2025: Year of Cooperatives
As this year comes to its close, we're looking ahead to the UN’s International Year of Cooperatives in 2025.
"The decision by the General Assembly could not be timelier. The innovative contributions of cooperatives for sustainable development will be crucial for accelerating progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals as we approach 2030," said Li Junhua, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. "The second International Year of Cooperatives will be an opportunity to mobilize all stakeholders to support and expand cooperatives everywhere, strengthening their contributions for a better world."
"The decision by the General Assembly could not be timelier"—Indeed! The United Nations didn't consult with our team here at Commonplace before making this declaration, but they may as well have. We're gearing up for our biggest year yet, and we're going all-in on cooperatives.
Commonplace's Year of Cooperatives
We've got big plans for 2025—launching digital and print publications, pushing for policy changes, and helping to connect cooperators in the USA and beyond.
The "Year of Cooperatives" is almost here...As our strategy develops, we'll keep this page up-to-date. As always, the best way to stay up-to-date is to subscribe to our newsletter.
We applaud the United Nations for making this gesture on behalf of our movement. By way of closing, I'd like to share their advice to stakeholders around the world for 2025. The UN suggests that...
- Governments should be working to create an enabling environment for cooperatives
- Cooperatives should be promoting public awareness, developing new leaders, and leveraging cooperation
- Institutions should be uplifting cooperatives through education, capacity-building, and by facilitating international collaboration
- The public (that's all of us!) should be working to understand the cooperative identity and looking for opportunities to support cooperative initiatives
Sounds about right to me, but I'd love to know your opinion. What should our movement's strategy be this year? What do you think of Commonplace's approach? What are you planning?
Leave a comment or reach out to me at editor@commonplace.coop