The ‘aroundtheworld.coop’ project, undertaken by the ICA-EU Partnership and the Association, aroundtheworld.coop, is to collect and document stories of cooperatives from around the world that have contributed to reducing poverty and promoting sustainable development by using creative and innovative methods. The project’s aim is to raise the visibility of the cooperative model in improving people’s wellbeing, enhance awareness on the role of collective action developed by cooperatives, and share knowledge on methodologies for participatory action research. To do so, the Association will travel around the world for a year visiting cooperatives and creating short films, case studies and blogs about cooperatives.
Excited participants at the film screening in ANGKASA.
The Project began its journey in Southern Italy where it captured the Altri Orizzonti – Jerry Essan Masslo’ Cooperative that has been providing livelihood and contributing to racial harmony in the disturbed region of Castel Volturno. The team then moved to the African subcontinent and covered cooperatives in Morocco (Cooperative Toudarte - a women’s cooperative producing and selling argan oil) and Rwanda (Coproriz-Ntende- a rice producing cooperative).
The Asia leg of the journey started in Nepal where they interviewed and recorded the work undertaken by the Bhabishya Nirman Cooperative that works extensively with young people and women. The second country they visited was Malaysia where they were introduced to the dynamic space of school cooperatives through the MRSM Kepala Batas Cooperative. The Around the World. Coop team got an opportunity to showcase its videos at an event organised by ANGKASA in Kuala Lumpur on April 29. The event was attended by close to 700 guests and graced with the presence of the Italian Ambassador to Malaysia, His Excellency Cristiano Maggipinto, the Ambassador of Kingdom of Morocco to Malaysia, His Excellency Mohamed Reda Benkhaldoun and ICA-AP Regional Director, Mr. Balasubramanian Iyer. The videos produced till now by the Project can be viewed by clicking here.
