‘Cooperatives’ successful experiences’: a fruitful first session for the Third BOND Lab Experiment in Moldova
The first Session of the third BOND Lab Experiment in Moldova on ‘Cooperatives’ successful experiences’ took place on Friday 4th of September 2020. The online event gathered 13 participants representing 10 groups of farmers and 3 guest speakers from Moldova, France and Norway who shared their success stories on cooperative development. The entire event was provided with simultaneous interpretation in English.
Lucia Usurelu from ProEntranse introduced the event by bringing attention to the Action Plans designed during the previous two Lab Experiments in Moldova.
The session then showcased three cooperative experiences with the guest speakers sharing their insights on key elements that make a cooperative successful and sustainable in the long run. Julie Nåvik Hval talked about youth involvement in Norway, Christine Ferrier presented the French cooperative Au Panier Vert and Irina Virlan spoke about Moldovan cooperative Agrostoc.
Following the guest speakers’ presentation, the 13 participants were divided into 4 virtual breakout rooms to discuss the interventions among themselves and agree on three key elements of cooperative sustainability. Each group then nominated one person to share in the Zoom chat the three elements and additional questions for the group of speakers.
The session resumed in a virtual plenary where the guest speakers answered or commented on the participants’ questions. Guest speakers and participants were invited to make a final comment, Irina Virlan underlined the necessity for increased youth involvement and transparency for cooperatives to last in time. Julie Nåvik Hval stated that farmers need to feel the cooperative is their organisation and they can influence its development.
Christine Ferrier concluded by asserting that complementarity and communication amongst members in the cooperative is necessary to maintain a project all the while enabling it to evolve as well.
Lucia Usurelu thanked everybody for taking part in this first session and reminded that the second session will take place on Zoom on Friday 11th of September at 16:00 CET.
Two videos produced by the French (CUMA) and Norwegian (NAC) partners of the BOND project as well as a powerpoint prepared by Agrostoc were sent to the participants to prepare for this session.
You can learn more about the BOND Lab Experiment in Moldova and download the material here: https://bit.ly/BondEXMold
