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The United Nations declared 2025 the International Year of Co-operatives, with the slogan “Co-ops Build a Better World”.
Which got us asking: do they? Really?
We know the co-op model is a great tool for solving problems and capitalizing on opportunities, but can it make the world better?
Let’s consider.
Co-ops are great, but they make up a comparatively small portion of the global economy, and not every business can (or should) be a co-op. And yet, maybe the lessons co-ops have to teach us really could build a better world.
Here are some great things about co-ops that – if we applied these lessons more broadly – could make the world a little better.
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People need to work together
There are no co-ops of one. As a model, co-ops mandate that people work together as a group to accomplish a goal. Don’t have at least three people to start your business or organization? You don’t have a co-op.
Western culture, especially, has us believing we should accomplish things by ourselves. We feel pressure to make it on our own steam, not to rely on anyone else. More than ever before, we’re losing a sense of community; less than half of Canadians reported having a “strong sense of belonging”, with the number falling in younger generations.
In a time when we emphasize individualism, co-ops challenge us to consider what we can – and should – accomplish together.
2. Wealth does more good when it stays local
So much of what we buy these days is made and shipped from far-off places, and the money we pay for those things goes into far-off pockets. Unless, of course, we support co-ops.
Because they are owned by their members, who tend to be local people, co-ops keep the money they make circulating locally. They can do this in a few ways: through patronage payments (distributing their profits back to members), by selling investment shares that provide dividends, and by providing funds to local non-profits and community projects.
3. Power should be shared
Embedded in co-ops is another truth – that power should be distributed rather than concentrated in the hands of one or a few people. Because of co-ops’ one-member, one-vote rule, they recognize the importance of power remaining shared so decisions continue to benefit the most people. This way, the will, needs, and priorities of the majority stay front and centre.
4. Relationships are best when they’re reciprocal
One-way relationships aren’t satisfying. Co-ops have a reciprocal relationship with their members; not only do members receive a good or service from the co-op, but the co-op also benefits from the members’ participation in its governance, as they share their opinions, attend meetings, learn about how the co-op operates, and contribute to its improvement.
Co-ops encourage us to think not just about what we can get, but what we can contribute.
5. There is power in diversity
Because they are owned by groups of people, co-ops have a variety of voices at the table. As studies have shown, when those voices come from people with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints, the group performs better.
And while co-ops, like other organizations, can fall into the trap of creating boards with very similar members, their structure makes it more likely that they’ll strive to better reflect their membership and community.
So, can they?
We promote co-operatives as an exceedingly pragmatic tool that people can use to solve local problems and capitalize on opportunities. The co-op model is a way to do business or structure an organization. But even we have to admit — at their core, co-ops have positive attributes that we can reflect on and use to make a difference in the world at large.
Want to understand co-ops better? Take our free, online Introduction to Co-ops course.