Cooperative Development Curriculum

Introduction:

Housing and Community Development supports the principle that to create healthy communities for all Manitobans, the public sector, the private sector, the social economy and individuals must work collaboratively.

Development activities are already happening at the community level across the province. Citizens and government have an opportunity to build upon community efforts in addressing diverse and changing community needs. A community led model helps align community development programs with housing services to offer solutions that are responsive to the community and encourage the full participation and social independence of Manitobans.

Co-operative development is an important tool in community economic development and the creation of healthy sustainable communities. Skills development, management and leadership are key components of successful cooperatives. A series of modules have been created as learning tools for groups and individuals who are interested in cooperative development. From concept to final operations, these tools are designed to guide and support skills development and learning.

Cooperative Development Curriculum materials:

• Pathfinder Step by Step on How to Start a Co-operative (PPT)
• Cooperative Development Phase 1 to 6 workbooks:
  • PHASE 1 INITIAL ORGANIZATION (PDF): Phase 1 identifies what is a co-operative, an introduction to project management, and preparing to hire a consultant.
  • PHASE 2 BUSINESS STRUCTURES (PDF): Phase 2 identifies different types of business structures, a comparison of different types of business structures, identifies different types of cooperatives and legislation around incorporation.
  • PHASE 3 FUNDAMENTAL OF A FEASIBILITY STUDY (PDF): Phase 3 identifies the fundamentals of a feasibility study to answer what is a feasibility study and why we need one when starting a cooperative.
  • PHASE 4 BUSINESS PLANNING (PDF): Phase 4 talks about business development including developing a business plan, introduction to marketing, operations and financial statements.
  • PHASE 5 EQUITY DRIVE (PDF): Phase 5 identifies equity requirements for a cooperative.
  • PHASE 6 AFTERCARE-OPERATIONS AND HUMAN RESOURCES (PDF): Phase 6 identifies what is needed to operationalize a cooperative including operations and human resources.
• Comparison of Business Forms exercise (PDF): This is an educational tool that allows a group to compare different types of business.

How to use the Cooperative Development Phase workbooks:

The goal of each module is to present concepts in a brief and interesting way, focusing on core concepts and utilizing quantitative techniques, checklists and self evaluation to allow the user to understand the key concepts from assessing a business idea, to creating the business to operating a cooperative.

The "Magnifying Glass" boxes emphasize material in the module that is of particular importance and should be emphasized.

Here are the seven internationally recognized cooperative principles that have been developed over time and are still in use today:

The "Critical Thinking" boxes contain key module information that adds additional clarity to the concepts proposed.

To define outcomes, ask yourself, "Why are we starting this? What do we want to be different as a result? How will we know we have finished?" These questions help define outcomes and allow us to communicate them effectively.

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