International Day of Cooperatives 2020 Campaign

Dear members,

Today, I am pleased to launch a new 2020 International Day of Cooperatives campaign. As you know, the theme this year is Cooperatives for Climate Action, and we designed this year’s campaign to engage and inspire members to take action against climate change. Many of you in the cooperative movement are already very active in this arena, and I applaud you. But as you are also aware, there is still much more to do.

The COVID-19 pandemic has proven to us that the cooperative movement has taken many steps to help communities adjust the way we now have to live, find innovative and cost-effective ways to provide care for the sick, and come together as cooperatives to offer solidarity and support. This pandemic has also proven to us that those who have less are the ones who suffer the most.

Climate change continues to affect the most vulnerable population on our planet, and we must continue to take action to change this. This year to highlight the importance of taking action against climate change, and to encourage others to also make a difference – no matter how small – I invite you to visit our website to learn about what we have planned. Among the activities are:

An interactive map that will show what cooperatives worldwide are doing to take action against climate change. (Thank you DotCoop for taking this on again this year!)
A photo competition – the best one that illustrates #Coops4ClimateAction wins!
An invitation to submit a short personal video titled, “In 10 years, I hope…” that will tell us what you hope the outcome #Coops4ClimateAction will be in 10 years. The most inspiring ones will be included in a short video to be produced for this year’s event.

I invite you all to share this information and #Coops4ClimateAction with others in your network and participate in these endeavors.

Thank you!

Cooperatively,

Bruno Roelants