Co‑operative youth history in the making

The General Assembly saw 30 young people come together from 16 countries including Spain, Italy, Ukraine, Norway, Bulgaria, Belgium and, of course, the United Kingdom. And at 19, I was the youngest of them all! 

The event marked a historic moment, formalising the network 10 years after it began and three years after its relaunch in Cardiff – and there was a packed agenda. The first day saw a series of presentations from our hosts, the city of Porto and CASES (Cooperativa António Sérgio para a Economia Social), which gave us all the chance to introduce ourselves.   

As well as representing Co‑operatives UK as part of the Youth Advisory Group, Victor and I were there on behalf of the other organisations we work with – for me, that’s Co‑op Group and for Victor, that’s Co‑op Foundation, the Co‑op Group’s charity working for a fairer world. The delegates represented a wide variety of co-ops, including retail consumer co-ops, co-operative colleges and agricultural co‑ops.   

On the second day, we got down to the nitty gritty of agreeing the Terms of Reference to help formalise the YECN structure, with delegates carefully scrutinising the document and, in the true spirit of co‑operation, putting each article to a vote.  

 As well as talking about long-term budget plans, the assembly agreed on several key proposals, including: 

• Laying out our purpose and vision
• Who is eligible to become a member
• The voting rights each member holds
• The frequency of elections and term limits  

As with many collectively agreed principles, there were detailed and sometimes challenging discussions over some of the articles before reaching a consensus. We then spent the latter part of the day talking about our hopes for the future of the YECN and what we would like it to achieve in its first few years – with a view to arranging a work plan for the months ahead. 

The final day saw the group visit different co‑operatives within the Porto area, including a co‑operatively run medical centre, a day centre for adults with complex needs and a university. Seeing co‑operative values and principles brought to life in these organisations was heart‑warming and inspiring – and it reassured me that the spirit of co‑operation has no borders. It was clear that these co‑operatives make a real difference to the communities they serve.  

The hospitality of our Portuguese hosts was unrivalled. They went above and beyond to make us all feel so incredibly welcome in their beautiful city, organising a tour of the Palácio da Bolsa, Porto’s mightily impressive former stock exchange, as well as an evening cruise down the Douro River – and filling us with enough food and wine to keep the conversation flowing well into the night. 

The onus is now on the passionate young people of the YECN to sustain the momentum of this historic meeting and ensure there’s a new generation of co-operative leaders ready to take the helm in the not‑too‑distant future.  

Victor and I would like to extend an enormous thank you to Co‑operatives UK for the incredible opportunity, to the amazing team at Co‑ops Europe who organised the summit and to CASES and the city of Porto for offering us the warmest of welcomes and taking such good care of us over those few days.