Cooperativas de las Américas presented its call for research papers on the International Year of Cooperatives during the conference held from September 5 to 7 by the Thematic Network on Social and Solidarity Economy of the University of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay (Udelar).
The 13th Latin American Meeting of Researchers on Cooperativism (EILAC) brought together academics, researchers and leaders of the cooperative movement from across the region in Montevideo, including the president of Cooperatives of the Americas, Graciela Fernández.
It was a space for exchanging knowledge based on dialogue on topics related to cooperative training and education, the social solidarity economy, the implementation of digital technologies in cooperative environments, gender challenges in the associative sector, family, peasant and indigenous agriculture, among others.
In this space, the set of initiatives for the International Year of Cooperatives 2025 was presented and especially the background research that will govern them, which the regional office has specified in the Call for papers: Research on the evolution of the cooperative sector in the Americas between the international years of cooperatives (2012 – 2025).
During the meeting, alliances were strengthened with public and private actors, including Udelar, the Research Network, the Uruguayan Confederation of Cooperative Entities (Cudecoop) and the National Institute of Cooperativism (Inacoop) Uruguay.
The latter has reiterated its commitment to Cooperatives of the Americas and has amplified the call for research by organizing a meeting of the Network of Public Institutes for the Promotion and Encouragement of Cooperativism on September 25, to publicize the initiatives.
The president of Cooperatives of the Americas, Graciela Fernández, participated in the opening table of EILAC, while Paula Arzadun, head of Education, Training and Research of the regional office, participated in the regional table on EILAC's contributions to the associative and cooperative sector.
Arzadun presented the call for research papers, which aims to provide a general and innovative vision of the evolution, new sectors and priority socioeconomic themes, as well as new practices associated with cooperatives and their actions in the Americas between the two International Years of Cooperatives (2012 and 2025).
With this call, Cooperatives of the Americas seeks to characterize the evolution of the cooperative movement in the region since the International Year of Cooperatives in 2012 to the present and is open to researchers, academics, cooperators and people interested in sharing their contributions on the cooperative movement.
The first deadline for submission of documents is October 7, 2024. The initiative is part of the Coops4dev project, implemented by the International Cooperative Alliance and co-financed by the European Union.