What inspiring action has a cooperative, cooperative bank, or mutual insurance company recently taken? A new initiative for the benefit of the local community? A significant member benefit?
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Pellervo Coop Center conducted in the spring of 2024 a review of student and school cooperatives in Finland, examining the operations, management, governance, development, and associated challenges of these cooperatives. Student and school cooperatives are an important and unique form of entrepreneurship education that deserves more attention and up-to-date information. Student and school cooperatives offer
Pellervo Coop Center’s Director of Cooperation Kari Huhtala’s dissertation on the governance of Finnish agricultural co-operatives shows that agricultural cooperatives are critical in appointing external experts to their boards. The number of women on these boards is also quite low and has not increased over the past ten years. The governance culture of cooperatives favors board selections from within the cooperative.
Despite their success, cooperatives remain an invisible giant in the education offered by higher education institutions in Finland. Finland has some professors focusing on cooperative studies and also professors of practice funded by cooperatives and mutual companies.
1. Cooperatives to be taken into account in business regulation.
2. A cooperative provides a fair foundation for social and platform economies.
3. The cooperative model facilitates the reconstruction of Ukraine.
4. Cooperatives strengthen the private sector in EU external development projects.
5. Cooperative awareness must be strengthened in the EU Parliament.
Recording of the webinar held on 25. october 2023.
The Finnish government submitted a proposal to the parliament on 28th of September to amend accounting and auditing acts as well as some other acts to implement European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) at the national level. Until now, reporting has been mandatory only for large publicly traded companies, although many large companies, including
The investment cooperative Arvo from Ostrobothnia has been listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange’s First North growth market. Arvo is the first cooperative whose shares are listed on Nasdaq’s stock exchange lists in the Nordic markets.
Professional fisherman, docent Tero Mustonen has received the Goldman Environmental Prize in the USA. It is the world’s most significant environmental award, also called the Green Nobel Prize. It’s a tribute to ordinary people who have done extraordinary things to protect the planet. The Prize was awarded to Finland for the first time.
Finland is a geographically large country with cold winters and a sizeable industrial sector. This effects in our need for energy. About 80 per cent of Finland’s electricity consumption is covered by own production and the remainder is imported from other countries. Mostly from Sweden. Finland is part of the pan-Nordic electricity market. The physical
Finland is the most forested country in Europe and forests account for three quarters of Finland’s surface. The forest industry is a major contributor to wellbeing in Finland. The sector accounts for over 20 per cent of Finland’s export revenue and it is a major employer, especially in regional areas. In addition to traditional products
Not a big leap every year – cooperatives have a reputation advantage in environmental responsibility
The carbon footprint of large cooperative companies decreased more slowly in 2021 than the previous year or not at all. It was to be expected, because the reductions in fossil emissions were huge in 2020: in meat industry HKScan over 50 and Atria around 30 percent and consumer coops S Group 20 percent. You can’t
The number of new cooperatives is falling for the eighth year in a row. Only 78 cooperatives were founded in 2021, compared to 92 the previous year. In 2019 the number of new cooperatives was 142 cooperatives, and a total of 235 we established in 2014. There is still a lot of work to be
Thanks to new tools, asset management is becoming routine for all water utilities companies. The annual investments of Finnish water supply facilities are 400 million euros. It is a large amount, but still not enough, as the amount should be approximately EUR 770 million. This is clear from the State of Built Assets ROTI 2021
The reflation measures of governments and central banks offered banks the keys to success on a silver platter last year. For example, OP Financial Group and Savings Bank Group characterized their results as record high. In 2022, their own skills will also be weighed. Banks’ money transactions with consumers went well last year. More loans
Pellervo Coop Center, OP Cooperative, Tradeka and North-Carelia Cooperative (PKO) have donated 370 000 euros to the University of Eastern Finland, which will be allocated to the economics department.
A large number of Finnish business leaders and researchers appeal to the Ministers of Education and Culture to include the cooperative businesses model more strongly into the Finnish school education. The reason for this, is the common concern that the business and economic model represented by cooperative companies is now very poorly reflected in the education system.
Understanding of what cooperation is and what cooperatives are has clearly become more widespread in recent years. It is primarily due to the improved communication of cooperative businesses themselves, not school education. Still, the vast majority (64%) of the Finnish population say they are fairly poorly or not at all familiar with cooperation.
What is a cooperative? This question is now being answered by six popular Finnish social media influencers, each with their own style. The pioneering campaign aims to awaken young people aged 16 to 25.
In the future, it will be easier for Finns to log in to digital services instead of managing different IDs, or relying on the systems of Facebook and Google, when a national digital identification service by The Finnish Authentication Cooperative is introduced to the Finnish market.