What is a Coopathon?

By Ana Aguirre, President of the ICA Youth Committee

Ever felt like there could be a better way for cooperatives to be known and communicate what they do and how they work? Have you ever thought of how to spark dialogue, share knowledge, solve internal issues, generate knowledge, share with your friends and family what “cooperative” means, understand the history better... or just make this known and fun?

That is what the Coopathon in New Delhi will be about - generating safe spaces for dialogue and exchange, translating all of that into a game and prototype... all of this in two days with people from all around the world. The outcome? Learnings, sharings, tangible tools for work and development and bridges among cooperators worldwide that will last a lifetime. 

It follows the same structure as a hackathon. Teamwork, creativity processes, collective decision making and prototyping to end the process with an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) to show and share. It will all be facilitated by an international facilitator team creating a "for youth by youth" space within the ICA Global Cooperative Conference. But worry not! There will be plenty of spaces for interaction with other event attendees! The whole package right?