1st International Co-operative Governance

The International Co-operative Governance Symposium was held in September 2013 at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Canada.

Governance practitioners and researchers discussed and debated the challenges and opportunities for co-operative governance on a global scale. Participants included academic researchers and instructors, chief governance officers and corporate secretaries, board chairs and directors, CEOs, co-operative sector organizations and association members and governance consultants.

ICA Report on Governance in Co-operatives

Research and work collected from the Symposium led to the development of an ICA think piece, Co-operative Governance Fit to Build Resilience in the Face of Complexity. The report was coordinated by Sonja Novkovic and Karen Miner from the Co-operative Management Education programs and individuals from the international co-operative community. This think piece was then presented at the ICA Research Conference in November 2015.

A think piece, such as this one on governance in co-operatives, is designed to be thought-provoking and invite debates and discussions, agreements and disagreements, new ideas and reassurances. The intent was to initiate rich conversations and motivate co-operative members and leadership to re-examine the wide-ranging systems of co-operative governance.