Invitation to the ICA Youth Network Meeting

Moderator: Rodrigo Gouveia, Secretary-General, Consumer Co-operatives Worldwide

11.00     The global challenge of food security

A representative from FAO (tbc)

11.20     The role of agricultural co-operatives in addressing food security

Introduction: Won-Byung Choi, President, International Co-operative Agriculture Organisation (ICAO)

Presentation: “A Comprehensive Cooperative Approach to Food Security”, Dickson Thomas Aniteye, President-Ghana Agricultural Producers and Marketing Association, Ghana (tbc)

                11.50     The role of fishery co-operatives in addressing food security

Introduction: Jong-Koo Lee, President, International Co-operative Fisheries Organisation (ICFO)   Presentation: “The Role of Fisheries Cooperatives for Food Security & National Development”,

Kwang-bum Park, Secretary-General, International Co-operative Fisheries Organisation (ICFO)

Q&A    

Simultaneous interpretation will be ensured into English, Spanish, French, Japanese and Portugues. Additionnally, participants can express themselves in Italian

> Moderator: Peter Eneström

> Rapporteurs: Diana Dovgan, CICOPA and José Perez, IHCO

Programme:

- Welcome by the moderator

- Introduction speech by Manuel Mariscal, president of CICOPA and José Carlos Guisado, president of IHCO

- Short video introducing community services provided by cooperatives in the world

- Facts and figures on cooperatives involved in community services, presented by the moderator

- Presentation of cooperatives involved in community services in some key sectors

1) Health – Jose Perez (IHCO)

2) Education – Bob Cannell (Cooperatives UK)

3) Social services – Takako Tsushiya (JWCU, Japan)

4) Environment – Rebecca Kemble (USFWCF, USA)

5) Housing – David Rodger (ICA-Housing)

The ICMIF session will focus on what ICMIF and its members are doing to further the ICA 2020 blueprint. This session will focus on:
Identity - sharing the high level findings of the ICMIF unique global reputation report which highlights what external stakeholders think of our sector.

• Sustainability - sharing the best practices from the insurance sector and what ICMIF is doing to be a leading advocate for sustainable practices both to external stakeholders and internally for its members
• Capital - sharing current capital options and new innovations being championed by ICMIF and its members
• Legal environment - sharing what ICMIF is doing globally to advocate for a better legal and regulatory environment for its insurance members
• Governance - sharing reports and statistics highlighting how ICMIF members are leading the insurance sector in best practice for governance including our latest report on gender balance at CEO level.

Chair: Dr Linda Shaw

This workshop will explore how co-operation is inspiring and engaging young people in the context of the challenges of a global crisis of youth unemployment and  the need of mature co-operatives for democratic renewal. There will an opportunity to learn about the different ways in which young people are engaging with the co-operative movement is through case studies and good practice examples.

Discussion on inspiring the next generation of co-operators will include the role and potential of co-operatives from a child’s first engagement with education, drawing on examples of early years co-operatives in Europe and North America to university level co-operatives in Asia. Schools can also play an important role here. The UK has seen the conversion of over 600 state schools into multi-stakeholder co-operatives. The inspirational aspect comes not only from the scale of this development, but the way in which learners engage. There are also co-operative schools in countries such as Sweden, Spain and Brazil.  What can we learn from these examples?

Work in some of the African countries is at the cutting edge in this in terms of their recognition of the need to equip young people with the skills and competencies to establish their own co-operatives. The session will highlight developments with youth and student co-operatives in Africa, particularly in Lesotho, Kenya and Uganda.

1. An early start- Kindergarten and Nursery Co-operatives (experience from Canada, Spain, Sweden)

Ms Denyse Guy, Executive Director Canadian Cooperative Association –experience from Canada

Mr Ben Reid, CEO, Mid counties Co-operative, UK – experience from the UK

2. Embedding co-operative governance and co-operation in schools (the UK Experience)

Dr Mervyn Wilson,  Principal, Co-operative College, UK

3. Embedding co-operatives and co-operation in further and higher education

Dr Kokichi Shoji, President National Federation  of University Cooperatives Association, Japan

4. Extending the boundaries – youth and student co-operatives in Africa (South Africa and Uganda case studies)

Mr Geoffrey Bwayo, Kigayaza Youth Co-operative, Uganda

Kwanele G. Mkhwanazi, Secretary – General,  Co-operative Management Students Society, University of Zululand

14.00    Achieving Food Security Through Nutrition-Led Agriculture: Integrating Nutrition into Supply Chains

Amy Coughenour, NCBA/CLUSA, US

14.20     Diet and Health – The Co-operative Group approach

Mags Bradbury, Co-operative Group, UK

14.40     S Group Responsibility Programme

Juhani Ilmola, SOK, Finland

15.00     Sustainable development initiatives in Cooperativa Obrera

Rodolfo Zoppi, Cooperativa Obrera, Argentina (tbc)

Q&A

As we face up to the worst recession for decades, we have to lay the foundations of a stronger global economy for the generations to come. How to find the conditions for a better world for each people around the world? If the resilience of coops has been demonstrated, coops could innovate and change the future for people.

This workshop aims to demonstrate how cooperative banks have been innovative to support their members during the crisis and what are today the strength of cooperative banks to be more resilient and efficient for their members.

Speakers (TBC)

Chair: Dr Sonja Novkovic

Cooperative education as a life-long commitment takes a variety of forms, and education for co-operative development and growth is certainly among its more important aspects. Co-operative start-ups can be initiated by the existing cooperatives, but they are often a work of individuals with little or no training in co-op development. In those cases, but also in various stages of co-operative expansion, assistance from professional co-operative developers, associations, federations and other institutions is paramount. Further, in the context of less developed countries and regions governments, NGOs and the global co-operative movement also play an extremely important role in providing the resources and the expertise for co-op development.

This session will explore issues of education for co-operative development and growth. What are the challenges? What works and under what types of circumstances? What are best practices for sustainable growth of cooperative businesses?

Brazil – the incubator model of co-op development

• Mr Marcelo Gómez, Director, UNISOL

Agropur cooperative: Education and Training  :  Grow without growing astray   (La formation cooperative chez Agropur coopérative: Croître sans se perdre de vue)

o   Ms Lorraine Bédard , senior vice-president, Legal Affairs, members relation and corporate secretary. Agropur dairy cooperative (Canada)

The Coop Zone developers network

Mr Réjean Laflamme

Mr MigwiWanjohi- Co-operative University College of Kenya (TBC)

By 2050, the population of the Earth will stand at 9 billion. In order to feed all of these people, there is going to have to be an increase in food production as well as changes made to the way producers and consumers behave. To begin with, food waste – at both ends of the food chain – needs to be vastly reduced. In developing countries, over 40% of food losses happen after harvest and during processing and in industrialized countries, over 40% occur at retail and consumer level. By supporting and campaigning for: the sustainable use of natural resources, higher agricultural and forestry competitiveness, a sensible system of land management and a higher quality of life for farmers, co-operatives can play a vital role in nurturing rural development throughout the world and in ensuring food security for every human. Co-operatives also have a duty to inform and educate consumers on the importance of sustainably produced food products

IDENTITY

Focus on work integration for vulnerable groups

□ Video on cooperative Elefante Negro (Argentina) □

Speakers for the round table: Luca Dal Pozzo (Federsolidarietà, Italy), Jose Orbaiceta (Fecootra, Argentina), Toshinori Ozeki (Hew Cooperative, Japan), Rebecca Kemble (USFWC, USA)

LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND PUBLIC POLICIES

Speakers for the round table: Luca Dal Pozzo (Federsolidarietà, Italy), Vishwas Satgar (University of Witwatersrand and COPAC, South Africa) Ricardo López (FAES, Argentina),  Yuzo Nagato (JWCU, Japan) TBC, David Rodgers (CDS, UK)

- Summary by José Perez (IHCO) and Diana Dovgan (CICOPA) 

- Conclusions by Jose Carlos Guisado (IHCO) and Manuel Mariscal (CICOPA)

How can co-operatives reach the under-represented voices of women and youth; engage their members, customers and employees and help build the next generation of co-operatives?  The answer is through a larger presence in communication and media, including social media. In addition to this, having a vivid and commanding presence on applications such as Facebook and Twitter would allow co-operatives to communicate to its customers in new ways.

> Chair: Steven Lynch - National Community Development Manager, bankmecu (Australia)

Steven was awarded the 2012 Future Leaders Award (Youth). Steven has demonstrated a commitment to the co-operative model and co-operative principles in every aspect of his working life with bankmecu.  Steven is working with other young co-operators in Australia to establish the Australian Co-operative Youth Network.  This network is seeking to use social media as a key tool to reach young people. 

>Emily Lippold Cheney – Founder and Co-Chair USA Co-operative Youth Council (USA)

IT Co-operation: Accessible, Neutral, & Open Source

The internet, as a global means of communication and information sharing, has radically transformed the way we learn, relate, and interact. While the dawning of the internet and the evolution of internet-based communication tools (e.g. social media) have been revolutionary, the true and ongoing revolution in global media is about access to and democracy of the internet. The majority of the people in the world do not have regular access to the internet in their home communities due to a lack of infrastructure, particularly in rural communities. Thankfully, those with access to infrastructure do not have to pay to view, contribute, and interact with the content of the internet - however, this freedom or “neutrality” of the internet is consistently challenged by capitalist interests. Through examining the various challenges to both increasing infrastructure throughout the world and maintaining a democratic internet, it becomes apparent that the cooperative movement has some sound solutions for these challenges. The development of community-owned broadband networks can safeguard access, support of net neutrality, and use of Open Source technology principles and products are some of the important tasks the cooperative movement needs to undertake to fulfil the important role could play in the ongoing media revolution.

>Anthony Murray – Executive Editor Co-op News and Global News Hub (UK)

What is the secret to a successful campaign online? This session will look at the various options for reaching out to members through the internet, while highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of co-operatives.

>Neema Mutemi - Consultant, Youth and Agriculture Development at USAID East Africa (Kenya)

Cooperatives 2.0: The Youth Solution

How to use Social Media as a tool to Engage Generation XYZ to drive the co-operative revolution.

>Questions and Answers – open discussion

  Workshop C3: Participation in the Media Revolution

The resilience of co-operatives to the economic crisis has reinforced their credibility. Credit unions, cooperative banks and insurance cooperatives have been at the peak of such resilience. They have massively continued to operate in the real economy at the local level, in close contact with ordinary people's and SMEs' needs. At the same time, huge challenges are looming ahead such as compliance to banking regulation and the increased influence of non-banking financial actors such as equity funds. This workshop will look at ways in which financial cooperatives can overcome these challenges and reinforce their mission of developing the local economies

One of the paths through which tomorrow's generation of co-operators will join the movement will be through their education at the various universities and business schools of the world. It is thus vital that we act now to ensure that the courses they will take will cover in detail the co-operative business model. Furthermore, this would attract more of academia's brightest minds to conduct research on the co-operative movement – something which we can only benefit from. It is thus impor tant to bring together the leaders of this field to discuss together and to share their programmes with each other.

19:00  Concurrent networking receptions

1. Community Services (by invitation only)
2. Coop to Coop trade (by invitation only)
3. Co-operative Accountants (open to co-operative accountants and financial specialists)

19:30 Co-op cinema: Food for change TBC

By 2050, the population of the Earth will stand at 9 billion. In order to feed all of these people, there is going to have to be an increase in food production as well as changes made to the way producers and consumers behave. To begin with, food waste – at both ends of the food chain – needs to be vastly reduced. In developing countries, over 40% of food losses happen after harvest and during processing and in industrialized countries, over 40% occur at retail and consumer level. By supporting and campaigning for: the sustainable use of natural resources, higher agricultural and forestry competitiveness, a sensible system of land management and a higher quality of life for farmers, co-operatives can play a vital role in nurturing rural development throughout the world and in ensuring food security for every human. Co-operatives also have a duty to inform and educate consumers on the importance of sustainably produced food products

Interactive Sessions (45 minutes each)

> PART A: Creating a social media campaign in 45 minutes – Anthony Murray, Executive Editor and Giles Simon, Strategic Development Manager Co-operative News

A fast-paced session in which you will not just hear about social media, but work with a team to create a social media plan. You will be given a simple story to communicate and working on tables you will devise a plan including objectives, audiences, creative ideas, channels and metrics.  Delegates will share knowledge and leave the session with practical skills to plan a social media campaign.

Hosted by: Co-operative News

> PART B: Global Communications Messaging - Melina Morrison and Kate Askew, Sommerson

A very dynamic hands on workshop, aimed at showing delegates the messaging possibilities by embracing the themes of the Blueprint into their communications strategies.

How can co-operatives reach the under-represented voices of women and youth; engage their members, customers and employees and help build the next generation of co-operatives?  The answer is through a larger presence in communication and media, including social media.

Includes a live cross to New York by Skype, with guest speaker James Slezak, co-founder of consumer movement peers.org.

What is a message platform and how can we use it to reinforce the co-operative difference? Workshop participants will have the opportunity to directly engage in the process of transforming a Blueprint message into a brand statement, slogan or media message that can be directly communicated to different audiences. This workshop aims to empower delegates with all levels of communications expertise, to be able to use the ICA’s Blueprint ‘messages’ for different communication needs and various audiences.

The resilience of co-operatives to the economic crisis has reinforced their credibility. Credit unions, cooperative banks and insurance cooperatives have been at the peak of such resilience. They have massively continued to operate in the real economy at the local level, in close contact with ordinary people's and SMEs' needs. At the same time, huge challenges are looming ahead such as compliance to banking regulation and the increased influence of non-banking financial actors such as equity funds. This workshop will look at ways in which financial cooperatives can overcome these challenges and reinforce their mission of developing the local economies.

By 2050, the population of the Earth will stand at 9 billion. In order to feed all of these people, there is going to have to be an increase in food production as well as changes made to the way producers and consumers behave. To begin with, food waste – at both ends of the food chain – needs to be vastly reduced. In developing countries, over 40% of food losses happen after harvest and during processing and in industrialized countries, over 40% occur at retail and consumer level. By supporting and campaigning for: the sustainable use of natural resources, higher agricultural and forestry competitiveness, a sensible system of land management and a higher quality of life for farmers, co-operatives can play a vital role in nurturing rural development throughout the world and in ensuring food security for every human. Co-operatives also have a duty to inform and educate consumers on the importance of sustainably produced food products

Since the food price crisis of 2007-2008, increasing attention has been paid to the issue of food security at the local, regional, and global levels. In particular, emphasis has been placed on how to grow the food the world requires to feed a rapidly expanding population while also addressing poverty reduction targets and boosting inclusive growth. As small holder farmers are widely agreed to be the largest producers of food and the source of the majority of investment in agriculture they are seen as key to ensuring a sustainable food supply and to contributing to a wider agenda of sustainable development through income generation and employment. The rapidly changing environment in which small producers have operated over the last two decades has presented new opportunities and challenges for governments and policy-makers. Efficient responses necessarily address the constraints of small producers, including extreme poverty, poor access to markets and financial services. The co-operative model is uniquely placed to support small holders in overcoming these hurdles, as highlighted at a recent meeting of the African Green Revolution Forum which found that inclusive business models are essential to leveraging the potential of this group. With such an abundance of policy activity, for example the United Nations’ declared 2012 the International Year of Cooperatives; the FAO devoted the 2012 World Food Day to the theme ‘Agricultural cooperatives - key to feeding the world’; and the African Union has designated 2014 the Year for Food Security and Agriculture, it is clear that there is a substantial opportunity for agricultural co-operatives to expand and grow.  

This 90 minute session will explore what steps should be taken to ensure that agricultural co-operatives in Africa thrive as employment providers, centres of community cohesion, and take their place as fundamental players in the effort to create a food sustainable future. Issues to be explored include: short, medium and long term financing; supply chains and connection to markets; and support for co-operative governance.

The panel will include speakers from organisations such as the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, and will encourage a high level of audience participation. While the session is open to all ICA conference participants, views are particularly invited from representatives of the agricultural and financial sectors, those involved in supply chain activities and from anyone with an interest in co-operative development.

The Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade aims to position co-operatives as leaders in sustainability by 2020. The ICA is pleased to share preliminary work on sustainability in this Plenary Session. Bruno Roelants of CECOP – CICOPA will present a collaborative Thought Paper on Growth, which answers to increasingly complex conceptions of progress, growth, and development. Convening the voices of academics and practitioners, this Thought Paper aims to – by highlighting points of convergence – put forth a coherent and unified understanding of growth and sustainability for the movement in the Decade and beyond.
In tandem, Yuill Herbert of Sustainability Solutions Group (SSG) will present the preliminary results of a scan on the current expression of sustainability in the global movement. Using innovative linguistic analysis, as well as crowd sourcing, the Scan will shed light on innovative ways in which co-operatives ensure sustainability today for a promising tomorrow.
Thought Leadership: A Co-operative Perspective on Growth
Moderator: Bruno Roelants, CECOP-CICOPA
The results of the ICA Sustainability Scan
Moderator: Yuill Herbert, Sustainability Solutions Group (SSG)

In order to help steward the ICA’s work on co-operative capital, and to achieve in the goal of securing reliable co-operative capital while maintaining member control, the newly established Blue Ribbon Commission will hold a town-hall style meeting under the leadership of its Chair, Kathy Bardswick, President and CEO of The Co-operators (Canada). In order to frame the work of the Commission going forward into the Co-operative Decade, the specific challenges of co-operative capital will be discussed: obstacles in access to co-operative capital for start-ups and growing co-operatives, absence of co-operative investment funds, the threat of demutualisation, among others.

In addition, in this session, EURICSE will present the important work of the World Co-operative Monitor 2013 highlighting the good practices of the movement’s Global 300 across region, sector, and currency.

Blue Ribbon Commission on Co-operative Capital

Moderator: Kathy Bardswick, The Co-operators (Canada)

The World Co-operative Monitor 2013

Moderator: Gianluca Salvatori, Euricse

THE FUTURE OF AFRICA: PANEL OF AFRICAN MINISTERS

Mr. Gilbert Houngbo, ILO Deputy Director General

Mr. Rob Haydn Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry of South

Africa ^(tbc)

CONCLUDING PLENARY

Keynote Conclusion:

Mr. Paul Singer, Brazilian Secretary of State for Solidarity Economy

The Big Debate Panel

Dame Pauline Green, President of the International Co-operative Alliance