BIOFAIRNET partner UNIFE participated in the ICA CCR Global Research Conference—Intercooperation for our common futures—held at HEC Montréal, Canada, 8–11 July 2025. Marking the United Nations International Year of Cooperatives, the 5th global edition spotlighted how collaboration across research, practice, and policy can drive justice, sustainability, and shared prosperity.
Hosted by the Institut international des coopératives Alphonse-et-Dorimène-Desjardins (IICADD) in HEC Montréal’s new Hélène-Desmarais building, the conference convened scholars, practitioners, and policymakers to examine cooperatives’ role in delivering the SDGs, with sessions on governance, business models, and education. The event was organised in partnership with CASC (Canadian Association for Studies in Cooperation) and ACE (Association of Cooperative Educators), which held their annual meetings alongside the programme.
Representing UNIFE, Asia Guerreschi contributed to the ICA CCR Young and Emerging Scholars track, presenting the group’s ongoing Manifesto—a space to articulate barriers, needs, and priorities for early-career researchers in the cooperative movement.
The discussion engaged four core questions:
- How do scholars interact with cooperatives, and what obstacles do they face?
- What resources are needed to sustain rigorous, ongoing research?
- How can researchers and cooperatives collaborate to answer practice-relevant questions?
- How can researchers best cooperate among themselves (data sharing, experience, contacts, etc.)?
Beyond the sessions, the conference fostered hands-on bridges between research and practice—highlighted by exchanges with Erik Chevrier and his cooperative CultivAction. The programme also showcased community-building across networks and disciplines, with acknowledgements to colleagues and facilitators supporting the young-scholars workshop and the Manifesto drafting process.
Two publication opportunities were shared during the event:
- A special issue in the Journal of Environmental Planning and Management on circular economy and eco-innovation in cooperatives (SEEDS Economics & Climate Circular Coop initiative).
- An open submission for Applications of Cooperative Organizations (ACO), co-edited with Fernanda Frankenberger.
UNIFE’s engagement at HEC Montréal aligns with BIOFAIRNET’s mission: building a digitally enabled, co-creative network that helps high-emission sectors transition toward a bio-circular economy. By advancing dialogue on intercooperation—and by elevating the next generation of cooperative scholars—this global forum reinforces the evidence base and partnerships needed for real-world impact.
