Cooperatives and the social and solidarity economy: Education and training

In many countries, cooperatives and other social and solidarity economy (SSE) entities are vital parts of the economic and social fabric, providing valuable goods and services to their members and the wider community. Rooted in a distinct set of values and principles, their success depends largely on the knowledge, understanding, and active participation of their members.

Education and training are therefore essential to empower members and employees to contribute effectively to the development of their SSE entities, enhance productivity and competitiveness, and improve the quality of the goods and services they offer.

Over the years, the ILO has developed a wide range of capacity-building tools to support the creation and development of SSE entities.

On this page, you’ll find an overview of these training tools. By clicking on specific tools, you can visit their dedicated pages to view full details and access them.

ILO Education and training on cooperatives and the social and solidarity economy

Training and tools on the social solidarity economy (SSE)

This four-module Mass Open Online Course (MOOC) on the social and solidarity economy (SSE) introduces the key concepts, policies and real-world practices of the SSE.

Developed by the ILO for the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE) with support from the Government of Luxembourg, it builds on two modules created by the ILO in 2023 and adds two modules developed by the ITCILO’s Sustainable Enterprises and Economies (SEE) Programme and Workers’ Activities Programme (ACTRAV).

The modules are available in different languages, including Arabic, English, French, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swahili. Participants who complete the course receive an official certificate.

Access the MOOC on the SSE.
The Social and Solidarity Economy Academy is an interregional training opportunity gathering practitioners and policymakers from all around the world, to share their experiences, best practices and challenges from their work in the SSE.

The training seeks to provide a better understanding of the concept of SSE, discuss the relevance of SSE as a development alternative and its relation to the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda, and further build and strengthen networks of SSE practitioners.

Access the ILO SSE Academy.

Training and tools on cooperatives: Policies and legal frameworks

The ILO’s Recommendation 193 on the Promotion of Cooperatives was adopted in 2002 and provides an internationally agreed template for national policy.

This second edition of the information guide to the Recommendation has been updated and revised to help cooperatives, governments, and employers’ and workers’ organizations to help make the cooperative model become the option for achieving sustainable development.

It is available in العربية , English.

Learn more and access the information guide on this page.
The ILO has played a key role in providing guidance and advice on the creation of enabling environments for cooperative development at national, regional and international levels.

In the mid-1990s it first commissioned the elaboration of guidelines for cooperative legislation to fill the gap of information on how to draft a cooperative law and policy.

This third edition of the Guidelines for cooperative legislation has been produced to incorporate more new developments that impact how cooperative law is being developed.

It is available in العربية, English, español, français, Ελληνικά.

Learn more details about the Guidelines for cooperative legislation on this page.

Training and tools on cooperatives: Manuals and toolkits

Our.COOP is a low-cost, easy-to-use training programme for those interested in starting and managing a cooperative in a participatory and efficient manner. It includes three training packages: Think.COOP, Start.COOP, and Manage.COOP responding to different stages of cooperative development and enhancing cooperative entrepreneurship.

For more details on the whole Our.COOP package, click here.

For more details on the each part of the package, check the links below.
My.COOP is a training package and programme on the management of agricultural cooperatives, developed through a partnership of several organizations including the ILO, the FAO, the International Training Centre of the ILO, Agriterra, the Royal Tropical Institute and the Wageningen University and Research Centre. As of 2018, at least 64 countries and 154 organizations from around the world have participated in a My.Coop ToT course or made use of the materials.

Languages:
العربية, español, français, Bahasa Indonesia, tiếng Việt

Think.COOP: An orientation on the cooperative business model

Our.COOP training package

Think.COOP: An orientation on the cooperative business model

1 February 2018

Start.COOP: A Step-by-step tool to start up a cooperative

Our.COOP training package

Start.COOP: A Step-by-step tool to start up a cooperative

6 August 2020

My.COOP - Managing your agricultural cooperative

My.COOP

My.COOP - Managing your agricultural cooperative

2 October - 8 December 2017

Training and tools on cooperatives: Thematic areas

Think.CareCoop: A one-day orientation tool designed to help participants understand their care needs and how the cooperative model can address them, highlighting its values and principles, potential benefits and challenges within the care economy, and its relevance as a care solution.
Start.CareCoop: A practical five-day training which guides participants through the process of starting a care cooperative by helping them define their business idea, develop a sustainable business plan, managing finances, and crafting strategies for community engagement.
Access the training tools here.

The role of cooperatives in eliminating child labour training package

The objective of the training package on “The role of cooperatives in eliminating Child Labour” is to raise awareness of management, staff and members of agricultural cooperatives about child labour so that they are able to decide on and implement a set of actions that will contribute to the prevention and elimination of child labour within the cooperative’s and members’ operations as well as in their communities.
The training package builds on previous materials on cooperatives and child labour as well as ILO’s practical experience.
It is available in العربية, English, español.
Guide to train field trainers;
Guide to train management, staff, and cooperative members;

Think.COOP for refugees and host community members

This is an orientation guide designed to introduce participants to the cooperative business model. Through interactive learning they will: learn about the fundamentals of a cooperative business; understand the conditions under which the cooperative is a better way of doing business; analyse how social cohesion and trust can help one pursue opportunities to improve one’s livelihood; and learn how cooperative can contribute to build trust and social cohesion at the community level.
At the end of this orientation, the participants will be better able to decide whether the cooperative business model is right for them.
It is available in English.
Access the tool here.

Leadership training manual for women leaders of cooperatives

The Leadership Training Manual for women leaders of cooperatives was developed collaboratively by the ILO and the International Co-operative Alliance Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ICA-ROAP). The manual equips trainers to enhance the capacities of women cooperative leaders. It helps raise awareness of gender bias in cooperatives, its impact on members and organizational development, and provides practical guidance on gender-responsive leadership, cooperative management, personal development, and overcoming professional challenges.
Training Manual “Gender Sensitivity Training” raises the acceptance of participants towards an equal participation of men and women in cooperative leadership positions, and to enable them to design.

Informal economy
Sustainable finance

Let’s organize! : a SYNDICOOP handbook for trade unions and cooperatives about organizing workers in the informal economy

This SYNDICOOP Handbook is designed to help replicate the approach by serving as a resource for trade union and cooperative organizers and trainers. It was finalized by members of the International Steering Committee of the SYNDICOOP Programme, mainly comprising representatives from the International Confederation of Trade Unions (ICFTU now ITUC), the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) and ILO together with National Steering Committee members from all four programme countries as well as project staff. It describes the SYNDICOOP approach to empower informal workers in order to improve their working conditions.
It comprises seven modules giving the essence of the concept informal economy, collaboration between unions and cooperatives, national action, policy framework, etc.
Languages: English

Brochure: ApexFinCoop - Advance Policy and Effectiveness for Financial Cooperative Apexes
- ApexFinCoop is a training programme was developed by the ILO, the ITC-ILO and the FAO to support financial cooperative apex organizations in developing and implementing an effective strategic planning, with the objective of fulfilling their functions over the long term in a cost-effective way, to the satisfaction of their members.
- Where implemented: The programme has been implemented in several countries including in Ghana with the Ghana Credit Unions Association (CUA) in December 2017 and in Nepal with the Nepal Federation of Savings and Credit Cooperative Unions (NEFSCUN) in June 2019.
- Languages: English, español

Training and tools on social enterprises

This self-paced course helps aspiring social entrepreneurs without a clear business idea generate, analyse and select a viable social enterprise idea. Focusing on key concepts, personal assessment, and idea evaluation, it enables learners to develop a business plan. Developed in and intended for use in South Africa, this course delivers practical insights that resonate with social entrepreneurs around the globe.

Access

Training and tools on mutual organizations

This guide shows the need for health protection among micro-entrepreneurs can be addressed by mutual health organizations.

It outlines the services provided by these organizations, describes their organization and operation and provides guidance on the establishment of such an organization by an association of micro-entrepreneurs.

Languages: English, español, français

Training and tools on self-help groups

Country highlights

Stay tuned

To keep informed of the latest updates of the ILO training on the SSE, you can also:

Read the news on ILO SSE capacity building initiatives
Visit ILO topical portals on cooperatives ilo.org/coop & the SSE ilo.org/sse
Sign up for ILO COOP/SSE monthly newsletter
Follow @ILOCOOPSSE on LinkedIn, X, Facebook and Instagram