“Empowering the planet” with the cooperative movement
The third episode of the series “Coop Cinema” was a success. On the 27th of January, our journey around the world to discover the capacity of cooperatives to empower workers, communities and environment took us to South America.
Watch the webinar “Empowering the planet“
Watch the webinar “Empowering communities“
Watch the webinar “Empowering workers“
We screened two more videos from the Arountheworld project, both from the Americas. Renewable energy coops in Costa Rica and a waste collection and recycling workers cooperative in Argentina were presented as sustainable and inclusive models for a clean future of our planet.
After the introduction from our project manager Ilana Gotz, we discussed the videos with Gianluca Salvatori, our secretary general, Danilo Salerno, regional director ICA Americas, and the Aroundtheworld team, Sara Vicari and Cecile Berranger. Danilo Salerno said “It’s great to focus on the contribution of cooperatives to the protection of the environment and to job creation within the social economy. They are two crucial matters in this historic moment”.
Cecile Berranger, responsible for communications at Aroundtheworld, underlined that “Our job was to turn research into videos. We never started working with a script. We never start our work with filming, our priority was to know more about cooperatives’ stories. It is a collective work, a co-creation process”.
“What is important in these experiences is that everything starts from basic needs to meet basic needs. You start from a situation that can generate exclusion, where market and state are unable to provide for some needs, and you come out with a solution that is self-management by a community”, said Gianluca Salvatori.
Speaking about the Argentinian cooperative “Creando Conciencia”, Aroundtheworld co-founder Sara Vicari described it as a school of democracy, a school of life. “They have had access to decent jobs, but at the same time the cooperative represents a chance to find a role in the society and, even first, to find a family. They were not left alone when facing the crisis”.
The highlight of the third Coop Cinema event was the presence of two protagonists of the videos.
Liseth Guzman Sandi, communication manager from Infocoop Costa Rica, in the documentary said: “Transnational companies don’t care if someone who lives far away has electricity or he doesn’t. Cooperatives do more than just look for financial remuneration. They are looking at a better and more holistic support and integral growth of the whole society in terms of health, education and economy”.
Ramiro Martinez, member of Creando Conciencia, highlighted the “cooperative difference”. “In times of crisis we do not throw people out, we include them. This is the added value that we have against the investor-owned company, we cover potholes they cut and exclude, we include and generate proposals for the future”.
“The idea behind the webinars is to put together the research perspective with the storytelling perspective. This first series is now over, but we will continue to collaborate to pursue this aim”, said Ilana Gotz.