The programme ran for two weeks, (from 2nd to 14th July) and was held using the facilities of the University of Poitiers. In addition to the conferences, the participants have designed cooperative business projects which provide them with a professional insight about how to start up a social or a worker cooperative.
Experts from Canadian and European cooperative organisations have participated in conferences and workshops. The Secretary General of CECOP-CICOPA Europe, Bruno Roelants, spoke at the conference entitled “The worker cooperatives, an international reality”.
In his speech, Roelants described the history and geography of cooperatives in industry and services and the factors of their resilience and development. Furthermore, Roelants spoke about the world network of representative organisations and the challenges and opportunities for the cooperative movement in the future.
