Develop Your Own Declaration on the Cooperative Identity

In 1995, the ICA updated the Cooperative Principles and adopted a statement that, for the first time, defined a cooperative and set out the cooperative and ethical values that underpin the Principles. The Statement on the Cooperative Identity was meant to be universal, applying to cooperatives of all types located in all parts of the world and operating in all economic sectors.

To assist in interpreting the Identity Statement for their own cooperative or sector of activity, some organisations have prepared cooperative identity declarations.

Declaration of our Co-operative Identity

Adopted by The Co-operators Group Limited (Canada) in 2023 The Declaration presents a contemporary interpretation of the Statement on the Cooperative Identity for a large insurance and investment services cooperative. The Declaration aims to assert the distinctiveness of the cooperative form, as expressed by the example of Co-operators, and examines how each Principle is put into practice. Of particular interest is the exploration of the 7th principle.

Housing Co-operatives and the Co-operative Identity

Adopted by Cooperative Housing International, the ICA’s sectoral organisation in the area of housing, in 1995. This declaration articulates the commitment of housing cooperatives to follow the Statement on the Cooperative Identity. It provides a definition of a housing cooperative, discusses the values shared within the sector and sets out a brief interpretation of the cooperative as expressed by housing cooperatives.

Resolution on the Co-operative Legal Identity

Adopted by The Neighboring Food Co-operative Association (USA) This Resolution acknowledges the role of the law in safeguarding the Statement on the Cooperative Identity, which it recognizes as the definitive explanation of what a cooperative is. The Resolution supports the efforts of the ICA as the custodian of the Statement, and further commits to promoting adherence of the Statement and encouraging development of genuine cooperatives.

World Declaration on Worker Cooperatives and World Standard of Social Cooperatives

Adopted by CICOPA, the ICA’s sectoral organisation for industrial, artisanal and service cooperatives, in 2005. CICOPA adopted the landmark Declaration on worker cooperatives to define and explain what worker cooperatives are. The Declaration explains worker cooperatives’ characteristics and objectives, internal rules, and relations with governments, intergovernmental organisations and employers’ and workers’ organisations. The World Standards of Social Cooperatives, adopted at the same time as the Declaration, explain the then emerging type of cooperative that holds a public or social interest at the core of their activities, namely, social cooperatives. The Standards clarified the specific characteristics of social cooperatives in the context of the common identity shared by all cooperatives.