A new future for Co-operatives in the Community

2. A new future for Co-operatives in the Community Councillor Cammy Day - Vice Convener Health, Social Care and Housing City of Edinburgh Council 11 March 2014

3. Co-operative Capital – Building Capacity In 2012 the Council’s Capital Coalition set out a vision to “build a co-operative, more prosperous Edinburgh in which every resident and community benefits”

4. Why is the Council taking this approach? • To become a Council and a City which does things ‘with people’ and stops doing things ‘to them’; • To reflect and respect local input and avoid the more traditional ‘top-down’ approach; and • To radically transform the way that services are planned, managed and delivered.

5. How are we doing this? • Development and agreement of framework – 6 key themes • Co-operative Development Unit • Expert Working Group • Co-operative Housing Political Sounding Board • Working with our partners • Working with other councils

6. What are our specific co-operative pledges? • Examine ways to bring the Council, care home staff and users together into co-operatives to provide the means to make life better for care home users • Encourage the development of Community Energy Co-operatives • Establish city-wide childcare co-operatives for affordable childcare for working parents • Encourage the development of co-operative housing arrangements

7. What are we doing in Housing? Encouraging and supporting existing and emerging co-operatives • Community co-operatives – 21C Homes • Energy switching project • Student housing co-operative • Craigmillar Eco Housing Co-operative • Embedding co-operative working

8. Where next? • Embedding co-operative thinking into the culture of the Council • Identifying key areas to adopt model • Building on pilots – expanding models/ knowledge sharing / capacity building “It is not only about setting up and supporting co-operatives. It is also about embedding this into the way that we go about our work”