Friday 30 October 2026 | 13:00–14:30 CET | Online
The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), together with its Working Group on Cooperative Cultural Heritage (CCH), invites members, friends and partner organisations to Cooperation that Echoes through Time, a global webinar on cooperatives in the International Decade of Culture for Sustainable Development 2027–2036.
Register for the webinar here (interpretation will be available in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese).
Marking the International Day of Intangible Cultural Heritage, observed on 17 October, the event will explore how cooperative enterprise can help communities sustain living traditions and pass them on to future generations.
The webinar forms part of the ICA Cooperative Cultural Heritage programme’s efforts to connect the recognition of cooperative heritage with practical action for its safeguarding and transmission. Drawing on experiences represented in the programme’s heritage list, it will examine how cooperatives enable communities to sustain cultural practices, support livelihoods and engage younger generations in their renewal.
The event will also launch the policy brief on intangible cultural heritage and cooperatives, linking community practice with the implementation of UNESCO’s 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and the opportunities presented by the International Decade of Culture for Sustainable Development.
Provisional programme:
- Opening: The role of cooperatives in sustaining cultural life and advancing inclusive development.
- Cooperative Cultural Heritage in Action: Presentation by the Chairperson of the ICA Working Group on Cooperative Cultural Heritage.
- Living heritage through cooperative stories: Contributions from heritage custodians and cooperative representatives.
- Policy brief launch: Intangible cultural heritage and cooperatives.
- Policy panel: How can cooperatives contribute to the International Decade of Culture for Sustainable Development?
- Discussion: Passing the cooperative idea between generations.
- Closing reflections and next steps.
For more information, download the concept note below.
This webinar is organised under the ICA-EU Partnership (2024–2028), also known as #coops4dev🌍, a five-year international cooperative development programme that aims to strengthen the ICA network and position cooperatives as key development actors within the European Union Development Agenda.
