Resources on cooperatives

  1. 12th Academy on Social and Solidarity Economy - Elective 3: SSE, just transition to climate-neutral and circular economy: innovative ways of production and consumption

    12 January 2022

  2. ILO COOP 100 Webinar III - Cooperatives for Climate Action

    06 July 2020

    The webinar focused on climate action, the theme for this year’s International Day of Cooperatives. Four speakers presented on the role of cooperatives in climate change mitigation and adaptation and discussed ways to scale up efforts toward a greener and better future.

  3. How cooperatives can help Brazil’s waste pickers build back from COVID-19

    03 July 2020

    This year’s International Day of Cooperatives on 4 July will focus on climate action. Waste pickers’ cooperatives in Brazil are examples of how cooperatives can help combat climate change, while facing the challenges thrown up by the COVID-19 pandemic.

  4. ILO COOP 100 Webinar III - Cooperatives for Climate Action on the occasion of the 2020 International Day of Cooperatives

    On the eve of the International Day of Cooperatives (IDC), the ILO will hold the third in a series of webinars as part of the Centenary of its Cooperatives Unit, focusing on this year's theme of the IDC - Cooperatives for Climate Action.

  5. Waste pickers’ cooperatives and social and solidarity economy organizations

    20 August 2019

    Waste pickers make significant contributions to public health, sanitation, and the environment by promoting resource circulation and reducing the amount of landfill. However, they are often not legally recognized as workers and suffer from poor working conditions and lack of social protection. This brief highlights the role of waste pickers' cooperatives and other social and solidarity economy organizations (SSEOs) in integrating and formalizing the work of waste pickers in the recycling value chain and improving their working conditions.

  6. Transforming our world: A cooperative 2030 Cooperative contributions to SDG 7

    27 June 2018

    This brief is part of the Transforming our world: A cooperative 2030 series produced by the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC). Through a series of 17 briefs, one for each Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), COPAC hopes to raise awareness about the significant contributions of cooperative enterprises towards achieving the 2030 Agenda in a sustainable, inclusive and responsible way, and encourage continued support for their efforts. This brief focuses on SDG 7 – ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

  7. Redesol - Building sustainable and solidary links among waste pickers in the informal economy in Brazil

    20 June 2018

    "Spotlight Interviews with Co-operators" is a series of interviews with cooperative leaders from around the world with whom ILO officials have crossed paths during the course of their work with cooperatives. For this issue ILO interviewed Ms Sonia Dias, Waste Picker Sector Specialist at Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) on Redesol, a network of cooperatives of waste pickers in Brazil.

  8. Cooperatives meeting informal economy workers' child care needs - A Joint ILO and WIEGO Initiative

    25 April 2018

    Cooperatives set up and run by workers in the informal economy are among the solutions in meeting women workers’ care needs, while also helping protect their labour rights. This report complements the ILO's previous studies with cases from Brazil, India, and Guatemala on how informal economy workers’ organizations can mobilize through cooperatives to provide child care services to their members. The case studies highlight diverse forms of child care provision and outline the varied partnerships needed to implement and sustain child care services for informal economy workers.