Over the past two months Cooperatives Europe has published a number of papers:
1. A vision paper titled ‘A cooperative vision for the collaborative economy’ was presented at the European Parliament at an event by the same name, hosted by Nicola Danti - Member of the European Parliament and EP Rapporteur on the collaborative economy. The paper analyses the current climate, elaborates on prospects and barriers and proposes a new definition for collaborative economy.
The document envisions the collaborative economy as an opportunity to strengthen the European Single Market through an ambitious, harmonised strategy that aims to untap the socio-economic potential while tackling threats and negative effects, and presents the European Commission with a set of recommendations to shape a responsible, sustainable and community-driven collaborative economy, aimed at benefiting all European citizens.
2. With the iCareCoops project consortium, it has released a Foundation Guide’ – a guidebook to support the creation of innovative older people’s care co-operatives.
The guide supports new and future entrepreneurs in developing their co-operative projects in 6 steps. Plus it comes with an extensive section on complementary resources from across Europe, as well as a list of national support contacts, which provide co-operative entrepreneurs with advice and support for the development of their business.
3. ‘Good practices in international cooperative development’ aims to foster a better understanding of the methods and approaches used by the Cooperatives Europe Development Platform (CEDP) organisations in their international co-operative development work. The document maps the CEDP activities in diverse geographic and thematic areas, showcasing good practices and tools used by members. Alongside, a brochure has been released capturing the key features of the research.