“Too often young people are not aware of the cooperative model; they do not learn about cooperatives in school, as cooperatives often do not figure in school curricula. Cooperatives offer the opportunities to be employed with enterprises that address young people’s concerns for more democratic, responsible and ethical business operations”, outlines the ICA. Whereas the cooperative approach is one of the most effective answers to the problems faced by young people, the next issue of ‘Work Together’, the CICOPA magazine, will try to see how worker cooperatives, social cooperatives and worker-owned enterprises around the world promote young entrepreneurship.
It will be just before the launch of the International Year of Cooperatives in 2012. As part of the International Year, the ICA will be organising an artistic competition called ‘The Coop’Art’ open to young adults (between 16 and 35 years-old) all over the world with the purpose of promoting the values and principles of cooperatives among young people.
Participants will be able to submit their projects through a webpage from November 2011 to May 2012. There are three different categories for the competition: music, video and photography. More information will be available soon on the ICA website.
About the International Day
The International Day of Cooperatives is celebrated every year, on the first Saturday of July. The objectives are to increase awareness on cooperatives and promote the movement's successes and the ideals of international solidarity, economic efficiency, equality and world peace. At the same time it seeks to strengthen and extend partnerships between the international cooperative movement and other actors.
The first time that the ICA celebrated the International Day was in 1923. Since 1995, the ICA and the United Nations set the theme for the celebration of the International Day through the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC). The theme is generally selected during the spring.
