Co-op News June 2023

JUNE 2023
CO-OPS FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT – AND A
GREENER PLANET
Plus … UK retail societies
publish annual results ... 10
years of REScoop ... Land
justice and the future of
farming... Can co-ops keep up
with the green transition?
ISSN 0009-9821
770009 982010
01
£4.20
www.thenews.coop

Mercure Manchester Piccadilly Hotel
Manchester | 16 and 17 June
The conference for the
Co-operative Movement, our
brilliant line-up of speakers includes:
• Lisa Nandy MP
• Co-op Group CEO Shirine Khoury-Haq
• Actor and disability campaigner Cherylee Houston
• Lord Victor Adebowale
• And many more...
uk.coop/congress

Co-ops, the environment and
sustainability
CONNECTING, CHAMPIONING AND
CHALLENGING THE GLOBAL CO-OP
MOVEMENT SINCE 1871
Holyoake House, Hanover Street,
Manchester M60 0AS
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Rebecca Harvey | rebecca@thenews.coop
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Anca Voinea | anca@thenews.coop
DIGITAL EDITOR
Miles Hadfield | miles@thenews.coop
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Alice Toomer-McAlpine
alice@thenews.coop
DESIGN
Andy Bellis | andy@thenews.coop
DIRECTORS
Elaine Dean (chair); David Paterson
(vice-chair); Sofygil Crew; Tim Hartley;
Phil Hartwell; Gillian Lonergan; Nick
Milton; Beverley Perkins; Shaz
Rahman; Lesley Reznicek
Secretary: Richard Bickle
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World Environment Day was established in June 1972 by the United Nations
at the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. One year later,
the first World Environment Day was held with the theme ‘Only One Earth’.
The 2023 World Environment Day – held on 5 June – will focus on solutions
to plastic pollution. But it’s not the only upcoming date for your diary. The
2023 International Day of Cooperatives (1 July) focuses on sustainability –
for people and planet – ahead of September, which marks the halfway point
for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This issue we gather these themes together and look at how co-operatives
around the world are active in the areas of the environment and sustainability,
especially in the face of a accumulating crises.
The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) has long been active in
sustainability and the environment; these themes are not currently codified
in the principles it guards, but there have been calls for this to change in
the organisations’ recent consultations on the co-op identity (p38-39).
For some co-ops and their members, the changes needed to become
more sustainable are easier to implement – as for wholefood pioneer
Suma (p42-43). For others, particularly those in the energy and dairy
industries, keeping up with the green transition is proving trickier
(p40-41).
Meanwhile, other co-ops are helping to develop tools to monitor
and calculate sustainability (p46-47), while others are focusing on
important research in this area (p36-37).
For the UK’s retail co-ops – most of whom have recently published
their annual results (p5-9) – sustainability is an area of great importance
to them and their members. It’s another challenge to be faced.
But, as Co-op Group CEO Shirine Khoury-Haq said at the
organisations’ AGM, “one thing we do have that the rest of our
competitors don’t is the power of co-operation.”
REBECCA HARVEY - EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Co-operative News is printed using vegetable oil-based inks
on 80% recycled paper (with 60% from post-consumer waste)
with the remaining 20% produced from FSC or PEFC certified
sources. It is made in a totally chlorine free process.
JUNE 2023 | 3

ISSN 0009-9821
9 770009 982010
01
THIS ISSUE
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:
UK retail co-ops – including Heart of
England – publish their annual results
(p5-9); New study finds unconventional
forms of resilience in African co- ops’
Covid response (p17); Suma sustainability
reporting coordinator, Ben Pearson
(p42-43); REScoop celebrated its 10th
anniversary at its Community Energy
Spring Gathering in Athens (p34-35); Co-op
Group AGM (p28-29)
JUNE 2023
CO-OPS FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT – AND A
GREENER PLANET
Plus … UK retail societies
publish annual results ... 10
years of REScoop ... Land
justice and the future of
farming... Can co-ops keep up
with the green transition?
www.thenews.coop
£4.20
COVER: Re-greening a continent
Derese, who lives in the Metema
region of Ethiopia, relies on his local
frankincense forest to provide an
alternative, climate-resilient source
of income. The forest is in danger
of disappearing – but participatory
forest management co-operatives
are helping preserve it
Read more: p44-45
5-9 RETAIL RESULTS SPECIAL
How did the UK’s retail societies fare
against the challenges of 2022?
28-29 CO-OP GROUP ANNUAL GENERAL
MEETING
High hopes, hard choices discussed at
the Group’s AGM in Manchester
30-31 PLAYGROUND FOR THE NEW
ECONOMY
Stir to Action’s urban event for those
working on the ideas and action needed
to drive us into the “new economy”
32-33 SWOBODA CONFERENCE
“Credit unions need to work harder to
avoid falling behind”
34-35 10 YEARS OF RESCOOP
The federation of citizen energy co-ops:
pioneers of Europe’s renewable energy
transition
36-37 LAND JUSTICE AND THE FUTURE OF
FARMING
Q&A with Naomi Terry, researcher whose
most recent project involved working for
the Ecological Land Cooperative (ELC)
38-39 CO-OP PRINCIPLES
Where do the ICA Principles stand on the
environment?
40-41 CAN CO-OPS KEEP UP WITH THE
GREEN TRANSITION?
The co-ops struggling to make their
operations more sustainable
42-43 SUMA AND FOOD SUSTAINABILITY
Wholefood pioneer Suma sets out its
sustainability goals in new annual report
44-45 RE-GREENING A CONTINENT
The SDGs and co-operative attempts to
halt the progress of the Sahara
46-47 CALCULATING CO-OPERATIVE
SUSTAINABILITY
New tools to help businesses monitor
their activities and make decisions
REGULARS
5-15 UK news
16-23 Global news
26-27 Letters / Obituaries
48-49 Reviews
50 Events
4 | JUNE 2023

NEWS
RETAIL: ANNUAL RESULTS
Co-op sector takes stock after year of economic turmoil
The annual results from the retail co-op
sector are in, with chief executives singing
from the same hymn sheet regarding the
economic challenges of 2022 – and the
prospect of more trouble to come.
The aftermath of the pandemic and
disruption from the war in Ukraine faced
retailers with soaring energy and produce
costs, while shoppers had less to spend.
But despite some reduced profits and
operating losses, the retail co-op sector
came through largely unscathed – in sharp
contrast to employee-owned John Lewis,
whose £234m loss has left it considering
the sale of a minority stake.
The results from the Co-op Group and
Scotmid were reported in last month’s
News; Lincolnshire Co-op issued its
results last November. The remaining
major results are as follows.
Midcounties
Midcounties Co-op announced a sharp
recovery in operating profit for the 53
weeks to 28 January, rising to £7.2m
(2022: £2.4m). Gross sales hit £1.3bn, up
from £908m the previous year, and net
debt continues to fall, to £36.7m (2022:
£40.5m). Total revenue was up 20% on
last year at £802.9m. Gross profit rose 10%
to £214.1m.
In the annual report, CEO Phil
Ponsonby wrote: “Gross sales have
returned to above the £1bn mark for the
first time since the coronavirus pandemic,
coming in at £1.34bn for the year. This is a
48% increase on last year’s £907.6m. The
uplift is mainly due to our Travel business
recovering after the pandemic but was
also supported by growth in our Food and
Childcare businesses.
“Operating profit increased significantly
from £2.4m to £7.2m reflecting an
underlying profitable performance and
additional profits from significant, one-off
items as a result of reduced performance
obligations associated with our former
energy business.”
The society’s net asset position has
improved by £8.6m, he added, largely
reflecting a much improved position on
the pension deficit.
p Central CEO Debbie Robinson
The society spent £4.2m on eight
new food stores and a new childcare
site in Warwick, said Ponsonby, but the
society also decided to step away from
its Healthcare division, which had been
operating at a loss. “The board felt that
the investment and resources required
to grow it to a viable and competitive
scale would be better focused on our core
businesses,” he added.
Member trade now stands at 27.2% of
all transactions compared with 24.6% last
year, and 83% of members who shopped
with the society used a member offer
saving a combined £1.4m. The society
attracted 86,000 new members, 14,000 of
whom are under 30.
Social initiatives from the co-op include
a £20,000 donation to its foodbank
partners at the end of the year to fund their
post-Christmas peak, and work with the
co-operative community to support the
DEC appeals for the earthquakes that hit
Turkey and Syria, the floods in Pakistan,
and the war in Ukraine.
Central Co-op
Central Co-op posted an operating profit
of £19.8m (2022: £23.2m) for the 53 weeks
to 28 January. This contained a number
of one-off items, including restructuring
p Midcounties CEO Phil Ponsonby
provisions and a change in accounting
estimate for funeral plan liabilities.
Performance came in on budget, added the
co-op, and underlying turnover grew 9.1%
to £953.9m (2022: £874.7m). Underlying
trading profit fell 25.2% to £14.9m (2022:
£19.9m), primarily driven by the removal
of government support for business rates.
Net debt, which rose to £19.6m (2022:
£2.9m) “as a result of planned increases in
capital investment”, remains well within
the society’s £40m debt facility, the report
adds, while the society’s net assets hold
steady at £272.1m (2022: £275.4m).
CEO Debbie Robinson said Central
would be emphasising “co-operative
points of difference” in its strategy,
delivering value to members.
“We have a clear plan and exciting
opportunities to grow our sales, increase
membership, improve our efficiency and
mitigate increasing costs,” she added.
“Our focus has been on driving down our
costs to provide better service and offer
value to our members and customers,
improve the terms and conditions for
all our colleagues and mitigate the
continuing fiscal headwinds.”
But there were some “difficult decisions,
with changes to our central support
structure; 33% of colleagues affected were
redeployed into alternative roles”.
JUNE 2023 | 5

Investments saw the society add nine
stores and three cafés, and carry out 25
store refurbishments and one relocation
– helping Food turnover rise to £691.3m
(2022: £667.3m).
In the funeral division, underlying
turnover excluding VAT and exceptionals
was £60.6m (2022: £43.9m).
The society continued its Community
Divided Fund, which shared out £180,719
between 162 charities and good causes.
Southern Co-op
Southern reported an operating loss of
£1.3m for the 52 weeks to 29 January,
down from a £4.3m profit the previous
year. But CEO Mark Smith said there were
reasons for optimism, with turnover rising
to £515.4m from £494m the previous year.
“I’m pleased to report that total income
for Southern Co-op exceeded £500m in
one year for the first time ever in 2022,”
he said. “This reflected growth across our
trading businesses with like-for-like food
sales +1% compared to last year.”
Smith pointed to total sales of £39.9m
in Southern’s Starbucks franchises, and
increased client engagements in its End
of Life operations to reach a total of 9,373.
Alongside cost pressures, he said “a
number of ad hoc or one-off costs” also hit
results. But the co-op took extra measures
to support colleagues “through additional
one-off cash payments and payments in
kind to help with the cost of living … in
addition to the annual increase in hourly
pay and salaries”.
Smith said the “small operating loss
of £1.3m” reflects “the rapid increase in
energy costs, along with the cost-of-living
support payments to colleagues”. He
also pointed to the unwinding of Covid
business reliefs and the one-off revaluation
of funeral plan liabilities following the
attainment of FCA-authorised status.
Southern opened one new store during
the year, a going concern with fuel based
in Guildford, and closed four stores in
Bromley, Bristol, Freshwater and Ealing. It
relocated Post Office services in Denmead
and Binfield, merging them into its stores.
Its opened 13 new Welcome franchise
with its partners and closed one. At the
end of the year, the Welcome estate had
grown to 69 stores.
The co-op continued to grow its Local
Flavours range, bringing 10 new local
suppliers on-board throughout the year
and adding sales of £140,000.
Community projects included a crime
prevention partnership with the local
police, council and other stakeholders to
work with prolific offenders, with £35,000
funding from the co-op over two years.
And it continued its work with wildlife
trusts in its region to improve local
habitat, green spaces and biodiversity.
Heart of England Co-op
Heart of England’s operating profit was
£3.7m for the 53 weeks to 28 January,
down from £5.8m the previous year.
Turnover was 91.8m, up from £90.9m
the previous year, and the society’s net
worth increased by 0.3% to £53m.
CEO Ali Kurji says various factors
outside the society’s control combined
to reduce its bottom line, including
exceptional expenses totalling £542,886
and a write-down of investment property
values to the tune of £88,576.
The society continues to review policy
to ensure it remains robust, he added.
“For example, while we have continued
to operate without any borrowing, we
are now in negotiations with our bank
to secure business loans. This will help
us to proceed with several projects we
have committed to which will grow our
business in the coming years.”
The society’s report warns that – in
common with most final salary schemes –
its pension liability has sharply increased,
with the deficit growing from £2.9m to
£4.8m. The scheme was closed in 2012 to
p East of England CEO Doug Field
new employees who are now given the
option of a defined contribution scheme.
While the food division recorded a
1.14% increase in sales, margins came
under “tremendous pressure” due to
fierce competition and were down on the
year before. There were also significant
supply chain issues arising from a lack
of availability of both local and imported
products.
But two new purpose-built stores were
launched in Lower Heathcote, Warwick
and Cross Keys, Bedworth, which are both
performing above their budgeted targets.
The society, which has 172,000
members, also carried out a major
refurbishment and extension of its
Hillmorton store in Rugby.
Another highlight was the opening
of a new Bewiched in-store coffee shop
at the society’s Balsall Common food
outlet in Coventry. Two further Bewiched
franchises – at Shires Retail Park in Royal
Leamington Spa and a drive-through in
Wellingborough – will follow this year.
Heart of England’s funeral division
reported a 2.55% decrease in sales, in
line with expectations. Nearly £1m was
invested in purchasing eight eco-friendly,
hybrid ceremonial vehicles.
In 2022, the society introduced a costof-living
action plan for shoppers and
colleagues. The package of measures
included increasing the discount on the
members reward scheme from two to three
per cent. Discounts on food shopping were
doubled for staff who were also offered
free breakfasts and sanitary products.
More than 225 donations were made
to local charities and community groups
totalling £40,200. Separately, Coventry
and Warwickshire Mind received £15,000
which was raised by staff and shoppers
across 37 food stores. The society made an
additional contribution to top up the sum
collected.
Surplus food from the co-op was
passed to FareShare during the year
for distribution to struggling families –
providing more than 140,000 free meals
over a 12-month period.
East of England Co-op
East of England announced an underlying
trading loss of £5.5m for the 53 weeks to
28 January, but says it also became the
fastest-growing co-op in the latter half of
6 | JUNE 2023

Results in brief
CO-OP GROUP – year to 31 Dec
Revenue: £11.5bn (2021: 11.2bn)
Operating profit: £100m (2021: £100m)
Net debt: £1.65m (2021: £2.4m)
Emissions: 8% reduction in Scope 3
emissions since 2016, with new report
due this year
p Heart of England CEO Ali Kurji at the launch of the society’s £2.2m Bedworth store
2022, with the biggest volume turnaround.
In its report, the society adds that after a
challenging year, it is “remaining positive
about the future and embarking on an
ambitious plan” to grow the business.
CEO Doug Field said: “These are
challenging times for us, but our family of
businesses remain fundamentally sound.
We’re the fastest growing co-op, with sales
that have grown by 8.3% more than last
year to £377.5m, even when accounting for
it being a 53-week trading year.
“Our trading losses are driven by
factors affecting businesses nationally
and globally. Our energy costs increased
by over 70% when compared to last year,
which reduced our profits by close to £4m.
Other notable cost pressures were the
6.6% rise in the National Living Wage in
April 2022 and the cost of delivering goods
to store. In the face of these challenges,
we’re embarking on an ambitious and
exciting plan to grow our business ...
with a number of new Food stores in new
locations in the pipeline.”
The co-op handed out more than
£200,000 to a diverse range of local
groups, focusing on everything from
community action and food justice to
mental health and wellbeing.
In December, it donated an additional
£100,000, diverted from its Christmas
marketing budget, to food and heat
poverty initiatives; in addition to this,
customers donated nearly £15,000 instore
over the winter months.
To help with the cost-of-living crisis, all
colleagues were given £50 in vouchers to
spend in Food stores, and the colleague
discount rose from 20% to 25% – in
addition to new, long-term benefits such
as partial salary advances to help with
unexpected bills and expenditure.
Looking ahead to the rest of 2023, Field
said: “One of my key tasks this year is to
deliver on the huge potential our co-op has
as we face yet another challenging year,
with increasing costs, especially when it
comes to energy, being a key factor.
“We need to be doing the best we can,
where we are, with what we’ve got. To
get us back into profit and address the
challenges we face we’re going to focus
on growing and evolving our business
to make it even stronger for the future:
opening new Food stores and investing in
our Funeral business. In addition to this,
we’ll be building on the success we saw
in the latter half of 2022 and continuing to
grow our sales.
“We also need to simplify what we
do and operate for less to address the
continual rise in costs.”
Chelmsford Star
Chelmsford Star’s results for the 52 weeks
to 28 January brought a 6.7% increase
in gross takings. Trading surplus was
£64,882, down from £492,675 the previous
year, while turnover rose from £80m to
£82m; but the figures also show a retained
deficit before tax of £382,193, down from a
£269,856 surplus the year before.
CEO Barry Wood warned that the
society’s energy costs have risen 70% year
on year, despite a 3% cut in consumption.
Distribution costs rose by £161,000,
despite a 7.9% drop in food volume.
“The society has done a sterling job to
mitigate the escalating costs as much as
possible,” he added. Operating costs as a
whole rose 6.2%, leaving the society with
a trading profit of £65,000.
LINCOLNSHIRE – year to 3 Sept
Turnover: 365m (2021: £325m)
Operating profit: £18.4m (2021: £17.5m)
Net assets: £310.5m (2021: £269m)
Emissions: Total emissions 2,481
tonnes CO2 (2021: 2,464 tonnes)
SCOTMID – year to 28 Jan
Turnover: £406.5m (2021: £403m)
Operating profit: £3m (2021: £7.4m))
Net assets: £122.5m (2021: £112.7m)
Emissions: 8,144 tonnes CO2 (2021:
9,264))
MIDCOUNTIES – year to 28 Jan
Revenue: £8m (2021: 6.7m)
Operating profit: £7.2m (2022: £2.4m)
Net assets: £120m (2021: £111.4m)
Emissions: 10% decrease in
operational emissions to 11,931 tonnes
in 2022
CENTRAL – year to 28 Jan
Turnover: £953.9m (2022: £874.7m)
Operating profit: £19.8m (2021:
£23.2m)
Net debt: £19.6m (2022: £2.9m)
Emissions: 24.91 tonnes C02 per £1m
turnover (2022: 29.12)
For a more full look at
environmental reporting in the
sector results, click on our online
story at bit.ly/43tMBEI
Continued on page 9
JUNE 2023 | 7

Despite the difficult conditions,
Chelmsford Star distributed around
£30,000 to local charities, to the DEC’s
appeal to assist Ukraine and in support
of Essex-based community groups. It
had also introduced new benefits for its
members, with total savings for them so
far this year exceeding £30,000.
Looking at the gross takings of each of
the society’s businesses, core ranges at
food stores fell by 1% against a volume
decline of 7.9%. However, the Quadrant
department stores reported an increase of
37% despite footfall still being 39% lower
than pre-pandemic levels.
Co-op Travel branches increased by
280% as the travel industry continues to
rebound following the pandemic. Co-op
Funeral Directors increased by 6% ‘year
on year’, helped in part by a new branch
in Basildon.
Wood said that while there may be some
difficult decisions being made in the year
ahead to protect the society longer term,
Chelmsford Star Co-op will continue
support of its members and communities.
Electricity consumption fell by 3%
compared to last year but net CO2
emissions increased by 8.8% as a result
of an increased usage of refrigerant gases.
The society added 2,191 members,
bringing the tally to 93,601, of whom 24%
are considered active.
Channel Islands Co-op
Channel Islands Co-op posted trading
profits of £5.8m for the 52 weeks to 8
January, slightly down from £6m the year
before. Turnover rose to £192.4m (previous
year: £181.6m) and pre-tax profit was
£1.3m (previous year: £6m loss). For the
balance sheet, total equity is £164.1m
(previous year: £177.6m).
CEO Mark Cox said last year’s emphasis
for the society was resilience. “Much
of our focus has been on managing the
challenges presented to us by external
factors, including inflation, the costof-living
crisis, and the ongoing war
in Ukraine,” he wrote. “These factors
coupled with local pressures of recruiting
and retaining colleagues are creating very
challenging trading conditions.”
But the co-op is innovating as it rebuilds
from the pandemic, he added. “We strive
to provide our members and customers
increased choice, and to continue to offer
p Radstock CEO Don Morris
convenience by expanding our retail
estate through opening new stores like our
Coop Five Oaks.”
The Five Oaks store, and an expansion to
the range of products offered to islanders,
through ranges such as Carrefour,
contributed to increased turnover from
the food business, which represents 82%
of the society’s total, by 1.1% to £157.9m,
although inflation was also a factor.
The society’s seven pharmacies
performed strongly with sales of £11.9m,
while the funeral businesses, De Gruchy’s
Funeral Care in Jersey and Argent Funeral
Care in Guernsey, performed well,
providing 447 services with a turnover of
£2.1m compared to £1.8m in 2022.
Rental income from the property
portfolio – which includes the Premier
Inn at Charing Cross and Dunelm sites in
Jersey – was £2.4m, an increase of 14%.
Membership stands at 128,269, slightly
down from 129,249 the previous year.
The co-op remains true to its mission “to
make a real difference to the communities
we serve,” said Cox, highlighting the
£165,742 given to 240 local charities and
causes across the islands.
Meanwhile, 72 charities were allowed
to fundraise across our stores and the
co-op provided a discount of £143,447 to
the elderly community via the Sir David
Kirsch voucher scheme.
Radstock Co-op
Radstock posted an operating profit of
£273k for year to 25 February, down from
£370k the previous year. Gross sales rose
slightly to £43.8m (previous year £43.5m)
and retail turnover rose to £39.3m (£39m).
In the Somerset-based co-op’s annual
report, CEO Don Morris highlighted the
economic pressures facing the retail
sector, which saw the co-op make a
trading loss of £422k, down from a £158k
profit the previous year. This was offset
by a £680k surplus from the co-op’s
farm business and a £14k profit from its
property portfolio.
“The investment in the farm proves to
be a wise decision and bodes well for the
future,” he added.
Morris warned it will difficult to generate
increased sales in 2023 as consumers
continue to face squeezed household
budgets, but said rising labour costs have
been budgeted for and the society will be
using new tech to make savings through
increased operational efficiencies.
Meanwhile, progress is being made on
the society’s former Radco site, which
was demolished last year to make room
for a new town centre development, and
is working to expand its retail estate, with
investments including self-scan and shelfedge
tech.
Membership of the co-op rose by 1,190
and now stands at 21,306 people, and a
dividend of £68,823, redeemable at point
of sale, was returned to members during
the year.
The society distributed £25k from the
carrier bag levy to local causes and raised
another £7,500 for causes including
earthquake relief through fundraising
activities. Another £3,926 was donated by
stores to local fundraising events and the
society gave £1,100 each to Secret World
Wildlife Rescue and Swan Transport.
Tamworth Co-op
Tamworth says its financial results for the
53 weeks to 28 January ‘have exceeded
expectations’ despite a 16% drop in pretax
profit to £1,058,000.
The results show a total turnover of
£29,063,000 across 53 trading weeks
for the society, which operates 12 food
stores, eight funeral service locations
and four post offices across Staffordshire,
Derbyshire, North Warwickshire and
the West Midlands. The previous year’s
figures only covered 52 trading weeks, but
food sales are up by 2.8% when compared
on a like-by-like basis.
8 | JUNE 2023

HEART OF ENGLAND – year to 28 Jan
Turnover: £ 91.8m (2021: £90.9m)
Operating profit: £3.7m (2021: £5.8m )
Net assets: £53m (2021: £52.8m)
Emissions: 1,674 tonnes of CO2
(2022:1,707 tonnes)
EAST OF ENGLAND – year to 28 Jan
p Channel Islands Co-op’s new store at Five Oaks
The funeral service carried out fewer
funerals than in previous years, but its
performance was also ahead of internally
set targets, says the society.
Before distributions, such as dividends,
grants and taxation, Tamworth’s
£1,058,000 profit was down on the
previous year’s figure of £1,260,000. But
the retained surplus for the year was
£773,000, 8% down on the previous year.
“The overall situation is positive and
better than anticipated,” said CEO Julian
Coles. “In the previous financial year,
we received government grants, a lease
termination payment, as well as other
items, and that led to other operating
income totalling £159,000.
“This time around that type of income
was considerably lower at £32,000.
“In addition, our property investments
reduced at the annual valuation process
by £69,000, whereas in the previous year
a gain of £100,000 was recorded.
“There are other aspects which also need
to be factored in, such as the significantly
higher electricity and staffing costs our
food division faced. All things considered
this is a pleasing set of results.”
The acquisition of a shopping precinct
in Fontenaye Road, Tamworth, helped to
boost the society’s property income from
£512,000 to £565,000. The total valuation
of the society’s property investment
portfolio now stands at £7,640,000.
The report also reveals that Tamworth
Co-op’s net assets are valued at £19.2m –
£3m up on the year before.
“The increase is primarily down to our
pension liability reducing from £5.9m to
£2.7m,” said Coles. “That is good news
and is mainly due to significant uplifts in
the financial markets.”
During the year the society carried
out a major improvement programme at
its Church Street supermarket. An ecofriendly,
state-of-the-art refrigeration and
air conditioning system was installed,
with the customer service kiosk being
relocated alongside the existing post
office counter.
The loss-making performance of the
post office would need to be regularly
reviewed, warned Coles.
A highlight of the year was the groundbreaking
£35,000 ‘70 for 70’ donation,
which saw 70 local worthwhile causes
gifted £500 each to commemorate the late
Queen’s 70-year reign.
The handout was the largest single
amount ever distributed by Tamworth Coop.
The money was raised from the sale of
carrier bags at its Church Street store and
chain of convenience stores.
The society also gave Tamworth
Samaritans £8,000 during the year from
its Community Dividend Fund.
“We’re proud of the level of support we
have given to numerous organisations
which carry out fantastic work on our
doorstep,” said Coles. “They have needed
financial help more than ever because of
the most challenging economic climate in
decades.
“Despite the difficult trading conditions,
supporting worthwhile causes in our
trading area remains a top priority.”
Looking ahead, Coles said the society
is preparing for some considerable
additional expenses during the current
financial year.
However, he added: “With our strong
balance sheet and excellent branch
operating standards I believe we are very
well placed to meet these challenges.”
Turnover: £377.5m (2021: £348.5m)
Trading loss: £5.5m (2021: £1.5m
profit)
Net assets: £232m (2021: £235m)
Emissions: 9,759.59 tonnes of CO2e, a
12.2% decrease on 2021
SOUTHERN – year to 29 Jan
Turnover:£515.4m (2021: £494m)
Operating loss: £1.3m (2021: £4.3m profit)
Net assets: (2021: )
Climate reporting: 10% decrease in
operational emissions to 11,931 tonnes
RADSTOCK – year to 25 Feb
Gross takings: £53m (2021: £51.3m)
Operating profit: £273k (2021: £370k)
Net assets: £21.3m (2021: £21.2m)
Emissions: 848 tonnes of CO2
TAMWORTH – year to 28 Jan
Turnover: £29m (2021: £27.8m)
Trading surplus: £1.2m (2021: £1.3m)
Net assets: £19.1m (2021: £16.3m)
CHANNEL ISLANDS – year to 8 Jan
Turnover: £192.4m (2021: £181.6m)
Trading profit: £5.8m (2021: £6m)
Net assets: £164.1m (2021: £177.6m)
CHELMSFORD STAR – year to 28 Jan
Turnover: £82m (2021: £80m)
Trading profit: £64,882 (2021:
£492,675)
Net assets: £15.2m (2021: £15.6m)
Emissions: 2.163 tons CO2 (2021: 1,987)
MONTH 2023 | 9

RETAIL
Co-op Group opens latest round of its Local Community Fund
Applications have now opened for
community groups and charities seeking
funding and support from the Co-op
Group’s Local Community Fund.
Organisations eligible for support
include not-for-profit co-operative
societies; community benefit societies;
community interest companies; credit
unions; social enterprises; and Woodcraft
Folk groups.
The fund has supported over 30,000
local community projects across the UK
since its launch in 2016, and charities and
organisations, who play a vital role in the
wellbeing of communities, have until 11
June to apply for the next round.
The Group says its support comes at “a
much-needed time”, with insight from
community causes across the UK showing
that 84% of local groups have seen a jump
in demand for their services through the
cost-of-living crisis.
The fund is looking to support projects
that have an impact and make a difference
locally, with a focus on:
p The Group’s Rebecca Birkbeck
• Bringing people together to access food:
Such as community fridges, allotments,
and cookery classes
• Helping to improve people’s mental
wellbeing: Including sporting activities
and, clubs and societies that promote
mental well-being and build social
connections
• Creation of opportunities for young
people to be heard and make a
difference: For example, youth
groups and forums that work to build
confidence, employability and life skills
• Enabling communities to save and
restore nature or tackle climate change,
with examples including community
gardens, tree planting, energy schemes,
re-wilding, and sustainable transport.
Rebecca Birkbeck, director of community
and member participation, said: “Our
Local Community Fund is more relevant
than ever as the cost-of-living crisis is
making it incredibly challenging for many
local organisations.
“We know that our members want to
support the communities they live in, and
Co-op membership is a powerful way for
people to do this, simply by shopping at
Co-op – with our funding support enabling
local organisations to provide valuable
services and support to people at a time
when communities need it most.”
To apply to the Local Community Fund,
visit causes.coop.co.uk
Group grows its partnership with Just Eat to cover nearly 1,000 stores
The Co-op Group says its partnership with
Just Eat was set to reach almost 1,000
stores by the end May.
This follows a successful trial with Just
Eat, which is part of the Group’s ambitions
to bag a third of the UK online quick
convenience market, delivering from store
to door in minutes.
The Group estimates that more than
80% of the UK population will have access
to Co-op groceries online by the end of
this year, through its online shop and with
partners.
Last year, the retailer grew its online
revenues by 24%, and over the last
six months, it has expanded its use of
autonomous grocery deliveries, with
self-driving robots operating in parts
of Bedford, Cambridge, Milton Keynes,
Northampton, Leeds and, most recently,
Greater Manchester.
E-commerce director Chris Conway
said: “Co-op is combining its physical
and digital routes to market stores to
further expand and grow its online reach.
With our stores located in the heart of
local communities, closer to where our
members and customers live and work –
we continually look to create increased
flexible options online.
“Our partnership with Just Eat continues
to go from strength to strength, enabling
Co-op to deliver further online choice with
increased ease, speed and convenience,
whenever and wherever our members and
customers choose to shop with us.”
Amy Heather, strategic accounts
director at Just Eat UK, said: “Our
partnership offers convenience grocery
delivery from store to door across the
UK – bringing access to a wide range
of fantastic Co-op products which are
delivered to our customers homes within
minutes. This partnership is another
example of Just Eat’s commitment to
grocery in the UK and Co-op is proving
to be a popular addition for our
customers.”
The Group says its online focus is
around “on-demand, quick convenience,
with orders picked fresh in local stores
which act as micro-distribution hubs in
the community – ensuring its bricks and
mortar high street estate benefits from
online activity”.
Alongside its online shop and Just
Eat, the Group has partnerships with
Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Amazon Prime and
Starship Technologies.
10 | JUNE 2023

CONGRESS
Speakers announced for UK Co-op Congress in June
Co-operatives UK has unveiled the list
of speakers for Co-op Congress, which
will be held at the Mercure Manchester
Piccadilly Hotel on 16-17 June.
The event, sponsored by the Co-op Bank
for the third consecutive year, is “about
bringing together those working to build
a fairer economy to learn, share ideas and
take action”.
Speakers include:
• Andrew Griffith MP, economic
secretary to the treasury and City
minister
• Lisa Nandy MP, shadow secretary
of state for levelling up, housing and
communities
• Cherylee Houston, actor and disability
campaigner
• Shirine Khoury-Haq, CEO of the Co-op
Group
• Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater
Manchester
• Lord Victor Adebowale, chair of the
NHS Confederation
• Debbie Robinson, CEO, Central Co-op
• Sarah Merrick, CEO of Ripple Energy
• Catherine Douglas, chief people and
sustainability officer, the Co-op Bank
• Rob Harrison, director, Ethical Consumer
• Sara Vicari, aroundtheworld.coop
• Dan Sodergren, Great Marketing Works
• Emma Back, Equal Care Co-op
• Cheryl Barrott, Co-operative Guild of
Social and Community Workers
• Blase Lambert, Confederation of Cooperative
Housing
Discussion will include climate, the
co-operative identity, principle 6 (cooperation
among co-ops), finance, social
care, community ownership, and tech.
Congress will also present an offer from
the Co-op Bank, which gives all its staff two
paid volunteering days per year to make
a difference i n t heir c ommunity. F rom i ts
exhibition stand, the Bank will give co-ops
the chance to match-make its colleague
volunteers with their own needs – ranging
from board expertise to offering to a spruceup
of community space.
Visit: uk.coop/events-and-training/
congress for more details and booking.
RETAIL
‘Use us or lose us’,
wholefood co-op
warns its customers
Daily Bread, an independent wholefoods
co-operative which has been operating in
King’s Hedges, Cambridge, for 30 years,
has warned it may be forced to cease
trading as the economic crisis continues
to hit trade.
The co-op – not to be confused with
the similarly named Northampton worker
co-op – was formed with a mission to sell
“ethically sourced products including
a wide variety of local, organic, glutenfree,
and vegan options, all at a fair price,
avoiding the exploitation of others and
our natural world”.
But in a post on its website, it warned
that it is facing “unavoidable economic
difficulties”. The news follows the loss of
several independent food co-ops to the
cost-of-living crisis, with others warning
of tough times and uncertainty.
“This is the announcement we didn’t
want to have to make, but sadly, we have
no option,” it said. “We are regrettably
facing closure … unless there is a radical
turnaround in customer shopping habits.”
The co-op added: “We are asking our
customers and community to please use us
or lose us, and show support by shopping
with us now and in coming months. Every
single purchase counts. We hope that
together we can keep our co-operative
community healthy and thriving.”
Its financial situation means no new
staff have been hired to replace those that
have left, leaving the co-op “operating at a
reduced scale”, it said.
“You may see the effects of this with,
for example, more pre-packed products
replacing those we pack, fewer staff
around the shop, and slightly longer
response times with communications,”
the message added. “Please be patient
with us as we try our best.
“Various economic crises have affected
everyone financially, and we understand
that people are having to adapt their
shopping choices.
“We would really appreciate it if you
spread the word about us by telling
friends and family, posting reviews, and
sharing on social media.”
More info at dailybreadcambridge.org
JUNE 2023 | 11

EDUCATION
Cwmpas drafted by Welsh
government to teach
co-operation in schools
The Welsh government is working with coop
development agency Cwmpas on a oneyear
pilot project to raise awareness and
understanding of co-ops in primary and
secondary schools across Wales.
Announced by Jeremy Miles, minister
for education and Welsh language, the
Robert Owen project is named after the
pioneering, Welsh-born 19th century
reformer who is one of the forefathers of
the modern co-op movement.
It will complement existing programmes
which support Careers and Work-Related
Experience (CWRE) as a cross-curricula
element of the Curriculum for Wales.
CWRE is a cross-cutting and integral
element of the curriculum for all learners
aged 3-16, and schools are expected to
enable learners to gain experiences related
to work and careers. The goal is to help
develop their knowledge of the breadth of
opportunities available to them throughout
their lives.
This learning will help them make
informed decisions about their career
pathways, says the Welsh government.
This project will be funded by Welsh
Government and will be delivered by
Cwmpas, to engage with schools and
develop learning resources and materials,
which will be available bilingually and
digitally.
The project will be available to all schools
in Wales and will focus on understanding
the role of co-operatives within the
economy.
Additional content will focus on
issues such as social impact, health
and wellbeing, fair work, and a greener
environment.
NewsSocial teams up
with Preston Cooperative
Education Centre to offer
sociocracy training
Preston Cooperative Education Centre
(PCEC) and NewsSocial Cooperative Society
are working together to provide training
and consulting services on sociocracy.
A theory of governance used by several
UK co-ops, particularly worker co-ops,
sociocracy draws on the use of consent,
rather than majority voting, in discussion
and decision-making by people who have a
shared goal or work process.
PCEC and NewsSocial say they aim to
offer sociocracy services not only to the
co-operative sector, but also “non-profit
and socially progressive organisations and
networks”.
As part of this partnership, PCEC
will provide formal sociocracy training
and courses customised for individual
organisational needs. The centre will work
with NewsSocial to provide consulting
and handholding services to support the
implementation of sociocracy practices.
This will include using the NewsSocial
platform which, they say, supports
sociocracy and fosters initiative, innovation
and better flow of information.
Organisations receiving support will
be able to use services as tools during the
training process and as licensed services
post-training.
“Sociocracy is one important tool that
allows organisations and networks to
govern themselves democratically and
more efficiently,” said PCEC founding
director Prof Mick McKeown. “Sociocracy
is about consent-based decision making
and about democratic governance based
on shared power, better information flow,
initiative, and innovation.
“Challenges facing humanity require
reinventing the way organisations and
networks conduct their affairs,” said Prof
Julian Manley from NewsSocial, “especially
those supporting a more equitable sharing
economy such as co-operatives, mutuals,
social enterprises, and trade unions. The
object is to support democratic forms of
governance in organisations as well as
making the most of the opportunities
brought about by the technological
revolution we are passing through.”
PCEC was founded in 2021 as a unionco-op
to support the creation of workerowned
co-operatives in Preston. It provides
education and training in co-ops and cooperation,
with members including tutors,
local councillors, lecturers and trade
unionists.
NewsSocial is a multi-stakeholder coop
aspiring to be the go-to social platform
for co-operatives, change makers and
citizens’ assemblies. It runs an app that
enables users to exchange news, ideas and
opinions.
PCEC and NewsSocial Cooperative
Society are supportive of Preston City
Council’s community wealth building
initiative – commonly known as the
Preston model. In 2019 NewsSocial signed
a memorandum of understanding with
Preston Council and University of Central
Lancashire to support their efforts to design
a co-operative entrepreneurial ecosystem
for Preston.
12 | JUNE 2023

LOCAL ELECTIONS
Co-op Party celebrates
local election boost
The Co-op Party was among the
beneficiaries of the recent UK local
elections, which saw its sister organisation
Labour become the biggest party in local
government as voters turned away from the
Conservatives.
Once the final results were in, the Coop
Party had added 680 councillors to its
ranks, bringing the national total to nearly
1,600. This is part of a wider picture which
saw the number of Tory councillors fall by
957 (with 2,296 elected on polling day),
with Labour gaining 643 (2,675 elected), the
Lib Dems gaining 425 (1,628 elected) and
the Greens gaining 200 (481 elected). The
number of councillors from other parties
fell by 385, with 1,001 seats won on the day.
Joe Fortune, general secretary of the
Co-op Party, said: “The 2023 local election
results represent another great step forward
for the Co-operative Party. We had a record
number of Co-operative Party candidates
selected and elected. The Party now has
nearly 1,600 councillors spread right across
the UK and we are now focused on working
with them and our movement on delivering
co-operative change in our communities.”
The Party, which stood more than 1,100
candidates for the elections, now boasts
large groups of councillors in places
like Medway, Swindon, York and Derby,
added Fortune.
The non-partisan Cooperative Councils’
Innovation Network, a group of authorities
working to implement co-operative
solutions, also had a good polling day, with
member groups taking control of three
councils. A special interest group of the
Local Government Association, it is open to
all UK councils.
Chair Louise Gittins – leader of Cheshire
West & Chester Council – said: “I am
thrilled with the local election results.
“Our associate membership scheme is
open to opposition groups who agree to
seek to become full members if they take
control of their local authority.
“These group leaders benefit from
working alongside leaders and cooperative
leads in other councils, sharing
ideas and model motions in preparation for
winning the council. We saw the Labour &
Co-operative groups at Medway, Plymouth
and Stoke take control of their respective
Councils on 4 May. Plymouth City Council
was a founding member of the network,
and we’re delighted to welcome them back
as full members.”
This brings the number of full councils in
CCIN to 40 and the total membership across
full, associate and affiliate membership to
106 members and 21 supporters.
But the election also saw CCIN
member Torbay change hands, with its
Lib Dem members losing control to the
Conservatives. “We are still to hear whether
they wish to remain a member,” said
Gittins. “If they do, they will be our first
Conservative council.”
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JUNE 2023 | 13

COMMUNITY
UK government opens third round of Community Ownership Fund
The government has opened the
third round of its £150m Community
Ownership Fund, designed to help
communities rescue and take control of
local assets, such as sports clubs, music
venues and historic buildings.
The Department for Levelling Up,
Housing and Communities says the
fund has been changed to give more
help to community groups. The amount
of funding all projects can bid for will
be increasing from £250,000 to £1m,
meaning that groups can bid for more
funding to help save bigger projects.
The requirement for match-funding
is also being reduced to as low as 10%,
making it easier for communities to
acquire assets without raising additional
private funding. For the first time, parish
councils can also apply to the fund,
which has previously only been available
to charities and community groups.
The Fund is already supporting almost
100 projects across the UK.
Levelling Up minister Dehenna Davison
said: “From far-flung pubs to prized
community centres, the Community
Ownership Fund is putting vital assets
back into the hands of communities, to
be enjoyed for generations to come.
“We want even more communities to
benefit from the fund and that’s why we
are making these changes so community
groups can apply for even more money to
save much loved local assets.
“We will continue to grow this fund
to empower local people, restoring their
pride in the places where they live and
levelling up communities across the
United Kingdom.”
Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker
said: “The Community Ownership Fund
is already supporting seven great projects
across Northern Ireland with £1.5m in
funding, making a real difference to
local communities. It’s wonderful to
see the launch of round three, which
will save more local community assets
by supporting proposals that enable
communities here to thrive, boosting
levelling up across Northern Ireland.”
The fund is already helping
communities across the country seize
ownership of prized local assets that are
at risk, including:
p The Old Forge – Scotland’s most remote pub, now a community benefit society – is among
previous beneficiaries of the fund
• Britain’s most remote pub, the Old
Forge Pub, on the Knoydart Peninsula
in Scotland. £200,000 investment from
the Community Ownership Fund has
helped the people of Inverie take full
ownership
• In Gateshead, a local community group,
Fighting All Cancers Together, will
renovate their local community centre
with a £300,000 investment, creating
a sustainable space to continue their
invaluable work of supporting people
diagnosed with cancer
• Leigh Spinners Mill, the largest building
in Leigh, in Greater Manchester, which
has been vacant for many years.
£250,000 of funding is transforming the
space into a hot spot that offers support
to community groups and creating more
employment opportunities
• Ballymacash Sports Academy in
Northern Ireland which has received
£300,000 for creating state-of-the-art
sports facilities and improving the club
with a brand new 3G sports pitch – a
specialised pitch for football comprised
of three different turfs
• The Queen’s Ballroom in Tredegar,
Wales, has been saved thanks to £90,000
in funding. The historic building was
originally one of Wales’ first purpose
built electric cinemas. Today it houses
a fully funded programme which
provides young people, aged 7-18, with
the opportunity to learn fundamental
skills for working in film
• A community in rural Suffolk
successfully bought their local pub,
The Racehorse Inn, through a £96,000
grant from the Community Ownership
Fund in March 2022. The pub will
hopefully be transformed into a local
hub with a post office and shop to
serve the residents of Westhall and the
surrounding area.
The Old Forge Community Benefit Society
said: “We are grateful to the Community
Ownership Fund whose support helped
The Old Forge Community Benefit Society
to achieve its goal of a community-owned
pub on the Knoydart Peninsula.”
Tony Armstrong, CEO of Locality, who
leads the development support programme
for the fund, said: “We are delighted by
the changes announced in the round 3
prospectus of the Community Ownership
Fund meaning that more local people will
have control over the buildings and spaces
that have significance to them and ensure
that these spaces are used in ways that
meet the priorities and needs of the local
community.
“As the lead for the development support
programme, we are pleased to be bringing
together the knowledge and skills of 10
leading community support organisations,
to help groups with the application process,
through the advice and support service.”
Co-operatives UK is also a delivery partner
on the scheme. For details of its support
with applications, visit bit.ly/3BSIqX4
14 | JUNE 2023

AGRICULTURE
Riverford Organic turns
fully employee-owned
as founder sells stake
Guy Singh-Watson, founder of organic
veg box company Riverford Organic, is
selling his remaining stake in the business,
leaving it 100% owned by its 900 staff.
Singh-Watson, who sold 74% of the
firm to his workers in 2018, has accepted
£9.8m for the remaining stake, to be paid
over five years. The business will now be
fully controlled by a trust on behalf of its
workers, who will receive an annual profit
share and help run the business.
The deal brings the total paid to Singh-
Watson for the firm to £14m since 2018.
He says he will continue to be involved
as a trustee, non-executive director and
spokesperson.
The business, based near Totnes, Devon,
was launched in 1987, with Singh-Watson
delivering organic vegetables to friends;
it is now forecasting sales of about £98m
this year.
Writing for Wicked Leeks website, Singh-
Watson said he sold the business for a
quarter of its value to avoid burdening it
with debt, and to recognise the contribution
of his workers in helping to build it.
“On a good day,” he added, “I am still
a useful – if occasionally cantankerous –
part of the Riverford team, and plan to
continue in this way for the foreseeable
future: growing veg for your boxes, writing
this newsletter, and using my experience to
keep us moving in the right direction. But
the business now rightfully belongs to all
of its nearly 1,000 co-owners, so it’s time to
sell my remaining shares.”
Singh-Watson has said that he will pay
full tax on the sale, and will use some of the
sum raised to install more solar power and
agroforestry on his own farms in Devon and
France, and to support the Ripple Effect
charity, which helps farmers overseas, and
community projects in Devon.
Co-op Group unveils new suppliers for Apiary accelerator
The Co-op Group has chosen the second
group of small suppliers for its business
accelerator, Apiary. The eight firms
– which will hopefully be stocked in
selected stores by the end of the year –
are Blue Turaco coffee, Local vegan beer,
Oatsu porridge, tea brand Humanitea,
baker House of Cinn, Revibed soft drinks,
bakery Black Milk Desserts and condiment
maker Wilderbee Hot Honey.
New Central Co-op store is first to come with solar panels
Central Co-op has launched its first new
store of the year in Streethay, Staffs– its
first new store with solar panels already
fitted. The store is close to the society’s
Support Centre in Lichfield, offering the
co-op’s Food to Go, products supporting
Our Malawi Partnership, Fairtrade goods,
a bakery, and Cook frozen ranges.
South Caernarfon Creameries wins top food award
Farmer-owned South Caernarfon
Creameries (SCC) has won the Food and
Drink Producer of the Year category at
the 2023 Wales Food and Drink Awards.
The 60-year-old co-op has seen sales soar
since launching a website for its flagship
brand, Dragon cheese.
Solar co-op opens latest round of community funding
Edinburgh Community Solar Co-op
(ECSC) has opened the latest round of its
Community Benefit Scheme. Applications
are open until 31 July for communityfocused
organisations in Edinburgh which
would like to buy equipment, provide
additional activities, provide education
on reducing carbon or install renewable
energy at their premises.
Community pub secures extra finance from CCF
A community pub on the Essex/Sussex
border has secured extra support from Coop
and Community Finance (CCF). Lamarsh
Lion Community Pub, near Colchester, has
been owned by locals since 2017. Treasurer
Ruth Allison said: “The challenges of
running a community business in the
current economic environment are complex
and persistent. Having supportive lender is
much needed and appreciated.”
JUNE 2023 | 15

GLOBAL UPDATES
USA
NCBA CLUSA
elects its board
US co-op apex NCBA CLUSA shared
the results of its board elections at its
annual membership meeting. Michelle
Schry, nominations committee chair
and director of retail support at National
Co+op Grocers, said: “We were really
lucky to have a robust and talented slate
of candidates this year, and we deeply
appreciate everyone who chose to step
forward and run for the board.”
Five co-op leaders were re-elected:
Cornelius Blanding
Cornelius Blanding has a wealth of
experience including rural, international
and co-operative economic development.
He is the executive director of the
Federation of Southern Cooperatives,
a position he has held since 2015. His
background involves business and
project development, management
and marketing, with over 25 years of
experience serving Black farmers,
landowners and limited-resource co-ops
as well as rural communities in the South
of the US and around the world.
Juan Fernandez
Juan Fernandez is the president and CEO
of the Credit Union Association of New
Mexico, where he uses his platform to
help credit unions to engage with and
empower Latino communities. Having
worked in credit unions and co-ops for
20 years, Fernandez has worked across
community development, membership
development, leadership, government
affairs and financial wellness. He has
also helped draft, advocate for and pass
legislation to improve the wellbeing of
New Mexicans, such as the passage of a
small dollar loan rate cap in New Mexico
in 2022, which limited predatory lending
in the state.
Esteban Kelly
Esteban Kelly is executive director of the
U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives
(USFWC), and has worked across issues
of multi-racial solidarity and collective
ownership, political education, systemic
thinking and abolitionism. He co-founded
AORTA (Anti-Oppression Resource &
Training Alliance) worker co-op, multistakeholder
freelancer co-op Guilded, and
Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance
(PACA) Kelly was inducted into the North
American Students of Cooperation Hall of
Fame in 2011 for his contributions to the
movement.
Emma McCormick
Emma McCormick is the senior director of
engagement at the National Farmers Union
(NFU), an organisation that advocates
for family farmers and ranchers, and
their communities through education,
co-operation and legislation. With a
background in education, McCormick
uses her skills to produce educational
programmes to help NFU members better
understand farm business management
and the co-operative business model.
Karen Zimbelman
Karen Zimbelman has worked in the coop
sector for over 30 years, including
as a consultant on co-op development,
governance, education programs and
employee benefits, as well as founding
two regional co-op grocers’ associations.
In May 1994, she received the Cooperative
Service Award for dedicated leadership
and service to co-ops at the Consumer
Cooperative Management Association,
and in April 1999 was recognised
for outstanding contribution to cooperative
education by the Association of
Cooperative Educators.
You can read the full bios of each
board member at bit.ly/44L9rJs
National Co+op Grocers
sets out social and
environmental impact
National Co+op Grocers (NCG) has set out
a list of environmental and social benefits
from US co-op grocers.
The 2022 Food Co-op Impact Report
says 100% of NCG co-ops have up-todate
sustainability tracking software and
support, enabling them to set and work
towards goals around carbon emissions.
Organic products made up 38% of its
members’ total sales, down 2% from last
year, while US$160,000 was invested in
advocating for strong organic standards.
When it comes to supporting a more
inclusive economy, NCG found that B Corp
products made up 8% of NCG food coops’
total sales in 2022. Fairtrade-certified
products made up 5% of total sales. Both
figures outperform other natural grocery
competitors and conventional grocers.
Investments in racial justice in the food
system saw NCG raise $131,000 last year
for Black-led food co-ops.
For impact on local food systems, the
average NCG member was found to buy
from 281 local farms and producers and
sell $5.6m of local products in a year.
On employment, around half of NCG
food co-ops report that they pay all staff
local liveable wages. NCG co-ops exceeded
national figures on benefits, with 58% of
NCG employees eligible for healthcare
benefits – 14% higher than the national
coverage rate for service employees. 64%
of co-ops contribute to staff retirement
plans, 24% higher than nationally.
The number of NCG co-ops increased
from 148 last year to 159 this year,
representing a combined total of over 1.3
million individual members.
16 | JUNE 2023

AFRICA
Study finds
unconventional forms
of resilience in farm
co-ops’ Covid response
A study of the resilience of sub-Saharan
African co-ops during the pandemic has
revealed an unexpected relationship
between co-op service provision and
business viability.
Of the 30 co-ops studied, those
who experienced declines in business
performance were those which offered
the most services, and also saw higher
increases in membership.
The study, conducted by the
International Cooperative Research Group
(ICRG), sampled 30 co-ops from Uganda,
Malawi, Madagascar, Kenya and Rwanda,
mainly from the agricultural sector, as
well as two Kenyan housing co-ops.
These co-ops were categorised as either
‘business resilient’ or ‘non-business
resilient’, based on annual income divided
by membership, or ‘business membership
ratio’ over a 12-month period.
The major challenges posed by Covid-19
reported by respondents were restricted
mobility, financial hardship and reduced
operations.
Restricted mobility was the most
commonly cited challenge, mentioned by
18 out of 30 co-ops, but was an even higher
concern among non-business resilient coops,
who were generally situated further
from the nearest city to their business
resilient counterparts.
Financial hardship and reduced
operations were reported as challenges
by 13 and 12 co-ops respectively, but
by a greater proportion of business
resilient co-ops than of non-resilient coops,
suggesting the two categories may
have different perceptions of the most
significant challenges.
In response to these challenges, a
number of strengths and strategies were
employed by the co-ops surveyed. Top of
the list was co-ops’ ability to innovate,
mentioned by 14 of the 30 co-ops, followed
by commitment and trust of members,
mentioned by eight respondents, then
diversification and sustained operations,
both mentioned by four co-ops.
Membership was highlighted as a
particular strength of the co-op model
in general, with co-ops increasing
their membership overall during the
pandemic.
Non-business resilient co-ops had a
higher number of members, on average,
than business resilient co-operatives, both
before and after the pandemic. They also
experienced greater membership growth,
of nearly 60% from pre-Covid-19 to 2021,
whereas business resilient co-operatives
grew by 41%, on average.
One leader of a co-op from the nonresilient
group said: “The major strength
we’ve had is co-operation among
members… Though there are many
challenges they all came together and
packed their produce in one place. And
even when they were faced with high
prices from the up-takers, the degree of
co-operation was high. Members came
together and shared how to work together;
because of this we got high volumes.”
Despite decreased business
membership ratios, the non-business
resilient co-op were found to not only
continue in providing their usual services
to members, but many also went a step
further, providing Covid-related services
to support their members. This was also
seen in business resilient co-ops, but to a
lesser extent.
The report makes a number of
recommendations, and says the complex
picture shows the need for a greater
variety of tools to gauge resilience outside
of business membership ratio and purely
economic measures.
Recommendations include: national
policy recognising co-ops as essential
services during emergencies to provide
flexibility; stronger road infrastructure
across rural regions; research and training
initiatives for diversification of products;
improvements to existing technological
infrastructure and literacy; systems for
decision-making and training that do not
require in-person meetings; and decisionmaking
processes that integrate member
wellbeing and business viability.
“While we found that approximately
only half of the sample were business
resilient during Covid-19, the findings
suggest co-operatives exhibited other
forms of resilience yet to be explored and
operationalised in co-operative resilience
research,” concludes the report.
“Business membership ratio and
economic indicators are external measures
of resilience, but for those living on the
ground, carrying out daily operations,
resilience and value may be measured in a
more tangible and internal way.”
You can read the full report at
bit.ly/3VOA8c6
JUNE 2023 | 17

EUROPE
Copa-Cogeca
welcome European
Agriculture Committee
vote on food security
The European Parliament’s Agriculture
and Rural Development Committee
adopted a report on food security on 25
April, a move welcomed by Copa-Cogeca.
The two apexes, which represent
European farmers and agri co-ops, pointed
out that the past few years have been
challenging for the sector, particularly
due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine
and its impact on supply chains.
“In this context European farmers and
agri-co-operatives have continued to
produce restlessly to feed EU citizens and
responsibly contribute to alleviate global
food insecurity,” they said. “It is partly
also thanks to the common agricultural
policy (CAP) that we have managed to
ensure food security and affordability, in
a context in which farmers needed to have
a predictable source of income together.”
Adopted with 39 votes in favour, eight
against and no abstentions, the report
calls on the European Commission
to “take the necessary measures to
provide farmers with planning security
and guarantees, making it possible to
maintain and, if necessary, increase food
production in the EU”.
It also points out that “the European
Green Deal could be a milestone in the
EU transition to a greener and more
sustainable economy” but warns that
many of the resulting measures might
have adverse effects, which have not yet
been properly assessed, on EU farms
and food security. As such, it calls on the
Commission to carry out a comprehensive
assessment of the cumulative impact of
Green Deal legislative proposals on the EU
farming sector.
It also suggests a range of measures
to help the sector, such as allowing a
temporary derogation, as well as the
use of alternatives to chemical fertilisers
such as RENURE (‘REcovered Nitrogen
from manURE’) and digestate which
increase circularity on farms and granting
financial support to farmers to implement
digital technologies and precision crop
management. An EU-specific programme
should also be devised to help boost the
modernisation of irrigation facilities and
the promotion of new water management
infrastructure, adds the report.
In terms of food waste, the report
suggests making investments in
infrastructure for more sustainable
transport and storage facilities of farm
products.
It also calls for developing an EU
protein and feed strategy as part of the
food security plan to enable farmers to
become less dependent on imports from
third countries.
“If we face tighter restrictions on
cultivation and higher production
standards due to the EU framework, EU
farmers expect to be treated fairly by
the Commission’s trade policy,” warned
Copa and Cogeca. The two apexes
also welcomed the attention given to
innovation in the report.
Marlene Mortler MEP (EPP, Germany),
who wrote the report, said: “The European
Commission should ensure that our
farmers are able to produce and supply
high-value agricultural commodities.
“The objectives of the Green Deal
must be implemented in such a way
that food security is not compromised
and that sustainability is ensured in
environmental, economic and social
terms. Now it looks as if the European
Commission has difficulties hearing the
problems of farmers.”
She added: “The war in Ukraine and
rising costs are creating the fear that
supply chains may become geopolitical
tools. At the same time, several law
proposals by the European Commission
are either cutting agricultural production
or diminishing the arable land area.”
“The Parliament proposes several
measures to strengthen the position of
primary producers in the food chain,
support young and female farmers,
and encourage investments. Instead of
creating new burdens for farmers, the EPP
Group calls on the Commission to take
steps to protect the future of farmers and
food security.”
The draft resolution will now go through
a plenary vote in Parliament in June.
Co-operative Press Limited
Board Election 2023 –
Call for Nominations
Deadline for receipt of
nominations: 12 Noon
on Friday 23rd June
See page 25 for full details
18 | JUNE 2023

DENMARK
Coop Denmark reports DKK 628m loss for 2022, its ‘worst year ever’
Coop Denmark has announced its
annual results for the financial year 2022,
reporting a loss of DKK 628m (£74.4m).
The group, the second-biggest
retailer of consumer goods in Denmark,
described 2022 as “the worst year ever”
for itself and its independent consumer
associations.
Its turnover for 2022 was KK 46.9bn
(£5.6bn) excluding VAT, 2% more than
in the previous year. However, large
investments in a new discount chain and
IT platform, coupled with falling customer
confidence and changing shopping habits
affected the retailer’s performance.
“It is an unsatisfactory result, which
comes after a number of good years,”
said chair Lasse Bolander. “But 2022 was
also the year when we accelerated the
investments in our strategy, Fremtidens
Coop, which will transform Coop and
ensure a simple, efficient and winning
Coop with fewer but stronger chains.”
The group invested DKK 750m in price,
conversion and roll-out costs for 250 new
365discount stores and the subsequent
closure of Fakta, which reported a loss of
DKK 651m.
Another DKK1 billion was invested in its
new SAP platform, Coop One, which, says
Coop Denmark, “will provide significant
gains in the coming years”.
One of the factors that impacted the
retailer’s results is a decrease in consumer
confidence, which Coop Denmark
attributed to high inflation and the war
in Ukraine. These changes impacted
customers’ shopping habits, who opted for
cheaper and fewer products. The retailer
said it chose not to pass on the costs
resulting from supplier price increases in
full to its customers.
Coop Denmark launched a new growth
strategy earlier this year, which will see it
invest DKK4bn over the coming years. The
group expects better results for next year
but warns that low consumer confidence
is here to stay.
“We have had growth in comparable
stores of 18% in 365 in 2022,” said
managing director Kræn Østergård
Nielsen. “far above the discount market as
a whole. With victories and top positions in
a large number of price tests, we can state
that we have gained a much better price
image, which is crucial in discount. So
we have a good starting point for the next
phase, where the goal is to continue the
high growth in our turnover and market
share in discount with our green chain.
“With large investments in the three
chains, with a state-of-the-art IT platform
rolled out for all product areas and
stores, the strongest own brands and an
aggressive focus on responsibility, we will
in the coming years become even more
attractive to customers, and thus once
again grow and win market shares.”
ITALY
Italian retailer
Coop Alleanza 3.0
reports €132m loss for
2022
Italian co-operative group Coop Alleanza
3.0 ended 2022 with a loss of €132m
(£115m), its annual report reveals.
The retailer attributed the loss to
investments in expanding its reach and
supporting the purchasing power of
members and customers.
During a press conference Mario
Cifiello, president of Coop Alleanza 3.0,
revealed the group is looking to invest
€760m over the next four years to enhance
its commercial offer. He said the plan was
“ambitious and challenging but at the
same time pragmatic and concrete”.
Some of the measures planned for
the next four years include investments
of €130m over five years to support the
purchasing power of shareholders and
customers; investments of over €420m for
the store network restructuring plan and
technological and digital innovation; and
growing the Coop branded product.
Other measures include implementing
a new automation system at the Anzola
dell’Emilia hub (Bologna); continuing the
modernisation of the digital ecosystem
towards a new multi-device APP and
digitisation of the point of sale and
expanding training to support staff
members.
The group has 2.3 million members and
plans to increase sales to members from
an increase in the percentage of sales to
members from 78% presently to 82% in
2027. It also projects sales under the Coop
brand at €6.3bn in 2027 (compared to
€5.6bn in 2022) and an operating income
of of €230m in 2027 compared to €90m in
2022.
Cifiello added that the group was on a
“virtuous recovery path” and its recovery
would enter a new development phase. He
added that the group had chosen to support
the purchasing power of its members
and customers through price control
interventions, absorbing a significant part
of the cost increases causes by inflation.
JUNE 2023 | 19

BELGIUM
Belgian government wants citizen participation in offshore wind energy
The Belgian government has announced
the tender criteria for future wind farms in
the Princess Elisabeth Zone, which include
citizen participation, a move welcomed by
renewable energy co-operatives.
Announced by energy minister Tinne
Van der Straeten on 21 April, the tender
conditions will be laid down in a royal
decree.
One stakeholders set to benefit from
this announcement is Seacoop, a Belgian
co-operative social enterprise founded
by 33 renewable energy citizen cooperatives,
all of which are members of
REScoop Flanders or REScoop Wallonia, a
federation of 20 renewable energy co-ops.
“This is the first time in Europe, if
not the world, that a government is
encouraging citizen participation in large
offshore wind farms through renewable
energy communities,” Seacoop said in a
statement.
According to Seacoop, in 2022
alone more than 100,000 citizens who
were members of renewable energy
communities in Belgium were able to
save hundreds of euros on their annual
electricity bill.
Seacoop enables local co-operatives
and their members to co-invest in offshore
wind turbines and gain direct access to
the energy produced there. They plan to
invest €445m in future North Sea wind
farms, take 20% ownership of the wind
farms and supply 20% of the electricity to
citizens.
Seacoop is working with co-operative
electricity suppliers Ecopower and
Cociter on the practical arrangements for
acquiring this electricity and supplying it
to the co-operatives. The co-op says that
securing supply contracts and managing
such volumes of electricity remains a
challenge, but is committed to meeting it.
The co-op plans a national
communication campaign in 2027 to
invite citizens to join one of the 34 local
co-ops to participate in this initiative.
The Belgian government’s
announcement came ahead of the North
Sea Summit, held on 24 April in Ostend,
Belgium. Nine countries (Belgium,
Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands,
France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway
and the UK) along with the president
of the European Commission attended
the summit, which concluded with the
adoption of the Ostend Declaration –
commitment to deliver cross-border
projects and anchor the renewable
offshore industry in Europe.
As part of this, they set offshore wind
targets of 120 GW by 2030 and 300 GW
by 2050 in the North Seas, from 30 GW
presently.
EUROPE
Sarah de Heusch
appointed director of
Social Economy Europe
Social Economy Europe (SEE) has
appointed a new director, Sarah de
Heusch, who joins from freelancers’
platform co-op Smart.
De Heusch takes over the role from Victor
Meseguer, who has joined the Spanish
government as special commissioner for
the social economy.
She had worked at Smart, a crosssector
network of 80,000 autonomous
workers and freelancers, since 2008.
Joining as a researcher, she took the role
of international project manager in 2009,
and in 2015 was made public affairs
officer for its general management and
development unit.
Through these roles she contributed to
the development of Smart’s participatory
working groups presided over its ethical
committee, which she helped to set up.
At Smart, she became involved in
the wider platform co-op movement,
chaired the working group on atypical
employment, platform workers and
co-ops of the European confederation
of industrial and service cooperatives
(Cecop) and the working group on the
Future of Work of the International
Cooperative Entrepreneurship Think Tank
(ICETT).
As a board member of La Coop des
Communs, she worked to improve
collaboration between co-ops, the
commons movement, unions and cities.
Before joining Smart she was assistant
to the secretary general of the University
Network of Capitals of Europe.
“It is with great enthusiasm that I take
on the role of director of SEE,” she said,
“as I believe the world needs an economy
that puts people and the environment
before profit.
The EU, UN and International Labour
Organization have acknowledged
the added value of social economy in
promoting a fairer economy, sustainable
development and decent work. It is our
role to make sure adapted policies are
put into place for this type of economy to
strive.”
De Heusch says she wants SEE to
maintain pivotal role in implementing the
EU’s new Social Economy Action Plan and
empowering its members to make the best
use of it.
“I look forward to pursuing the work
that the team and members of the
network have led until now, to keep social
economy high on the EU agenda, to grow
the network and make it a key player of
the twin transition,” she added.
20 | JUNE 2023

IRELAND
Irish agri food
co-ops told to prepare
for new Brexit import
controls
The Irish Co-operative Organisation
Society (Icos) is advising members to
reactivate their Brexit planning following
a warning from the agriculture minister
Charlie McConalogue.
In 2020, the UK postponed post-Brexit
sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls
but is introducing new measures on 31
October as part of its Target Operating
Model.
Irish officials are urging exporters to
get ready for the changes, including a
requirement to pre-notify all exports using
the UK’s food and feed import system
(Ipaffs) – regardless of the risk category
– and an export health certification for
“medium risk” animal and plant products.
“While clarity is still needed, Icos
understands that dairy products, such as
cheese are designated ‘low risk’, meaning
no export health certificates will be
needed and lower border entry checks will
apply,” Icos said in a statement, adding
that dairy products containing raw milk,
infant formula and meat products are
classified as “medium risk” under the new
rules.
From 31 January the UK will also
introduce Border Control Posts (BCP)
checks for high and medium risk foods
from the EU but, according to Icos, these
checks for Irish exports “will not start
until April 2024, at the earliest, due to
preparedness levels at Welsh ports”.
Businesses wishing to get advice on
the issue can contact the Department on
any Brexit-related issues via its dedicated
email address: brexitcall@agriculture.
gov.ie, or by telephone on (01) 607 2830.
FRANCE
Railcoop suspends freight activities to
focus on developing passenger services
Railcoop’s co-op’s board of directors voted
to suspend its freight activities on 19 April
in order to concentrate its resources on the
launch of the Bordeaux-Lyon line.
France’s first rail co-operative, Railcoop
plans to launch a passenger service
between Bordeaux and Lyon in the
summer of 2024.
“Despite the start of a new service
and good development prospects in the
South-West [of France], forecasts do not
currently allow us to envisage reaching
the economic profitability of the freight
activity in 2023. We are reorganising
our activities to focus exclusively on
developing the travellers business. The
development of a local rail freight service
remains a major ambition for Railcoop.
This development represents an essential
link to support the ecological transition
in the territories,” the co-op said in a
statement.
It added that members would be asked
to provide feedback on the freight services
provided by the co-op in order to assess
their experience and “lay the foundations
for the resumption of this medium-term
activity.”
Set up in 2019, Railcoop is a co-operative
society of collective interest (SCIC) with
over 14,000 member owners. The co-op
had envisioned running its first passenger
service in 2022 but witnessed delays due
to Covid-19.
In March the co-op’s members adopted
a resolution to start a restricted passenger
service from 2024 with a majority of
86.39%. With funding from banks and
institutional investors pending, the co-op
chose to finance this investment with its
own funds from members.
Railcoop plans to offer a two-day return
trip between Bordeaux and Lyon and it
will be renovating trains in 2023.
To achieve this first objective, the cooperative
will need to raise €4.1m in 2023 in
order to cover the necessary investments,
particularly the purchase of an additional
X72500 three-coach trainset.
To meet this need the co-op is has
launched two fundraisers, a share offer
via its site, and an equity securities offer
via the Lita.co platform.
JUNE 2023 | 21

AUSTRALIA
BCCM holds
European launch for
tool to measure value
of co-op businesses
Australia’s Business Council of Cooperatives
and Mutuals (BCCM) has
formally launched its framework to
measure the value of co-operative
businesses.
Mutual Value Measurement© (MVM),
developed by the BCCM in conjunction
with Melbourne’s Monash University
Business School and Warwick University
Business School, was launched overnight
at an event at London’s The Shard.
“Valuing the positive impact of cooperatives
and mutuals on their members,
their customers, their communities, and
wider society, is well overdue,” said BCCM
CEO Melina Morrison.
“In fact, one of the greatest challenges
for co-ops and mutuals is to be able to
quantify and communicate the value they
create, in ways that are understood by their
stakeholders. We know there is a huge
gap between the scale of the co-operative
movement and the visibility and awareness
of the business model. Nowhere is this
more evident than in Australia where eight
out of ten people are members of at least
one co-operative or mutual and only three
out of ten are aware of that fact.
p Melinda Morrison speaking at the launch of the MVM Framework (Image: bccmau/Flickr)
“Mutual Value Measurement is a
framework that makes sure none of the
value co-ops create is hidden, overlooked,
or ignored.”
She added: “Against a backdrop of
recessionary winds, inflation and a cost
of living crisis that is seeing increasing
numbers falling into poverty, with geopolitical
tensions ratcheting and the
climate crisis sharpening to the predicted
emergency, there’s not a minute to lose.
“People are hungry for business models
that ‘do business’ with purpose. Our
business model is not only fit for the times,
but also vital for the future.”
MVM was developed after a two-year
research project led by Monash University
and involving participation by 13 Australian
co-operative and mutual businesses.
The framework helps co-ops and
mutuals to measure their total value
creation using six common criteria. These
are commerciality; shaping markets;
member relationships; community
relationships; ecosystem and reciprocity;
and lastly, mutual mindset.
“MVM is customised to our unique
characteristics and does not require
thought reshaping to fit a less aligned
framework,” said Morrison.
“One of its most exciting applications
will be to enhance ESG and sustainability
reporting by co-ops and mutuals.”
The BCCM is the national peak body
representing Australia’s $34.4 billion cooperative
and mutual sector.
USA
Filene Research
Institute invites credit
unions to join its
innovation study
The Filene Research Institute has
launched a call for US credit unions to
take part in its Credit Union Innovation
Success Study.
Now in its second edition, the project was
set up to explore the level of innovation in
the credit union sector, as viewed through
the eyes of members. Around 5,225 credit
union members took part in the first survey
in 2022, which identified opportunities to
differentiate the sector from traditional
bank competitors and fintechs.
The findings from 2022 indicate that,
compared to companies across the US
economy, credit unions place slightly
below average on their Innovation Index
scores. According to Filene, credit unions
also scored average on perceptions of
social innovation, but rank higher than
most financial services firms.
Building on these findings, Filene has
introduced additional survey questions,
looking at members’ perceived trust
of their credit union and asking which
unique aspects of innovation they value
most.
All participating credit unions will
receive a personalised, confidential
benchmark report, along with industrywide
data on credit union innovation.
“What makes this effort unique is that
innovativeness is determined by users of
products and services – in this case, credit
union members,” said Lerzan Aksoy,
Fordham University dean and professor
of marketing, who wrote Filene’s year one
study. “It is vital that credit unions listen
to and learn from their members so that
they can provide innovations that really
matter to their members.”
Credit unions have until 31 May to
enrol on the free study, which is run in
partnership with Rockbridge Associates.
Up to 50 credit unions will be enrolled,
with places filled on a first come, first
served basis.
22 | JUNE 2023

CANADA
Record number of
housing co-ops in line for
small green grants
The Co-operative Housing Federation
(CHF) of Canada is to allocate small grants
to 49 co-ops across the country via its
Greener Co-op Microgrants programme.
Designed to support projects that help
protect the environment, the scheme will
see CHF Canada fund small projects from
CA$1,000 to a limit of $5,000.
The federation will allocate over
$160,000 to help launch sustainability
projects, including community gardens,
energy efficiency initiatives, electric
vehicle charging, rainwater collection,
and cycling infrastructure.
Any housing co-op member of CHF
Canada can apply but funds are limited and
will be distributed according to quality of
applications, geographic representation,
size and variety of projects.
Among those already selected is
Carpathia Housing Co-op, which will use
the funding to build community gardens.
“These gardens will give us the
opportunity to offset the rising cost of
fresh produce and contribute to a healthy,
balanced diet,” said the co-op. “We look
forward to a summer of gathering as a
community and growing together, both
literally and figuratively! Thank you CHF
Canada for this fantastic opportunity and
we look forward to sharing our completed
project with you.”
Mimico Co-op will also receive a
grant through the scheme. It said: “This
grant will support the expansion of the
vegetable garden, empower and educate
residents while building community
health through providing access to fresh
produce that will nourish families. Thank
you CHF Canada!,” said the co-op.
The Greener Co-op Microgrant
programme is supported by the
Community Housing Transformation
Centre and various sponsors.
NZ Co-op Bank tops customer satisfaction survey
REI co-op donates US$40m to nonprofits
The Co-operative Bank of New Zealand
outperformed banks with the largest
market share in a customer satisfaction
survey carried out by Consumer NZ.
The annual ranking featured 13
institutions, considering factors like value
for money, call centre service and dealing
with complaints. Around 83% of Cooperative
Bank customers surveyed said
they were very satisfied with the service.
Dubai’s Union Coop signs agreement with WWF
Dubai’s Union Coop has signed a
memorandum of understanding (MoU)
with conservation non-proft Emirates
Nature-WWF. The co-op has set a number
of social responsibility goals to support
projects led by government, private
and social welfare institutions and
community welfare groups.
Nepalese co-op apex wins FAO award for SDG work
Nepal Agriculture Cooperative Central
Federation (NACCFL) has won first
place at the new Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations
(FAO) Awards Programme. In their first
edition, the awards acknowledge progress
towards the United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs).
Outdoors retail co-op REI is investing
US$4m in 40 nonprofit organisations
working to create a more equitable
outdoors.
The money from the retailer’s
Cooperative Action Fund will benefit
22 existing REI partners and 18 new
organisations that have joined the Fund’s
growing national network.
St Lucia’s co-op ministry launches mascot competition
The Department of Cooperatives of
Saint Lucia has launched a School
Mascot Design Challenge to promote
the co-operative business model. The
competition, for schoolchildren aged
10-13, is designed to “instil a renewed
and heightened appreciation for the cooperative
business model, its origins and
continued philosophical focus on ‘people
helping people’”.
JUNE 2023 | 23

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Co-operative Press Limited
Board Election 2023 – Call for Nominations
Deadline for receipt of nominations: 12 Noon on Friday 23rd June
(a) Positions to filled by election in 2023
Nominations are invited for the following positions to serve on the Board of Co-operative Press Ltd. from the close of the 2023
AGM until the close of the 2026 AGM:
• Three Directors nominated by and from organisations that are members of the Society and are registered in the United
Kingdom, excluding the Co-operative Group Ltd and Co-operatives UK Ltd.
• One Director nominated by organisations that are members of the Society and are registered outside the United
Kingdom.
• Two Directors nominated by and from individual members of the Society.
(b)
Form of nomination
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(c)
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Nominations from individual members
Individual members of the society who wish to put themselves forward for election can self-nominate by sending a
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secretary@thenews.coop
Eligibility to serve as a Director
• Only members who are aged 18 years or more on the closing date for nominations may serve on the Board of Directors.
• No Director shall serve for more than nine consecutive years. Retiring Directors who have served the maximum period
must stand down for at least one year before they shall be eligible for further election or appointment.
• In accordance with the Cooperative Principle of education, training and information, Directors must agree to undertake
training during their term of office as deemed appropriate by the Society. This training will include information on the
roles and responsibilities of being a Director of a society which is also a co-operative. Before accepting a position as
Director an individual must agree to undertake such training during their first year of office as deemed appropriate by
the Society. This training will include information on the roles and responsibilities of being a director of a registered
society.
• The Board will prepare, approve and enforce a code of conduct for Directors that sets out expected behaviours and
conduct. The code of conduct for Directors will include commitments to training and ongoing professional development
where needed, in order that the Board is competent to fulfil its role. All Directors will be required to sign an acceptance
of the code of conduct for Directors on taking office, or as soon as practicable afterwards.
(d)
(e)
Remuneration
The Society pays reasonable out of pocket expenses to Directors and any such fee as is agreed by the members at an
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accommodation. Board meetings are a mixture of online and hybrid in format and are typically two hours long.
Meetings that are wholly online take place on a mid-week evening at a mutually convenient time to accommodate the
availability of staff and Directors. Hybrid meetings take place at Holyoake House in Manchester on a Friday, usually
ahead of a Co-operative Group National Members’ Council weekend. The biennial strategy review starts on a Friday
afternoon and continues all day on a Saturday.
There are sub-committees to consider matters such as a Staffing, Investments and Environmental Policy. These meet as
required online on a weekday during office hours for up to an hour. Committees usually meet two or three times during
the year and most directors serve on one or two committees according to their skills and availability.
Co-operative Press Ltd, Holyoake House, Hanover Street, Manchester, M60 0AS

YOUR VIEWS
Co-operation: More than an idea
Your detailed report of the 2023 Retail
Conference had Shirine Khoury-Haq,
Group CEO, worrying about how we
respond to current challenges and a 6%
market share. But she answered her own
question: “We have something that none
of the others have. We have the idea of cooperation”.
I was pleased she repeated this
sentiment at the Group’s AGM and am
impressed with her newly discovered
zeal for co-operation (although I was not
Have your say
Add your comments to our stories
online at thenews.coop, get in
touch via social media, or send us
a letter. If sending a letter, please
include your address and contact
number. Letters may be edited and
no longer than 350 words.
impressed with AGM attendance: just 125
in the hall at voting time).
In recent times, co-operation among
the different retail societies hasn’t been
led top-down. A simple example: recently
I visited Bridgwater, a moderate-sized
town with three co-op shops, each run by
a different society (Group, Southern and
Radstock). I chose the Southern store,
but didn’t show my Group card as I knew
they had withdrawn from the mutual
acceptance of cards. It was good to hear
that societies are beginning to talk to each
other about this issue, but where has “the
Co-operative News, Holyoake
House, Hanover Street,
Manchester M60 0AS
letters@thenews.coop
@coopnews
Co-operative News
idea of co-operation” been?
The Group’s recently reported increase
in members is to be applauded, but the
majority of shoppers are not members,
suggesting limited loyalty. And ask the
general public why they don’t shop with
us, and the price issue invariably arises.
So how could the Co-op with its dismal
6% market share raise its game and lower
prices? As Khoury-Haq said at the AGM,
by becoming part of something bigger.
A glimpse of this future may have been
previewed in your article debating the new
as yet to be chosen Group chair. Group
secretary Kendal-Ward said: “We are part
of a wider co-op movement stretching
across industries and nations and need to
play our part in driving co-operation”.
Hopefully between this and Khoury-
Haq’s sentiments, the Co-op is turning
a corner for the better. However, until
something positive happens and true cooperation
among co-operatives begins to
happen it will remain, to quote the CEO,
“the idea of co-operation”.
Leslie Freitag / via email
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26 | JUNE 2023

OBITUARIES
Trevor James, housing co-op pioneer
The Dutch housing co-operative
movement is mourning the loss of Trevor
James, who passed away unexpectedly on
29 April at the age of 74 following a cardiac
arrest while on a nature walk in the UK.
A consistent ambassador for consumers
in the housing market, James was born on
5 April 1949 in Boscombe, Bournemouth.
He pursued a degree in Architecture at
Portsmouth School of Architecture. He
received his accreditation from the Royal
Institute of British Architects in 1976
following which he registered with the
Architects Registration Council of the
United Kingdom.
His involvement in the housing coop
movement began in the 1970s when
he worked for five years as an architect
and process supervisor at a service
organisation for housing co-operatives in
London.
After moving to the Netherlands in
1981 he joined the Housing Experiments
Ministerial Steering Group (SEV) where
he supported 23 resident groups in
the Netherlands in researching the
possibilities of and setting up selfmanagement
projects. He continued his
involvement in the establishment and
supervision of several self-management
projects throughout the 1980s and 1990s,
particularly through Platform31, the
successor of SEV. He served as an expert
of Platform31’s Klushuur Program and
partner on its Housing Cooperatives
Program. He contributed and authored
several publications for Platform31.
In 1985 he established ABAKUS, a
consulting company advising policy
makers and social housing providers
about resident participation and
empowerment.
In 1998 he became a consultant for
Vannimwegen, where he continued to
work until his retirement in 2021.
In 2020 he was involved in setting up
Cooplink, a secondary co-op for housing
co-operatives. As chair of Cooplink, James
dedicated almost all of his spare time to
the apex pro bono to help support the
current wave of small scale resident
led mutual housing associations in the
Netherlands.
Cooplink colleagues say he was “an
exceptionally warm-hearted person,
socially engaged and passionate about his
vocation” who “put his heart and soul into
creating better opportunities for housing
co-operatives”.
“He taught me and many others
that residents can also be at the helm
themselves, that the biggest pitfall is to
organise ‘for’ and not ‘with’ residents,”
said his former colleague, Erik-Jan
Hopstaken, who described him as
someone who “ensured that everyone was
heard showed warmth for each person
he interacted with compassion, rather
than pity.” He chose to let things happen
and avoided taking the stage if it was not
necessary.
His important contributions to
the growth of the Dutch housing coop
movement brought him royal
recognition in 2022 when he received
the Knight of the Order of Orange
Nassau for the introduction of “right to
management” within the Dutch housing
sector and his role in the emancipation
of dwellers. He received the accolade
from Utrecht mayor Sharon Dijksma,
who said at the time “The Royal Family
has great appreciation for how Trevor
James has been committed to society for
many years. That is why it has pleased
the King to give Trevor James a royal
decoration.” She added: “The way in
which he influenced the emancipation of
residents throughout his life is unique.
He impressed with his tenacity and
held on where others let go.” The mayor
praised James for being able to bring
together residents and public housing
representatives, acting as a bridge
between the two groups of stakeholders.
“It’s all true: Trevor James was an
exceptional human being. We will
continue his work, live his passion and
realise his dream. Our thoughts are with
his wife Annemiek, his daughters Dora
and Lianne and his family,” Cooplink said
in a statement.
Ahead of helping to set up Cooplink
Trevor got in touch with the UK’s
Confederation of Co-operative Housing to
exchange experience.
Blase Lambert, CEO of the UK’s
Confederation of Co-operative Housing,
said: “He contacted us because they were
looking to set up Cooplink and get the cooperative
housing sector up and running
in the Netherlands.
“I attended a couple of online meetings
with him and his colleagues and I met
him over in Helsinki at the International
Social Housing Festival where we were
both speaking in different sessions a nd
again in Zurich at the International
Co-operative Housing Symposium. We
continued to have contact over the time
and I introduced him to colleagues at
Cooperative Housing International with
a view to try to link what the Netherlands
were doing into the sort of broader work
of the international housing co-operative
movement.
“I was really sad and shocked to
suddenly hear of his passing from one of
his colleagues over there. It is a real loss
to the people who knew him, and to the
housing co-op sector in the Netherlands,
in which he has been very active.”
James’s family have set up a page
for colleagues and friends wishing
to leave tributes and condolences:
memori.nl/gedenkplaats/trevor-james
JUNE 2023 | 27

High hopes, hard choices
at Co-op Group’s AGM
By Anca Voinea
q Co-op Group
National Members’
Council president,
Denise Scott-
McDonald,
The Co-op Group asserted its values and
resilience in the face of a gruelling economic
backdrop at its AGM in Manchester. Executives
fielded questions on issues like the sale of its
petrol forecourts and chicken welfare standards,
and announced possible areas of collaboration
across the retail co-op sector, such as a common
membership platform.
Welcoming members to the meeting – held
in person and online on 20 May – outgoing
chair Allan Leighton hailed the Group’s balance
sheet – stronger than any of its competitors.
Responding to a member’s question about the
sale of the Group’s petrol forecourt business, he
said this had cut net debt to £300m. “The most
important thing any organisation has to do at
this period of time in this climate is to have a
strong balance sheet,” he added.
The 64% cut in net debt was also welcomed
by CEO Shirine Khoury-Haq, who said the
society was in a stronger position after tackling
challenges such as the extra £100m in costs
from rising energy and wage bills. “We increased
our cash flow,” she added. “We became a cashgenerative
organisation, and one that does not
need to borrow to fund investments. We created
realistic business forecasts ... to justify the
investment, and we delivered on those forecasts
for the first time in years.
“We maintained our underlying profits, we
mitigated significant, externally influenced
operating cost increases by delivering over
£100m of in year cost savings and we are now,
as a result of all of this, a far more resilient, and
financially stronger Co-op.”
Stressing the Group’s co-op credentials, she
said active membership also grew over the year,
with 45% of new members aged under 35.
Looking to 2023, Khoury-Haq said the Group
would “stick closely to our financial plan”,
“invest but in a prudent and capital-conscious
way” and try to add a million new active
members over the next five years.
Co-ops face legal barriers when accessing
capital – the subject of much lobbying by the
movement over the past year – which “puts us at
a potential competitive disadvantage”, she said.
“But one thing we do have that the rest of our
competitors don’t is the power of co-operation.”
Drawing inspiration from the success of SOK
Group in Finland and Coop Norway, Khoury-
Haq said: “What these organisations have in
common is that the co-operative movement has
come together to be very clear about their core
and non-core activities. While the independent
societies have their own members and they serve
them independently, they have consolidated
buying, distribution, IT, marketing and
membership platforms, and they have benefited
from significant economies of scale.”
She challenged other retail societies to “work
together to create a co-op ecosystem that will
challenge our competitors, while promoting cooperative
values, and doing good business.”
Remuneration Committee chair Stevie Spring
highlighted measures to support colleagues,
such as increasing the colleague member
discount for Co-op-branded products from 20%
to 30%.
Other actions included putting £225 onto
each colleague’s membership card, aligning pay
rates to the Real Living Wage, moving the hourly
rate for customer team members by 10.1% from
£9.90 to £10.90 per hour and investing £90m
in colleague pay in 2023. The Group’s pay ratio
stands at 35/1, compared to 48/1 six years ago,
28 | JUNE 2023

said Spring, with current pay policy approved at
last year’s AGM.
Kenyatte Nelson, chief membership and
customer officer, introduced the new member
strategy. “It cannot be just about loyalty, it’s
about enabling engagement in the Co-op and
supporting communities,” he said, adding the
Group is adding 20,000 new members per week.
Paul Gerrard, campaigns, public affairs and
board secretariat director, described some of the
key campaigns led by the Group over the past
year, including its work to tackle modern slavery
and its efforts with other co-ops to secure new
protections for shop floor workers.
“We’ve not done it individually, our society,”
he said. “We’ve not won because we’re a
co-operative. We’ve won because we’re cooperatives,
we won because of the co-operative
movement and we will win as co-operatives.”
His points were reiterated by Khoury-Haq,
who said the Group was exploring opportunities
with build economies of scale. “It’s really early
days and I’m sure that you can imagine that a
piece of work of this nature may take some time
to materialise in our businesses,” she added,
“but we are working quickly.”
The first meeting had been held earlier in
the month, followed a strategy session with
other retail co-op CEOs. Possibilities include a
common membership platform and wallet.
The motions
Motion 1: Approving the annual report (32,331 in
favour, 98.44%)
Motion 2: Directors’ remuneration report
(89.53% in favour)
Motion 3: Co-operate report received (98.47%)
Motion 4: Shirine Khoury-Haq re-elected as
executive director (93.3%).
Motions 5&6: Stevie Spring and Victor
Adebowale re-elected as independent nonexecutive
directors (91.94% and 93.41%).
Motion 7: EY reappointed as auditors (96,71%).
Motion 8: Joint board and council motion
backing political expenditure including
donations and/or subscriptions to political
parties, not exceeding £750,000 in total for the
year commencing 1 January 2024 (81.02%).
Four advisory motions also passed.
Motion 9 from the Council asked the board
“to showcase and celebrate the positive impact
of our ethical and sustainable credentials for
our members and customers, communities and
our planet by promoting ethical and sustainable
practices in our food stores through member
offers, promotions, and our brand and marketing
activity all year round.” (97.57%)
p Co-op Group CEO,
Shirine Khoury-Haq,
addresses members at
the AGM
“I FULLY SUPPORT
THE BOARD’S
AMBITIONS TO
WELCOME ONE
MILLION NEW
MEMBERS OVER
THE NEXT FIVE
YEARS”
- DENISE SCOTT-
MCDONALD
Motion 10, from Council and supported by
the Young Members’ Group, asked the board to
ensure that the views and needs of young people
are built into how decisions are made across the
Group. It also encouraged the board to work with
the wider movement to make co-ops relevant
to all young people and consider how to lobby
for co-op business models to be included in the
curriculum in schools. (98.09%)
Motion 11, also from Council, asked the board
to work with the Council to develop new ways to
communicate member ownership and the co-op
difference, and to broaden opportunities to make
membership meaningful. (98.05%)
Motion 12, from individual members, called
on the Group to improve the welfare standards
for chickens and consider adopting the Better
Chicken Commitment in full. (96.36%)
Prior to the vote Matt Hood, managing
director, Co-op Food, said the board could not,
in the current economic climate, support one
of the measures in the motion – a call to adopt
breeds of chicken that meet the RSPCA Broiler
Breed Welfare Assessment Protocol. “Asking our
customer members to spend an extra 35% on a
core staple ... I do not think is appropriate at this
point in time,” he said. “It’s not a ‘No, never,’ for
me; it would be a ‘No, not today’.”
But the Group would invest in lowering
stocking density and enriching sheds, he said.
The motion was initiated by Group members
from the Humane League UK, an animal charity
which campaigns for chicken welfare.
”I am very proud that as a Co-op member
I will have a say on their future treatment of
chickens,” said Aaron Parr, senior campaigner
at the Humane League UK. “What makes our
Co-op unique is its democratic and progressive
values. But ... Co-op policy says that we have a
‘pioneering’ approach to animal welfare. But to
maintain that badge of honour, our Co-op must
improve farming practices and give all chickens
better lives.”
JUNE 2023 | 29

Playground for the
New Economy 2023
By Alice Toomer-McAlpine
Stir to Action visited an urban setting for the 5th
edition of its Playground for the New Economy
festival, a programme of events which has
previously been held in both fields and on
screens.
This year’s event, which took place on 19
and 20 May at Stretford Public Hall in Greater
Manchester, featured talks, workshops, music
and networking opportunities for those working
on the ideas and action needed to drive us into
the “new economy”.
The evening before the festival marked the
10th anniversary of STIR magazine, Stir to
Action’s quarterly publication, with a guest
lecture from Carne Ross, former British diplomat
and author of The Leaderless Revolution: how
ordinary people can take power and change
politics in the 21st Century.
In his talk, Ross argued that in order to build
a successful democracy, we need to think more
broadly than politicians and parliaments, to a
system made up of “compounded elements that
fit together to make a coherent and sustainable
whole”, putting forward the co-operative model
of ownership as a “necessary component of a
true democracy”.
This argument was echoed in Friday’s first
session of the day entitled ‘The Ownership Gap:
Why it’s at the Root of Inequality’. Co-operatives
UK CEO Rose Marley stressed the need for
mainstream conversations around ownership
to go beyond the public vs. private binary,
particularly when businesses fail. Marley offered
the example of Thomas Cook, hypothesising
what might have happened there if the UK had
systems in place to enable worker takeovers of
failing businesses, such as Italy’s Marcora law.
Examples of organisations working towards
the new economy were also shared at the event,
with members of co-ops, mutual aid groups,
unions and community businesses sharing
examples of their work on ground.
One such example was the event’s host,
Stretford Public Hall, who provided tours of the
grade II listed building over the two days and
shared their experience of bringing the hall into
community ownership in 2015 after it had fallen
into disrepair and faced closure. Charitable
community benefit society Friends of Stretford
Public Hall has over 800 members who have
collectively raised over £1 million to transform
the space into a community hub.
Spaces and culture were also on the agenda
elsewhere in the programme, such as in
a session on social infrastructure, which
showcased Projekts skatepark in Manchester
and Kitty’s Launderette in Liverpool, both
providing social space along with services for
their local communities. Later, a session on DIY
culture heard from speakers including dancer
and artistic director Darren Pritchard, as well
as DJ, curator and GMCA policy officer Rebecca
Swarray, who also played for festival attendees
on Friday night at a nearby venue.
DIY community action was also looked at in
the context of the energy and climate crisis. A
session led by Carbon Co-op posed the question,
How appropriate are ideas of mutual aid in
responding to these large-scale challenges?
Input from the audience around this question
included the assertion that while mutual aid can
p L-R: Suzanne
Orchard, Rose Marley,
Jonny Gordon-
Farleigh, Keir Milburn)
u Stretford Public
Hall
30 | JUNE 2023

help to alleviate problems, it is not just a “means
to an end”, but rather “the end in itself”.
Panellist Mark Simmonds shared his
experience in supporting co-ops and community
businesses, explaining that “often stuff doesn’t
get off the ground because [groups] need a
constitution in order to apply for a grant, or they
need a bank account, and it’s is getting harder
and harder for smaller groups to set up.”
Simmonds offered the example of a food
sharing project in Hebden Bridge that is being
funded through an online tool called Open
Collective, as a way groups can finance their
activities without needing to set up formally.
Deeper conversations around the food system
were held in a session entitled ‘Changing the
Face of British Farming’, which focused on
barriers and opportunities for people of colour
in the farming sector.
Researcher Naomi Terry explained that “in the
UK, the legacy of our land is very, very much tied
up with colonialism.” Terry recently authored a
report for the Ecological Land Cooperative(ELC)
entitled Jumping Fences, which presents the
experiences of Black and people of colour
farming in Britain today.
As part of its work, ELC purchases agricultural
land and then sells or rents smallholdings at
affordable rates to new entrants to ecological
farming.
Other inspirational examples of groups
working towards the new economy were shared
throughout the sessions and networking
opportunities, such as the Landworkers’
Alliance, Support and Action Women’s Network,
Promising Trouble, Solidarity Economy
Association and more.
Alongside these examples were sessions that
laid out some of the levers available to those
trying to make change in their communities,
including finance and government.
On the topic of finance, Tim Coomer gave
an overview of the social investment market,
within which his organisation, Co-operative and
Community Finance, sits. Coomer noted that
social investment needs to be patient, flexible,
and offered over a long enough period of time.
He also explained that loans can be seen as just
one of the “three pillars” of community finance,
along with grants and equity.
An example of equity being used to finance
member-owned businesses that has taken off
in recent years is community shares, where
members of a local community buy shares
in a community asset or organisation, giving
them a stake in the business. Alice Wharton of
Co-operatives UK explained that over £210m
ORDER
TO “IN
BUILD A
SUCCESSFUL
DEMOCRACY,
WE NEED TO
THINK MORE
BROADLY THAN
POLITICIANS
AND
PARLIAMENTS
in community shares has been raised for 540
community owned businesses in the UK so far.
Grantmakers also participated in discussions,
posing the question: What might it look like for
foundations to play a more active role in moving
towards a democratic economy? Ali Torabi of
Lankelly Chase highlighted the inconsistency
that often grantmakers are investing around 95%
of their wealth in funds that either have nothing
to do with, or go directly against, the interests
of the communities they are supporting. Torabi
argued that this needs to change in order for
foundations to play a meaningful part in a
democratic economy.
Examples of supportive political
environments for a more democratic economy
were also shared, such as the council-supported
Cooperate Islington agency, the wider Cooperative
Councils’ Innovation Network, and the
Scottish government’s decision to house its coop
development agency within its wider Scottish
Enterprise department. It was noted that local,
regional and devolved governments are much
more likely than the central government to
engage in initiatives such as these.
Community wealth building was brought into
the conversation by ‘think and do tank’ CLES,
which highlights five main levers for building
wealth in local communities: employment,
procurement, finance, land and ownership. In a
session on the cost of living crisis, CLES’s CEO,
Sarah Longlands, asserted that “extraordinary
times call for bravery”, and challenged the
audience to consider “How can these difficult
times give us the energy and the insight to go
further… what would we do in this space if we
were brave?”
JUNE 2023 | 31

SWOBODA RESEARCH CONFERENCE LOOKS AT:
Credit union services
in a changing world
By Anca Voinea
With the world changing at an ever-quicker
pace, credit unions need to work harder to avoid
falling behind, warned experts at last month’s
Swoboda Research Conference.
Opening the event, held in Portlaois, Ireland,
on 23 May, Dr Paul A. Jones, director of research
at Swoboda and reader in the social economy
at Liverpool John Moores University, recalled
Swoboda’s first paper on Irish credit unions.
Published in 2017, it pointed out that Irish credit
unions were not fully meeting the financial
needs of members and consumers.
Despite some changes since the report, such as
greater commercial collaboration between credit
unions, greater advocacy for regulatory changes
and major developments in product and service
delivery, Jones urged more work to stay relevant.
The first speaker, Charlie Weston, journalist
at Independent.ie, agreed. “It’s no use people
loving credit unions if they are not borrowing
from them,” he said. The sector should also
improve collaboration between credit unions of
different sizes as well as between apexes.
“At the moment bankers are not worried about
you,” he added. “They need to be.”
Cathal Doherty, statistician in population
estimates and projections at Ireland’s Central
Statistics Office, presented findings from last
year’s census. Net migration is more volatile
and difficult to predict than the natural increase,
he said. An ageing population is also an issue:
although Ireland has the EU’s third highest
number of working people for those aged 65
and over, the old age dependency ratio is on
the rise. Another trend has been the return of
Irish migrants, which started to rise in 2011.
These statistics are important for understanding
national and local demographics, he said.
A panel discussion followed, in which Weston
and Dohetry were joined by Kevin Johnson, CEO
at Credit Union Development Association; Mick
McAteer, co-director of the Financial Inclusion
Centre; and economist Alan McQuaid.
Johnson said the 2022 Credit Union
Amendment Bill is a great example of
collaboration in achieving regulatory changes.
McAteer pointed out that credit unions have a
high penetration rate (proportion of credit union
members among economically active citizens) of
113% in Ireland, compared to 10% for the rest of
the world and 3% for the UK.
But they need to make their low loans-toassets
ratio (28.4%) sustainable in the long-term
– and respond to technological change, stay
32 | JUNE 2023

elevant to young people and react to the cost of
living crisis.
McQuaid also stressed the need to respond to
technological changes, such as automation, and
urged co-ops to make use of the trust they enjoy
in local communities.
Next up was a presentation from Lorraine
Corcoran from Afanite, a Dublin-based
consultancy working with non-profits, whose
paper on credit union small loans in Ireland will
be published in collaboration with Swoboda later
this year. Her research looks at the commercial
viability and economics behind loans of up to
€2,000.
These are “bread and butter” for credit unions,
she said, accounting for 49% of all loans issued
by the sector in Ireland. But there is little active
promotion of them, and no uniform product –
which, she warns, makes it harder to reach new
customers. Small loans are also admin-heavy
and contribute little to income generation. She
said credit unions should examine whether
increasing the price of small loans would
improve access to credit for riskier borrowers.
The next speaker was Andrew Price, senior
vice president of advocacy at the World Council
of Credit Unions, who praised Swoboda for its
work, adding that “good quality research is
critical to advocacy”.
He encouraged credit unions to explore ways
to work together to tackle joint challenges.
“The possibilities are endless,” he said. “What
are the challenges or obstacles that you have to
overcome? Is there a way to set something up
that will address those needs?”
The conference also looked at the question
of whether or not to expand common bonds.
Catherine Byrne, from Dublin’s Health Services
Staff Credit Union, said its efforts to offer
services nationwide had proved challenging, as
reaching members and potential members can
be difficult. To address this, the credit union has
been expanding its online offer and customer
support, and switched to hybrid AGMs.
Paula Maguire from Lucan District Credit Union
in Dublin stressed the importance of educating
members – by getting out in the community,
giving presentations, and answering questions.
Her credit union operates in an area with a high
immigrant population: most are skilled workers
who played a key role in keeping the credit union
afloat by taking loans during the pandemic.
To attract a more diverse and younger board
the credit union started offering qualifications.
And with 95% of loan applications coming
via the website or app, Lucan closed one of its
branches to create a membership hub. Maguire
argued that credit unions are not competing
with banks – when Lucan launched its mortgage
product, it viewed it as a unique credit union
product for its members, she said.
Elaine Rae, from the UK’s NHS Credit Union,
agreed that credit unions should not compete
with banks but provide different, membertargeted
services. In an attempt to reach more
people across the UK, her credit union launched
Safe Harbour, a confidential service open to all
members, offering support to those experiencing
economic abuse, helping them to take back
control of their money. “It’s a really important
piece of work,” she said.
Alan Roche from Heritage Credit Union in
Dublin described his organisation’s work to
develop a digital branch to reach customers who
may not have time to visit their local branch.
Heritage has also set out culture principles to
drive behaviour change as it delivers services.
Closing the event was consultant Miranda
Flury, president of Hawkeye Strategies in
Canada, who explained how credit unions could
use scorecards to assess their performance. This
can convey the purpose, vision and strategy of a
credit union and act as a tool to show staff and
the board what matters in the organisation.
While there are different types of scorecards,
including the Harvard Balanced Scorecard,
their purpose is to get a 360-degree view of the
business, said Flury. But she warned that credit
unions can still fail if scoring 10+ on a scorecard.
Wrapping up the conference, Swoboda’s
director of development, Nick Money, said the
centre is to publish a paper on ESGs in credit
unions and another on loan products.
The next Swoboda conference will take place
in Manchester in November.
“AROUND 49%
OF ALL LOANS
WRITTEN BY
CREDIT UNIONS
IN IRELAND ARE
FOR UNDER
€2,000
t Alan Roche, Elaine
Rae, Paula Maguire,
Catherine Byrne at the
Swoboda Research
Conference
q Miranda Flury of
Hawkeye Strategies
explaining how
scorecards can help
credit unions measure
performance
(Photos: Joe Conroy
Photography/
Swoboda)
JUNE 2023 | 33

REScoop celebrates
tenth anniversary
at Athens gathering
By Anca Voinea
The transition towards renewable energy can
play a key role in meeting the goals of the Paris
Agreement of limiting the rise of global average
temperatures to below two degrees Celsius, as
pointed out by the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change.
And while fossil fuels currently account for
over 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions and
nearly 90% of all carbon dioxide emissions, there
are some signs of progress. The International
Energy Agency predicts the share of renewables
in the global power generation mix will rise from
29% in 2022 to 35% in 2025.
In the EU 22% of the energy consumed in
2021 was generated from renewable sources,
according to EEA. The European Green Deal set
the objective of making Europe a climate-neutral
continent by 2050. Some countries are further
ahead than others. With the highest share among
the EU member states in 2021, Sweden had more
than half of its energy from renewable sources in
its gross final consumption of energy (62.6 %).
Next came Finland (43.1 %) and Latvia (42.1 %).
Meanwhile, Luxembourg (11.7 %), followed by
Malta (12.2 %) and the Netherlands (12.3 %) had
the lowest shares in the EU.
One of the main pioneers of this renewable
energy transition is REScoop, the European
federation of citizen energy co-operatives.
The past 12 months have been busy for
REScoop, which celebrated its 10th anniversary
at a recent Community Energy Spring Gathering
in Athens.
The event brought together energy
communities from across Europe to explore best
practices and exchange information on how to
get projects off the ground.
The gathering featured two streams, one
aimed at community leaders from Eastern
Europe and the Balkans to consolidate and
support the community energy movement in the
region, and another targeted at more established
(or advanced) energy communities and members
of REScoop.eu.
The 23 thematic workshops covered topics
such as policy and advocacy, collaboration
34 | JUNE 2023

etween municipalities and energy
communities, reimagining economic systems
beyond profit, and integrating social and gender
justice in energy communities. Participants were
also introduced to key tools for co-operative
organising, policy and legal frameworks, public
financing opportunities, tackling energy poverty
and community engagement and storytelling.
Many of the 200 community energy participants
also supported the local co-operative economy
by staying at Welcommon Hostel where various
side events took place.
REScoop president Dirk Vansintjan said:
“Ten years ago a handful of citizen energy
co-operatives from across Europe founded
REScoop.eu to give a voice to a few thousands
of bottom-up initiatives, but also to spread the
community energy movement across the whole
of Europe. At the EU level, impressive legislative
and regulatory progress has been made, which
is now being transposed and implemented in the
member states.
“We hope that in the coming years this
inevitably will lead to the growth of the
movement, not in the least in Eastern Europe
and the Balkans.”
REScoop recently launched a Financing
Tracker to assess whether and how EU public
funds, such as the Recovery and Resilience
Fund, Cohesion & Regional Development Funds,
and the Modernisation Fund are being used by
member states to support energy communities.
The initiative is the result of a collaboration
between REScoop.eu, CEE Bankwatch Network,
and Climate Action Network.
So far, REScoop’s research has covered
19 member states. However, as the research
advances, all EU27 will be included in the
financing tracker.
A 2020 study published in Renewable and
Sustainable Energy Reviews found that EU
citizens could mobilise up to €240bn towards
the energy transition by 2030. Environmental
consultancy firm CE Delft also estimates that by
2050, one in two EU citizens could be producing
their own energy, covering 45% of the EU’s
demand.
REScoop hopes its Tracker can be used as an
advocacy tool by national campaigners, and as a
clear communication roadmap for policymakers.
And while the federation has already identified
certain countries such as Germany, Ireland and
the Netherlands, where EU funds are not used
to support energy communities, it also found
that these states have robust national support
frameworks for energy communities in place.
The EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility
(RRF) was launched to mitigate the economic
and social impact of Covid-19 and make
European economies and societies more
sustainable, resilient and better prepared for the
challenges and opportunities of the green and
digital transitions.
RRF, which is funded through loans secured
by the European Commission on behalf of the
EU, entered into force on 19 February 2021. To
benefit from the support of the Facility, member
states had to submit their recovery and resilience
plans to the European Commission, setting out
the reforms and investments to be implemented
by the end of 2026.
The initiative represents an important
opportunity for renewable energy co-ops since
the Commission’s guidance on the plans calls
for 37% of funds to be allocated to climate action
(including renewable energy). The Commission’s
guidelines also highlight energy communities as
vehicles to tackle energy poverty.
REScoop’s financing tracker will be frequently
updated with new developments in how
countries implement EU public funds in their
national financing programmes.
The apex separates states into four categories
based on their use of the RRF: member states
with no mentions of energy communities or
related concepts in the targeted operational
programmes (Ireland, France, Germany,
Netherlands, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria,
Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia, Croatia, Malta);
member states that mentioned energy
communities in their programs but in a very
limited capacity (Hungary); member states that
added energy communities to their programmes
but limited to a specific type of actor or activity
(Italy, Portugal, Greece, Czechia); and member
states that included energy communities in their
programmes, with specific programmes targeting
their needs, with a full scope of activities and
actors included (Spain, Poland and Lithuania).
Rescoop used 12 sub-criteria for its analysis,
touching on various topics such as broader
programme design, transparency, and alignment
with transposition.
Based on its findings to date, RESCoop calls
on all EU member states to dedicate specific EU
public funds to support energy communities,
setting quantitative, time-bound goals for their
growth. It also advises that funds “should
support primarily energy communities that fulfil
certain social and environmental criteria” and
“no public EU funds should support fossil fuels
(as is the case with the Modernisation Fund in
countries like the Czech Republic, Bulgaria,
Romania and others).”
“IN THE EU 22%
OF THE ENERGY
CONSUMED
IN 2021 WAS
GENERATED
FROM
RENEWABLE
SOURCES,
ACCORDING
TO EEA
JUNE 2023 | 35

Land justice and the future
of farming
Naomi Terry is a researcher whose most recent
project involved working for the Ecological
Land Cooperative (ELC) on a project called
Jumping Fences. Also supported by Land In Our
Names and Landworkers’ Alliance, the research
identifies the presence of Black and People of
Colour (BPOC) farming in Britain and presents
their experiences.
ELC purchases agricultural land and
subdivides it into ecologically managed
residential smallholdings. The co-op sells or
rents smallholdings at affordable rates to new
entrants to ecological farming and monitors
the holdings’ performance against its detailed
ecological management plan.
The Jumping Fences project aims to provide
an evidence base for the ELC and other
organisations to build their strategy from, and
act to address barriers to farming for BPOC
in Britain.
HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH THE ELC?
I moved back to the UK a couple of years ago,
having been living in the US and Sweden, and
I had a thirst and a desire to get more engaged
with farming and food growing.
And I really couldn’t see the mechanisms
for how I might be able to do that. I wasn’t
going to be able to afford to just outright buy
any land.
I also didn’t necessarily have the kind of
knowledge or support that I would need in
order to understand how that works. There
are problems like access to land, in terms
of the financial barrier that exists, but also
the structures around planning and land
legislation are incredibly complex. I came
across the ELC, through that desire to get into
farming myself.
The ELC were able to hire me to do a piece of
work that was a little bit outside of what they
do operationally, but it’s more strategic, more
feeding into the wider movement. I think that
work is really important.
HOW WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH
THE ELC?
Working with the ELC was my first experience of
working with a co-op and I found it absolutely
mind-blowing. It really opened my eyes to learn
how we were all paid the same amount, and that
we all had the same financial economic value
placed on the work we were doing.
I really had a great time working there. I think
some of the things that are made possible by
working in this co-operative format we had, were
more of a shared process of decision-making, and
I really appreciated the way in which everybody
showed up for and was engaged in everything.
That had its challenges as well as its benefits.
36 | JUNE 2023

TELL US MORE ABOUT THE ELC?
The ELC is the only organisation that is doing
what it’s doing in a rural context. There are
other land co-operatives, and co-operative
housing, for example, that have been around
for a while. That model for co-operative housing
has been replicated and developed and evolved
in different ways throughout the country,
and I think we could do with the same thing
happening with ELC.
ELC is great, and it should be replicated and
evolved and fit into different contexts. It has done
a lot of work to provide the tools to help replicate
that model. They’ve developed a Community
Farmland Purchase Toolkit for people who
want to set up a community growing project
on the land, which includes information about
legislation and how to source good land, and
then the governance structures of how to work
co-operatively, planning structures, and things
that are more specifically related to farming
as well. I find ELC to be very open and sharing
and encouraging of the replication of the sort of
models that they’re using.
WHO ARE THE ELC’S MEMBERS?
In its structure, you become a member of the
co-operative in different ways. People who work
for the organisation – such as those on the daily
operational side of things, who are finding the
land and building common infrastructure and
doing other kinds of tangential work, like comms
and admin – all members, but they’re not living
on ELC land.
Then there are people who live on and manage
the land – the stewards. There is also the board,
then there are investors, like shareholders, and
they’re members.
Because I was employed on a short-term
contract to deliver this particular project, I never
actually became a ‘proper’ member, which didn’t
really affect my engagement, but it’s important
to note.
WHAT PART DO CO-OPS AND COMMUNITY
LAND TRUSTS HAVE TO PLAY IN THE FUTURE
OF THE FARMING AND LAND JUSTICE
MOVEMENTS?
One major barrier that is faced in terms of trying to
transform the food system into something that is
more equitable, and is working in harmony with
nature and able to provide healthy, nutritious
food that has come from not so far away, is
enabling more people with these fresh ideas of
how we can do that to get access to land. And I
think that because of the financial barriers that
exist around buying land, for many people, there
isn’t really an option to do that on an individual
or even in a family kind of situation. So I think
co-operative frameworks and community land
trusts really provide an excellent framework for
how we can do more of that.
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE FOR THE
FUTURE OF THE FARMING MOVEMENT?
With my work, that’s been much more focused
on the challenges for Black people and People
of Colour, the financial barrier is a huge, huge
thing. And not only that, but having feelings of
working in solidarity with people that you have
a shared background with.
It would be really amazing would be to
develop a co-op or a community land trust that’s
led by Black people and People of Colour, to
have that space and build something together on
the land. A community land trust or some kind
of BPOC-led land project would be my dream
for the future. And I think it’s a dream that a lot
of people would be on board with, and want to
jump on. Working with ELC has kind of opened
up my eyes to some of the mechanisms for how
that could happen.
The ELC really started out of a collection of
really impassioned individuals that were giving
a lot of their time and energy into this because
they really believed in it and they built it from
that passion. I believe that passion still exists
today, and people can galvanise that, but I also
feel like we’re all a bit more squeezed and to
build something off of your own back without
being resourced, that’s quite a lot to ask as well.
There are a lot of models out there, and I think
the co-operative model is a great one, of how we
can work together and support common goals
that will bring us towards a more liveable future.
There’s also a lot that I think is still being
birthed, in terms of how we govern those groups,
how we hold diversity within those groups, and
how we hold conflict that comes with diversity,
and with the liberation of historically oppressed
people. I think it’s a great time to be engaged with
these things. I’m hearing those conversations
happening more and more.
Read the Jumping Fences report at
bit.ly/3MYvd5y
“WORKING
WITH THE ELC
WAS MY FIRST
EXPERIENCE
WORKING WITH
A CO-OP AND
I FOUND IT
ABSOLUTELY
MIND-BLOWING”
JUNE 2023 | 37

Where do the ICA principles
stand on the environment?
By Anca Voinea
q Co-operative
principles: Some
members are
keen to make the
commitment of co-ops
to the environment or
equality more visible
WITH THE INTERNATIONAL COOPERATIVE
ALLIANCE (ICA) RE-EXAMINING THE
STATEMENT ON THE COOPERATIVE
IDENTITY, CO-OPERATORS AROUND THE
WORLD HAVE THE CHANCE TO SHARE
THEIR VIEWS ON THE TOPIC.
Adopted in 1995, the revised Statement on the
Cooperative Identity contains the definition of
a co-operative, the values of co-operatives, and
the seven co-operative principles.
Last year, around 2,290 respondents took
part in the ICA’s survey on the statement. This
formed part of a wider consultation by the apex
to determine whether the statement is still fit for
purpose. Some respondents said the statement
works well as an ideal and in reality; others
argued that it works well as an ideal but there is
a gap between this and the reality on the ground;
and another group said the statement is not in
itself effective and may not work well in practice.
As a result, opinions also varied on how to
proceed forward. Some respondents said the
current statement is good enough while others
said it needs to be updated to strengthen the
movement’s contribution to addressing societal
problems and the environmental crisis.
But what do the statement and the seven
co-operative principles actually say with regards
to the environment?
The 7th co-operative principle of Concern
for Community states that “Co-operatives
work for the sustainable development of their
communities through policies approved by their
members”.
To further emphasise the application of the
principles in contemporary terms for the 21st
century, the ICA released the Guidance Notes on
the Cooperative Principles in 2016.
These provide detailed guidance and advice
on the practical application of the principles
to co-operative enterprises and point out
that the wording of this 7th principle places
the primary emphasis on “concern for the
sustainable development of their immediate
local communities within which co-operatives
operate”. Furthermore, it is argued, this concern
for the sustainable development of immediate
local communities led to the co-operative
movement’s wider concerns for sustainable
development of communities nationally,
regionally and globally.
The Guidance Notes also emphasise the
importance of the 5th co-operative principle
38 | JUNE 2023

(Education, Training, and Information) with
regards to the environment, explaining that
co-operatives can help to raise awareness
about “the social, economic and environmental
advantages” of sustainable co-op enterprises.
“This principle embraces within it the
co-operative movement’s concern for, and a
commitment to work for, sustainable economic,
environmental and social development that
benefits communities as well as a co-operative’s
own members,” reads the text.
Environmental responsibilities
The Guidance Notes argue that with the adoption
of the Concern for Community principle in 1995,
environmental protection is included as a part of
the ICA Statement on the Co-operative Identity.
This principle also brought new responsibilities
for co-operatives.
According to the Guidance Notes, it “places a
duty on elected boards and management to seek
approval from members in general assembly to
policies that positively impact on the sustainable
community development”.
As such, members have the responsibility to
manage through democratic rights the tension
between their self-interest and the wider concern
for community.
As pointed out by the Guidance Notes,
“in practice, there are many examples of cooperative
members demanding a greater
commitment to economic, environmental and
social development by their co-operative”.
The Guidance Notes also highlight that
all co-operatives “have a responsibility
and duty to consider and reduce their
co-operative’s environmental impact and
promote environmental sustainability within
their business operations and in the communities
in which they operate.”
But the document also warns that “the
magnitude of the environmental challenge
demands that it be tackled jointly and in a
coordinated way”, calling on co-ops to not
only implement their own environmental
conservation strategies, but to also actively
contribute to raising awareness among other
sectors of society.
“Co-operatives are known for pursuing the
common good, so they are in an excellent place
to stimulate and lead advocacy of this kind,”
reads the text.
Prior debates
Discussions around the topic of environmental
sustainability existed before the adoption of the
revised Statement in 1995. The ICA’s Congress in
“
ALL CO-OPERATIVES “HAVE
A RESPONSIBILITY AND DUTY
TO CONSIDER AND REDUCE
THEIR CO-OPERATIVE’S
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT AND
PROMOTE ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY WITHIN THEIR
BUSINESS OPERATIONS”
Tokyo in 1992 focused on the issue of sustainable
development and even passed a Declaration on
the Environment and Sustainable Development.
The GA also published a report on “Co-operatives
and Environment”.
Conversations continued and, in 2019, the
Kigali Resolution Cooperatives for Development
called on governments and other actors to use
the identity statement to create an enabling
environment for co-operatives and maximise
their potential and thus contribution to the UN’s
Sustainable Development Goals.
Two years later the ICA released a research
paper, Cooperation for the transition to a green
economy, which features eight case studies
from all ICA regions and showcases a variety of
environmental actions from co-operatives.
Ways forward
Whether the current principles and identity
statement pay enough attention to the
environment is for ICA members around the
world to decide. But it would not be the first time
the ICA principles have been amended. They
are based on the eight
original Rochdale
Principles, and have
been updated and
amended periodically,
beginning with
the 15th World
Cooperative Congress
in Paris in 1937.
While some are
keen to make the
commitment of co-ops
to the environment
or equality more
visible in the
statement, others
fear that amending
the principles or
the statement would diminish their current
importance. In its current form the statement
is mentioned in the International Labour
Organization (ILO) Recommendation 193 on
the Promotion of Cooperatives, which serves
as a reference point to national regulators and
legislators. It is for this reason that some cooperators
are reluctant to change the statement.
Others think that should the movement
decide to add an eighth principle, it could then
lobby the ILO to adopt a new recommendation.
Co-operatives have a considerable advantage
holding an observer status at the ILO.
Another option could be amending the
Guidance Notes on the Cooperative Principles.
JUNE 2023 | 39

Can co-ops keep up with
the green transition?
By Miles Hadfield
The push for net zero has sparked tensions
around the world as policymakers try to strike
a balance between limiting climate change and
protecting supplies of food and power.
Co-ops, like other businesses, are under
pressure to make their operations more
sustainable, and are responding in a number of
ways. For the world to cut its emissions, people’s
homes will have to become more energy-efficient
– no mean feat for the UK’s draughty housing
stock, with social housing operating on tight
margins. Some co-ops like the Manchester-based
Carbon Co-op are working on retrofit solutions,
while sector apex the Confederation of Cooperative
Housing has dedicated significant
portions of its recent annual conferences to the
issue – and in March won a £1.2m government
grant to retrofit 112 properties.
Retail co-ops are also facing calls – not
least from their own consumers – to cut their
environmental footprint.
This is all well and good, but sustainability
also applies to the food co-ops sell. And farmers
– already facing cost pressures, changing
“AS WE
CONTINUE TO
ELECTRIFY THE
ECONOMY,
THE GRID IS
GOING TO BE
EVEN MORE
IMPORTANT AND
ALL THE MORE
STRESSED
consumer tastes and a growing population
to feed – are being asked to do their bit. Mike
Robinson, chief executive of the Royal Scottish
Geographical Society, told Scottish farm co-ops at
their sector conference this year that agriculture
makes up 11% of UK climate emissions – and
that sustainable food is “an inevitable direction
of travel”.
That conference, organised by the Scottish
Agricultural Organisation Society, outlined a
number of ideas to achieve this goal. Other agri
co-ops, like dairies Arla and First Milk, have also
set out ambitious climate targets.
As has New Zealand’s Fonterra, which says:
“We have set science-based targets using the
Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI) and
are taking action to address climate change
by reducing our emissions in transport and
manufacturing and finding ways to manage and
mitigate animal emissions on farms.”
It adds: “We have an aspiration to be net zero
globally by 2050. ​We also have a 2030 target to
reduce manufacturing and transport emissions
in Australia by 30% from a 2018 baseline, and
we’re well on track to meet this target.”
That’s not enough to ward off protesters: in
March, two Greenpeace activists were arrested
for trespass at the co-op’s Auckland HQ,
blocking the main entrance with what they said
was flood-damaged furniture.
Greenpeace said Fonterra is New Zealand’s
biggest producer of climate emissions and wants
big dairy companies to be fully included in the
government’s emissions trading scheme (ETS); it
accuses Fonterra and other big agri-businesses
of lobbying the government to reduce their
obligations.
As a result, says Greenpeace, “the government
promised the lowest price possible, fixed for five
years, with all revenue recycled back to industry”
– although a final decision is still pending.
Policy tensions are also evident in the EU:
European agri co-op apexes Copa and Cogeca
40 | JUNE 2023

have joined other farm lobbyists in calling for
compromise on green measures, fearing it will
make them uncompetitive. It has been critical of
plans to curb single plastic use, and welcomed
an agreement by the European Council in April to
set targets for renewable energy consumption at
42.5% by 2030. That same deal was criticised as
unambitious by renewable co-op apex REScoop,
which fears it risks “killing the momentum of
Europe’s energy transition”.
There are similar tensions in the energy
sector: some leaders from the US electric co-op
movement worry that the dash to ditch fossils
will hamper their ability to keep the power on.
In March last year, national electric co-op body
NRECA joined calls on the US Supreme Court to
leave the power to set fossil fuel emission levels
with individual states, rather than at federal
level. “Congress has recognised every state is
different; the Court’s decision should recognise
this fact,” said NRECA CEO Jim Matheson.
Three months later, the Supreme Court made
its ruling on the case – brought by coal-mining
state West Virginia – opting to keep control
of fossil emissions at state level, marking a
defeat for the Biden administration and the
Environmental Protection Agency.
Matheson’s concern is the risk of blackout if
electricity supplies fail. “We talk about all of the
change in the energy industry, but I’ll tell you
something that hasn’t changed for us: job one is
keeping the lights on,” he said in a speech to the
US Energy Association’s 19th Annual State of the
Energy Industry Forum in January. “I fear that
people in the policy world are not recognising
the importance of reliability.”
In the speech, Matheson said rolling blackouts
in nine states during the 2022 festive season
“demonstrated how vulnerable the grid and
power supplies are to weather spikes and why
any transition to new energy resources must be
properly managed”.
He warned that federal agencies can draft
rules which inadvertently harm the grid: “We
understand the opportunity of new technologies
available for the future and we are excited about
them. But when you talk about a transition, they
are never totally smooth.”
He added: “As we continue to electrify the
economy, the grid is going to be even more
important and all the more stressed. We pride
ourselves in the co-op world as being the
truth-tellers, and we don’t gloss over the words
‘affordability’ and ‘reliability.’ It’s our mission
every day and what we do for our members.”
But he welcomed federal initiatives such
as direct-pay tax incentives for co-op energy
investments, and the Empowering Rural
America (New ERA) programme which will offer
$9.7bn (£7.85bn) in voluntary grants and loans
exclusively to co-ops to buy or build renewable
energy systems, zero-emission and carbon
capture systems.
New ERA, announced last month by the
US Department of Agriculture (USDA), arrives
alongside the Powering Affordable Clean Energy
(PACE) programme, which offers $1bn (£0.81bn)
available in partially forgiveable loans to
renewable energy developers and electric service
providers to help finance large-scale solar, wind,
geothermal, biomass, hydropower projects and
energy storage.
This represents the largest single investment
in rural electrification since Roosevelt’s New
Deal in the 1930s, and will “combat climate
change and significantly reduce air and water
pollution that put children’s health at risk”, said
USDA secretary Tom Vilsack.
Many players in the electric co-op movement
are already making the change: there are growing
numbers of local solar co-ops springing up, and
there are notable examples of existing co-ops
like Kauai Island Utility Cooperative which have
made strong efforts to develop clean energy.
And Core Electric Cooperative, the largest notfor-profit
electric co-op in Colorado, which has
signed a wholesale supply deal with renewable
developer Invenergy.
This is not always an easy path, as several
electric co-ops found when they tried to break
free of their contracts with wholesaler Tri-State
Generation and Transmission so they could
switch from fossil power to renewables – a
process that led to lengthy legal battles over
exit fees. The exodus has prompted Tri-State –
a secondary co-op which supplies electric cooperatives
in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico,
and Nebraska – to make its own steps toward
sustainability.
p The Kauai Island
Utility Cooperative
is one of several
co-ops which have
made strong efforts to
develop clean energy
(image: KIU)
t A climate change
strike in New
Zealand in March
drew attention to
the impact of big
dairy – including
agri-co-ops such as
Fonterra – on the
environment (image:
Lynn Grieveson/Getty
Images)
JUNE 2023 | 41

Food sustainability:
WHOLEFOOD PIONEER SUMA SETS OUT SUSTAINABILITY GOALS IN NEW ANNUAL REPORT
By Alice
Toomer-McAlpine
In recent years, sustainability has been rising
up the agenda for the food industry – but what
about those for whom sustainability has been
a core part of the way they have done business
from the beginning?
Suma Wholefoods is a co-operative retailer
that supplies over 7,000 responsibly sourced
vegan and vegetarian products to businesses and
customers across the UK and internationally.
Founded in 1975 by Reg Taylor, and converted
to a worker co-op two years later, Suma’s aim was
to provide healthy food to communities in the
North of England via a network of independent
co-ops and buying groups.
Co-operative member Sophie Ziegler-Jones
draws parallels between Suma and the Rochdale
Pioneers’ early motivations. “Whilst Suma
wasn’t a co-op when it was initially thought of,
[Reg] wanted to provide food that was otherwise
unavailable that he was passionate about.” This,
she says mirrors “the initial historical aim of the
Rochdale co-op: to create fair access to good
quality, adulterated food for all.”
Ziegler-Jones adds that while Suma has been
vegetarian ever since the beginning, “veganism
and vegetarianism have gone from being
slightly quirky and unusual to being absolutely
mainstream. The only thing that’s changed
in 46 years is the availability of products, an
understanding of the market and demand.”
Suma was a pioneer of wholefoods, sourcing
items that were difficult to get hold of in the
1970s, such as lentils and chickpeas. It was
also the first to bring organic canned tomatoes
and beans to the UK market and, in the 1980s,
launched the UK’s first vegan sunflower spread.
Despite being a leader in many of the areas we
now link to the sustainability agenda, Suma has
only recently begun to measure and share this
work, in the form of a sustainability strategy and
annual report, launched last month.
“Our sustainability strategy is officially new,
but it’s not a new way of working for us. We’ve
just formalised it,” explains Ziegler-Jones.
There are a number of reasons why Suma has
chosen to formalise its sustainability strategy
now, including the urgency of the climate crisis.
A central aim of the strategy is to set some
measurable targets Suma can work towards,
says Ben Pearson, Suma’s sustainability
reporting coordinator, such as the business’s
scope one, two and three carbon emissions.
Scope one refers to Suma’s direct emissions
from owned sources, two refers to its indirect
emissions from purchased energy, and three to
indirect emissions that occur in Suma’s value
chain. So far Suma has had its scope one and
two emissions verified, and is working towards
the verification of its scope three emissions so
that they can be tracked over time.
“For a starting point, we’re getting some usable
data that we can use to set Net Zero targets that
are in line with science,” says Pearson.
The initial report states: “We understand that
42 | JUNE 2023

society increasingly expects transparency from
businesses on their environmental, social and
governance performance, supported by accurate
and data-driven reporting on their impacts. We
know we must begin to effectively communicate
what we do in this area therefore we will publish
an annual sustainability report to show our
progress each year towards our 2030 goals.”
Suma’s 2030 Sustainability Goals fall under
six key areas: net zero, zero waste, nature,
decent work, healthy and sustainable diets and
education and engagement.
Suma aims to reach Net Zero greenhouse
gases (GHGs) for scope one and two emissions
by 2035, and decarbonise its truck fleet by 2023,
by switching to electric and alternative fuel
vehicles. The organisation is also adding its voice
to Business Declares, a network of businesses
that are declaring a climate and ecological
emergency, and committing to create, publish
and implement a Climate Action Plan explaining
what actions will be taken toward achieving net
zero targets and biodiversity improvements, and
to publish progress annually.
Among other things, Suma aims to be a zero
waste to landfill business by 2030, with all its
own-brand packaging made from at least 30%
recycled materials, and plans to increase its
percentage of organic own-brand products to
75%. As part of its decent work goals, it’s working
towards B-Corp status, aiming to support living
wages throughout its supply chain by 2030.
The strategy has been developed in
partnership with its worker members,
explains Pearson.
“It was really collaborative. The fact
that we all have an equal say made us
want to get every member’s opinion.”
The sustainability team engaged with
Suma’s members at the co-op’s quarterly
general meetings, Q&A sessions and
workshops, as well as through a survey.
“It did take us a while to make [the
strategy], because of all these consultations …
but I’m kind of glad it’s taken a while because
it shows that we have put in the effort and taken
the time to make one that’s worthwhile.”
Looking outside of the co-op, a key part of
Suma’s work is its adherence to principle six, cooperation
among co-ops. Ziegler-Jones explains
that they work with many small co-ops from
overseas, who supply Suma with products such
as coconut, jackfruit and coffee; and in turn,
Suma supplies UK retail co-ops with a range of
products from its vegan convenience range.
Another central part of Suma’s sustainability
considerations, which has been the case since
it started, is its meat free status. According to
the vegetarian society, eating a meat-free diet
creates 2.5 times less carbon emissions than an
average diet containing meat.
Ziegler-Jones says, this is an “absolutely
integral” element of Suma’s work, adding: “A
lot of people are eating less meat and more
vegetarian and vegan food, just because it’s
there, it’s tasty, it’s delicious, it’s accessible. And
also, it’s certainly cheaper in many instances. So
in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, it’s a good
opportunity for people to save some money as
well as eat really healthily.”
Suma has often been at the forefront of
innovation when it comes to meat-free and
plant-based foods and recently won an award
for its new vegan, gluten-free and organic
Edamame Hummus. New products on
the horizon include a crowdsourced
“chicken” soup, which was called
for by Suma customers during a
Veganuary hamper competition
this year, as well as an expansion of
the canned convenience range.
Despite the fact that many of
the elements of Suma’s activity
regarding sustainability and
responsible consumption are
becoming more widely accepted across
the food industry, Pearson says that it is Suma’s
co-operative status that more easily enables this
kind of forward thinking and action. While the
decision making process can take longer in a
co-op, co-ops are on the whole able to adapt to
changing challenges swiftly as members bring
issues forward.
“I think co-ops are quite quick to adapt
because they are a member run. We can vote
on things and agree things in general meetings
and shift our direction, while maintaining
our long standing values… [co-ops] have the
responsibility to respond to changes quickly and
to lead.”
p Suma sustainability
reporting coordinator,
Ben Pearson,
planting trees on
behalf of Suma with
local organisation
Treesponsibility
t Suma’s awardwinning
Edamame
Hummus
“OUR
SUSTAINABILITY
STRATEGY IS
OFFICIALLY NEW,
BUT IT’S NOT A
NEW WAY OF
WORKING FOR
US. WE’VE JUST
FORMALISED IT”
JUNE 2023 | 43

Re-greening a continent
By Rebecca Harvey
As the world faces the challenge of needing to
produce more food for a growing population
while also protecting natural forests for
biodiversity conservation and climate change
mitigation, there are some important dates
to keep in mind. World Environment Day is
celebrated on 5 June and encourages awareness
and action for the protection of the environment.
On 1 July, the co-operative movement will see the
2023 International Day of Cooperatives take the
theme “Cooperatives: partners for accelerated
sustainable development”. And this September
marks the halfway point in the implementation
of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),
adopted by UN Member States in 2015 as part of
the 2030 Agenda.
The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA)
recently highlighted how the co-op movement
“was the first group of enterprises worldwide to
endorse the SDGS and be recognised as a partner
in achieving these goals”, adding that the
2023 IDC slogan ‘Cooperatives for sustainable
development’ “will show how the co-operative
way of working, inspired by the co-op values
and principles, has the accomplishment of the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as part
of its DNA.”
But according to the UN’s Sustainable
Development Goals Report 2022, “cascading and
interlinked crises are putting the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development in grave danger,
along with humanity’s very own survival”.
The report highlights the severity and
magnitude of the challenges ahead, as a
confluence of crises – dominated by Covid-19,
climate change and conflicts – is creating
spin-off impacts on food and nutrition, health,
education, the environment, and peace and
security. “We must rise higher to rescue the SDGs
– and stay true to our promise of a world of peace,
dignity and prosperity on a healthy planet,” said
UN secretary-general, António Guterres.
One country where this confluence is acutely
apparent is Ethiopia, where the rich ecology
varies from deserts along its eastern border to
tropical forests in the south. It is also a country
of conflict; most recently the Tigray War (3
November 2020 – 3 November 2022) between the
“THIS ACTIVITY
WILL HAVE A
GENERATIONAL
IMPACT ON
PEOPLE
AND THE
ENVIRONMENT”
Ethiopian federal government and Eritrea on one
side, and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front
(TPLF) on the other. According to researchers
at Ghent University in Belgium, as many as
600,000 people had died as a result of warrelated
violence and famine by late 2022.
It is also an area vulnerable to drought,
exacerbated by the climate crisis and made
worse by deforestation (currently at an estimated
350km sq/yr). But at the same time, it’s a place
where co-operatives are seen as an effective tool
in mitigating deforestation. The international
charity Farm Africa, for example, works with
communities to develop economic incentives
to sustainably manage and protect forests by
helping them to set up co-ops and earn a living
from forest-friendly businesses, like wild coffee
harvesting and beekeeping.
“At the root of eastern Africa’s deforestation
lies ineffective forest management,” says the
organisation, which champions the use of
participatory forest management, a framework
in which local communities and the government
are empowered to manage the benefits and
responsibilities of the forest together.
Ali Gilo, chair of the Girbissa Forest
Management Cooperative in Bale, Ethiopia,
adds: “Before, the forest was managed by
the government, so we didn’t care about its
44 | JUNE 2023

condition, but now we are managing it with
the government, so we feel ownership and
responsibility. The whole co-operative has
benefited. People no longer cut down trees for
fuel or livestock grazing.”
Tree Aid is another organisation working
in Ethiopia, this time in the north, where
temperatures are rising and land is becoming
infertile. Here you’ll find the Metema forest in
the last green belt before the start of the desert,
where frankincense trees are a lifeline for local
communities, providing up to 30% of household
income for the families who sell their resin.
But, warns Tree Aid, this forest will be on the
brink of extinction in 20 years if no action is
taken to save it. “The climate crisis, high rates
of tree felling, forest fires and unsustainable
tapping for frankincense is stopping the forest
from regenerating,” it says. “This will have a
devastating impact on communities that rely on
the forest for food and income.
“There will be no buffer between them and the
encroaching desert.”
Tree Aid’s Developing Rural Resilience
programme, running until autumn 2024, aims to
support communities with the tools and training
they need to sustainably use frankincense trees
and protect them for the future.
Partners in the programme include the UK’s
Forest Research, which will assist with remote
sensing analysis, providing data on the condition
and distribution of frankincense trees, which
will, in turn, help support conservation efforts
and allow for the development of management
plans for the participatory forest management
co-operatives [PFMCs].
Last year, Tree Aid organised training on cooperative
management for 63 PFMC leaders
and attendees from local government, to grow
understanding of their forest management roles,
rights, and responsibilities, as well as other
skills such as financial management, auditing
and marketing.
“The importance of [frankincense] trees in our
area is tremendous,” says Derese. “For people
involved in tapping and collecting frankincense,
it has become a major cash source.”
Derese, who lives in the Metema region,
relies on farming to make an income, but
unpredictable rain patterns caused by the
climate crisis mean his crops often fail to
grow; his local frankincense forest provides an
alternative, climate-resilient source of income.
But he also witnessed how a lack of community
awareness about how to sustainably extract the
resin meant the trees were being damaged and
the forest is disappearing.
The work of PFMC has made a powerful
difference: “This activity will have a generational
impact on people and the environment,” he says.
“Degradation will be reduced and our ecosystem
will be conserved.”
Tree Aid is also working on the continent’s
Great Green Wall (GGW) initiative, an ambitious
project from the African Union and the UN
Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
to grow a vast belt of trees, vegetation and fertile
land across the drylands of the Sahel in Africa.
The wall was originally envisaged as an
8,000km long, 15km wide band of trees
stretching from Djibouti to Senegal, but has
evolved into a programme promoting water
harvesting techniques, greenery protection and
improving indigenous land use techniques,
aimed at creating a mosaic of green and
productive landscapes across North Africa.
The ongoing goal of the project is to restore
100 million hectares of degraded land, capture
250 million tonnes of carbon dioxide and create
10 million jobs by 2030. Since the project began,
Ethiopia alone has planted 5.5 billion seedlings.
Co-operation is active here, too. “By putting
local communities in the driver’s seat of the
initiative, the GGWI is able to ensure that the
project is tailored to the specific needs of the
region,” said the UNDP, the UN’s development
agency, last year.
“This approach has already led to the
successful completion of 18% of the Great Green
Wall, the restoration of over 20 million hectares
of land, the creation of 350,000 jobs, the training
of 10 million people in sustainable land and
water management practices, and $90 million
generated by project activities.
“The GGW impacts all the SDGs as Africa’s
largest sustainable development initiative.
In a context where the continent has massive
carbon storage potential, the realisation of the
Great Green Wall could influence climate trends
and have a lasting impact on the continent’s
development trajectory.”
t The Great Green
Wall campaign was
built to halt the
progress of the Sahara
desert, which has
spread by 10% since
1920 and engulfed
entire villages (image:
UNDP)
p Derese standing on
degraded land in his
community (image:
Tree Aid)
JUNE 2023 | 45

Calculating co-operative
sustainability
By Susan Press
“THE
WAYSHAPER
TOOLKIT
AIMS TO HELP
SIMPLIFY,
ACCELERATE
AND SUPPORT
THE PROCESS
WHEN
DEVELOPING A
COMMUNITY-
LED HOUSING
GROUP
The co-operative sector is aiming to meet the
challenges set in 2015 by the UN’s Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), a series of 17 global
objectives aimed at addressing social, economic
and environmental challenges.
Right across the board, projects are being
developed to help align co-op policies and
practices with a serious commitment to
sustainable development. In the insurance and
housing sectors, this is taking the form of two new
tools to help businesses monitor their activities
and make decisions.
The Insurance SDG Calculator
October last year saw the launch of the Insurance
SDG Calculator at the centenary conference of the
International Co-operative and Mutual Insurance
Federation (Icmif), held in Rome.
Developed by Icmif in partnership with the
Swiss Re Institute, it measures sustainability
impact within individual company insurance
portfolios and business operations. The Icmif
“commitment framework” enables mutuals and
co-operatives to assess their own impact against
a set of indicators reflecting mutual values and
strategic areas, such as risk prevention, protection
and micro-insurance, which offers insurance to
people on lower incomes.
The iSDG calculator also supports Icmif’s
corporate and sustainability strategy by
making a tangible measure for their efforts
available to members while identifying key
areas for development. Icmif members using
the tool are able to measure their impact against
49 insurance-relevant SDG indicators (“iSDGs”)
and easily measure and track their progress
against the indicators, 17 SDGs and their overall
company score.
Once a scoring exercise is completed by
a member and opportunities for potential
improvement are identified, members can then
leverage the Icmif network to share best practice
and further develop their own SDG strategies
whilst working towards a sustainable future.
The Icmif-calibrated Insurance SDG Calculator
has been co-created and tested by and with Icmif
members to ensure it takes into account the
mutual difference, such as highlighting the way in
which mutuals and co-operatives place the needs
of their employees and members/policyholders
first. The calculator is seen as a first step towards
measuring members’ insurance sustainability
impact and continuing to grow the strength of the
sector in the global insurance community.
“It is the first model to measure the SDGs and
is a pioneering impact measurement tool for
underwriting that can future-proof insurance
businesses,” says Icmif chief executive, Shaun
Tarbuck. “Not only that, if embedded into
insurers’ underwriting strategies, it will give them
a business advantage that is sustainable and
aligned to the Paris Agreement.”
After it was launched last year, several Icmif
members signed up to implement the tool in
the first quarter of 2023. “The more members
complete the Icmif-calibrated Insurance SDG
Calculator, the more impact we will collectively
have,” adds Tarbuck.
Community-led housing
The Wayshaper toolkit aims to help simplify,
accelerate and support the process when
developing a community-led housing group
model. It provides a way for groups to explore the
needs and preferences of their members, map out
priorities, explore options and make decisions.
It was developed by the Confederation of Cooperative
Housing (CCH), which is now extending
46 | JUNE 2023

the toolkit to focus more on the SDGs. The new
initiative will also include a ‘calculator’ element.
CCH chief officer Blase Lambert, who led
a workshop on the toolkit at the Co-op Retail
Conference in March, has been a leading player in
the UK co-operative and community-led housing
sector for over 25 years. He is also treasurer
of Co-operative Housing International (CHI)
and sectoral representative on the board of the
International Co-operative Alliance (ICA).
“Back in 2019, the ICA created a project for the
sectors to focus on the sustainable development
goals and how they were applicable to each
individual sector globally,” he says.
“CHI did a piece of work between 2020 and
2021 to develop specific targets, milestones and
narratives around the relevant SDGs for the
housing sector. We very much wanted to make
them the central plank of our annual conference
in both of the last two years and so what we’re
seeking to do is create an additional element of
our Wayshaper product that specifically focuses
on SDGs.”
To this end, a sustainability toolkit is being
designed as an extension of the Wayshaper
resource package to assist members in meeting all
the SDGs for the housing sector, which have been
translated by CHI sector body into milestones,
targets and reporting frameworks.
“Whereas Wayshaper looks at things like legal
issues and governance, what type of homes,
who owns the land, this new product is about
primarily how organisations can meet the SDG
goals,” adds Lambert.
The CCH has a team of people currently working
on the toolkit, which Lambert describes as a ‘bolton’
to the Wayshaper, which will be launched in
the run-up to its conference in October.
The toolkit will have three points of focus:
organisation (elements of SDGs about organising
and organisational form, such as gender equality
and broader equality); the built environment
(building fabric, materials and the way in which
properties develop waste and waste systems); and
living (how people occupy and live in property
and homes that the housing co-op has, as well
as how it is structured from an organisational
perspective and how they live as a community).
Each area is linked to a specific SDG goal in line
with work carried out by CHI.
“We feel the three elements encapsulate how
the housing product works with SDGs,” Lambert
says, adding that for the purposes of this toolkit,
the goals have been filtered down to 15.
“There is a calculator element, but the toolkit
is about much more than that. Fundamentally,
it’s like a pack of cards. Each one – i.e. the built
environment – has an option on it and there is a
QR code linking to a dedicated web page. Each of
the cards has the calculator element relating to it
which shows carbon cost-effectiveness, relative
costs and disruption.
“In the built environment area alone there are
70 options so it’s very significant. You end up
with a plan for residential properties in terms of
what members can afford in line with relevant
priorities. What the toolkit is trying to do is enable
people to consider all the relevant choices people
could make.”
The CCH has also launched a retrofits and
sustainability advice service for its membership,
providing advice and guidance for member
housing co-ops about upgrading residential
property stock to meet 2030 and 2035 net zero
targets. The first consortium of co-ops into the
government’s housing decarbonisation fund has
also just been secured and as the momentum
around sustainability builds significantly,
Lambert is hopeful about the future and also
looking forward to following up his sustainability
speech at retail conference with another at Co-op
Congress in June.
“It’s about sparking interest and opening up
our members and societies to new ideas, whether
it’s about thinking what we say sounds really
interesting or how can we leverage that to our
specific needs. What is important is that everyone
has a forward- looking approach to sustainability.
If we can help trigger that, it would be good. It’s
about how you create change, not just presenting
a series of statistics, it’s so much more about the
journey and how you do this, and how certain
choices impact other choices.”
t Blase Lambert,
Confederation of
Cooperative Housing
CEO
q The Wayshaper
toolkit and above, an
example card
JUNE 2023 | 47

REVIEW
Co-op experts turn to YouTube to release
film on their alternative economic model
Building a better
economy: a film about
co-ops, was written
and produced by Tom
Webb from Global
Co-operation Inc
A new educational film about co-operatives has
been released on YouTube.
Building a better economy: a film about co-ops,
which is around 40 minutes long, features input
from academics and co-operators to explore a
central question: can we build a different economy,
designed to meet our basic needs and protect the
ability of the planet to support life, based on the best
of what it means to be human?
After laying out the global challenges of inequality,
exploitation and climate emergency, the film moves
to exploring how the co-operative movement is
The intent of the video was to
stimulate thought among
co-operative members, leaders
and managers about the
economic and environmental
challenges that lie ahead
offering an alternative to the current system. It draws
on examples of local economies where co-ops are
thriving – such as the Basque country’s Mondragon,
home to the world’s largest federation of worker
co-ops, and the Italian region of Emilia Romagna,
where co-operatives make up 30% of the economy.
A number of Canadian co-ops are also profiled,
such as credit union VanCity, Gay Lea Foods, Cooperators
insurance, JustUs Coffee Co-op, Home
Care Workers’ Co-operative, Concordia Food
Coalition, and Cliffside Court Housing Co-operative,
as examples of the seven co-operative principles in
action. The seventh co-operative principle, expressed
as “concern for sustainable communities”, is
highlighted as a key opportunity for the movement to
respond to the environmental challenges facing the
world today.
The film is free for anyone to use, thanks to a
collective funding effort from Co-operators, VanCity
Credit Union, Canadian Worker Co-operative
Federation, Co-operative Enterprise Council for
New Brunswick, Atlantic Central Credit Union and
League Mortgage and Housing, Nova Scotia Cooperative
Council, Gay Lea Foods Co-operative,
the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada,
Newfoundland Federation of Co-operatives, and
JustUs Coffee Co-operative.
Writer and producer of the film, Tom Webb, who
is also president of Global Co-operation Inc. and
adjunct professor at the International Centre for Cooperative
Management, said the film is designed for
use as an educational tool for co-ops.
“The intent of the video was to stimulate thought
among co-operative members, leaders and managers
about the economic and environmental challenges
that lie ahead and what role co-operatives might
play in reshaping an economy that is increasingly
failing both to meet people’s needs or protect the
ability of earth to support life.”
Webb hopes the film will encourage co-op leaders
to discuss ways to grow the co-operative economy,
ensuring that future generations have an economy
which meets their needs and protects life. And he
hopes it will help the to “realise we can use cooperation
to solve the problems facing humanity”.
“Hopefully it will also nurture the desire to make
our co-operatives even better and collaborate more
in concrete ways,” he said.
48 | JUNE 2023

REVIEW
Citizen-led struggle to transform a city
of injustice
Jackson Rising Redux:
Lessons on Building
the Future in the
Present, ed Kali Akuno
and Matt Meyer PM
Press
Cooperation Jackson, a radical campaign to set up
a Black-led, solidarity-based new municipalism,
was born out of desperate crisis and centuries
of oppression in the Mississippi city. But since a
previous book documenting these endeavours –
Jackson Rising (2018), the situation has grown more
urgent: starved of funds by the state government,
the city’s water supply has collapsed.
The underlying strains in the world economy
have also increased, worsened by the pandemic
and sparking a wave of reactionary populism
around the world. In his foreword to this book,
Richard D Wolf presents this as the beginning of the
end for capitalism. If that’s the case, it’s important
to attend to what comes next: the co-op model, and
efforts towards a new municipalism in cities like
Cleveland, Ohio and Preston, Lancashire have long
been touted as an option.
Jackson Rising Redux is latest in a series of books
published in the last year or so which make the
case for this co-operative new economy. But with
the poorest state in the USA as its base, and with
the racial injustices that sparked the Black Lives
Matter movement continuing unabated, it states
that case with a singular urgency.
The book gathers academics and activists from
around the world to discuss Cooperation Jackson in
a range of contexts – local, international, historical,
political, etc.
It begins with a history of the project by its cofounder
Kali Akuno, who sets out the movement’s
four goals: to place the ownership and control of
the primary means of production in the hands
of the Black working class in Jackson; to build
and advance the development of the ecologically
regenerative forces of production in the city; to
democratically transform the political economy in
the city and the wider south-eastern region; and to
advance the Jackson-Kush Plan.
This was a radical movement formulated
in the 2000s, with the goal of attaining selfdetermination
for people of African descent and
the radical, democratic transformation of the state
of Mississippi.
It’s a wide-ranging project, taking in the push for
net zero, food sovereignty, green worker co-ops,
mutual aid and sustainable communities. A tall order.
Founder member, activist Sacajawea ‘Saki’ Hall, says
This is a fascinating book, an
inspiring set of perspectives
on a community fighting to
organise itself after being
pushed beyond the limit
the work is “filled with complexities, successes,
failures, and everything in between”, as the fledgling
movement struggled to mobilise support in the city’s
population and clashed with the city government –
led by Baba Chokwe Lumumba, son of the founder of
the Jackson-Kush plan.
But she also points to achievements, such as
an autonomous People’s Assembly which led to
housing justice work, rent relief, an eviction hotline
and rental assistance fairs. “We see in our everyday
work that everyday working-class Black people in
Jackson are ready to engage with and be introduced
to radical ideas,“ she adds.
Hall also contributes a moving personal piece –
setting out her ‘Beautiful Struggle’ in blend of verse
and memories; this varied collection also includes
a history of US Black co-operativism by Jessica
Gordon Nembhardt, a look at a radical movement
by marginalised people in Atlanta, Georgia by
Yolanda M.S. Tomlinson, and a short discussion
of the Preston model, Brexit and the British left by
Daniel Brown.
This is a fascinating book, an inspiring set of
perspectives on a community fighting to organise
itself after being pushed beyond the limit.
There are already accomplishments – the Lawn
Care Cooperative is becoming self-sustaining, and
the Freedom Farms Cooperative has weathered a
bad winter to supply food to co-ops, markets and
restaurants in the city; the Community Production
Cooperative is carrying out training; and the
Fannie Lou Hamer Community Land Trust has
more than 40 parcels of land. Hopefully the next
book on Jackson Rising will present further stories
of progress.
JUNE 2023 | 49

DIARY
Do you have a co-operative
event – taking place in person,
online, or as a hybrid – to be
featured?
Tell us at: events@thenews.coop
Social Economy 2023 Building a stronger
and resilient Europe
7-9 June (Gothenburg, Sweden)
European social economy actors, including
co-ops, will gather in Gothenburg this June
to discuss the Social Economy Action Plan
and its implementation. This conference
is co-organised by the European
confederation of industrial and service
cooperatives (Cecop), Swedish co-op apex
Coompanion, Social Economy Europe,
and the European network promoting
partnerships between cities/regions and
the social and solidarity economy (Reves).
Co-op Congress
16-17 June (Manchester, UK)
Co-op Congress brings together those
working to build a fairer economy to share
ideas, get inspiration and take action.
uk.coop/congress
International Day of Cooperatives
1 July
This year’s International Day of
Cooperatives will highlight the role the
movement can play in speeding progress
on sustainable development.
Plunkett Foundation Facing the Future
Together
6 July (Birmingham, UK)
A programme of high profile speakers,
interactive workshops and one-to-one
advice surgeries covering topics relevant
to community businesses in the UK.
plunkett.co.uk/facing-thefuture-together
ICA CCR Global and European Cooperative
Research Conference
10-13 July (Leuven, Belgium)
The overall theme of the 2023 conference
is ‘Governing cooperative innovation’ and
will bring together academia, researchers,
and co-operative practitioners from all
over the world, as well as policy-makers
at the EU and international level, to
discuss the latest research and policy
developments in the area of co-operative
governance. The event is hosted by
the Centre of Expertise for Cooperative
Entrepreneurship (KCO KU Leuven), a
research and teaching centre.
info@icaccr2023.com
2023 World Credit Union Conference
23-26 July (Vancouver, Canada)
The premier global credit union education
and networking event offered by the
financial services industry is returning to
Canada. Organised by the World Council
of Credit Unions and the Canadian Credit
Union Association, the event will hear
from global industry experts on a variety
of topics. The extensive educational
program includes 32 concurring breakout
sessions, workshops, keynote sessions
and a Solution Center geared towards
solving today’s challenges.
Wcuc.org
Celebrating 20 years of Saint Mary’s
International Centre for Co-operative
Management
21-22 September (Halifax/Kjipuktuk,
Canada)
Building on 20 years of co-operative
education and research excellence, the
event aims to celebrate ICCM’s collective
work and amplify its potential for a
stronger future.
conta.cc/3Ethcbc
Global Innovation Coop Summit
27-29 September (Montreal, Canada)
Themed Act Now to lead a circular and
digital future the cooperators’ way, the
Montreal event will focus on taking the
lessons from Paris and turning them into
action.
globalinnovation.coop/montreal-2023
Practitioners Forum
23 November (Manchester, UK)
One of the leading training and
development event for people working
in co-operative businesses – big and
small – Practitioners Forum is an annual
sell-out. It hosts around 20 sessions
across five specialist forums covering
membership, governance, finance, HR
and communications.
Details TBC
50 | JUNE 2023

Celebrating 20 years of
education and research
by, for and about co-ops
Online part-time graduate programs Short courses
Co-op study tours Credit union leadership program
Working papers and case studies Symposia
managementstudies.coop

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