During the united nations International Year of Co-operatives in 2012, a conference was organized targeting young participants in Cameroon. It considered the role co-operatives play in reducing social, economic, and gender-based inequalities. It shows the importance of education, training and information in ensuring the future of co-operatives by engaging the next generation. these young co-operators now better understand and know their co-operative and its contribution to sustainable development. here, the Global Co-operative Marque is also prominent.

Effective Use Of Co-operative Heritage

An important theme running through co-operative education programmes is the effective use of co-operative heritage to inform and inspire today's and tomorrow's co-operators. the stories of how co-operators faced serious challenges and overcame them are one of the greatest educational resources available. It places a responsibility on all co-operatives: a responsibility to cherish and safeguard their heritage and to use it effectively in their learning programmes. the Stories.coop website is an example of how contemporary stories can be made easily available. Similarly, technology is now enabling heritage items to become more readily accessible. the pioneering work of the Co-operative heritage trust in the UK in safeguarding co-operative heritage is an exemplar of good practice that could easily be replicated and become a cornerstone of co-operative education.

Co-operative Education In National Curricula

A current challenge facing co-operative education is how to cope with the low recognition in curricula in elementary and secondary schools and universities. there exist some best practices as showcased in the good practice examples given in this guidance note, but co-operatives are rarely taught in mainstream business schools, law schools, sociology and other relevant areas of study. this problem needs to be addressed by co-operatives because many existing co-operative courses, particularly in developed economies, are being shut down or replaced by the emphasis on 'non-profit' enterprise in a number of universities.

Supporting Co-operative Eduction In Emerging Economies

The United Nations sees the development of the co-operative economy in Africa as vital to eliminating hunger, improving healthcare, tackling poverty and achieving the UN's sustainable development goals. Co-operative education is essential in order to realise the potential of co-operatives in Africa and other developing economies as a means of achieving the UN's sustainable development goals. the global co-operative movement should consider how best it can support the educational needs of co-operatives in east Africa and other emergent economies.

Specialist Co-operative Higher Eduction Institutions

The continuing significance of specialist co-operative education and training providers, such as co-operative colleges and departments of co-operation within higher education institutions needs to be considered and recognised. building stronger networks and consortia between co-operatives and specialist higher education institutes and facilitating greater collaboration between them is vital for the global future of co-operative education. the development of specific programmes for members and managers of co-operatives, such as master's degrees in co-operative business administration, is also to be encouraged.

The Importance Of Co-operative Academic Research

It is also vital to recognise the importance of co-operative education, training and information being informed by robust and detailed academic research and that academic research is supported by the Alliance and its members. the Alliance's Committee on Co-operative research fosters and sustains links between co-operative movements in member countries and higher education institutions in the field of research collaboration. the global co-operative movement needs to value and consider how to encourage and enhance this research collaboration.

Open Source Sharing Knowledge And Life-long Learning

At the same time co-operative education has to look to the future: it should embrace a knowledge-based society that generates, processes, shares and makes generally available all knowledge, on an open-source basis, and which encourages life-long learning to improve the human condition. the contribution that co-operative education can make to building a culture of civic participation and solidarity and as a tool for social transformation should be considered and developed.

Information Technologies And Big Data

the idea of the present-day knowledge-based society is founded on the vast increase in data creation and information dissemination that results from the information technologies. In a knowledge-based society, education is not restricted to school or higher education institutions. the advent of information and communication technologies (ICt) allows learners to seek information and develop knowledge at any time and in any place where access is available and unrestricted. In these circumstances, the skill of 'learning to learn' is one of the most important tools to help people acquire formal and informal education. In such circumstances, the ability to locate, classify and sort information is essential. equipped with this skill, the use of ICt becomes integral to literacy and life-long learning.

A new need also arises from 'big data'; the data about us that others collect and use through our use of more electronic devices which communicate via the internet and use internet services. how can co-operatives access and regain control over this data and use it to further develop the co-operative enterprise sector of the global economy?

Improving Public Understanding Of The Scale And Significance Of Co-operative Enterprise

It is evident, from the lack of wider public understanding of the scale and global economic impact of co-operative enterprise that more needs to be done to educate the general public and opinion leaders through the publication of co-operative economic data and employment statistics. every day the value and performance of investor-owned businesses are published online by stock markets and in newspaper reports. As evidenced by the study "Co-operatives and employment - a Global report" [2], co-operative employment statistics still lag far behind those of other enterprise sectors, but can be used strongly in advocacy for co-operatives when lobbying governments and international organisations. the fact that co-operatives are a major part of the global economy, helping to improve the living standards of half the world's population,3 goes unnoticed. for example, there is no known co-operative enterprise registered in a tax haven to avoid paying tax in the country in which it generates its surplus or profit. this is not perceived or recognised by the public or politicians as one of the benefits of co-operative enterprise. the challenge of how the co-operative movement addresses this fundamental gap in public understanding needs to be grasped. this challenge was recognised in the 2014 Co-operatives of the Americas Declaration of Cartagena, which said that: "one of the main barriers faced by co-operatives in the Americas is increasing the awareness of their social and economic impact".