Panel debate Coop culture as a protector of education and the environment

The culture of cooperation as a way of protecting and promoting education and sustainable development was the topic addressed on Monday (September 26) by the general director of OCB System, Fabíola Nader Motta. The director participated in the event that is on the eve of the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development (Mondiacult-Side Event).

UN – The event, promoted by the United Nations (UN), had a collaboration with the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) to show how cooperatives, a cultural heritage of humanity, work for sustainable development and education, along with other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Actions – The administrator reviewed the operation of the OCB system with its 18.8 million members and 4,880 cooperatives to promote the good of the country. She explained the political and institutional representation of OCB; union representation, National Confederation of Cooperatives (CNCoop); and the promotion of education, training and information, as stated in the 5th principle of cooperatives, through the Service for learning about cooperatives (Sescoop).

Life philosophy – “More than a business model, cooperativism is a philosophy of life that strives to transform the world into a fairer, happier, more balanced place with better opportunities for everyone,” Fabíola began.

Education – Fabíola highlighted the System’s initiatives that strengthen the promotion of education and the spread of cooperative culture. She pointed out that ‘innovation’ was one of the key words of the entity when transferring knowledge through courses, methodologies or studies. It also showed how distance learning platform CapacitaCoop, which can be accessed by members or not, is promoting real social change with its courses.

Difference – “The online courses have made a real difference in our cooperatives in terms of governance, management, accounting, innovation, taxation and the basics of cooperatives. In addition to teaching, we also learn, because together with the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) we promoted the only public call to promote Brazilian cooperative research. We encourage projects by researchers from universities and institutes on the movement in Brazil,” he pointed out.

social assistance – The General Director also explained the activities of Cooperation Day, better known as C Day. Celebrated on the first Sunday in July every year, C Day promotes initiatives that materialize cooperative values ​​and principles, especially “interest for the community”, and is linked to the UN goals of sustainable development dealing with current projects for transformation and sustainable development; and the visibility to society of the social impact created by cooperatives.

Volunteering – “Our Social and Environmental Responsibility Program encourages cooperatives to promote structured projects and voluntary actions for the benefit of communities. Actions can include educational projects, collection of donations, renovation of public spaces, cooperation with schools, nursing homes, hospitals and many others,” explained Fabíola.

mutual cooperation – In order to expand the possibilities of buying and selling between cooperatives, in acts of mutual cooperation, Fabíola highlighted the e-commerce platform NegóciosCoop, also created by the OCB system. “NegóciosCoop was born during the pandemic, a challenging time, to meet the demands of cooperatives. Today, two years later, the platform is on the way to consolidating as a large cooperative e-commerce”, the manager assessed.

panel – The panel was shared with the manager, president of ICA, Ariel Guarco, and the president of ICA-Americas, Graciela Fernández Quintas. Guarco was grateful for the opportunity to highlight each nation’s culture of cooperation in an event of this magnitude. Other representatives of the world’s cooperatives and governments, as well as delegates related to the UN, also participated.

MondiaCult – In 2016, Unesco recognized cooperatives as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. Mondiacult returns after 25 years without maintenance and, in this edition, has created a side event: Cooperatives are key stakeholders in promoting sustainable development goals through the cultural and creative sectors [Evento-paralelo: As cooperativas são as principais interessadas no avanço dos ODS por meio dos setores culturais e criativos, em livre tradução] recognize the doctrine and practice of the cooperative throughout the world.

Other topics – There are other topics in the accompanying events. This was organized by ACI with the aim of bringing together successful cooperative initiatives around the world that contribute to intangible cultural heritage titles. (OCB system)