The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has developed a training tool which provides a basic overview of the co-operative business model.
The manual includes information about the importance of relationships, the benefits of collective action, the types of business structures and the advantages of a co-operative.
The tool follows a peer-to-peer activity-based learning methodology, which means it can be used without an external facilitator or expert to guide the process. Since there is no leader, all group members take a turn reading the information and instructions out loud to the group, and all group members share responsibility for monitoring time.
Participants can work together as a team, following the step-by-step instructions for activities in the manual. The training tool is aimed at helping them to decide whether the co-operative model is right for them.
Think.Coop has already been used by workers in the informal economy in Cambodia and farmers and rural workers in Myanmar. The Think.coop manual was designed for people interested in joining or starting a co-operative. It is available for anyone to use for non-commercial purposes as long as the ILO is attributed as the original source.
To learn more about the tool and download it click here.
Photo: taken from ILO's Think.Coop manual
