Any interest in CoTech members to partner in this, scepticism about the platform coop meme notwithstanding? For clarification, if you’re a member of Coop UK you’re also in the CICOPA network. And as far as I’m concerned even if you aren’t (speaking as a CICOPA board member 
)
Dear members,
We hope this finds you well and healthy.
This email is to inform you about a common initiative launched by Mondragon University and the New School University in New York to launch an online course on Platform Cooperatives, called “Platform Cooperatives Now!”.
As you might know, this topic is being put forward since a few years by a professor at the New School, Trebor Scholz, whose conferences on the matter have gathered hundreds of cooperators, practitioners, traditional entrepreneurs and scholars to discuss the topic of collective ownership (workers, producers and users) in online platforms.
CICOPA follows the topic closely and actively took part in conferences and debates, where several CICOPA members (or members of members) were present as speakers and/or participants. In the light of recent COVID-19 crisis, Mondragon University and The New School joined forces to deliver an online course which foresees 2 parts:
-
a more educational one on platforms and worker cooperatives curated by Trebor Scholz and Jose Mari Luzarraga (from Mondragon University)
-
a more interactive one, where participants will work in small groups (divided by country and possibly by language). In this second part, the objective is for local partners of the programme (cooperatives, or local federations, or experiences practitioners) to facilitate the actual incubation of platform coops in the countries in a few weeks time span. In this framework, many local partners have been involved by the New School and Mondragon University but the quest is not over. Current local partners include several CICOPA members (or member’s regional structures or first degree coops), such as LegaCoop Liguria (Italy), LegaCoop Bologna (Italy), Doc Servizi (Italy), Camba (Argentina), OCB (Brazil), Sewa Federation (India), and others.
CICOPA was kindly solicited to partner up to make sure that worker coops federations on the ground have the possibility to join the course and fully take part in the potential incubation initiatives that might arise.
Therefore, the course has two Global Partners (CICOPA and the ICA Youth Network), on top of the local ones mentioned above. Since the course has already attracted 300+ registered participants from all over the world, we believe this to be a good opportunity for CICOPA globally and CICOPA members locally to highlight their expertise, reiterate the role of worker ownership and control applied to online platforms and facilitate potential incubation of new projects under the cooperative form.
Unlike most online courses delivered by universities, this online course is particularly accessible (150 USD per participant – reduced fees apply for some countries) and it provides a certificate to all attendees.
The course will start on the 1st of June and will last until the end of July.
All relevant information for registering as a participant (student) can be found here. (in many languages)
Should you be interested in this project as a local partner , please contact us as soon as possible at mila.shamku@cicopa.coop.
We remain available for any questions you might have,
Warm greetings,
Mila Shamku