pieces, so those usually go
home and travel around with me – there are always
some very well-travelled reports in my bag.
WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT THE JOB?
I love working with the ILO COOP team that consists
of a dynamic and creative bunch. With them we have
developed a wide portfolio and are continuing to
grow it. Supporting the professional growth of this
largely young and diverse group of committed and
hard working women and men from Asia, Africa,
the Americas and Europe is important. I learn a
great deal from them every day. My favourite part is
the brainstorming sessions where we come up with
ideas – which for me almost always ends up being
about drawing with coloured pens.
AND THE HARDEST?
Coming up with ideas for new initiatives is the fun
and easy part of course – but then bringing them
to life takes a great deal of hard work and patience.
Doing the hard work is not a big deal, really, but
having the patience to wait for things to get off the
ground after sowing the seeds is sometimes difficult
for me. So I need to hold back my eagerness and
even impatience for things to happen. I am therefore
grateful to my colleagues when they remind me to
allow for things to take their time to evolve. And as I
grow older I am hoping that I may be getting slightly
better at letting things take their course.
Externally, of course, the changing international
development landscape poses some challenges but
I am also positive that the search for alternatives is
resulting in the (re)discovery of co-operatives and
other social and solidarity economy entities.
HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN THE ILO?
I was working in a research institute in Washington,
DC for six years when I was invited to apply to
a position at the ILO Regional Office for Arab
States. After spending 14 years in DC I was ready for
a change and to go back to the field at that point,
so I took the plunge.
HAD YOU WORKED WITH CO-OPERATIVES IN
THE PAST?
I come from a long line of staunch co-operators
(housing and consumer co-ops) and at age seven
I was a co-op club president at school in Turkey.
I also worked with and wrote on women’s rural,
financial and artisanal co-ops in Turkey, India and
Arab States before I joined ILO COOP.
THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR CONFERENCE (ILC)
IS APPROACHING. WILL CO-OPERATIVES BE ON
THE AGENDA?
The conference is an annual event that takes place
at the end of May / early June each year, with the
agenda set by the governing body of the organisation.
The ILO recommendation on promotion
20 | JUNE 2018

ISSN 0009-9821
9 770009 982010
01
of co-operatives (No. 193) was adopted at the ILC in
2002 with the active participation of co-operative
movement representatives. In the recent past the
constituents have referred to co-operatives and
other social and solidarity economy enterprises and
organisations during standard setting discussions
on formalising the informal economy or peace
and resilience.
During this year’s conference, there will be
a standard-setting discussion on violence at work,
a general discussion on effective ILO development
co-operation and a recurrent discussion on social
dialogue and tripartism. Government, workers’
and employers’ organisation representatives
from countries with strong co-operative and
social and solidarity economy movements will
be most likely to bring it up in these discussions.
We also look forward to having a representative
of the ICA there with us during this year’s ILC,
where they will make a short presentation on the
co-operative movement’s view of the key issues
being discussed.
WITH THE CHANGING NATURE OF THE WORLD
OF WORK, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR ADVICE
FOR CO-OPERATIVES?
In the changing world of work there is a need for
alternatives that can reverse the deterioration
of worker rights. In this context it would be
important for the global co-operative movement to
demonstrate its commitment to decent work and
how co-ops can and do offer alternatives to the retreat
of worker rights.
Such commitment would benefit from being
substantiated with concrete actions. For instance,
the bigger and more established co-ops can show
their support for emerging co-ops to address
world of work challenges, like those set up
by unemployed youth, low-income women or
freelance workers. Codes of conduct for eliminating
worse forms of child labour, forced labour and
discrimination would be good to adopt as part
of a “Co-operatives for decent work agenda”.
The engagement of the co-operative movement
with the changing world of work discussions,
including the ILO director general’s initiative on the
future of work, is also essential. In the past couple
of months comments were submitted by CICOPA
and the ICA on the inception report for the Global
Commission on the Future of Work. An international
conference on co-operatives and changing world of
work took place in India last week and came up
with a common basic understanding statement.
These are clear signs of the commitment from the
international co-operative movement to work
toward decent work in this changing landscape.
news Issue #7294 APRIL 2018
Connecting, championing, challenging
APRIL 2018
EDUCATION
Co-op learning:
principle five
in action
Plus ... 150 years
of East of England ...
and updates from the
Co-op Retail and Abcul
conferences
£4.20
www.thenews.coop
JUNE 2018 | 21

YOUR VIEWS
FAIRTRADE
I would like to reply to Rita Machin’s
email ‘Fairtrade Fortnight’ in May’s
edition of Co-op News in which she
suggests that the Co-op Group’s Fairtrade
success is only at ‘surface’ level and
that I personally am ‘out of touch’ with
how, in her view, our ‘publicity has
been marginalised’.
I respectfully suggest that visiting just
three stores is hardly representative of the
reality of our efforts nationally, and I can
assure Rita of the fact that, in my 20 years
of working on Fairtrade – actually since I
helped create the concept of Fairtrade
Fortnight with the Fairtrade Foundation –
this has been one of our most-supported
campaigns ever. This year we delivered key
messages through the distribution of 2,000
member packs, new school resources,
a cohesive social media campaign, on
our website and across paid channels –
including new films on both the graduate
nurse programme and the Fairtrade roses
message, blogs for International Women’s
Day and member emails to provide access
to these rich stories. Stores were supplied
with resource packs and additional
links to download extra information, a
suite of point of sale items to put up to
promote the event, till screen messages,
and two editions of our customer Food
Magazine which carried stories and
information about Fairtrade Fortnight
and our news.
Overall our reach and delivery was well
ahead of the targets we set ourselves.
Almost 300 events were undertaken during
the Fortnight, with our engagement with
Member Pioneers paying real dividends
– 128 of them arranged events locally.
Over 2 million people were reached on
social media – and over 4 million if we
include the contact we paid for. Our roses
video scored the highest engagement
of any of the films we have produced
– even exceeding the impact levels of some
of our TV advertising.
Of course it is disappointing when,
locally, stores do not engage with
activity. When there is such evidence,
the most effective way to improve things
is to approach the store directly and ask
the questions, rather than assuming
that all stores are unsupported and
complaining through Co-op News. In
the main, our shops do a fantastic job
of promoting Fairtrade Fortnight within
the confines of all the other messages –
Mother’s Day, Easter, price investment,
special deals etc, but managers
will always appreciate constructive
member feedback.
I can assure Rita and all readers that,
while there is always more to learn and
improvements to be made, I am fully in
touch with the reality of our efforts and
very aware of how to deliver Fairtrade
effectively – both for short-burst Fortnight
activity and long-term strategically. I have
been doing so for two decades and am proud
of the leadership we have established, the
impact we have had on countless lives
and how our Co-op continues to drive
the agenda on behalf of our producers
and our members.
Brad Hill
Fairtrade Strategy Development Manager,
Co-op Group
p The Co-op Group can be proud of its work on Fairtrade, says Brad Hill
22 | JUNE 2018

p Phone Coop members have voted to merge with Midcounties
PHONE CO-OP MERGER
Just to play devil’s advocate... as Vivian
Woodell says, there is a natural overlap
between energy retailing and telecoms
retailing. Co-op Energy and the Phone
Co-op could indeed achieve a range of
synergistic benefits by teaming up (see
report on p13).
But the regional grocery side of the
business has little in common with UKwide
networked services. There will be
a constant tug of war between regional
marketing that serves the food stores,
and UK-wide marketing that serves the
utilities; the membership will include
people with conflicting expectations of
the merged co-op; and the low-margin,
risk-averse grocery business will need
a different style of leadership from the
much more fluid and fast-moving world
of utilities. Shouldn’t Midcounties
be handing Co-op Energy over to the
Phone Co-op?
Alex Lawrie
Both Vivian Woodell and Ben Reid have
made a persuasive case for the merger of
the Phone Co-op with Midcounties. There
are clearly a set of business synergies
that mean offer some obvious benefits
for customers and members from such
a merger. Of course, many of us are not
just customers of this amazing co-op; we
have invested not only our money in this
business but have felt part of a real
community of co-operators. Giving that up
will not be easy.
But the environment and the huge
technological change taking place in this
sector does mean that the support of a
bigger society will give a co-operative
phone business a better chance of
success. What is more, there is no doubt
that Midcounties – as well as bringing
significant business skills and scale –
shares the Phone Co-op’s values. As chair
of Co-operatives UK I will be sorry to lose a
member but that is a small sacrifice for the
opportunity for a growing successful co-op
presence in the telecoms sector.
So let’s embrace this opportunity and
support this merger.
Nick Matthews
DEMOCRACY IN ACTION
As a candidate for the Co-op Group
Members Council, I realise this may come
back to bite me, but I am delighted that
so many have put themselves forward
for election – 157 for 36 places. That is
real democracy.
The sad thing is that very few members
will bother to vote – just 3% of those eligible
to vote and barely 1% of all registered
members. That is clearly not meaningful
democracy. Until and unless that changes,
we are only paying lip service to it.
David Stanbury
Plymouth
PUB CO-OPS
Quite ironic that pubs are being saved
by becoming co-operatives while the
Co-op Group is still closing them and
turning them into stores. It raises
interesting questions around the role of a
co-operative in the community.
LaughingJohn
Via website
Have your say
Add your comments to our stories
online at www.thenews.coop, get
in touch via social media, or send
us a letter. If sending a letter, please
include your address and contact
number. Letters may be edited and
no longer than 350 words.
Co-operative News, Holyoake
House, Hanover Street,
Manchester M60 0AS
letters@thenews.coop
@coopnews
Co-operative News
p Voting at the Co-op Group AGM
p The Chequer Inn near Canterbury is now a
community pub
JUNE 2018 | 23

Co-op Group will build its business by
‘closing the virtuous circle’, AGM told
Clockwise from above:
Steve Murrells, Co-op
Group CEO, addresses
delegates at the AGM
on Saturday, 19 May;
The event was held at
the Manchester Central
Convention Complex and
included a marketplace
showcasing different
areas of the Group’s
business; Stevie Spring,
chair of the remuneration
committee.
The Co-op Group must build on a year which
has seen it increase profits and membership by
working towards “a stronger Co-op and stronger
communities,” its AGM in Manchester was told.
Chair Allan Leighton and chief executive Steve
Murrells both hailed a strong performance in 2017
which saw a 15% increase in active members and
pre-tax profits grow by 25%, with £100m returned
to members through the 5% reward scheme, and
£20m go to local causes.
And although the Group was having to deal
with problems such as its treatment of suppliers,
which has sparked an investigation into suspected
violations of the Groceries Code, members also
heard how the organisation had made great
strides in its campaigning work on issues such
as loneliness, modern slavery, plastic waste and
Fairtrade. Mr Murrells said the Group could build
on this by using “an old idea we need to make new
again: the virtuous co-operative circle”.
A Co-op Group which strengthened the
communities it operates in would reap the benefits
of that strength, he told delegates. And this would
bring advantages at a time when Brexit, an ageing
population, a younger generation who are less
wealthy than their parents, the breakdown in
trust for big organisations and the rise of digital
communication mean “our country is going
through a change that is without parallel in
my lifetime”.
“The Co-op is well placed to meet these changes
because of how we are owned,” he added, calling
for a revival of the Rochdale Pioneers’ ethos that
came out of the “unsettling change” of the mid
19th century.
“We have to make the most of our co-operative
difference because we won’t succeed by being
like everyone else,” said Mr Murrells, warning
that although “we’ve made a lot of progress, we
are profitable, we are rewarding communities
and members ... we’re not seeing the change in
shopping habits that we would like”.
To solve that, the Group needed to close “a
number of gaps” in the virtuous circle.
This includes extending the Group’s reach into
the community – with innovations such as its
recently announced no-frills funerals offer, trials of
home delivery partnerships, wholesale deals with
Costcutter and Nisa, and travel insurance coverage
for pre-existing medical conditions.
For customers, the Group is trialling new
digital products such as scan-and-go technology,
while 21,000 colleagues have taken advantage
of a new phone app, Shifts, to organise more flexible
working arrangements.
And Mr Murrells said new business ventures
were being looked at. These would be online
ventures, without the capital outlay for high-street,
bricks-and-mortar businesses, and would serve
new generations in key areas such as health and
wellness, and finance.
The AGM heard how the Group was also working
to “close the gap” for colleagues by introducing
new colleague awards and setting up networks for
BAME workers and young workers, and by offering
colleagues health and financial advice.
In terms of pay, Stevie Spring, chair of the
remuneration committee, said executive salaries
had been frozen and the bonus scheme simplified
but frontline staff had seen pay rises of 6% this year
and 21.5% over the past three years: “There’s still
lots to be done but we’re making progress.”
Meanwhile the Group was building its
apprenticeship scheme, delegates were told,
24 | JUNE 2018

meeting an ambition to have more than 1,000
apprentices at any time and forming part of a
“talent pipeline” into the Group from its growing
network of Co-op Academy schools.
Chief membership officer, Matt Atkinson,
described how the Group had brought the co-op
difference to its communities by supporting 8,000
local causes.
“It’s a fantastic example of how our belief in self
help, and the way communities can pull together, is
of real benefit,” he said.
But, he added, the Group had been assessing
these interventions to ensure they were building coop
values and making life more socially rich. This
had led it to widen its community fund to include
other causes alongside regular charities, and to
ask how such projects encourage co-operation and
“close the gap in reciprocity”.
This helped the number of applications rise from
7,000 to 12,000 in the last round, with 30% of the
fund going to newly eligible groups.
At the same time, said Mr Atkinson, studies of
shopping habits found that members who support
a local cause also shop more with the Group.
Alongside efforts to grow the Group’s member
pioneer network and to use online platforms to
increase community participation, this was giving
the business the opportunity to further close
the gap in the virtuous circle and “build a clear
and unashamed bias towards creating genuine
co-operation,” he added.
Mr Murrells stressed that the Group needed to
be careful about how these efforts were funded,
by looking at the cost of running the society,
making organisational changes – “having the right
people in the right jobs doing the right things”
– getting “better deals on things we buy” and
setting up a new service centre to look after back
office functions.
He said the Group was aiming to find more than
£100m to help fund that growth.
“Two years ago went back to being the
Co-op,” he said. “A year ago we went back to being
a campaigning co-op. This year we returned to
commercial success.”
At the meeting, members voted on 12 motions, all of which were carried:
Motion 1: To receive the Annual Report and Accounts for the period ended 6
January 2018. For 97,284 (98.19%), Against 1,794 (1.81%), Withheld 8,830
Motion 2: To approve the Directors’ Remuneration Report (PDF) for the
period ended 6 January 2018. For 82,964 (88.34%), Against 10,950
(11.66%), Withheld 13,011
Motion 3: To approve a change in the Executive Remuneration Policy. For
74,979 (84.13%), Against 14,140 (15.87%), Withheld 16,861
Motion 4: To re-elect Ian Ellis as an Executive Director. For 88,156 (95.99%),
Against 3,685 (4.01%), Withheld 11,063
Motion 5: To re-elect Lord Victor Adebowale as an Independent Non-
Executive Director. For 85,321 (93.17%), Against 6,254 (6.83%), Withheld
11,492
Motion 6: To re-elect Simon Burke as an Independent Non-Executive
Director. For 85,820 (95.37%), Against 4,169 (4.63%), Withheld 11,523
Motion 7: To re-elect Stevie Spring as an Independent Non-Executive
Director. For 91,589 (95.72%), Against 4,095 (4.28%), Withheld 11,558
Motion 8: To re-appoint Ernst & Young LLP as auditors and authorise the
Risk and Audit Committee to fix their remuneration. For 86,459 (94.60%),
Against 4,932 (5.40%), Withheld 10,526
Motion 9: To approve changes to the Rules. For 81,446 (88.91%), Against
10,155 (11.09%), Withheld 14,838
Motion 10: To seek approval to incur political expenditure, including
donations and/or subscriptions to political parties, not exceeding
£750,000 in total for the year commencing 1 January 2019. For 73,805
(79.38%) , Against 19,168 (20.62%), Withheld 13,737
Motion 11: Plastic Recycling. For 94,915 (99.06%), Against 900 (0.94%),
Withheld 6,693
Motion 12: Responsible Advertising. For 92,811 (96%), Against 3,868 (4%),
Withheld 8,387
JUNE 2018 | 25

The Co-operative
College Education
and Research
Conference
Ariel Guarco
The annual event, which took
place at Federation in Manchester
on 1-2 May 2018, had the theme
‘Skills for co-operators in the 21st
century’, exploring what ‘learning
to do and learning to be’ look like
in contemporary times.
Co-op
training
and research
is ‘crucial in
the age of
technology’
says Ariel
Guarco
The co-op movement must adapt its training and
education if it is to keep up with changes to the
world of work, says Ariel Guarco, president of the
International Co-operative Alliance.
Mr Guarco, a keynote speaker at the conference,
looked at how the movement might take advantage
of the opportunities brought by new technology
while staying faithful to its community roots.
Giving the example of the worker co-ops that
emerged in Argentina after the 2001 crisis, Mr
Guarco said that adopting the co-operative business
model would require specific training around the
working conditions in a co-op organisation and
participatory management models. He believes that
co-ops, as distinct enterprises, require adequate
education and support in this area.
“The organisation of the work of a company that
seeks to maximise the benefit cannot be the same
as that of a co-operative that seeks to optimise the
working conditions of its members according to
what is collectively agreed,” he said.
He added that workers must be able to participate
in management in all its dimensions. “Participation
is not only a problem of will – you must know how
to do it,” he said. This includes the training of the
associate members on the issues to be decided and
having adequate indicators.
These two training demands – on working
conditions in co-operatives and on models
of participative management – are not covered by
the usual training offer, argued Mr Guarco.
He praised the work done by the Co-operative
College in providing support and training to
co-operatives, and highlighted how co-ops are
no longer just engaging and competing with
traditional business models characterised by
salaried employment – but are also working with
the collaborative economy.
New technologies and platforms can make it
more difficult to build a shared identity for members
of co-ops, but they can also increase transparency
and direct management, he added.
To make a difference to the collaborative
economy, Mr Guarco suggests that co-ops focus
on specific areas, including the promotion of
co-operative education by working with academic
institutions and trade unions.
He argued that the co-operative movement
should demand a regulatory framework that
responds to new patterns of work organisation.
“Faced with the networks of global brands
under the hegemony of financial capital, we must
build networks of local identity, built from the
community. We are not afraid of global challenges.
What alarms us is the lack of roots.”
Mr Guarco also looked at the potential
of developing co-operatively run cloud technology.
“If we want to democratise power, prioritising
the democratically organised community in
each territory, then we must discuss where the
information is hosted, how it is accessed and what
use is given to it,” he said.
He said many of the issues reviewed at the
conference “have a global scale and require a
co-operative strategy at the global level”.
“I invite you to think together, to make significant
contributions, from the grassroots to the apex
organisations,” he added. “It is our purpose from
the ICA to give the floor to all those who have
opted for autonomous and democratic initiatives to
respond to the problems of each community, each
country, and the entire world.”
26 | JUNE 2018

Bruno Roelants
Emer Coleman
Learning
to do and
be: the keys
to successful
co-operative
learning
Co-operative learning requires practical
co-operative experience, says Bruno Roelants,
the new director general of the International
Co-operative Alliance.
Mr Roelants, a keynote speaker at the
conference, explored the nature of
co-operative learning. “When we talk about the
co-op model, we should think about learning by
co-ops on co-operatives, through co-operative
experience,” he said, adding that teaching
co-operation must start at an early age.
In Argentina there are 13 pupil co-operatives
while Japan has 192 student co-operatives.
Similarly, in France 5.2 million pupils are members
of 51,000 school co-ops.
There are several successful examples across
the world, but co-operative pedagogy has not
been used by the co-op movement, said Mr
Roelants – even though education has been one
of the movement’s principles since 1844, the days
of Rochdale Pioneers.
Its importance was reinforced with each
new version of the principles adopted by ICA
co-operative congresses and highlighted in the
ILO’s Recommendation 193 on Co-operatives.
Adopted in 2002, the recommendation says
national policies should promote education and
training in co-op principles and practices at
LEARNING TO DO THEN LEADS
TO LEARNING TO BE AND GOES
BACK TO LEARNING TO DO
all appropriate levels of the national education
and training systems, and in wider society.
But national regulations tend to ignore the 5th
co-operative principle.
In terms of learning skills that could prove
useful for the future, Mr Roelants thinks co-ops
can make a difference in activities and
processes that are not foreseeable and where
empathy plays a part. These would include
social services, health services and human
interaction-based activities. Democratic control
was another aspect of co-op learning, he added.
“Learning to do then leads to learning
to be and goes back to learning to do,” he said,
giving example of José María Arizmendiarrieta,
the ‘father of co-operation’ in the Basque
Country, who reinforced learning to be in the
co-operative movement. Mr Arizmendiarrieta
helped to set up what is today one
of the world’s largest co-operatives,
the Mondragon Group.
Confirming that co-operative research and
education will remain an important aspect
of the Alliance’s strategy, Mr Roelants said
there was an important link between learning
and research.
A recent survey of Alliance members revealed
they felt they were learning from exchanges
of international experience and valued research.
The organisation plans to continue its support
for links between co-op learning and research
initiatives around the world and to promote
educational and research policies, alongside the
UN and other agencies.
Delegates also heard from Emer Coleman,
technology engagement lead at Co-op Digital u
JUNE 2018 | 27

‘Bring me
ideas for a
devolved
Manchester’
Andy
Burnham
u (the digital arm of the Co-op Group), who spoke
about the link between technology, ethics, cooperatives
and education.
Describing how a visit to the head offices of Uber
gave her a dystopian vision of a future where people
are reduced to commodities, she highlighted how
there is a lack of ethics in much of the technology
sector. But, she added, in other areas of the industry
there is “a real desire to do things right”.
“The whole purpose of tech is that it’s seamless,
so we as consumers don’t have to do much
work,” she said. “But what we are trading for that
convenience is quite terrifying.”
The purpose of Federation – the home
of Co-op Digital and the venue for the conference
– is to create a space to nurture sustainable digital
business that share the values and ethics of the
Group. “People are attracted to co-op values,”
she added. “There is desire in the tech world to
make a difference.”
Closing the conference, Manchester’s mayor
Andy Burnham issued a challenge to the co-op
movement to take advantage of devolved regional
powers and bring forward ideas to tackle inequality
in housing, social care and employment.
The Labour / Co-operative leader of the devolved
Greater Manchester Authority told delegates that
devolution is “what the co-op movement has
been waiting for”, and that his door is open for
co-operators to bring ideas.
He said co-operative values were becoming
more relevant because “we are living in incredibly
unequal times, possibly not seen since the 19th
century. Some people are living literally day to
day because work and housing has become so
insecure.”
Andy Burnham
Co-operation is also more relevant to young
people who have grown up with the digital
economy, compared with older generations, argued
Mr Burnham.
“The sharing economy is something that they are
very comfortable and familiar with, it’s something
they want to see built,” he said. In the digital
economy, collaboration and network building
are more useful than competition – meaning that
“co-operation is of the here and now”.
He added: “Let’s go straight to the next
generation and educate them in how co-operation
can help them.”
Mr Burnham said he had set up a Youth Combined
Authority which is designing a “curriculum for
life”. This will be offered to schools and will
include education on financial literacy, health and
mental health.
“I believe the co-op movement has a role to
play in helping us develop that extra-curricular
system,” he said, “and getting over to them that
building co-operation at local level might be the
best way of building those networks of support that
are lacking.”
What else happened at the conference?
How is sustainable development perceived in worker co-ops? Janette Hurst, a senior lecturer at Sheffield
Hallam University, has looked at whether co-operative business models are actually more sustainable, and
interviewed 10 members of small worker co-ops. The interviews revealed a close identification between
members and their businesses, where are tied into their personal values. One respondent said his entire
lifestyle was based around working for his co-op. Half the respondents said they joined their co-op because
they were attracted to the business model, the other half said they only applied for the job but ended up
falling in love with it. “They all have their own drive that allows them to be in a co-op,” said Ms Hurst,
adding that some respondents found that being involved in the business enabled them to make a difference.
Can a co-operative university help us rethink community? Professor David Davies presented a paper he
wrote with fellow academic Prof James Nyland, Critical Thinking for an Engaged University, and addressed the
question of why a co-operative university was needed now. He told delegates that the world was still marked
by inequality and led by an unaccountable elite. And in these troubled times, the notion of community,
“a bedrock of co-operation” was being questioned and challenged, he warned, with the rising prominence
of issues of identity, race, nationalism and belonging. “Our society is increasingly composed of different
groups, often fragmented, often alienated from one another,” he said –but added there was also a longing
for community, which meant there was a need “to build on social capital as a basis for learning”.
28 | JUNE 2018

Co-operative Housing
Delegates gathered in Kenilworth from 11-13 May for the 24th
annual conference of the Confederation of Co-operative
Housing, with speakers from the sector joined by government
figures and representatives of the co-op council movement.
Getting to grips with the GDPR
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
came into force on 25 May, but David Alcock of
Anthony Collins Solicitors says the new regulation
is not as big a change as it might seem.
Compliance should be seen as a journey, rather
than a race, he told the Confederation of Cooperative
Housing (CCH) conference.
Co-operatives UK has worked with Anthony
Collins Solicitors to produce a practical GDPR
guide for co-ops, which was published in March
2018. CCH has also provided general guidance on
data protection for its members.
Mr Alcock explained that when organisations,
including co-ops, process data about a person,
they are expected to behave in a certain way.
For housing co-ops, the law can have different
implications not only when collecting information
from members for the first time, but also in terms of
storing information about current tenants.
Co-ops will need to inform people they are
keeping information about them, obtain their
consent to do so, be transparent about how
they use the information, collect information
for specific purposes only and ensure this
p David Alcock talks to delegates about GDPR
information is accurate and up to date. Under the
new law organisations must also ensure they do
not keep people’s personal data for longer than
necessary. Data subjects also have the right to ask
organisations to reveal for free what information
they hold about them within one month of them
making the request.
“You need to make sure the information you are
keeping is safe and you have appropriate measures
in place to help you do that,” he added. In case of
data breaches, co-ops need to inform those whose
data has been breached, as well as the Information
Commissioner’s Office. Furthermore, tenants have
the right to object to data processing.
“If you use tenants’ information for marketing
purposes and they say they don’t want to send it
anymore that’s a right and you have to comply with
that,” said Mr Alcock.
Government paper on social housing
Jane Everton, deputy director of the
Ministry of Housing, Communities and
Local Government, spoke to delegates
about the government’s forthcoming
green paper on social housing.
The document, which follows a
consultation of various stakeholders, will
focus on building the right homes in the
right places faster, as well as consulting
tenants on social housing, fees and
measures to regulate landlords.
Ms Everton said social tenants were often
vulnerable but their housing often had
safety problems such as faulty wiring or
poor security. These were problems which
concerned tenants, along with issues such
as welfare reform and loneliness.
Chris Handy, chief executive of Accord
Group, which provides around 1,400
co-op homes and support services to 14
housing co-ops, thinks the green paper
is an opportunity for housing co-ops to
shout louder about the sector, involving
other actors like the National Housing
Federation and encouraging housing
associations to support co-op housing.
He said the document should include
innovative thought on social and
affordable rents, tenure options, safety,
involvement opportunities in various
ways to suit different lifestyles and a
commitment to fund affordable housing.
Sharon Taylor, leader of Stevenage
council and chair of the Co-operative
Councils Innovation Network, presented
a report by the Housing Commission on
Community-Led Housing.
Stevenage was featured in the report for
its co-operative neighbourhood planning
model. Following discussions with over
700 residents, the council redeveloped the
neighbourhood centre, adding two new
shops and redeveloping the community
centre at a new site in the park as
requested by the residents.
This relocation freed up more land for
the new council homes. The extra 12 flats
increased the size of the scheme to 30
homes, making it financially viable with
an extra £2.2m capitalised rental income.
“There isn’t single challenge facing this
country to which there isn’t a co-op
solution,” said Cllr Taylor.
JUNE 2018 | 29

A CELEBRATION
OF CO-OPERATION
Co-operative diaries are filling up this summer, with Co-operatives Fortnight
(23 June - 7 July), Congress (23 June) and the International Day of Co-operatives
(7 July) on the horizon. Here, we take a look Congress and the fortnight – what’s
happening, and how you and your co-op can get involved …
CO-OPERATIVES FORTNIGHT
Co-operatives create sustainable jobs, inspire
participation and strengthen communities.
This year, Co-ops Fortnight celebrates this under
the theme #CoopDifference. Co-ops – and their
members, colleagues and customers – are being
encouraged to shout about the positive difference
their co-op makes to people and communities every
day. Co-operatives UK has created a digital toolkit
to help you get involved and a list of six ideas to get
you started.
Find the toolkit at s.coop/2018fortnightresources
p Co-operatives Fortnight 2017 at the Rochdale Pioneers Museum
SIX THINGS YOUR ORGANISATION CAN DO TO
HELP PROMOTE CO-OPERATIVES FORTNIGHT
1. SHARE STORIES
OF CO-OPERATION
Co-operatives UK has collected stories
about how being part of a co-op has made
a difference to people's lives. Find these at
s.coop/2018fortnightresources and share
using the hashtag #coopdifference
2. SHARE YOUR STORY
Tell your customers what sets your co-op
apart, whether it’s the benefits members
receive, the impact on the environment
or the way it gives people a say.
3. PUT A SPOTLIGHT ON OTHER
CO-OPERATIVES
Use Co-operatives Fortnight as a way to tell
the story of local co-ops or others you work
with through an in-store display, a series of
blogs on your website or social media posts.
4. PUT ON AN OFFER
Encourage people to use your co-op
by putting on a special Co-operatives
Fortnight discount.
5. HOLD AN OPEN DAY
Seeing is believing – so what better way to
help people understand the difference that
co-operatives make than by inviting people
to an open day where they can see how
your co-op works and how it does things
differently?
6. Enjoy A FILM SCREENING
Co-ops and other organisations are hosting
a screening of the inspiring film A Silent
Transformation which showcases how co-ops
are making a difference in Ontario, Canada.
For more information, contact:
leila.osullivan@uk.coop
30 | JUNE 2018

23 June to 7 July 2018
23 June to 7 July 2018
23 June to 7 July 2018
CONGRESS
Co-op Congress is the movement’s annual
conference. organised by Co-operatives UK,
where members and directors, activists and CEOs
from co-operatives of all shapes and sizes come
together for a day of sharing, learning and taking
action. This year it is on Saturday 23 June at etc.
venues in London, and will combine speakers,
practical workshops and pitches from collaborative
entrepreneurs. It will also include presentation
of the Co-op of the Year Awards.
The theme for 2018 is to ‘Think Different’ – and
this is reflected in the programme. One session
will explore practical policies to grow the co-op
economy, with Diana Dovgan (secretary general,
CECOP – CICOPA Europe), Jake Sumner (associate,
ResPublica) and Andrew Pendleton (principal
director – policy and advocacy, New Economics
Foundation). And another will look closer to home
at the role co-ops can play in developing prosperous
local communities.
Finance will be addressed in a session
asking how co-ops can raise finance “the
co-operative way”, with David Alcock (partner,
Anthony Collins Solicitors), Sonja Novkovic
(professor of economics, Saint Mary’s University,
Canada) and Helen Seymour (chair, Headlingly
Development Trust. Another session will ask if
co-ops can help fix the UK’s broken housing
market (with Scott Jennings (Student Co‐op
Homes) and Blase Lambert (CEO, Confederation
of Co‐operative Housing).
Mr Lambert believes that co-operation is
“inspiring people to solve their own housing
problems rather than waiting for the state
or the market to solve them”. He adds: “Everyone
needs somewhere to call home and housing
impacts on all our lives,” he said. “For too long
we have encouraged people to aspire to making
money out of housing or to accept substandard
rental products. It is time for the co-operative
movement to create a bold and bright
co-operative vision of housing for all
our needs.”
Practical sessions will look at the social impact
of co-ops, development and platform co-ops – as
well as HR, governance and technology. And there
will be a live crowdfunding session, where teams
from the UnFound accelerator will CO-OPERATIVES
pitch for financial
support from the co‐operative sector (see below).
CREATE
Ed Mayo, Co-operatives UK secretary general,
believes Congress is an opportunity sustainable for everyone JOBS
in the co-operative sector “to come together to
enrich their knowledge and skills, create new
connections and opportunities and strengthen
the bonds of collaboration to develop fairer ways
of working, living and prospering”.
“We have a superb line-up of talks and sessions
that will inspire people to ‘think different’ and
consider fresh, new approaches to the social
and economic challenges we face,” he said. “I’m
looking forward to sharing in the wealth of ideas,
expertise and innovations that will make for a
stirring and rewarding day for delegates.”
Co‐op Congress takes place on Saturday 23 June,
10am to 5.30pm at etc. venues, 155 Bishopsgate,
Liverpool Street, London. For more information,and
to book tickets, visit uk.coop/congress
CO . OPERATIVE
DIFFERENCE
CO-OPERATIVES
CREATE
sustainable JOBS
This Co-operatives Fortnight 2018
we will celebrate the positive
difference co-ops make across
the UK every single day.
Co-ops create sustainable jobs,
inspire participation and
strengthen communities.
CO . OPERATIVE
This Co-operatives Fortnight 2018
we will celebrate the positive
difference co-ops make across
the UK every single day.
Co-ops create sustainable jobs,
inspire participation and
strengthen communities.
If you're a member, colleague
or customer of a co-op, shout
about what difference YOUR
co-op makes to you or your
community using
#coopdifference
www.uk.coop/fortnight
DIFFERENCE
CO-OPERATIVES
inspiRe
Participation
If you're a member, colleague
or customer of a co-op, shout
about what difference YOUR
co-op makes to you or your
community using
#coopdifference
www.uk.coop/fortnight
A DIGITAL ECONOMY OF OUR OWN:
CROWDFUNDING TO SUPPORT EMERGING
PLATFORM CO-OPERATIVES
Much has been said about the potential of platform
co-ops — co-owned, democratically governed
businesses that use new digital technologies to
solve economic and social problems. However, the
UK’s platform economy is far behind the progress
of digital innovation in North America and Europe.
UnFound, a pilot accelerator for new platform
co-ops, is working to change this and put democratic
ownership at the heart of the UK’s digital economy.
So, building on previous events, this year Congress
is hosting a live crowd-funding event, where eight
shortlisted co-ops from the UnFound Accelerator
will be pitching for financial support from the
co‐operative sector.
Organised by Co-operatives UK and Stir to Action,
UnFound is focusing on how platform co-operatives
could play a defining role in transforming the digital
economy – and has been helping the shortlisted
co-ops with business support, digital governance
and funding strategies through a series of
intense programmes in London, Birmingham, and
Manchester.
Meet the groups and download your pitching pack
at uk.coop/unfound
CO . OPERATIVE
DIFFERENCE
CO-OPERATIVES
BUILD
Communities
This Co-operatives Fortnight 2018
we will celebrate the positive
difference co-ops make across
the UK every single day.
Co-ops create sustainable jobs,
inspire participation and
strengthen communities.
If you're a member, colleague
or customer of a co-op, shout
about what difference YOUR
co-op makes to you or your
community using
#coopdifference
www.uk.coop/fortnight
JUNE 2018 | 31

What are co-operatives
doing to tackle security
concerns?
Over the last year co-op shops across the UK
have been targeted in robberies and ram-raids.
In April alone, there were reports of ram raids
and burglaries in Northamptonshire, Rotherham;
Suffolk and Bedfordshire, among many others.
In Greater Manchester, robbers or burglars
are targeting a Co-op shop every six and a half
days, according to figures released by Greater
Manchester Police for the Manchester Evening
News. The publication revealed that there were 57
robberies and burglaries at co-op outlets across
Greater Manchester in 2017, an increase from
43 in 2016.
Shop theft cost the average convenience store
£2,605 in 2016 and remains the most common crime
they face, as revealed by a report by the Association
of Convenience Stores. Its members reported 3,163
incidents of robbery in 2016, and 3,313 burglaries.
The Association estimates that convenience
retailers invest an average of £3,907 per store in
crime prevention measures, such as CCTV cameras,
external security equipment, and staff training to
support store colleagues in preventing retail crime.
In October 2016 the Co-op Group rolled out
a programme that saw cash and criminals splashed
with gel when ATMs came under attack, leaving an
invisible trace on clothes, skin and cash.
For this project the retailer collaborated with
forensic technology company SmartWater. The
initiative was piloted at over 300 locations in 2016,
and saw a 90% cut in ATM crime – the scheme was
rolled out to all cash dispensers located at Co-op
food stores in August last year.
A spokesman for the Co-op Group said:
“The safety and security of our colleagues and
customers is of the utmost importance. Retail
crime affects all retailers, and we take the matter
very seriously. The Co-op works closely with police
and other crime prevention bodies to implement a
range of measures which are designed to not only
deter and disrupt criminal activity, but to also
increase the likelihood of convictions.”
Meanwhile, Southern Co-operative has seen a
marked increase in security challenges from both
a store colleague and premises perspective and is
particularly concerned about threats of violence
towards its colleagues, as well as overnight
burglaries and ram-raids on stores.
“Our number one concern will always be the
safety of our colleagues and customers so we’re
taking a series of immediate and longer term steps to
deliver a safer working and shopping environment
with significant financial investment planned in
2018, particularly to improve physical security
for colleagues,” said a spokeswoman for the co-op.
“As a co-operative, we believe working together
in partnership is the most effective way of dealing
with these issues and we are sharing incident
intelligence and campaigning for a review
of sentencing guidelines for violent convictions.”
Southern is engaged at both a regional and
national level with partners including the police,
the Home Office, the Association of Convenience
Stores and the National Business Crime Solutions
to combat the increase in retail sector crime.
“We support six projects in Sussex in partnership
with the police, local authority, local businesses
and other agencies. Our partnerships are putting
community wardens into communities to deal with
low-level business crime and associated issues
such as street drinking and drug use. As each area
has its own challenges, each partnership is tailored
to local needs,” added the spokeswoman.
Announcing its annual results earlier this
month, the East of England Co-operative said it has
seen its underlying trading profit fall since last year
by £0.2m to £4.2m. The figure was impacted by its
decision to increase its investment in safeguarding
measures for in-store colleagues in the wake of
recent robberies on retailers in the region.
The co-op has also recently extended its
in-house security services to external businesses and
communities by launching Co-op Secure Response,
a new venture.
A spokesperson for the society said: “The safety
of our colleagues, members and customers is
paramount. The damage and disruption caused
by these types of incidents affects everyone who
relies on our services, particularly in rural areas.
As a direct result of our in-house security team and
SECURITY
BY ANCA VOINEA
p A spate of attacks on
co-op stores around the
country has sparked calls
for action to protect staff
32 | JUNE 2018

dedicated colleagues, in most cases we were able
to open our stores within 24 hours of the incident
taking place.
“All our branches are fitted with CCTV and panic
alarms and are monitored 24/7 by our in-house
security team, ensuring that assistance arrives as
quickly as possible. We have also invested in an
increased security presence in-store and installed
security screens and physical barriers, along with
other security measures.”
The society has also partnered with Usdaw
(Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers)
for its Freedom from Fear campaign. As part of the
initiative, the East of England security team held
interactive roadshows across East Anglia to help
tackle anti-social behaviour by highlighting the
real-life situations colleagues face.
Throughout the year the co-op’s Anti-Social
Behaviour officer, Scott Walker, has also been
working with young offenders convicted
of committing crimes in stores. Unique to the East
of England Co-op, this restorative justice programme
offers youth offenders the opportunity to spend a
day with Mr Walker. They are shown the impact
of their actions upon colleagues and customers,
before looking at their skill set with the aim
of putting them on a more positive path.
Central England Co-operative has also suffered
ram-raids and burglaries. It says it has a range of
measures in place to deter potential incidents at its
food stores and to protect colleagues, members and
customers.
Early this year, the society joined forces with
West Midlands Police and Northamptonshire
Police to actively promote the fact that targeting
convenience supermarkets is not ‘worth the risk’.
This campaign was aimed at promoting the
society’s strict cash controls which limit the
amount of money at each store to very low levels
at all times.
Matt Birch, trading executive at Central
England, said: “These incidents are frightening
for store colleagues, who are our first priority, and
we offer them support and counselling both from
within our business and specialists.
‘We have implemented increased security
measures in partnership with the police in order to
protect our colleagues, customers and community.
“We have full CCTV coverage in all our stores,
have increased our provision of security guards
and reduced incident response times. We are
working well with the police and are confident
of swift convictions in many cases.”
p The Secure Response
Services Team, East
of England Co-op
JUNE 2018 | 33

Sustainable development
How are co-ops helping
to achieve the Sustainable
Development Goals?
What are the Sustainable Development Goals?
Adopted on 25 September 2015, the United Nation’s
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development aims to
end all forms of poverty across the world. The 27
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) associated
with it continue the United Nations’ sustainable
development agenda, which started with the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) back in
2000. According to the final MDG Report, the global
partnership to reduce extreme poverty resulted in
the most successful anti-poverty movement in
history. Since 1990, the number of people living in
extreme poverty has fallen by more than half.
The SDGs were designed to build on the
achievements of the United Nations’ Millennium
Development Goals. However, they are broader in
scope and go further than the MDGs by addressing
the root causes of poverty and the universal need
for development that works for all people. The SDGs
are also intended for action in all countries, while
the MDGs were aimed at developing countries.
A key target for the SDGs is to eradicate extreme
poverty for all people everywhere by 2030. This is
currently measured as people living on less than
$1.25 a day. Furthermore, the goals aim to ensure that
all men and women, in particular the poor and the
vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources,
as well as access to basic services, ownership and
control over land and other forms of property,
natural resources, appropriate new technology
and financial services, including microfinance. As
people-centred enterprises, co-operatives can play
a key role in achieving these goals.
What is sustainable development?
A concept coined by Gro Harlem Brundtland in
the 1987 report Our Common Future, sustainable
development in defined as development that meets
the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs.
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres
says: “Sustainable development also depends
fundamentally on upholding human rights and
ensuring peace and security. Leaving no one
behind also means reducing inequalities within
and among countries, reaching those most at risk,
and strengthening our resolve to prevent conflict
and sustain peace.”
While they are not legally binding, governments
are expected to set out frameworks for the
achievement of the SDGs. Businesses, the
civil society and individuals are also expected
to contribute.
The 17 SDGs focus on the three dimensions
of sustainable development: economic growth,
social inclusion and environmental protection.
Each goal has specific targets to be achieved
over the next 15 years. In total 169 targets have
been set up.
The implementation of the SDGs will be
monitored and reviewed at the annual High-level
Political Forum on Sustainable Development.
Statistics from the 2017 UN report on the progress
made on achieving the goals reveal some
important figures.
Almost 10% of the employed population
worldwide lived with their families on less than
USD $1.90 US per person per day in 2016.
Globally, about 793 million people were
undernourished in 2014-2016, down from
930 million in 2000-2002. In the majority of the 67
countries with data from 2009 -2015, fewer than
a third of senior- and middle-management
positions were held by women.
In 2014, 85.3% of the global population had
access to electricity, up from 77.6% in 2000.
However, 1.06 billion people still lived without this
basic service.
34 | JUNE 2018

What is the role of co-ops?
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
includes several mentions of co-operatives as
diverse private sector actors to achieve the SDGs.
Co-operatives were similarly mentioned in the Addis
Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International
Conference on Financing for Development.
To create an opportunity for the co-operative
movement to demonstrate its contributions
and commitment to engage with the SDGs, the
International Co-operative Alliance created the
online platform Coopsfor2030.
The Coopsfor2030 campaign was created in 2016
within the framework of the ICA-EU partnership,
also called #coops4dev, to enable co-operatives
to learn more about the SDGs, commit to pledges
to contribute to achieving the SDGs, and report
their progress.
The partnership is built around activities focused
on increasing visibility, enhancing advocacy,
sharing capacity building, strengthening cooperative
development networking, and supporting
all these with evidence from exhaustive research.
A recent report by PwC showed that two in
five firms are still either ignoring or having
no meaningful engagement with SDGs.
But co-operatives are leading the way through the
Coopsfor2030 platform.
The campaign proposes four action areas where
co-ops can make a difference: protecting the
environment, improving access to basic goods
and services, building a more sustainable food
system and eradicating poverty. The platform also
includes suggested pledges to make it easier for
co-ops to set targets.
Since its launch in July 2016, Coopsfor2030
has attracted almost 300 pledges from 100
co-operatives, some with more than
one pledge.
The Committee on the Promotion and
Advancement of Co-operatives (COPAC) is
also raising awareness about the significant
contributions of co-operative enterprises towards
achieving the 2030 Agenda through a series of 17
briefs looking at how co-ops contribute to each
of the SDGs.
The brief exploring how co-ops help reduce
poverty (SDG1) highlights how the sector
has more than a billion members around the
world and provides or organises work for at
least 279.4 million people, describing it as a
considerable contribution to the goal.
For example, in India the Indian Farmers
Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) has more
than 36,000 member co-ops, with a reach of more
than 55 million farmers. The co-op helps improve
the living conditions and livelihoods of small-scale
producers by providing essential services, such
as product marketing, rural telecommunications
and insurance.
Similarly, in Pipinas, a small town in Argentina,
the worker co-op Pipinas Viva restored the
local hotel, which helped to draw tourists,
contributing to boosting other micro and small
enterprises in the local economy.
Gender quality is another key area of the goals.
The COPAC brief argues the co-operative model
is well suited to advancing women’s economic
participation in three key ways: increasing access
to employment and work, enabling economic
democracy and agency and boosting leadership and
management experience. One of the co-operatives
featured is Consorzio Copernico, a consortium
of six social co-operatives established in 1997 in
the Piemonte region of Italy. The co-operatives
produce educational and social welfare services
for children, teenagers, families, immigrants and
asylum seekers and provide 200 jobs to people
with challenges for securing work. All of its board
members are women.
In terms of providing decent work and economic
growth (SDG8), co-operatives have the advantage
of being democratically run and focused on
the needs of their members, argues the COPAC
brief. The paper states that co-ops
often provide competitive pay and
prioritize job security more so than
other private sector enterprises.
The brief features various case studies,
including one on COOJAD, a Rwandan financial
co-operative that provides low-interest loans for
young people to create self employment
opportunities. Young people are also actively
involved in the co-operative and are among the
board members.
By showing how their enterprise is meeting the
SDGs, these co-operatives are also proving how
they are different from other businesses, which can
give them a competitive advantage.

Sustainable development
Do the SDGs matter
for co-op businesses?
A 2015 report by PwC showed that while only 33%
of people surveyed were aware of the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), 90% of those who
knew about them believed it was important for
businesses to sign up to them.
In addition, 78% said they were more likely to
buy the goods and services of companies that had
signed up to the SDGs (67% in the UK). This makes
an important business case for co-ops to position
themselves as pioneers in implementing the SDGs.
Governments are still seen as having prime
responsibility to achieve the SDGs, with 49%
of businesses respondents and 44% of citizens
ranking them first. However, as awareness of the
SDGs is increasing, the public is beginning to
perceive business as having a more important role.
Businesses themselves are gaining more knowledge
about the SDGs, with 71% of firms telling PwC they
were already planning how to respond to the goals.
Around 34% of businesses said they had agreed
plans and were implementing them, while 37%
were still planning their approach.
By contrast, only 13% of businesses responding
to PwC’s survey had identified the tools they
needed and only 29% had set goals. Furthermore,
22% of businesses said they were either waiting
for the SDGs to be ratified or for government
regulation before doing anything or thought it was
the government’s responsibility, not theirs.
Apart from increasing their credibility, adopting
the SDGs will give businesses a competitive
advantage, particularly in countries where
governments are looking at aligning policies with
the SDGs. They will also be more resilient should
new regulation be passed to support the SDGs.
Malcolm Preston, global sustainability leader
at PwC, writes in the report that the SDGs can
help drive a long-term approach for businesses as
sustainability moves from the corporate sidelines
to mainstream. Being member-owned, co-ops have
an advantage over other enterprises, due to their
long-term approach and concern for community.
The report highlights that, in order to implement
the SDGs, businesses will need to rethink their
strategy, and not just tweak it. The SDGs are
interconnected, which means work in one area may
affect another. Businesses will need an overview of
all their goals, then– and can start by examining
which of the SDGs their activities help – or hinder.
Another report, made in 2016 by KPMG, argues
that achieving the SDGs’ targets by 2030 will require
cross-sector partnerships. It says meeting the
SDGs means new approaches to problem solving,
innovative financing mechanisms, and pioneering
approaches to co-operation that will redefine the
relationship between public, private, and NGO/
civil society stakeholders. For the partnerships to
succeed, they will need to be based on genuine
commitment from partners, equality and respect,
transparency and patience and persistence.
The 2017 Better Business, Better World report
by the Business and Sustainable Development
Commission also makes strong business case for
adopting the SDGs. The Commission, made up of
world business leaders, says the corporate world
needs to regain public trust.
The report anticipates greater pressure on
enterprises to prove they are creating quality
employment, paying taxes where revenue is
generated, abide by environmental and labour
standards, integrate social and environmental
factors in investment decisions, and partner with
others to build an economy that is more just.
The commission estimates that achieving the
SDGs will open up US$12tn of market opportunities
in four economic systems – food and agriculture,
cities, energy and materials, and health and wellbeing.
All of these are sectors where co-ops operate.
And contributing to the SDGs can help
businesses find new opportunities, make efficiency
gains and drive innovation;. And if they build
a reputation for sustainability, enterprises can
attract employees and customers, business-tobusiness
customers and investors as well as secure
licenses to operate.
The Commission estimates that if social and
environmental indicators fail to improve over the
next 5-15 years, there will be a popular backlash
against business coupled with regulatory responses
from governments. In such a context, first movers
who have already aligned their resource use and
workforce management with the SDGs will have
a 5-15 year advantage on the sustainable playing
field. Can co-ops be among them?
36 | JUNE 2018

How one
co-op is
aligning its
strategic
plans to
the SDGs
The Southern Co-operative is one organisation
exploring the role of businesses in promoting the
UN’s Sustainable Development Goals agenda. In
April the society ran a Dragons’ Den workshop with
Business in the Community to raise awareness of
Responsible Business Week.
The event joined together a number of businesses
from Bristol in an attempt to promote employability
skills into schools.
Celebrated on 23-30 April, the Responsible
Business Week is an annual campaign led by
Business in the Community to promote and
encourage enterprises to place creating healthy
environments and communities at the centre of
their strategy to achieve long-term financial value.
Mark Smith, chief executive of Southern Cooperative
thinks businesses need to engage with
education in the region. Mr Smith acts as member
of BITC’s South East Advisory Board and HRH
Prince of Wales Responsible Business Ambassador
for the South East of England.
He said: “As South East Ambassador with BITC,
one of my key messages about responsible business
is not about how a company spends its money on
philanthropy or good causes. It’s about how it
treats the planet, employees, suppliers and the
communities that give them their license to operate
fairly and inclusively for all.”
Amanda Mackenzie, chief executive, Business in
the Community said: “Responsible Business Week
is an opportunity for us to celebrate the pioneering
companies which are redefining what it means to
be a responsible business and are demonstrating
how they can help to create healthy communities.
Southern Co-op have worked hard to blaze a trail
in areas such as educational schemes to help
boost confidence in local school pupils and I hope
that many others follow in their footsteps. The
combined efforts of all these companies show that
the UK can lead the world in responsible business.”
In April Mr Smith took part in the Sustainable
Development Goals Roadshow at the University
of Winchester, where he looked at how Southern
Co-op and other businesses can meet their own
‘Global Goals’, in line with the UN’s Sustainable
Development Goals agenda.
“Southern Co-op has been committed to
responsible trading since its formation in 1873. This
makes us ideally placed to contribute to achieving
the SDGs,” he said.
“Going forward, we will be aligning our strategic
plans as closely as possible with the Goals to ensure
our business plays its full part in delivering these
fundamentally important aims.
“Beyond that, as a membership organisation and
consumer facing business, we have an amazing
opportunity to help with broadening the general
awareness of the Goals and their importance. We
will therefore be looking at how we can make
communicating these crucial messages to our
colleagues, members and other customers part of
business as usual. Co-ops have always had a role
in educating people and it’s hard to think of a topic
that’s more important or in need of support than
the Goals!”
ABOVE AND BELOW:
Southern Co-op chief
executive, Mark Smith
(Image: BITC)
JUNE 2018 | 37

Sustainable development
How can co-ops help achieve the
Sustainable Development Goals?
Co-ops for 2030 is a campaign to help co-operatives learn more about the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs), commit to pledges to contribute to achieving the SDGs, and report their progress.
Launched in 2016, the pledge website (www.coopsfor2030.coop) includes information on four areas
of sustainable development where the International Co-operative Alliance believes co-ops can have the
most impact: protecting the environment; improving access to basic goods and services; building a more
sustainable food system; and eradicating poverty. The site is also displays the pledges made by co-ops
around the world. Here, Susan Press speaks with two organisations which have made such pledges.
SUSTAINABILITY
SUSAN PRESS
MIDCOUNTIES CO-OPERATIVE
Midcounties Co-operative’s pledge is focusing on
energy efficiency. Community and sustainability
manager Mike Pickering believes enthusiasm has
never been greater for projects to improve the world
we live in.
“There are two strands to achieving this goal,
which are operational activity and our long
term aim of improving our energy efficiency by
20% by 2026,” he says.
The society is rolling out a green property
checklist for all its developments, refits and
new-builds. This includes LED lighting and
energy efficient refrigeration – as well as
the organisation’s sustainable communities
programme, which works with members and
communities to help them save energy.
“We launched a sustainability pledge with the
aim of engaging 1,000 members to sign up this
year,” says Mr Pickering. “That includes things
like switching to a renewable energy tariff, and
saving household energy.
“We also provide members who want to find
out more with advice, products and services
through our Co-operative Energy business, to
help people save energy in their household
via things like solar panels and LED lighting
for the home.”
Another part of the initiative is working with
partners in 20 primary and secondary schools
in Midcounties’ trading area, offering lessons in
energy efficiency.
“We have built modules which can be delivered
by a wide range of colleagues, from people working
in our food stores to staff from head office and the
Co-operative Energy team,” says Mr Pickering.
“This educational package can also be developed
by our volunteers, working in partnership with
teachers as part of the National Curriculum.”
The scheme started with a session in April at the
Walsall Academy and Botley Primary School in
Oxford, and will be rolled out over the rest of 2018.
Mr Pickering says: “The feedback we are getting
is that students are taking the ideas back home and
p
Midcounties’ sustainability manager Mike Pickering
telling parents they should be switching lights off
and doing other things to be more energy efficient!
“We are also getting feedback that a lot of
students would be interested in doing more, so we
are looking at launching an Eco Student of the Year
award, among other things.”
He believes the scale of Midcounties’ own energy
usage and its experience in the areas of energy and
sustainability mean it has a real opportunity to
help members and communities reduce their own
energy consumption.
“We have been working towards this since 2010
and have significantly reduced energy usage while
embracing more outreach work,” he says.
“Things are definitely changing. I think people
are more responsive than they were because there
is a lot more knowledge – and an understanding
38 | JUNE 2018

that things need to change. There are also easier
ways to make a difference and more technologies
that people can embrace than there were a few
years ago.
“The next generation coming through has a
better understanding of the work that needs to be
done – and our work in schools will make them
even more aware.”
THE CO-OP GROUP
The Co-op Group has made a series of pledges
around Fairtrade, the environment and
contributing to the community, linking in with the
UN’s goals on eradicating poverty and protecting
the environment.
It has committed to giving back at least £20m a
year to local causes through its Local Community
Fund by the end of 2018. The Group has recently
seen an increase of more than 1.1 million members,
driven by the launch of the 5 + 1 membership
scheme in 2016, which gives members 5% back
on all purchases made of Co-op own brand
products and a further 1% to local communities.
So far, £74m has been generated, with members
receiving £61m and £13m earned for over 8,000
community projects.
The Co-op Group’s pledge to continue its
longstanding commitment to Fairtrade means it
continues to outperform competitors. Last year
Fairtrade sales grew by over 15% – more than
double that of the market. In another retail first, it
is further pioneering Fairtrade through its unique
ingredients policy, whereby all the bananas,
tea and coffee used across its entire own brand
product range benefit Fairtrade producers and their
communities. This latest announcement follows its
move last year to be the first to commit to sourcing
all the cocoa used in Co-op own brand production
on Fairtrade terms. It also means the retailer is
100% aligned across Fairtrade’s own key four
food commodities.
Its most recent commitment will see an extra
2.5 million litres of Fairtrade wine sold over the
next year. The mutual worked with its supplier
Lutzville Vineyard to switch the own-label South
African entry-level wines to the Fairtrade Standard;
giving hundreds of vineyard workers improved
rights and farmers a guaranteed minimum price
for their grapes.
On the environmental front, the Group committed
to reducing GHG emissions from operations by 50%
by 2020, compared with 2006. This initiative has
been so successful that the target was met three
years early. A new target is now being set.
Another pledge sees the Group continuing its
partnerships with the One Foundation and the
Global Investment Fund for Water – supporting
clean water, sanitation and hygiene projects. The
Global Investment Fund for Water aims to raise
life-changing funding through applying a microlevy
to bottled water sales globally. The funding
raised supports programmes working to achieve
Global Goal 6: clean water and sanitation for all.
It means 1% (or 1p per litre) of bottled water
sales is donated to the initiative. Group CEO Steve
Murrells made the pledge to raise more than
£1m per year public at the Global Citizen concert
in Hamburg last year. In 2017 alone, the Group
donated £1.3m from Co-op own-brand water.
In addition, for every litre of Co-op water sold,
3p is donated to the One Foundation to help key
projects and areas for investment in countries
in sub-Saharan Africa that need it most. Co-op
funding repaired 300 water pumps and meant that
10 new boreholes could be drilled.
t The Group’s pledges
on Fairtrade and clean
water have helped
communities in Africa
JUNE 2018 | 39

Sustainable development
How Italian co-operatives
are fighting the mafia through
sustainable agriculture
q Luigi Ciotti, a
Catholic priest, founder
and president of the
organisation
Across Italy, social and agricultural co-ops are
bringing back prosperity and dignity to territories
with a history of mafia control.
Coldiretti, Italy’s largest agriculture industry
association, estimates that Italian organised crime
generated a turnover of €21.8bn from agriculture
in 2017, a 30% increase on the previous year.
According to the report, 98 of Italy’s 102 provinces
showed signs of illegal activity in the agriculture
sector. The association argues that the sector
could generate much more wealth without the
interference of mafia gangs.
A common setback is the mafia using intimidation
techniques to take over people’s lands and then
applying for EU subsidies for agriculture.
In February, Ján Kuciak, a Slovak journalist who
was investigating the links with Italian and Slovak
politicians used by the Calabrian mafia to obtain
EU subsidies, was killed. The incident brought
the problem to the attention of the European Anti-
Fraud Office, which is currently investigating the
alleged abuse of funds in Slovakia.
To tackle agro-mafia groups, Italian law now
requires that anyone claiming EU subsidies on
land have an anti-mafia certification, which is
issued by local authorities after checking the
national database and is valid for six months.
The same certification is required from businesses
to access EU grants or bid for contracts awarded by
local authorities.
Co-operatives have been at the forefront of the
anti-mafia movement in Italy since 1995, mainly
under the umbrella of Libera Terra (Free Land),
a co-op consortium. Comprising 10 co-operatives,
the group currently employs 140 people.
Libera Terra’s story goes back to 1996, when Luigi
Ciotti, a Catholic priest, founder and president of
the organisation, led a campaign to raise one
million signatures for the adoption of a law on
the social use of the properties confiscated by the
mafia. The petition led to a bill that was submitted
to parliament. The same year Law 109 on the social
re-use of confiscated assets was passed, laying
the basis for the creation of the anti-mafia co-ops.
The law enables judges to seize the properties
of a person investigated for being a member of a
mafia-type association if they suspect that these
properties are the fruit of illicit activities.
Furthermore, third party organisations such as
social enterprises, co-ops and local or regional
authorities can use the confiscated property,
providing this benefits the local community. Over
20,000 properties were confiscated from the mafia
in 2017. The legislation is now expanding to include
the lands and properties of those found guilty of
terrorist activities.
The land on which the co-ops are based is
owned by the state and used by them for free
under renewable lease contracts. The enterprises
are not-for-profit organisations that function on
co-operative principles.
The first Libera Terra co-operative – Cooperativa
Placido Rizzotto – was founded in 2001 in San
Giuseppe Jato, Sicily, a few miles from Corleone,
the capital town of the Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian
mafia. The project was initially met with scepticism
by people living in communities under the mafia’s
influence. Some protested and displayed placards
with “the mafia hires, the state doesn’t”. Their
attitude changed over time once the co-ops started
generating employment.
The Libera Terra co-operatives are social co-ops
with 40% of workers from disadvantaged groups.
Each of them functions as a multi-stakeholder
co-op, led by a members’ assembly and a board
of directors. The co-ops include worker members
(58-65%), volunteer members (12-13%), members
who invest in the co-operative (20%) and special
members, those who aspire to be worker members.
40 | JUNE 2018

u Cityscape of Cefalu
town and Mediterranean
Sea Sicily
The ten Libera Terra co-operatives operate in
four regions of southern Italy – Sicily, Calabria,
Apulia and Campania. They manage around 1,400
hectares of agricultural land, all of of which is
organically farmed.
As well as making a difference in agriculture,
Libera Terra has built a network of 1,200
associations, groups and schools committed to
building a culture of lawfulness. The organisation
also works with schools to raise awareness of the
anti-mafia movement. Every year Association
Libera runs training and educational programmes,
which thousands of people attend.
In addition to the agri businesses, Libera Terra
co-operatives manage a winery, two agri-tourism
businesses in Sicily and a dairy in Campania. In
2002, the first Libera Terra product, the Libera
Terra organic pasta, was marketed. Many other
products followed.
In 2008 a consortium Libera Terra co-operatives
and other partners was formed – the Consortium
Libera Terra Mediterraneo. The group transforms
raw produce, such as durum wheat, vegetables,
tomatoes, oranges, olives or grapes, to higher
added-value food and beverage products like
pasta, preserves, marmalades or wines. It
then markets these products through several
distribution channels.
“The objective of the Libera Terra project is
to demonstrate that the allocation of a property
confiscated to a project with a social mission
creates concrete benefits not only for those who
manage it, but for the whole territory,” says
Valentina Fiore, chief executive of the Libera
Terra Consortium.
The Consortium reported sales of €7.5m in
2016, an increase of 12% on the previous year. Its
income comes from food production (67%), wine
production (24%), tourism (1%) and donations
(8%).
The initiative aims to promote sustainable
agriculture but has an ethical and political
dimension.
“We believe that respect for mother earth and
the environment in general is the first form of
possible legality,” says Ms Fiore. She pointed
out that every step of the production chain
was constantly monitored to ensure products
of excellent quality.
JUNE 2018 | 41

Sustainable development
Palm oil dispute pits
Malaysia’s co-ops against
the European Union
42 | JUNE 2018

The co-operative movement is committed to the
UN’s Sustainable Development Goals –- but what
happens when a co-operative’s business interests
are in conflict with the SDGs?
One of the most contentious environmental
issues at the moment is the production of palm
oil. Palm oil is a versatile ingredient whose uses
include fuels, food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.
It’s also a key part of economies such as Indonesia
and Malaysia.
But there is huge concern over the impact of
its cultivation, particularly on forest biodiversity
following land clearance, and conservationists
warn it could threaten the survival of iconic species
such as the orang utan and Sumatran tiger.
It’s an issue which has sparked a dispute
between the Malaysian co-op movement and the
European Parliament (EP), after the latter adopted
a non-binding resolution last April to ban the use
of palm oil in transport fuels by 2020, to allow
only certified sustainable palm oil to be imported,
and to demand tighter standards of sustainability
certification schemes.
An EP statement says: “The production of palm
oil leads to deforestation as jungle is removed to
be replaced by palm plantations. Precious tropical
ecosystems, which cover 7% of the Earth’s surface,
are under increasing pressure from deforestation,
resulting in, for example forest fires, the drying
up of rivers, soil erosion, loss of groundwater,
pollution of waterways and destruction of rare
natural habitats.”
The apex body for Malaysia’s co-ops, ANGKASA,
says it wants to be the voice of opposition to the
EU’s plan – and says it has the backing of the
International Co-operative Alliance, the apex body
for co-operatives worldwide.
ANGKASA president, Datuk Abdul Fattah
Abdullah, said: “We have been given the honour
of writing the formal protest letter to the EU.
“It will be submitted to the ICA by the end of this
month and is expected to be presented to the EU in
the near future.
“The protest by Malaysia will not only benefit
the country, but also other countries represented in
the ICA.
“We hope that through this protest, the EU will
at least see a large movement among co-operatives
worldwide to consider.”
Malaysia accounts for about 35% of the world’s
palm-oil based products, alongside other major
producers like Indonesia, Thailand and Africa, and
ANGKASA argues that the EU proposal would harm
about 700,000 smallholders.
A spokesperson from the Alliance said ANGKASA
is now drafting a response which addresses the
sustainable development concerns, and how it
plans to mitigate them.
Other supporters of the industry have said
the European Parliament would do better to
encourage sustainable production rather than a
ban. Responding to the resolution, Jelmen Haaze,
co-chair of the European sustainable palm oil
advocacy group, said: “It is an illusion to think we
can take one commodity out of the economy and
solve all our problems.”
In terms of retail supply chains, some co-ops –
such as the UK’s Co-op Group – have opted for the
sustainable production route. In 2011 the Group
announced that 100% of its palm oil would come
from sustainable sources, and it has a member on
the board of the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm
Oil, which demands certified standards of growers.
Others have taken a firmer line, with Coop Italia
announcing in 2016 that it would remove over 200
products containing palm oil from its shelves.
Asked about the issue at the International
Co-operative Alliance’s Global Conference, held
in Malaysia last November, keynote speaker Gro
Harlem Brundtland said Malaysia would have to
find more sustainable models.
The former PM of Norway, who went on to
chair the Brundtland Commission on sustainable
development, told a press conference: “Many
countries like Malaysia need to make a plan for
transition into other ways of employment, other
ways of making progress in their countries. Many
countries have challenges and they need to change.
The current trends are not sustainable and we
cannot just continue.”
She gave the example of Norway, which in the
early 1990s placed a tax on carbon emissions from
its offshore fossil fuels production, which led to a
fall in emissions. “Change is necessary,” she said,
“Price signals and tax is necessary to take that
development in right direction – every country has
responsibility to make change.”
It’s a forthright statement which might leave
co-ops in the rest of the world wondering if their
own industries are sustainable.
q Cultivation of oil palm
fruit is helping drive
development in Malaysia
and other countries but
has sparked concern from
environmentalists
JUNE 2018 | 43

6 | MAY 2018

In the run-up to OPEN 2018, the conference
which explores the ideas of co-operative vision and the
evolving politics of a world of abundance and inclusivity,
Oliver Sylvester-Bradley interviews Cadwell Turnbull.
Cadwell (left) is a ‘social fiction’ writer who is exploring
ideas about how collaborative narrative and a co-operative
vision can help create the spaces needed for a more
equitable economy – which works to put people
and planet before profit.
Oliver Sylvester-Bradley: What do you
do and how did you get to where you
are now?
Cadwell Turnbull: I’m a science fiction
and social fiction writer and a member of
Grassroots Economic Organizing (GEO).
The writing thing started when I was a
kid. I wrote essays for school, and stories
and comics that I would share with friends.
I got my Bachelors in professional writing
from La Roche College in Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania. Then I moved on to get a
Masters of Fine Arts in creative writing
and a Masters in English with a linguistics
concentration from North Carolina State
University. My stories have appeared in
Asimov’s Science Fiction, Lightspeed and
Nightmare magazines and I have a science
fiction novel coming out next spring.
My involvement in co-operativism came
much later and rose out of my interest
in utopian fiction and social systems.
I always had a social justice bent to my
writing but recently I’ve spent a lot of time
envisioning alternative social systems. My
upcoming short story in Asimov’s Science
Fiction is about an imagined planet
where the system of government is global
panarchism and governments compete
for people’s citizenship. The process
is voluntary and people can change
governments, be a citizen of multiple
governments, or opt out of government
altogether as long as they follow agreedupon
laws. It is an ambiguous utopia,
since large international governments
have the power to manipulate smaller local
ones in sometimes subtle and sometimes
significant ways.
You use the term “social fiction”
- can you explain that, and how you
think it can be used to influence
social development?
Social science fiction isn’t new.
My favourite authors all write speculative
fiction with a focus on exploring social
alternatives. Ursula Le Guin’s The
Dispossessed is a social science fiction
novel, as are Octavia Butler’s Parable of
the Sower and John Kessel’s The Moon and
the Other. There are a lot of books within
this larger sub-genre of science fiction,
and many novels that would fall into
utopian fiction. But often these stories
are set in the future, after a collapse
or on a distant planet. They show the
world after a new status quo has already
been implemented.
Kim Stanley Robinson’s Pacific Edge
comes close to what I would consider to be
social fiction. Though it is set in 2065, the
novel builds realistically off of the world
we have today, imagining a best case
scenario for our current societal model,
putting caps on income disparity and
strong reform aimed towards a sustainable
green society. Many of these reforms
are done primarily through legal means
(a revolution of lawyers and activists),
while maintaining a recognisable social
structure. Robinson’s later Mars trilogy
explores similar themes with added
science fictional elements.
When I talk about social fiction,
however, I am talking about fiction that
inhabits the middle space between the
present and imagined futures status quos.
How do we get there?
Science fiction has a history of starspanning
empires and intergalactic
wars, but it is the practical application
of ideas that have inspired scientific
advancement: artificial intelligence,
cloning, life extension, terraforming,
the possibility of space travel, long
distance wireless communication, global
information networks. All of these things
were imagined long before they were
thought achievable, and we’ve been
moulded by the long-standing echo
chamber of science’s conversation with
science fiction. They feed back into each
JUNE 2018 | 45

other endlessly and our present is directly
due to that conversation with what can be
done and what can be imagined.
Some of the best science fiction deals
with the ramifications of a great discovery.
These stories ask: how does the world
change if we discover human cloning?
How does the world change if we’ve
developed the ability to communicate
through telepathic means? Fiction on the
edge of change is extremely powerful.
This has led me to wonder: why don’t
we have the equivalent in the form of
social fiction? I haven’t read every book
ever written, but I can count on my hand
how many books explore how social
inventions can influence the world as they
are happening. I can’t even list one movie
about co-operatives. I have no knowledge
of any television shows dealing with
the speculative future of the commons.
Why is that?
Imagine the feedback loop that
could develop if we actively created
these fictions.
Where do you stand on the “let’s try
to fix what we have / “work within the
present system” vs “… we’re going to
need a revolution to get out of this
mess …” debate?
I don’t think these ideas have to fight
against each other. I’m a fan of a diversity
of tactics. We have to build the world we
want to inhabit. And I don’t think we need
anyone’s permission to do so. That’s a
revolutionary act: to not ask permission.
It rejects traditional notions of power. We
can act as free people. Of course we have
to be smart about it, and that’s where
working within the system may sometimes
come in. Sometimes. We have to use the
tools at our disposal. Other times we can
make brand new tools. In the end, we’ll
need both to fix the mess we’ve made.
Revolutions are tricky. History has
taught us that usually they end up being
a passing of power to different hands, and
often there are casualties of this transfer.
Some people are more vulnerable than
others and they suffer the most when
revolutionaries don’t look where they are
planting their feet. Revolutions should
be creative, not destructive. It should
have something to offer first, something
for others to choose. That is what excites
me about the solidarity movement – it
is about creating something and it is
about consent. For me, there is nothing
more revolutionary.
How could social fictions do more to
develop a more co-operative culture?
It is a mistake to underestimate how
powerful narrative has been in the
historical development of societies. It is
our primary form of linguistic persuasion
and the major way we transmit culture
and meaning across generations. Beyond
just the sharing of ideas, narrative
allows the sharing of concepts through
analogy, through contextualising ideas
within a story.
A good test of the power of narrative
is this thought experiment. What
separates popular culture and academic
knowledge? More specifically, what does
one possess that the other typically lacks?
And how do academics make their ideas
popular? Narrative is the answer to all
these questions.
The arts are a powerful form of culture
creation and so often academic knowledge
enters the popular culture through
story, sometimes fiction and sometimes
non-fiction, but always through being
contextualised within a narrative.
Social fictions not only give an
opportunity to contextualize these ideas
within narrative, they also can act as an
avenue for these ideas to germinate within
the popular culture. The Overton window
of our current news infrastructure is very
narrow, but social fictions can widen that
window. If the leftist solidarity economics
movement presented their own fictions,
they could develop their own culture
through aspirational story-telling as well
as provide a point of access for a vast
amount of the general population.
But this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Think about how social fiction could
be used as a form of funding for leftist
education and research projects about
solidarity economics. Think about
how many new industries could be
developed through solidarity media. Not
only can it shine a light on solidarity
movements, it would build alternative
structures to support the solidarity
movement: publishing co-ops, theatre
co-ops, streaming platforms, co-operative
representation agencies, co-op film and
art festivals, co-op actors’ guilds, along
with a broader co-op film and art industry.
The biggest contribution social fiction
would bring is the opportunity for selfcritique.
Through narrative we can better
locate the places in the movement that
need work. We can show people grappling
with shortcomings of the movement in
the present and the future in a positive
context. We can also imagine possible
future problems so that the movement can
be proactive about them.
But the biggest advantage social fiction
brings is the opportunity to push already
good ideas forward. Narrative doesn’t
only help others access ideas. It provides
a space for ideas to live and to grow and
develop within context. This fits very well
with co-operative ideals.
If platform co-ops and the generative
economy take hold, we could be living
in a very different world in the future.
Can you describe what you think this
world might look like?
I imagine vast open networks of
individuals, co-operatives and commons,
forming a strong web across the planet.
These networks will be deeply political
and rooted in their local politics as well as
concerned with the state of the world.
Community councils will abound
and decision-making will be focused on
concrete problems within communities.
The global network will invest in
struggling communities by listening to
their needs and sending them resources
in solidarity. Basic necessities will be
accessible to everyone and there will
be a strong safety net for people who
can’t work or choose different forms of
community contribution. Work itself will
be viewed differently and expanded to
areas often labelled as hobbies or passion
projects. Physical commons will be built
within communities and intellectual
commons will be a form of innovation.
The specifics will of course be very diverse
46 | JUNE 2018

“You become what you do.” Those
words speak to a practice of revolution,
not just the making of it. We have do
things on a personal level to be the people
we need to be to make the big changes. We
start at the deed and we work our way out.
and only as standardised as necessary
for communication across networks.
I like this vision – it sounds like you
are describing a state where we have
managed to transition from a world of
scarcity to one of abundance. What do
you see as the main barriers for moving
towards the vision you describe?
The main barriers are cultural and
ideological. People don’t believe that sort
of world is possible – many haven’t even
considered it as a possibility. The other
issue is that so many are trapped in cycles
of poverty and/or desperation. They can’t
leave their awful jobs. They can’t raise the
funds to start co-operatives. They don’t
have the time to fully engage politically.
We could probably support each other
more in order to build a future like this, go
lean until the system is robust, but people
need to know that it is possible, they need
to see where and how it is being done.
Do you think there is scope for the
concept of ‘self, us and now’ to be
developed into a more collaborative
narrative, which could help galvanise
action towards a sustainable world …?
There are a few examples of shared worlds,
where many writers contributed to one
work of fiction, or a series. The Wild Cards
series was a shared universe that has
had more than 30 authors contribute to
it, including George R.R. Martin. Thieves’
World was a fantasy shared world that was
also created by multiple authors. There
are examples of collaborative fiction. But
there should be many more.
How could those projects feed back into
communities? How could they function as
a means of aspirational future-making?
If creatives work closely with actual
worker-owners, academics, and activists,
there’s really no limit to what could be
collectively imagined. It would provide
the perfect excuse for global research
and information networks, non-fiction
and fiction working together in a way that
raises both ships. How else has knowledge
ever been transmitted? How else have we
ever generated change?
The Wild Card Trust (the group
of writers that wrote The Wild Cards
series) coined the term mosaic novel. This
kind of novel tells a whole story, but via
a number of perspectives and narrative
styles. It is a story about people within a
larger context and it doesn’t centre on just
one perspective.
Co-operative media could also take on
mosaic narratives to tell larger stories.
These stories would be filled with
personal accounts, but there would also
be accounts of groups and movements,
featuring prominently the obstacles that
we must collectively overcome.
I think people would want to experience
these kinds of stories. We may not have
to wait for movies or film. Multi-cast
audio projects could provide the perfect
middle ground for collaboration along
with affordability.
Imagine a long-running podcast fiction
series that has multiple contributors.
A budget for that would be reasonable
and could also provide the perfect
opportunity for an expansive work
exploring co-operativism.
I love the idea put forward in StarHawk’s
Fifth Sacred Thing, in which she quotes
Dion Fortune: “The ends don’t justify the
means. The means shape the ends. You
become what you do.”
What do you think about experimenting
with new axioms to help unite the
progressive / solidarity / peer to
peer / commons / permaculture etc.
movements into an effective force
for change?
I love the idea of new axioms to help
unite the various movements. It is useful
to focus on commonality in a diverse
movement like this. So often we focus
on what makes us different. Pinpointing
where we agree can lead to mobilisation
on those issues. I believe we would find a
lot of places to work together.
If we see progressive movements as
an interconnected emergent system,
we’d realize that we’re all providing
key roles in helping to build a diverse
infrastructure of leftist change. Knowing
that infrastructure, learning how to use
it, would be valuable. No, we don’t always
agree on approach or belief. But I think
we can counterbalance each other. We
tend to think of society as something that
has to be standardised. We’ve never lived
in a monoculture. We shouldn’t treat our
movements as such.
If we could see a map of our movements,
study their intersections and where they
diverge, we might be able to strengthen
the movement by filling in the gaps
between different movements, creating
cross-ideological approaches, balancing
out the rougher edges.
Our media could be a good opportunity
to do this. Find the problems. Write about
them. Consider additional/alternative
systems that help fix the areas where we’re
weakest. We can unite while maintaining
diversity of opinion. It doesn’t have to be
mutually exclusive. Our axioms can come
out of the areas where we align.
Cadwell will be taking part in
a panel session at OPEN 2018 which
will explore the co-operative vision
and the evolving narrative, politics and
philosophy of a world of abundance and
inclusivity. More info: 2018.open.coop
JUNE 2018 | 47

REVIEWS
Review: Social Entrepreneurship as Sustainable Development
Tamara L. Stenn
(Palgrave
Macmillan, 2016)
Social Entrepreneurship as Sustainable
Development is about how anyone can
become a social entrepreneur and engage in
sustainable development.
Written by Tamara L. Stenn of SIT Graduate
Institute, the book argues that people are
entrepreneurs in the way they make their
choices in production and consumption.
It also introduces the idea of Sustainability Lens, a
practical tool the author has been developing over
the past 18 years that focuses on the considerations
and actions needed to build a more just and
sustainable world.
The author defines sustainability as long-term
balance that is not harmful to others and does not
deplete resources. It also explains how in a shared
global environment, the actions of one will affect all.
The book adopts a nature-based perspective
on development, exploring concepts such as
permaculture and social entrepreneurship. It
also features examples of co-operatives playing
a key role in promoting sustainable development.
Stenn describes how in Bolivia, Caproca,
a worker-owned alpaca herder co-operative,
uses organic grazing methods to care for its freerange
herds of native alpaca. The yarn is then
transported on co-operatively owned trucks to the
mill. Working together they produce high quality
alpaca yarn and share in all costs and earnings.
Similarly, the book looks as Equal Exchange,
a worker owned co-operative in Boston,
Massachusetts, where workers have an input
in how prices are set, profits invested and
compensation determined. The model, argues
Stenn, varies from efficiency-driven approaches of
other Boston-based businesses. Also in Boston,
the Artisan Beverage Co-operative looks at creating
a sustainable distribution channel, minimising
their environmental footprint.
Examining the different models, the author
believes the solidarity economy goes beyond
the monetary exchange to value volunteerism,
co-operatives, barter, community and the
natural environment.
Review: From Clans to Co-ops – Confiscated Mafia Land in Sicily
Theodoros
Rakopoulos
(Berghahn Books
Press, 2017)
p Palmero, the capital of Sicily
From Clans to Co-ops tells the story of anti-mafia
co-operatives. Based on ethnographic research,
the book explores social changes in areas with a
mafia history by looking at four agri co-ops and their
members. These cultivate land plots that the Italian
state confiscated from the local mafia between 1996
and 2009 to help people secure livelihoods away
from mafia’s influence.
Theodoros Rakopoulos describes the realities
of San Giovanni, a village of over 8,000 people,
which has a mafia past. While living there as part
of his research for the book, he befriended and
interviewed local people. He shares his experience
engaging with people in the community, anti-mafia
activists and members of the co-ops.
The research includes an extensive theoretical
analysis of the nature of co-operatives.
Examining the work of Marx and Mauss,
Rakopoulos also points out that co-operatives often
profess to express more than they can encompass.
He believes that co-operative politics, as in
the case of the Mondragón Group in the
Basque Country in Spain, are born not of
ideologues but rather of practitioners
acting together in a collective fashion that
does not call for overarching ideologies.
Arguing that understanding their members’ lives
in crucial to understanding co-ops themselves, he
embarks on a journey to explore the lives of people
San Giovanni.
48 | JUNE 2018

Growing the co-op economy, exploring the potential for co-ops to
build prosperous local communities and help solve the housing
crisis... This year’s Co-op Congress is all about ‘thinking different’
and tackling social and economic issues differently to achieve a
fairer, more prosperous society for everyone.
Discover different, innovative new technologies, ideas, ways of working
and raising co-op friendly finance, which can take the co-operative
movement from strength to strength.
Come together with hundreds from across our diverse
sector to THINK different in London on Saturday 23 June.
For info and tickets visit www.uk.coop/congress

DIARY
CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT: Sheffield
Hallam Business School hosts the
UK Society for Co-operative Studies
Conference on 31 August - 2 September;
the Co-op Party hosts a conference on
local government in London on 9 June;
the Anglers Rest in Bamforth, part of a
thriving community pubs sector which
meets in Sheffield on 26 June; and Dr Cilla
Ross delivers the UKSCS Co-operatives
Fortnight lecture in Manchester on 5 July.
9 June: Co-operative Party Local
Government Conference
For councillors, members, candidates and
others interested in local government.
WHERE: Coin Street Conference Centre,
London
INFO: membership@party.coop
12 June: Do co-ops work in practice?
The theory of ‘degeneration’ argues that
co-op will either fail or adopt a capitalist
approach to survive. Principle5 co-op
invites people from co-ops, and anyone
else interested, to discuss this claim.
WHERE: Regather, 57-59 Club Garden
Road Sheffield, S11 8BU
INFO: s.coop/26d7v
20 June: Co-operatives East Midlands:
AGM and training session
WHERE: Joseph Wright Room, Derby
INFO: s.coop/26cnn
23 June: Co-operative Congress
The sector’s annual conference, with
speakers, workshops and pitches from
collaborative entrepreneurs.
WHERE: Bishopsgate, Liverpool
Street, London.
INFO: uk.coop/congress
23 June: Community Energy
Conference 2018
Kicking off Community Energy Fortnight,
this event sees co-host Community
Energy England launch its second State
of the Sector Report. Jointly hosted with
Co-operative Energy.
WHERE: Renold Building,
University of Manchester,
INFO: s.coop/26cno
26 June: More Than A Pub Conference
Workshops, presentations and panel
discussions on community pubs.
WHERE: Sheffield Town Hall
INFO: s.coop/26d7x
5 July: UKSCS Co-ops Fortnight Lecture
Dr Cilla Ross, Co-operative College viceprincipal,
will discuss ‘Re-thinking Cooperative
Education in New Times’.
WHERE: Federation House, Manchester
INFO: s.coop/26coe
7 July: International Day of Co-operatives
15-18 July: World Credit Union
Conference 2018
Premier global event for the credit union
industry, with educational sessions on
key topics, networking opportunities and
team-building environments to facilitate
and grow decision making.
WHERE: Suntec, Singapore
INFO: wcuc.org
26-27 July: OPEN 2018: Platform
Co-operatives
The platform co-operative showcase
will present examples from functioning
platform co-ops, including practical
examples of legal structures, funding and
financial setups, and detailed insight
from platform co-op practitioners about
how their organisations work.
WHERE: Conway Hall, London
INFO: 2018.open.coop
LOOKING AHEAD
31 August - 2 September: UK Society
for Co-op Studies Conference (Sheffield)
12-14 October: Co-operative Party Annual
Conference (Bristol)
22 November: Practitioners Forum
(Manchester)
50 | JUNE 2018

How can
platform co-ops
& open tech
help grow the
collaborative
economy?
Join the conversation...
26-27 July, Conway Hall, London | Tickets available now | 2018.open.coop

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