Co-op Movie Free Download In Italian
Berry Hootsell
Care work is already a key sector for the much smaller U.S. worker-co-op movement, accounting for somewhere close to a third of the 7,000 or so worker-owners in the United States. But the Italian example shows we can think a lot bigger.
My knowledge is limited to mostly shopping there but COOP in Italy does not have the same meaning as co-op in the US. COOP is the largest supermarket chain in Italy and is very old. Thinking like Safeway, Krogers, etc.
Important to remember, too, that in the mid-20th century, after the turn-of-the-century's emigration wave, a second round of depopulation hit the Italian countryside, as farmers left for jobs in the cities, especially the quickly industrializing north. Banding together was one of the few options available to those who stayed. The history of Italian cooperative wine comes from the laborers, who would head to the market each day and hire themselves out," she explains. "They got together and built these cooperatives, and then started to rent land and began working for themselves. From there, they slowly grew, bought those rented sites, and began helping to build other co-ops."
John Duda: Can you talk about the process of connecting and scaling cooperatives in Italy? Which co-ops have been able to achieve significant scale, and why? And how have networks and other kinds of associations between cooperatives provided alternative ways to achieve larger impacts? What are the most successful strategies and challenges you see for cooperatives that are operating at larger scales?
In this case, if a cooperative was dissolved or sold, then its reserves went to another cooperative, or a cooperative federation, rather than distributing them among the members. Thus, these reserves have been contributed to the development of the cooperative movement, not only for current members but also for future members. These reserves, alongside surplus from existing co-operatives, helped fuel the ecosystem required to finance new co-operatives and WBOs.
One of the first housing co-operatives was founded in 1884 by the workers of a tobacco factory in Bologna, capital of Emilia Romagna, a region well known for its remarkable co-operative successes. From the late 1800s to the 1920s, several thousands of housing co-operative units were developed. These developments were made possible by the support of several political leaders who saw the co-operative ideology in line with their political and ideological ideas.
The end of the Second World War saw the rebirth of the Italian co-operative movement. The country had to rebuild its economy and democratic institutions. Legislative changes were brought in to facilitate the development of co-operatives. Article 45 of the new Italian constitution drawn up in 1947 explicitly recognises cooperation. The article reads:
In general, co-operatives have been experiencing growth since the 1970s. After a difficult period between 1980 and 1985, housing co-operatives went through a strong period of expansion in the 1990s with a real housing development boom until mid-2007. Since then, housing has seen a slowing down of construction putting an end to the booming period.
Ownership largely prevails in the housing supply, including within the co-operative movement. Only 18% of the total national stock is rental housing, a quarter of which (approximately one million units) is social housing, unevenly distributed across Italy.
First, housing demand has changed because of the demographic transformation. Italy has the highest proportion of people over 65 years old in the European Union. To promote housing policies supporting the elderly, co-operative associations and union organisations have founded an organisation called Abitare e Anziani.
Housing co-operatives are playing an active role to address this crisis. The co-operative housing sector has modified its development strategy to include the building of affordable rental property in the form of social housing co-operatives. Housing co-operatives continue to promote the development of good quality rental and ownership projects applying the principles of urban and building sustainability. Certainly worth noting is the leadership demonstrated by the Italian housing co-operatives towards sustainable development. The principles of sustainable development have been adopted by all Italian co-operative housing organisations, which March 2012 are engaged in a number of initiatives on this issue and participate into related European projects.
Currently, in the aftermath of the financial crisis, consumer confidence has been dented by the recession and persistently high unemployment, resulting in decreasing demand. Furthermore, there is a difficulty in accessing credit from banks, especially with regard to granting loans to households. So, the average capacity to invest in the housing market of member co-ops is decreasing.
In terms of public support to housing co-operatives, before 1998 financial assistance came from the federal government in the form of interest subsidies on loans in addition to make suitable land available for housing co-operative development. At the present time, financial assistance comes from the regional authorities in the form of capital contribution (for low-income groups) and reduced interest loans. The financial assistance currently represents 10% to 40% of the total project costs.
The Italian co-op housing sector is made up of four national organisations (in alphabetical order): AGCI-Abitazione (member of the federation AGCI), FEDERABITAZIONE (member of the federation CONFCo-operative), Legacoop Abitanti (member of LEGACOOP), and UNCI. The latter (Unione Nazionale Co-operative Italiane / Union of Italian Co-operatives) is a cross-sector co-operative federation but the housing sector within its membership is very marginal.
The three main federations AGCI, Confco-operative and Legacoop have established an alliance called Alleanza Cooperativa Italiana (ACI) aimed at promoting a stronger role for cooperation in the construction of a more equitable and sustainable market and society. It is an important step in the process of reaffirming the cooperative movement autonomy and its characteristic principles and mutualistic practice.
Founded in 1952, AGCI Abitazione is the sectoral organisation bringing together all housing co-operatives and consortia which are members of Associazione Generale Co-operative Italiane (AGCI). The association is in charge of representing associate cooperatives, promoting co-operation in the housing sector, and supporting professionalization of housing co-operatives.
AGCI Abitazione represents 633 co-operatives in activity with 41,110 individual members. As of today, out of total 90,000 dwellings allocated, about 70% are ownership and 30% rental. In recent years, housing co-ops members of AGCI Abitazione have focused their activities on the provision of rental dwellings and the requalification of the existing stock.
Created in 1961 under the name Ancab, Legacoop Abitanti is the union representing and protecting the interests of social co-operatives together with their consortiums and members. It coordinates their activities and promotes the co-operative movement in the housing sector. The co-operatives within Legacoop Abitanti promote building programs, directly or with other partners, in order to provide their members with access to housing: members benefit from individual ownership, freehold or rental housing. Activities include new construction, rehabilition, and additional services to residents. Co-operatives are currently involved in housing for elderly people, for students, young couples and immigrants. Furthermore, co-operatives are particularly concerned by quality and sustainability in urban areas and housing projects, and they carry out several bio-architecture projects.
Financing the development of housing co-operatives is a challenge and more so in time of financial restrictions and uncertainty. CHI members discussed the issue during a seminar held in November 2009 in Geneva. Presentations w ...Read More
This first volume includes the co-operative housing profile of 22 countries. This report presents the history and the current realities of co-operative housing around the world. CHI is currently in the process of updating the ...Read More
The purpose of the Governance Test is to provide a means for housing co-ops affiliated with CHI to measure their standards of governance and to help them develop a good governance action plan to improve governance in weaker areas. ...Read More
Student housing cooperatives have become very popular in the USA and many of these housing co-operatives are members of organizations such as NASCO. Unlike a resident who acquires shares at market rates to earn the right to occupy ...Read More
To further our commitment towards sustainable sources of timber and forest products and to provide co-operators more information on the certification programmes and successful sustainable initiatives, CHI organized a seminar on S ...Read More
ICA members adopted a resolution at the 2007 General Assembly calling on the co-operative movement to do its share in combating climate changes. The resolution suggests three ways on how the co-op movement can act now: Measure and ...Read More
Volume 2 of the Profiles of a Movement concentrates on the African continent. We are pleased to present the remarkable work achieved by the African co-operators, work accomplished in a very challenging environment. These profil ...Read More
Seminars about continued public sector investment in co-operative housing in Austria and Canada, innovative funding arrangements created by the co-operative housing sector in Italy and harnessing member investment through co-opera ...Read More
Aidan Travers is a fourth-year BS/MS environmental engineering student on co-op as a research assistant at the University of Cagliari, in Cagliari, Italy. His research on co-op focused on new methods of biological nitrogen removal from wastewater.
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