What exactly is this map?
The Cooperative World Map, and the Cooperative World Map project is an initiative that aims to bring together existing and available data on the global cooperative ecosystem and present it on a global map.
In November, the website that showcases the map will be launched, and this will serve as the beginning of the CWM project – a long lasting platform to provide the means for cooperatives around the world to further Principle 6, communicate, celebrate their difference, and develop their own tools for furthering the impact of the business model.
Where exactly is this map?
The home of the Cooperative World Map will be the webpage – worldmap.coop, which will go live at the November ICA Conference in India, celebrating the beginning of the International Year of Cooperatives 2025.
What can the CWM be used for? And how is it useful?
The CWM has a lot of data that can be used for many purposes! It can be useful for cooperatives looking for other cooperatives to work with (Principle #6), people looking to do business with cooperatives and organizations looking to understand the cooperative model.
Here are a few examples:
- The research community can access cohesive data on cooperatives and merge their findings to conduct analyses and understand trends, issues, challenges, and more.
- The data and information on cooperatives is a first-stop to find where they are located and their name. As time goes on, more data will be included, such as sector of operations, memberships the co-op belongs to and if possible – a web address.
- The CWM shows the breadth, size and impact of the global cooperative movement! This is a great tool to facilitate communications activities, like promoting the cooperative brand, advocating for policies that foster enabling environments for cooperatives to succeed.
- The CWM data can be used to create communication groups and communities of practice to identify common challenges, facilitate discussions, and initiate programs for lasting impact.
The sky is the limit! The usefulness of the CWM is limited only by how the data can be used to help organizations achieve their goals.
I’m looking at the CWM, and cannot find much information on each co-op. How can I find out more?
The CWM is intended to be a gateway for all participating co-ops. Visit each co-op on their website to learn more about them, or reach out to them via their preferred communications channels and social media to connect.
Who owns this data?
The data provided by each partner to the project remains the property of the contributing partner – in this case contributing partner means those organizations that agree to share their information for publishing on the Cooperative World Map.
How is this different from the .coop global directory and map?
It’s a step up! The .coop global directory displays the community of cooperatives who use the .coop domain. This is a small subset of the CWM, which aims to merge the data and information of ALL cooperatives worldwide.
How often is the data updated?
Currently, the data is no more than 3 months old – with work continuing to automate the update process at regular intervals.
I’ve seen something like this before – how is this different?
There have been similar projects that have attempted to map the global cooperative economy in the past, but this is the only current map (that we are aware of) that seeks to showcase updated and relevant data of the global cooperative community and it’s support network, using open-source technology and designed by cooperatives for cooperatives.
Is there a cost to join or get my cooperative on the CWM?
There is no direct fee to join the Cooperative World Map, however, the only way to join the CWM is if you are member of a cooperative organization that is in partnership with the CWM or are using a .coop domain – though new avenues will come soon.
I am the general manager at a 2nd tier cooperative in Central America for example. Why should we join?
- You can promote the cooperative values and principles by showcasing your members, and the hard work they do to serve their communities. This will promote the cooperative identity as a solution to solve many global social, economic and environmental challenges.
- Your organization can access all the information on the CWM and find local aligned business, which can help to form new communication networks. It is a direct tool for Principle 6.
- Help strengthen the quality and size of the data on the cooperative movement, by actively participating, contributing and accessing the information.
- Is your organization or member base growing? Join the CWM family and access information and data that will support your employees or recruit new ones.
- Strengthen your position as a cooperative leader! You can use CWM data to generate leads, find solutions and conduct market research.
How will the CWM be valuable for apex cooperative organizations?
- As a snapshot of the community – to highlight their visibility both inside and outside of the cooperative world.
- For showcasing sectors and regional co-op ecosystems. To answer the question, where and who are cooperatives?
- To improve ability to engage with government orgs and for collective lobbying power.
- To see what memberships cooperatives belong to, and how they link with other parts of the economy.
- As a tool for education, to find good stories, case studies and to build a community narrative.
- To make the communication and P6 in their area more effective, to give cooperatives the local edge.
- Globally as a tool to assist or encourage businesses looking to make the change to cooperative structure.
How will the CWM be valuable for a small co-op?
- To support other cooperatives in the region, forming a network of support, local recommendation, and opportunities for employee/member development.
- To open communication with other aligned businesses, for combining or linking with other digital assets or websites.
- For use as a tool for generating leads and potential clients locally.
- Connections to other interesting areas, i.e stories, greater content, websites, social media etc to foster interest and be visible.
- For the foundation of future collaborative programs, apps, tech or other ways to use the data to build new business or solve challenges.
- For diversification of communication and supply chains, providing the chance to find more options than ever before.
- As a handy way to demonstrate Cooperative Identity, without the need to divert resources to creating content.
This sounds great. How do I join?
Join the dot.coop family and get a .coop domain! Your cooperative will automatically be added to the CWM. Or you can also join an apex cooperative organization that is taking part in this initiative. More channels will also open after the full launch in November 2024.
I’m on the map! What do we do next?
- Help us amplify it through all your communications and social media channels! Tell your audience you’re on the CWM and encourage them to visit, browse, stay a while.
- Be active participants! We’re simply facilitators and it’s up to cooperators to use the tools we’re offering to grow and engage with other cooperatives. Use the data to meet your own objectives.