Research

Produced by the UK co-operative housing movment, Bringing Democracy Home is the final report of the Commission on Co-operative and Mutual Housing (CCMH) which calls for every town, village and community to be able to offer co-operative and mutual housing options to potential residents.

A new report looks at the ways in which the history of community, co-operatives and mutual ownership can impact on policy and practice relating to the economy, welfare and society in general. The report Community and mutual ownership: a historical review, by Tom Woodin, David Crook and Vincent Carpenter, was produced by the development and research charity The Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

In the UK, in the wake of the financial crisis and the issue of affordable housing remaining of concern, the Cooperative Party have released a paper outlining the unique contribution that a new co-operative form of mutual home ownership that can help meet these challenges.Written by David Rodgers, an ICA Housing Board Member, and entitled 'New Foundations' the paper aims to highlight how the UK government and possibly with wider global applicability challenges may be met.

The Housing Practitioners Handbook to Housing Sector Development in Transition Countries documents the ideas, methodologies, and past successes of the 60+ organisations represented during Towards Social Stability and Economic Development. The handbook provides practitioners with information and reference materials to explore the many conference topics in greater depth. As a clearing house for housing sector development information, the Practitioner's Handbook further develop the event's energetic, multidisciplinary dialogue about concrete strategies for invigorating housing markets and improving the standard of living throughout South-Eastern Europe (SEE).

Many universities recognize the important contribution that cooperatives play across the world and some of the unique benefits they offer. These are some links that showcase some of the work done in this field.