2014 International Summit of Cooperatives

Co-operatives should not just be in the business of business. And this was proven on a grand scale by the attendance of executives and directors from co-operatives across the world at the International Summit of Cooperatives. Speaking to executives at the conference from Australia through Asia and Europe right to Canada itself, it is widely understood that the movement is here to make a ...

Co-operatives have been urged by youth leaders to commit funding, knowledge and resources to young and other marginalised people. A document, Cooperate to Transform Society, was unveiled at the International Summit of Cooperatives by its young leaders programme. It calls on co-ops allocate “resources to support young people to start and develop new and innovative co-operative businesses, ...

Development of co-operatives is paramount over the coming years, according to a draft declaration from the International Summit of Cooperatives. The document, which will be further developed by the 3,000 delegates from 93 countries over the coming weeks, declared: “We need more, stronger, and innovative co-operatives that commit to ensuring food security, continue their role as creators of ...

From feeding the world’s growing population to keeping local shops alive, co-operatives can provide solutions to problems at all levels. This was the message highlighted at many events at the 2014 International Summit of Cooperatives, alongside discussions on what needs to be done to strengthen the local and global impact of co-ops. Rabobank, one of the world’s largest co-operative banks, ...

Co-operatives are failing to capitalise on their potentially strongest advantage, according to Rob Markey of consultants Bain and Co, speaking at the Quebec summit. The distinctive aspect of co-operatives, he said, is that they are customer-owned and exist for the sole purpose of serving their customers. And yet, he said, many co-ops were playing this down in the way they marketed ...

In a project from Limagrain, Euralis, Union In Vivo and La Coop Fédérée agricultural cooperatives, the Momagri think tank has addressed the issues of volatility of agricultural prices, the instability of agricultural markets, agricultural policies and the readability of agricultural strategies. Momagri presented two key findings at the International Summit of Cooperatives in Quebec. The ...

Co-ops and credit unions should use big data technologies to help transform their business model if they want a true competitive advantage, according to EY’s global Ready to Takeoff report. Big data is defined as high volume, high velocity or high variety information assets, according to Gartner, that require new forms of processing to enable enhanced decision making. The value of big data ...

Co-operatives and mutuals make a significant – but largely unknown – contribution to the well-being of millions of people through healthcare organisations, according to a report presented at the International Summit of Cooperatives. Jean-Pierre Girard, expert advisor with Canadian social enterprise and community development organisation Productions LPS, presented the study Better Health ...

An independent rating agency for agricultural co-operatives is to to be launched by Momagri, a think tank working on world agricultural organisation, to monitor agricultural markets and policies. Founded by Limagrain, La Coop Fédérée, Euralis, Union In Vivo, FNPSMS and Crédit Agricole, among others, the Momagri Agency will also develop a series of assessment indicators to improve decision ...

A new report unveiled at the International Summit of Cooperatives in Quebec identifies five forces that can transform the financial services sector, posing new challenges to financial co-operatives. The report, titled Global banking outlook 2014-2015, is an initiative of Ernst & Young Global Limited (EY), one of the world’s four largest international auditing firms. In his presentation ...

Desjardins Group and HEC Montréal, an affiliated business school of the University of Montreal (Université de Montréal), will collaborate to establish a leading-edge research institute. The two organisations announced the creation of the institute at the International Summit in Quebec. The research institute will be focused on developing financial co-operatives but will also aim to stimulate ...

A new report unveiled at the International Summit of Cooperatives looks at the diversity and complexity of the various governance models of financial co-operatives. Dr Éric Lamarque, director of the Master of Finance and Governance Research Group at Sorbonne’s Graduate Business School, presented the results of the research as part of a forum on Governance in Associated Life. The study ...

Generation Y – roughly those young people born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s – were the focus of discussion at a workshop at the co-operative Summit in Quebec led by the international cooperative insurance federation ICMIF. Were there ways that good co-operative employer practices could attract the best from the generation which is now beginning to make its mark in the labour ...

The winners of the first TOP.COOP competition have been announced at an awards ceremony in Quebec as part of the International Summit of Cooperatives. TOP.COOP is an initiative that aims to honour and raise the profile of enterprises that showcase their co-operative or mutualist position through innovative campaigns and communication strategies. The eight winners from six countries were ...

With a large amount of apathy and neutrality towards the global insurance sector in general, co-operative and mutual insurers have the opportunity to make their voices heard and differentiate themselves from competitors, according to a new report by the International Co-operative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF). The research, which was unveiled at the International Summit of ...

As the 2014 edition of the International Summit of Cooperatives comes to end today, delegates will be discussing equality, sustainability, economic democracy and the role of co-operatives in emerging economies. The day begins with a conference breakfast for those attending as part of the Young Leaders Program and three Summit rendezvous. Agropur Dairy Cooperative is also hosting a forum of ...

Arnold Kuijpers, executive vice president of the Dutch co-operative bank Rabobank, tackled the issue of his bank’s damaging LIBOR scandal head-on in comments made to delegates at the International Summit of Cooperatives in Quebec.  The illegal manipulation of the inter-bank rate cost Rabobank a regulatory fine of almost USD $1 billion last year and also forced the bank’s then chairman to fall ...

The top 300 co-operatives in the world are collectively worth $2.205 trillion– an increase from the previous year's result of $2.097 trillion. Unveiled at the International Summit of Cooperatives, the World Co-operative Monitor shows how important the contribution of co-operatives is to the global economy. Already in its third edition, the Monitor is the result of a partnership between ...

While global unemployment has risen above 200m, co-operatives provide jobs for at least 250m across the world. According to a report published by CICOPA, the International Organisation of Industrial, Artisanal and Service Producers’ Cooperatives, more than 250m people work in co-operatives, either as employees (15m) or worker-members (11m), while close to 224m producers are members of ...

Stay different, and don’t ape the corporate governance structures of the private sector. That in outline was the message to co-ops from Professor Yvan Allaire, the executive chair of Canada’s Institute for Governance to delegates at the co-op summit taking place in Quebec this week. Yvan Allaire talked of what he called a "deep governance crisis" in shareholder-owned companies, where he ...

Co-operatives should make their voice heard in the emerging debate in global institutions about inequality, according to Sandra Polaski, deputy director general of the UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO). She claims the movement should take the opportunity to promote its business model more strongly. ”As values-driven, principle-based enterprises, co-operatives are natural and ...

Co-operatives were created for members by members, but how much do co-op leaders focus on serving their founding principle? "As co-operatives grow they become more complex and people in the management team become more and more distant from members," according to Rob Markey, global customer strategy practice leader at Bain & Company, during the International Summit of ...

In the opening session of the International Summit of Cooperatives, delegates heard from one of the world’s leading economists on the role co-operation plays in economic life. Professor Robert Shiller is a professor of economics at Yale University, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2013 for his work demonstrating inefficiencies within stock markets. Prof Shiller began by ...

The conference title of the International Summit of Cooperatives is ‘The Power of Innovation’, with the question of how co-operatives can embrace and lead innovation running as the main theme through the event. In a keynote presentation at the Summit, business innovation author Peter Diamandis offered delegates a vision of how technology is changing the world. Developments in – among ...

One of the world’s most influential economists, Prof Jeffrey Sachs, will be talking about co-operatives and sustainable development at the 2014 International Summit of Cooperative in Quebec. With negotiations on climate change, fair financing and the Sustainable Development Goals underway, Prof Jeffrey Sachs thinks the international development agenda is more packed than any year in recent ...

The third day of the International Summit of Cooperatives will focus on access to health and social care services, the impact of technology, the transition to a sustainable economy, demographics and innovation. The day will begin with a breakfast conference for those participating under the Young Leaders Programme and four Rendezvous where delegates will be able to find out more about big ...

The European Association of Co-operative Banks (EACB) was in upbeat mood at the Quebec summit on Tuesday, at the promotion of a report from Oliver Wyman which gives a generally positive report on the state of co-operative banking in much of mainland Europe. Leaving aside the particular issues of Britain’s Co-operative Bank, the co-operative banking sector has been turning in some ...

David Johnston, the governor general of Canada, has called on the co-operative sector to innovate. The governor, who represents the Canadian monarch Queen Elizabeth, outlined the challenges facing the world today. He said the information revolution is "changing everything" and that people are more fixated on new devices rather than the impact on how we do business, government, health ...

Co-operative and mutual sector leaders are on the front line of global economic challenges, according to Monique Leroux. The CEO, president and chair of Desjardins, co-host of the Summit, said the event was important because it is "taking place in a challenging global environment, plagued with uncertainties". She told delegates: "The effects of 2008 financial crisis are still being ...

A gathering of US co-operatives discussed how to address two major strategic issues for the movement at the International Summit of Cooperatives. The session was organised by NCBA CLUSA (National Cooperative Business Association - Cooperative League of the USA), the representative body for co-ops in the US. It built on a meeting at the organisation’s annual conference in September, at ...