Conference: Young People & the Future of European Cooperation

What an incredible turnout at the Cardiff Conference on “Young people & the future of cooperation in Europe”.

Participants met to exchange and meet members coming from different backgrounds and different countries across Europe. The discussion unveiled new cooperative perspectives on various pressing issues, broadening our views and opinions. The Cooperatives Europe team is immensely grateful for the time and investment of our host Cwmpas, speakers, sponsors, and participants.

Of course, this is just where the work begins. Cooperatives Europe’s strategy will be finalised based on the contributions as well as the strategy session held on day two. This session was organised for Cooperatives Europe’s members in which they were invited to reflect on three topics to better integrate into Cooperatives Europe’s work programme: gender equality, education & research, and youth & entrepreneurship.

At the same time, we saw an ambitious and enthusiastic group of young cooperators take the lead in the Young European Cooperators Network. This is only the first chapter of their story that we will continue to support in the years ahead. Young cooperators are already planning a follow-up meeting in mid-December to see how they can build on the proposed ideas. If you are aware of any young cooperators interested in participating in this online session, they can contact m.delabie@coopseurope.coop.

And finally, we would like to thank our sponsors that made this event free for young cooperators. Our headline sponsors: Cardiff Council, COOP France. Our supporting sponsors: HSB Riksförbund, Fundacion Espriu, Deutscher Genossenschafts- und Raiffeisenverband e. V., Co-operatives UK, DotCooperation, Midcounties Co-operative, VME Co-op, Alleanza delle cooperative Italiane, and Central England Co-op.

Find the photos here.

More info on the event page at future.coopseurope.coop