The International Cooperative Alliance’s (ICA) global and regional teams - Africa, Americas, Asia and Pacific, and Europe gathered in Brussels from September 17 to 20, 2024, to kick off the second phase of the #coops4dev project.
In April 2024, the ICA and the European Commission’s Directorate General International Partnerships (DG INTPA) signed a second Financial Framework Partnership Agreement on “Cooperatives: People-Centered Businesses for Sustainable, Democratic, and Inclusive Development” (or #coops4dev). It builds on the successful Phase 1 partnership and creates more opportunities for the regions.
Held at La Tricoterie, a cooperative in Brussels, Belgium focused on culture and sustainability, the kick-off workshop featured a mix of training sessions designed to prepare staff for the project duration.
The workshop started with an introduction to the project proposal and its various work streams. This was followed by dedicated sessions on presentations from FPA1, financial aspects, monitoring and evaluation aspects, joint activities, team-building activities and planning for the first year of implementation and the UN International Year of Cooperatives in 2025. The participants also visited the EU Parliamentarian and museum.
The teams shared their insights from the previous partnership as well as their hopes to work cooperatively for this one.
To learn more about the work and activities of ICA-AP in FPA 1, read our project report.
