Mapping the European Cooperatives Contribution to the UN Agenda 2030

Duration: 2026–2027 

Partners involved: Cooperatives Europe 

Cooperatives Europe, the organization representing the cooperative movement at the European level, has launched a research project in collaboration with AICCON aimed at mapping and analyzing the contribution of European cooperatives to the achievement of the United Nations Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

The project is part of the European activities conducted under the international ICA–EU partnership (#coops4dev🌍) , which promotes research, advocacy, and capacity-building activities to enhance the role of cooperatives as partners to promote sustainable development. 

The objective of the research is to produce empirical evidence on the economic, social, environmental, and political-cultural contribution of cooperatives across different countries where Cooperatives Europe has membership, strengthening the cooperative movement’s capacity to communicate and measure its value. 

The methodology developed by AICCON is based on a mixed qualitative-quantitative approach and builds on a previous pilot study carried out in 2021 with Legacoop Romagna on the contribution of territorial cooperation to the SDGs. Building on this experience, the European project includes a mapping phase of data availability across different countries, the definition of research parameters, and the testing of the methodology in four pilot countries. 

The results of the research will be presented in a report and an interactive data platform (dashboard), enabling Cooperatives Europe and its member organizations to strengthen their advocacy activities and dialogue with European and national institutions, contributing to haighlight the contribution of cooperatives in achieving the UN global goals. 

Tags/keywords: 2030 UN Agenda, social economy, European data, development 

Team: Luca De Benedictis, Arianna Candini