Links

International contacts and links have always been important to the co-operative movement, and in the post-globalisation era this more true than ever. The following are a list of organising who carry out research in the fields of co-operative organisation or the broader social economy.

UK Links

The Co-operative College provides learning, education, training, consultancy and research for the co-operative, social enterprise and mutual sectors in the UK and internationally. It offers tailored workshops and qualifications for members, directors, staff and managers of co-operatives, social enterprise and mutual organisations. The College works outside of the co-operative movement with schools, young people and public bodies, raising awareness of the difference co-operatives and co-operative values can make to individuals and their communities.

The New Harmony Press is a co-operative publisher that seeks to support publication of materials directed at co-operative, credit union, trade union, and social economy organisations concerned with community, family, social justice, workers organisation and labour standards, economic democracy, management and organisational development, peace and reconciliation, environmental sustainability and alternative technology. In addition to books we are interested in research monographs and training and development materials, exercises and case studies. We publish the International Journal of Co-operative Management.

The Co-operatives Research Unit (CRU) is based at the Open University at Milton Keynes in the UK and has nearly 30 years of experience in research, training, consultancy and publications related to co-operatives, social enterprise and other organisations in the social economy. It has three main aims: to encourage and develop thinking and research on issues of importance to the social economy sector; to support the development of co-operatives and other organisations trading for social or ethical purposes; and to work with practitioners, policy makers and researchers at European, national and local levels to develop comparative analyses of issues for improving policy, development and management.

The Research Unit for Financial Inclusion (RUFI) undertakes academic, action and evaluative research in a wide range of areas related to poverty, financial exclusion and the development of financial services for lower income households. RUFI has a particular commitment to credit unions and other third sector and co-operative financial institutions.  RUFI has developed a particular expertise in research activities aimed at strengthening credit union capacity and effectiveness within low income communities.  RUFI papers and reports are downloadable from the website.
 

The Wales Institute for Research into Cooperatives was established in April 2000 as the first Welsh centre providing basic, strategic and applied research covering all aspects of the social economy. It is based at Cardiff School of Management, part of the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff. Specific examples of such matters include: employee ownership, community enterprise, co-operative production, co-operative retailing, community provision of services and credit unions. WIRC members provide academic analyses to raise the profile of the social economy and especially the co-operative sector within the academic community, while keeping a strong policy focus and sharing their academic skills to support co-operative enterprises in Wales. 

International Links

The British Columbia Institute for Co-operative Studies is a catalyst for research, learning, and teaching about co-operative thought and practice through the development of Co-operative Studies as an established field of inquiry. The BC Institute for Co-operative Studies was founded in January 2000 under the directorship of Dr Ian MacPherson, and is based at the University of Victoria. The aim of the Institute’s research is to understand how the co-operative model functions within different contexts and how it can contribute to meeting economic and social needs. Most importantly, BCICS aims to find out how the co-operative model can help to empower people and communities in controlling the forces that shape their lives.
 

The Canadian Association for Studies in Co-operation (CASC) is a volunteer run, non-profit organization made up of researchers interested in co-operatives and practitioners who work in the co-operative sector. The focus of the association is local and international study of all aspects of co-operation and co-operative organizations. CASC is co-published with the UK Society for Cooperative Studies of the Journal of Cooperative Studies.

The UCC Centre for Co-operative Studies is a university research centre based at Cork University that promotes education and training and independent research and consultancy in all aspects of co-operative organisation. It was founded in 1980, by a small group of co-operatively minded academics who wished to explore and promote the co-operative concept through research and teaching. Today, the Centre continues its work of fostering research, study and education about co-operatives. It is a strong focus of support for academics who are interested in co-operatives and it works closely with many national and international co-operative bodies.

The Centre for Research and Specialisation in Agribusiness Management (CEGEA) was created in 1979 as a postgraduate training centre for agricultural co-operative management and became a research centre within the Polytechnic University of Valencia in 1999. It is the leading University Research Centre in Spain for agricultural co-operative research and training. Many of the most important agrifood industries and organisations, agricultural co-operatives in particular, in Spain and America, train their managers and technical staff in CEGEA. Research activity is one of the mainstays of the Centre and has resulted in more than 300 publications on issues including co-operative organisations, co-operative credit, and the social economy and co-operativism.

The CERISIS - Interdisciplinary Research Center for Solidarity and Social Innovation - was founded in 1995 in Hainaut. Its ‘third sector and social policy’ team deals with socioeconomic logics of not for profit organisations (cooperatives, voluntary organisations, social enterprises, charities). It examines the articulations of these organisations with public policies, the market and the community. We investigate the role of these kinds of organisations  in comparison with business and public bodies in several fields such as socio-professional integration, social services or social entrepreneurship.

CIRIEC (International Centre of Research and Information on the Public, Social and Cooperative Economy) is a non-governmental international scientific organization. Its objectives are to undertake and promote the collection of information, scientific research, and the publication of works on economic sectors and activities oriented towards the service of the general and collective interest. In the fields of public utilities, public and mixed enterprises, the social economy and workers' participation, CIRIEC seeks to offer information and opportunities for mutual enrichment to practitioners and academics and for promoting international action. It develops activities of interest for both managers and researchers.