The 17th ICA-AP Research Conference was held on the theme “Cooperatives Advancing Social Responsibility for the 2030 Agenda” from 4–5 November 2023 at Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Manila. It brought together over 50 academicians from 8 countries in the Asia Pacific region for mutual exchange and peer learning to promote actions in Sustainable Development. The conference addressed a wide range of research topics from different scientific fields and traditions including corporate social responsibility, creating shared value, stakeholder engagement, elderly care, digital platforms, among others.
A sub-committee, consisting of Dr. Yashvantha Dongre, Dr. Sidsel Grimstad and Dr. Hilda San Gabriel, was set up during the conference to review and adjudicate the best research papers. The committee awarded the first prize to Dr. Jiyun Jeon, Research Fellow, Lingnan University, Hong Kong for her paper on "How do Cooperatives Diversify New Practice? Fair Trade of Korean consumer cooperatives." The second prize was awarded to Ms. Kristine B. Atendido, Student, Bachelor of Science in Cooperatives, Department of Cooperatives & Social Development in the Polytechnic University of the Philippines for her paper on "Youth Capabilities & Capacities and their Involvement in Cooperatives as Perceived by the Bachelor of Science in Cooperatives Students."
Jiyun’s paper explains how and why organizations under the same institutional logic exhibit different practices by highlighting the relationship between the language and practice of the actors. The paper explores how and why Korean consumer cooperatives, notably, Dure, iCOOP, and Hansalim have established diverse Fair Trade practices despite being positioned in nearly identical institutional contexts. She argues that translation of the discourse of Fair Trade, reframing it based on local practice, text production, and discursive action make up the dynamics of Korean consumer cooperative’s Fair Trade practices. This paper contributes to developing the theory of institutional logic and discursive practice by providing an extended view. The author also offers practical advice to practitioners in the field to raise their understanding of the diverse practices of organizations.
Kristine’s study aims to explore the perceptions of Bachelor of Science in Cooperatives students regarding youth’s capabilities, capacities, and involvement in cooperatives. The data collection commenced through structured survey questionnaire formulated by the researchers and implemented through Google Form. To analyse and interpret the data gathered, descriptive statistics specifically frequency and weighted mean were used to provide statistically factual information. The findings from this research shed light on the students' perspectives and contribute to a deeper understanding of how youth perceive their roles and contributions within the cooperative sector. This study differs from others as it presents recent and practicable information, particularly, it is entirely focused on the perception of cooperative students themselves. The study also aims to determine the effectiveness of the existing Bachelor Program in Cooperatives in producing graduates who are eligible to lead in Cooperatives.
After the closing session of the Research Conference, the 9th meeting of the ICA-AP Committee on Cooperative Research was held on 5 November. Committee Secretary Mr. Mohit Dave presented a report on activities held in 2023. Committee members discussed the planning for 18th Research Conference and other events to be scheduled in 2024. Co-option of new members and office bearers was also approved.
