Güçlü Eğiticiler Güçlü Kooperatifler Projesi/Educated Trainers, Stronger Cooperatives (2016-1-TR01- KA204-034770) The Training Needs of Cooperatives Report Güçlü Eğiticiler Güçlü Kooperatifler Projesi/Educated Trainers, Stronger Cooperatives (2016-1-TR01- KA204-034770) The Training Needs of Cooperatives Report Introduction Educated Trainers Stronger Cooperatives Project is a project funded by the Turkish National Agency under the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership for Adult Education (KA2). The project has been implemented between September 2016 and August 2018 under the coordination of Ankara Development Agency. The partners of the project are the Cooperative College from UK, Legacoop Puglia from Italy, and Deutscher Genossenschafts und Raiffeisen Verband (DGRV) from Germany along with Provincial Directorate of Agriculture, Provincial Directorate of Commerce as well as District Governorships of Beypazarı and Nallıhan in Turkey. The project aims at strengthening the capacity of the cooperatives according to the needs of their regions and global market. The main intellectual outputs of the project are: 1) The Project Website 2) The Training Needs of Cooperatives Report 3) The Education Plan 4) The Education Toolkit and Manual For Trainings 5) Good Practices Video 6) Best Practices Book Güçlü Eğiticiler Güçlü Kooperatifler Projesi/Educated Trainers, Stronger Cooperatives (2016-1-TR01- KA204-034770) Section 1: Introduction to Cooperatives According to The International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) definition, ‘A co-operative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise.’ Co-operatives are enterprises, active in every sector of economy, everywhere: Cooperatives are businesses owned and run by and for their members. Whether the members are the customers, employees or residents they have an equal say in what the business does and a share in the profits. As businesses driven by values not just profit, co- operatives share internationally agreed principles and act together to build a better world through co-operation. Successful co-operatives around the world are allowing people to work together to create sustainable enterprises that generate jobs and prosperity and provide answers to poverty and short term business practices (ICA). As businesses driven by values not just profit, co-operatives share internationally agreed principles and act together to build a better world through co-operation. Güçlü Eğiticiler Güçlü Kooperatifler Projesi/Educated Trainers, Stronger Cooperatives (2016-1-TR01- KA204-034770) Co-operative values Co-operatives are based on values. Their economic activity is strictly driven by these values. The co-operative values are: Self-help The members of co-operatives help each other by working together for mutual benefit. Self-responsibility In co-operatives, individuals are responsible for their actions and decisions. Democracy In co-operatives, members can vote for their representatives and each member has the same right to vote – ‘one person, one vote’. Equality Each member of the co-operative has equal rights and conditions. Equity Members are treated justly and fairly. Solidarity Members help each other and co-operatives support and help other co-operatives. Cooperatives are also based on the ethical values of Honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others. Güçlü Eğiticiler Güçlü Kooperatifler Projesi/Educated Trainers, Stronger Cooperatives (2016-1-TR01- KA204-034770) Co-operative principles Through co-operative principles, co-operators put values into practice. The co-operative principles are: 1. Voluntary and Open Membership Co-operatives are voluntary organisations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political or religious discrimination. 2. Democratic Member Control Co-operatives are democratic organisations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting their policies and making decisions. Men and women serving as elected representatives are accountable to the membership. In primary co-operatives members have equal voting rights (one member, one vote) and co-operatives at other levels are also organised in a democratic manner. 3. Member Economic Participation Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their co-operative. At least part of that capital is usually the common property of the co-operative. Members usually receive limited compensation, if any, on capital subscribed as a condition of membership. Members allocate surpluses for any or all of the following purposes: developing their co-operative, possibly by setting up reserves, part of which at least would be indivisible; benefiting members in proportion to their transactions with the co-operative; and supporting other activities approved by the members. 4. Autonomy and Independence Co-operatives are autonomous, self-help organisations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organisations, including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their co-operative autonomy. Güçlü Eğiticiler Güçlü Kooperatifler Projesi/Educated Trainers, Stronger Cooperatives (2016-1-TR01- KA204-034770) 5. Education, Training and Information Co-operatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers, and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their co-operatives. They inform the general public - particularly young people and opinion leaders - about the nature and benefits of co-operation. 6. Co-operation among Co-operatives Co-operatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the co-operative movement by working together through local, national, regional and international structures. 7. Concern for Community Co-operatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies approved by their members. The members of a co-operative can be: The employees: people who work in the co-operative. In worker co-operatives, members are both workers and owners and, each member, like in other co-operatives, contributes to the capital with their shares and participates on a ‘one member/one-vote’ basis and not in proportion to their equity contribution. A co-operative means working together to create value for the same members (following the mutual interest principle), as well as for customers/clients with the main objective of reinvesting a part of the profits to make the co-operative stronger and long lasting. The customers: People who buy products from the co-operative. The retailers: The owner of business commercial activities. The producers: If they sell their products to co-operative (as in agricultural co-operatives, where members are producers) The residents: If they are the owners of property (the case of the housing co-operative). In this case the co-operative owns property, consisting of one or more residential buildings; it is one type of housing tenure. Güçlü Eğiticiler Güçlü Kooperatifler Projesi/Educated Trainers, Stronger Cooperatives (2016-1-TR01- KA204-034770) The history of the co-operative movement In 1844 the Rochdale Pioneers founded the modern co-operative movement in Lancashire, England, to provide an affordable alternative to poor-quality and adulterated food and provisions, using any surplus to benefit the community. Since then, the co-operative movement has extended across the globe. Today co-operatives are active in all sectors of economy. The earliest record of a co-operative comes from Scotland where, in 1761, in a barely furnished cottage, local weavers manhandled a sack of oatmeal into John Walker’s whitewashed front room and began selling the contents at a discount, forming the Fenwick Weavers’ Society. The Rochdale Pioneers are generally regarded as the prototype of the modern co-operative society and the founders of the co-operative movement in 1844. The Rochdale Pioneers The Rochdale Pioneers are regarded as the founders of the first modern cooperative business and Cooperative Movement. They were a group of 28 artisans working in the cotton mills in the town of Rochdale, in the north of England under miserable working conditions and for low wages. They established the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society in 1844 as an attempt to provide basic goods at a lower price for the weavers who could not afford the high prices of basic goods. For that purpose, they decided to pool their scarce resources and work together. They were selling only flour, oatmeal, sugar and butter initially in their shop which was open only two nights a week. As their business had grown, their working hours have been longer and product range has been extended. Güçlü Eğiticiler Güçlü Kooperatifler Projesi/Educated Trainers, Stronger Cooperatives (2016-1-TR01- KA204-034770) The Pioneers decided it was time shoppers were treated with honesty, openness and respect, that they should be able to share in the profits that their custom contributed to and that they should have a democratic right to have a say in the business. Every customer of the shop became a member and so had a true stake in the business.1 The co-operative movement today The principles and values accepted by cooperatives today have evolved from these early ideas. Although they have