2021
International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and others
The report titled "Young people and cooperatives: a perfect match?" is a collaborative research initiative produced by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and its regional offices, with insights from the ICA Youth Network and support from the Co-operative College. It is based on responses from 420 young individuals across 20 countries, addressing the pressing challenges faced by today's youth. The report delves into how cooperatives can serve as effective solutions while aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly concerning decent work and quality education. The research is structured around five key themes—employment, education, (in)equalities, engagement, and entrepreneurship—highlighting how cooperatives can play a vital role in tackling these issues. It emphasizes the necessity for cooperatives to enhance their visibility and appeal among young people, fostering a better understanding of their benefits and creating youth-oriented structures. The report identifies strategies to boost youth involvement in cooperatives, such as improving knowledge and public perception, while also promoting decent work opportunities. Moreover, the report provides compelling case studies showcasing the positive impacts of cooperatives on employment prospects and educational opportunities for young people. It notes that while cooperatives can theoretically help youth overcome various obstacles, significant challenges must be addressed to realize this potential effectively. The findings ultimately serve as a clarion call for the cooperative movement to deepen its engagement with youth, offering actionable recommendations to promote participation, employment, and education related to cooperatives.
The report titled "Young people and cooperatives: a perfect match?" is a comprehensive global research initiative co-produced by all regional offices of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) with support from the Co-operative College and input from the ICA Youth Network. The report is structured into five main chapters, referred to as the five 'E's: employment, education, (in)equalities, engagement, and entrepreneurship. It is based on 420 responses from young people in 20 countries and aims to provide insights into the key challenges facing youth today, and how cooperatives can address these challenges and improve engagement with young people.
The report highlights the potential of cooperatives to play a crucial role in solving the challenges of young people, while also contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 8 on decent work and SDG 4 on quality education. It identifies strategies to engage more youth in cooperatives, such as improving knowledge of cooperatives among young people, boosting the image of cooperatives, developing genuine youth-oriented structures within cooperatives, and promoting decent work opportunities through cooperatives.
The report also includes case studies and examples of cooperative contributions to employment, education, and reducing inequalities. It emphasizes the need for cooperatives to adapt to the digitized world to better engage young people and suggests that cooperatives need to be more visible as an alternative for employment opportunities. The research indicates that while cooperatives theoretically have the capacity to help youth overcome challenges, there are still obstacles that need to be addressed to ensure this potential is realized in practice.
Overall, the report serves as a call to action for cooperatives to strengthen their support and engagement towards young people and provides actionable conclusions and recommendations for the cooperative movement to promote youth cooperatives, youth employment and participation in cooperatives, as well as education on cooperatives.