On May 19th ALDA Balkans and Cooperatives Europe launched the #MondayTalks webinar series, “Beyond Business as Usual: How to Cooperatively Advance a Local Democratic Economy”. The 3-episode webinar series brought together speakers and participants from all over Europe, and explored how cooperative entrepreneurship can empower sustainable, democratic, and inclusive people-led economies across the Western Balkans. This action is part of Cooperatives Europe’s commitment to strengthening the European cooperative movement and its contribution to the UN SDGs under its global programme #coops4dev🌍. The series aimed to promote the added value of the cooperative model, detached from the contextual development patch of the Western Balkans emphasising voluntary collective action for common socio-economic goals, and the creation of a democratic ecosystem with long-term impact on society. The sessions also acted as a participatory platform for audience members to contribute and interact with the speakers.
How to cooperatively advance a local democratic economy Partnership for the Balkans
The first webinar, held on the 19th of May, featured Vivian Woodell, Vice-President of The Midcounties Co-operative and Board Member of Cooperatives Europe. As former Executive Director of the Social Economy Consortium he shared his experience and knowledge of cooperative identity in post-communist societies: “Cooperatives are not just about ownership, it is about being able to participate in the business. After the end of communism, there were attempts by some governments, who thought that cooperatives were just another kind of state ownership, to demutualise them and turn them into private enterprises.” Woodell emphasised participation over ownership as the defining characteristic of authentic cooperative enterprises and elaborated on the challenges cooperatives in the region face due to their association with state-controlled collectives of the past.
Participants also had the chance to hear from Zoran Kordić, CEO and Co-Founder of Zelena Energetska Zadruga (Green Energy Cooperative) in Croatia. Kordić shared his journey towards receiving grants and support together with a fresh perspective on the region’s potential. His energy cooperative, is an example of the innovative spirit emerging across the Balkans. “In Croatia there is a new wave of cooperatives that are entering the banking and housing sectors, as well as social cooperatives. I would say, we need to remove these levels from the past and try to establish new labels”, Kordić explained, highlighting the need to rebrand cooperatives for a new generation.
The Balkan Perspective: Community-led economy
The second webinar on the 26th of May delved deeper into the regional context. Guests such as Alis Mustafa, Project Manager at Partners Albania for Change and Development, emphasised the importance of awareness-raising and advocacy for the social economy sector in Albania, and shared compelling observations about the demographic shift driving cooperative development: “We are observing the potential of a second wave for cooperatives in the Western Balkans where the youth and women are more receptive to this alternative model of doing business.”
Throughout the discussions it was noted that generational change represents a fundamental shift in how cooperative models are perceived and implemented. Unlike previous attempts that were often imposed from authorities, this new wave emerges from grassroots initiatives driven by young entrepreneurs and women who see cooperatives as vehicles for social and economic transformation.
Sasho Angelovski, Acting Regional Director at We Effect, provided crucial insight into the policy dimensions of cooperative development. His emphasis on systemic change resonated throughout the discussion: “To support cooperatives, we have to be engaged in policy and advocacy because we have to target decision makers in order to improve the legal institutions and create enabling environments in the Western Balkan for the development of cooperatives.”
From Ideas to Local Impact
The final webinar on the 23rd of June featured case studies on the practical application of cooperative principles. Ana Džokić, Cooperator and Co-Founder of STEALTH unlimited and Management Board Member of MOBA Housing SCE (European Cooperative Society), shared her experience addressing Serbia’s housing crisis through cooperative solutions: “We are developing alternatives to the real estate market in Serbia. When searching for legal forms that best matched our ideas, we came across cooperatives. Since the financial crisis of 2008 there has been a growing wave of new housing cooperatives spreading across Europe. These cooperatives are answering the housing crisis today.” Through her work she showed how cooperatives can address contemporary challenges while building on established European models. The housing crisis, a pressing issue across the Western Balkans, finds innovative solutions through cooperative approaches that prioritise community needs over profit maximization.
Victoria Ayvazyan, International Rural Development Specialist at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Office for Europe and Central Asia (FAO REU), brought a regional perspective to the discussion, emphasising the role of cooperatives in bridging urban-rural divides and why they are key to intervene where public policies cannot: “At FAO we are always concerned about urban and rural divide problems such as underdeveloped infrastructure, poor connectivity and lack of services and education opportunities. In this sense, cooperatives are even more instrumental, ensuring the availability of many of these missing goods and services. This is the classical theory of cooperative emergence to fill the gap that states could not fill or were not profitable enough for businesses to invest in.”
The series concluded with Anna Loscalzo, Project Manager and Co-Founder of Tatabox Officine Studio, whose work with young people demonstrated the transformative potential of cooperative models for community building: “At Tatabox coop we help young people and university students feel part of a community. We have been working for 9 years, serving a very large community of approximately 16,000 people. We are trying to give them the chance to become members of the coop. This will completely change our governance and our approach to projects, because when you create a cooperative you create it to last.”
Overall, the #MondayTalks series reintroduced the cooperative model through a positive narrative that emphasises democratic values, community engagement, and sustainable development. The diverse participation from Local Democratic Agencies, ALDA members and Cooperatives Europe members created an opportunity for dialogue, sharing experiences and ideas. The webinars revealed that cooperatives in the Western Balkans are not attempting to recreate past models but are innovating new forms of economic democracy suited to contemporary challenges. From energy cooperatives addressing climate change to housing cooperatives tackling affordability crises, from youth cooperatives building community to rural cooperatives bridging development gaps, participants had the chance to hear about a variety of comprehensive responses to the region’s most pressing needs.
