Following the 2025 International Year of Cooperatives (IYC), the International Centre for Co-operative Management (ICCM) at St Mary’s University in Halifax, Canada, hosted a global online event from 19-21 May, looking at how the movement could build on the momentum of the IYC.
The international symposium on Co‑op Identity and Energising the Co‑op Brand gathered 429 participants from 52 countries to take part in workshops, panel discussions, and interactive sessions on topics such as public awareness, policy and law, sustainability reporting, digital storytelling, credit unions, and membership loyalty and engagement.
The event was convened in collaboration with DotCoop and USA’s Northwest Cooperative Development Center, and was opened by ICA Director General, Jeroen Douglas, who spoke about the power of labelling and brand recognition, drawing comparisons between the co-operative movement and his previous experience working on Fairtrade.
A unified marque could create huge value, he said, but warned of a need for co-ordination across the movement. He added: “I think that the co-op movement is only now ready to move towards this unified mark, because there’s a lot of energy around it, but we cannot say what the Canadians do is best, or what the Bhutanians do is best. We need to build a coordinated approach.”
A total of 46 speakers from 11 countries explored brand and identity through ten strands of discussion, from how to use the COOP Marque while retaining distinction and dealing with AI, to incorporating sustainability reporting into core strategies and messaging – and the importance of human storytelling in the digital sphere.
In an interview with Co-op News, Erin Hancock, programme manager for ICCM and the symposium, described how the diverse range of speakers were selected via an open call process.
“We wouldn’t have known to cherry-pick those people, so I’m very thankful that people shared what we were doing, and we got so many new people in the door,” she said.
“On the heels of 2025, we thought it would be great to continue that conversation. So we’ve had this big international year that has involved a lot of advocacy, community education and exposure, so let’s capture some of what we’ve learned … and continue that momentum.”
Contact details, as well as recordings of all sessions and speaker slides, can be accessed via the symposium webpage.
The ICCM is recruiting for its 2026 Master of Management, Co-operatives and Credit Unions online course, and will be delivering a range of online and in-person learning opportunities over the coming months. www.smu.ca/iccm/programsandcourses
