A pan-European cooperative for radical transformation towards social justice, sustainability and democracy

Welcome to the CosmoPolitical Cooperative!

Summary:

The CosmoPolitical Cooperative supports individuals and transforms the existing economic, social and political system towards a radically just, sustainable, democratic and happy society, called the Society of Agreement. The Society of Agreement is based on pan-European democracy, social justice, and environmental sustainability. The Cooperative relies on a high-level IT infrastructure to offer different ways for people to get involved at increasing levels of participation, from receiving a newsletter to becoming a full member and participating in decision-making processes.

The Cooperative supports individuals who want to move towards a more sustainable and happy life. It provides guidance on how to measure progress towards sustainability and offers practical resources and training.

The Cooperative works with varied tools of collective action resembling those of associations, companies and trade unions, within the existing economic, social and political system. The Cooperative also aims at transforming this system, using democratic means and following a "30-40-50 Strategy" to achieve pan-European democracy, social justice, and environmental sustainability by 2030, 2040, and 2050, respectively.

The Cooperative operates democratically as a European Cooperative Society, fostering a cooperative and respectful working environment where everyone contributes to the common work. Its democracy is deliberative, giving members the means to discuss and learn from each other to make effective decisions.

We build a pan-European cooperative for the radical transformation of individuals and society towards social justice, sustainability and democracy, whereby we mean that:

  • we support individuals in their transition;
  • we radically transform the economy, society and the political system towards social justice, sustainability and democracy;
  • we operate democratically at a pan-European scale, under the EU-wide statute of a non-profit European Cooperative Society.

We unite the people that work and act together - that cooperate - in a democratic way, at the scale of the European Union, towards making our vision of a just, sustainable and happy society for the 21st century, the Society of Agreement, a reality in 2050 or earlier. The Society of Agreement is based upon three mutually-supporting pillars: (1) pan-European democracy, in all public institutions and private organisations (including for-profit companies); (2) social justice and confidence in the future for all; (3) environmental sustainability, specifically: Greenhouse Gases emissions below net-zero. The Society of Agreement is radically different from our contemporary society – for the better! It is also the positive alternative to the global collapse we head towards if we don’t address the global challenges of the 21st century.

We provide every EU citizen, including yourself, with the means to act, now or later, alone or with others, with the intensity that s/he chooses, towards these goals of pan-European democracy, social justice and environmental sustainability. Our high-level IT infrastructure and our statute as a European cooperative (SCE) give us the capacity to offer you, in a unified way at the European Union level, a very wide range of means of action, at all scales:

  • as an association, by developing and disseminating tools for individual and collective transition towards environmental and social sustainability (e.g.: trainings towards a sustainable diet);
  • as a trade union, by engaging in a "sustainability dialogue" with the management of the companies or organisations where we work or with which we interact, to push them to intensify their transition (e.g. a Just Transition for the automotive sector);
  • as a company, by creating a sustainable product or service offering where none exists (e.g. local cycling tours for team-building among work colleagues);
  • as a political organisation, by actively participating in the transformation, through democratic means, of the current legislative, fiscal and regulatory framework (e.g. an envionmentally sustainable living wage as the minimum wage in each EU Member State).

We propose to you four levels of increasing participation in the life of our Cooperative:

  1. Are you interested to learn more on how we develop? Register for free to our newsletter to become a Listener and keep informed about our activities and events;
  2. Willing to contribute, but having other priorities at the moment? Become a Donor to the Cooperative, and give us concrete means to perform our work. Donate here!;
  3. Eager to participate in our discussions, with no commitment - but no right to vote?  Register for free to our Community and participate, in a trusted, friendly and confidential setting, in our all informal discussions;
  4. Willing to participate in all our decisions and actions? Register as a Cooperator, to become a full member of our Cooperative and to participate in all our decision-making processes, following world-class democratic procedures.

We support individuals in their transition towards a just, sustainable and happy life

We support all citizens, including yourself, that want to engage, now, with no need to coordinate with others or to wait for political decisions to be taken, in a transition towards a more just, sustainable and happy life.

To do so:

  • we indicate you how to measure where you stand on your path to a sustainable lifestyle;
  • we help you identifying, among the many possible areas in which to perform this transition, those where your efforts will pay back the most, the fastest and the most easily;
  • we support you in engaging in these actions by providing you with:

Our cooperative action radically transforms the economy, society and the political system towards the Society of Agreement

By acting together as members of a cooperative, we leverage the strength of collective action. This opens to us a much broader range of action than what is possible at the scale of an individual.

We start acting now, within the existing system. We radically transform this system, democratically, when its structures stand in the way of the build-up of the Society of Agreement.

We start acting now, within the existing system

We start acting now, within the existing legal, regulatory and public budget framework, by:

  1. supporting each other in our Cooperators’ Projects that transform the economy and society towards the Society of Agreement;
  2. defining collectively, in the organisations or the economic sectors where we work or that we are related to, actions of that organisation or of that economic sector towards environmental and social sustainability, which we call “Sustainability Actions of Organisations or Sectors”, taking into account the interests of all stakeholders, and defending these actions collectively at the scale of the European Union in a “sustainability dialogue” with the management of the organisation, which makes our work meaningful again and restores our pride in working in this organisation or sector; and
  3. engaging as an organisation in Entrepreneurial Prototypes that are the forerunners of the economic activities that will be mainstream in the Society of Agreement.

We radically transform the system

When the existing legal, regulatory, and public budget framework hinders the implementation of features of the Society of Agreement, we transform this framework democratically, by leveraging existing political institutions, from the municipality to the European Union, towards the Society of Agreement.

The transformation process that we promote follows a long-term "30-40-50 Strategy" and a concrete Development Plan with short-term milestones.

In order to implement this “30-40-50 Strategy”:

  1. We define public policies leading to the Society of Agreement and integrated into the 30-40-50 Strategy, and support them in the public debate;
  2. We participate in democratic political elections at all levels of public institutions, from the municipality to the European Union, support our public policies, adapted to this level of public institution, in these elections, and win positions of responsibility in assemblies and governments;
  3. We exercise political responsibilities in public institutions at all levels, to implement these policies  and thus transform the European Union and society towards the Society of Agreement, by mobilising the powerful and concentrated resources and instruments of public power: public regulation, taxation, public spending and investment.

We operate democratically, under the EU-wide statute of a European Cooperative Society

  • We perform ourselves, with our own resources, and by mutually supporting each other, all actions within our individual and collective capabilities, that foster the development of the Society of Agreement;
  • We work in a cooperative manner and in a spirit of mutual respect, kindness, encouragement and support, in a safe and trustworthy space, where everyone contributes to the common work according to his/her means and resources;
  • We achieve together what we could never do in isolation: support each other in our individual transformation towards a just and sustainable life; transform the economy, society and the political system at a large scale – up to that of the European Union – towards the Society of Agreement;
  • We rigorously apply the democratic principle of "one person, one vote" in all our decision-making processes, at the three key stages of initiative, amendment and selection of actions. To achieve this, our processes and tools deliver first-in-class internal democracy;
  • Our democracy is deliberative: we give ourselves the means and tools (in particular software) to discuss freely and in depth among ourselves, learn from each other and thus progress in our knowledge and reflection, and then take decisions that engage our entire organisation and are effectively implemented;
  • We constitute, by virtue of our status as a European Cooperative Society, a single pan-European organisation recognised in each Member State of the European Union as a cooperative.

 

YOU can contribute, with your experience, your values, your aspirations, to changing the European Union and the world for the better.

Choose the level of commitment that suits you best:

  1. Listener: Subscribe to our newsletter
  2. Donor: Donate
  3. Member of our Community: Register here and participate in our discussions
  4. Cooperator: Register here and participate in all our decisions, including the initiative, the amendment and the selection of all actions that commit the Cooperative and its resources.

"Cosmopolitical: adjective. That considers issues from the perspective of a world citizen"