The International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) is the global representative organisation for co-operative enterprises. Recognised by the United Nations and the International Labour Organisation as a formal consultative body, it represents over 900 million co-operative members worldwide. ICA Housing is the global business sector organisation for housing co-operatives.  ICA Housing’s London Symposium enabled representatives of member housing co-operatives in different countries and delegates from the UK the opportunity to meet and share expertise and best practice.  The two day symposium focussed on two themes: day one, on the challenge of financing housing co-operatives in the aftermath of the global financial crisis and day two, how housing co-operatives are responding to the climate change challenge.

Programme and speaker information available here.
Presentations are available here. 

On the finance day, the Symposium heard about continued public sector investment in co-operative housing in Austria and Canada, innovative funding arrangements created by the co-operative housing sector in Italy and harnessing member investment through co-operative saving and housing organisations in Germany and Sweden. Day two of the Symposium discussed six exemplar housing co-operative responses to the climate change challenge with examples from England, Canada, Holland and Indonesia, and Sweden. The exemplar from Sweden was inspiring: HSB Riksförbund’s climate train used to educate members and the general public about how to save energy and reduce carbon emissions.  HSB Riksförbund is the larger of the two national co-operative housing organisations in Sweden with five hundred thousand members. A short video of its climate train can be seen on YouTube

The keynote speech at the Symposium was given by Charles Gould, the new Director General of the ICA, who spoke of the resilience and growth of all types of co-operative enterprises in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. The final keynote speech was given by Dame Pauline Green, the President of the ICA who outlined plans for 2012 which has been declared by the United Nations to be the International Year of Co-operatives.

“A key benefit of membership of a global co-operative organisation, like the ICA, is the opportunity to share expertise and best practice with colleagues from other countries around the world” said David Rodgers, ICA Housing’s elected President and CEO of CDS Co-operatives in London, England. “Our Symposium was enjoyable, informative and achieved its objective of being an international forum for the exchange of information on exemplar initiatives” said Rodgers.

ICA Housing’s next Board meeting and Symposium will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, in June 2011.