From the climate crisis to an unfair housing market, from an uncertain future of work to the fight for food justice, the world is crying out for solutions to its problems.
Young people are at the front of the campaign for a better world - they can be heard everywhere calling for justice, fairer jobs, protection for the environment, and an end to prejudice. Whether they are in cities, facing exploitative private rents and Uber-style gig economy employment practices, or in the countryside where agriculture is often dominated by capitalist middlemen, they want to take control of their own lives.
It’s clear that in a world dominated by top-down, centralised regimes and shareholder capitalist models, there's a need for a different way of doing things.
The good news is that we already have one - the cooperative model.
Cooperatives are people-centred enterprises jointly owned and democratically controlled by - and for - their members. They are based on values and principles that put fairness and equality first – and create sustainable businesses that generate long-term jobs and prosperity.
They can be found in all areas of activity, whether they are organising community spaces or running businesses. They grow and sell food, generate energy, and provide finance, housing, health and care - in a way that puts people before profit. And a new model of cooperatives, the platform coop, is creating worker-owned alternatives to companies like Deliveroo, offering fairer work and allowing freelancers to pool their resources.
This is a growing global movement of one billion cooperators around the world.