October 5, 2020
Tags
Results for: "Research"
Blog articles:
Transforming the Care System - a new CLES report
The new report Ending Extraction in the UK Care System (CLES, November 2025) shines a stark light on how profit-driven models are...
Northern Ireland’s Co-operative Economy in 2025: A Moment of Opportunity
The newly published Co-operative and Mutual Economy Report 2025 by Co-operatives UK highlights record-breaking growth across the U...
Recommended Reading: Fresh off the press!
If you joined us at the SCSI-UKSCS conference back in February, you might remember Ian Adderley sharing a glimpse into his forthco...
Community Farming in NI
What is community farming? It is a ‘process of collaborative transformation at the intersection of land, community, and enterpris...
Still time to contribute!
The Department for the Economy has commissioned a research project on the social economy relevant to the local co-operative moveme...
Co-ops Out There: Your Contribution Matters!
The Department for the Economy has commissioned a couple of research projects relevant to the local co-operative movement. Dr Aman...
Videos:
Resources:
Community Energy in Northern Ireland
The Concept Paper was prepared in 2025 for the launch of Community Energy NI (CENI).
The Growth of Community Energy
The Growth of Community Energy was a report prepared by the NICE and Drumlin Joint Committee in 2020 in response to the emerging DfE Energy Strategy.
Cultivating Community Farming Impact Report
Cultivating Community Farming Impact Report based on the project delivered from 2022 to 2024.
NI Co-op Sector Infographic 2020
NI Co-op Sector Infographic based on the Research of Dr Ellie Perrin (2020)
Co-operative-led Solutions to Addressing the Climate Emergency
This policy brief was written by Eleonore Perrin (University of Liverpool) with the help of Tiziana O'Hara (Co-operative Alternatives) in 2021. A quick summary. A co-operative economy would mean a democratised local ecosystem where the production and supply of food and other essential goods and services serves all those involved. A local ecosystem where food and essential goods are produced through community supported agriculture, by co-operative farms and fisheries, in local community gardens. A local ecosystem where we shop in farmers markets, worker-owned bakeries and butchers, and in consumer-owned shops. A local ecosystem where we work in worker-owned factories and firms, producing socially useful goods and services. A local ecosystem where we live in collectively owned houses, powered by community renewable energy. A local ecosystem where we bank in a regional mutual bank and put our savings in credit unions.
The challenges of emerging co-operatives in Northern Ireland
This research was conducted by Tebibu Solomon in 2021, while completing a Master degree at the University College Cork (UCC) and intern at Co-operative Alternatives. Quick summary:Co-operatives are business enterprises that are democratically controlled and owned by their members and which work in the interests of their members. The cooperative business model plays a significant role in the modern economy, primarily in building a strong local economy. Nonetheless, despite the advanced development of co-operatives, many emerging co-operatives fail short of their full potential and sometimes do not succeed in achieving their business objectives. Co-operatives encounter challenges down the business wire due to factors originating from both internal and external environments. Additionally, the limited availability of literature to provide adequate prior knowledge of potential barriers and challenges to emerging co-ops has also contributed to the struggle of many co-ops. To this end, this study is intended to systematically explore the challenges encountered by emerging co-operatives and draw potential strategies to tackle them. Therefore, the qualitative study was conducted involving seven emerging co-operatives operating in different sectors in Northern Ireland. These seven co- operatives are/were receiving facilitation and consultancy from Co-operative Alternatives, the leading co-operative development body in Northern Ireland.
