About this Guidebook

Who the manual is for – ambassador profiles

This Guidebook is aimed at cooperative ambassadors, i.e. young leaders who are interested in setting up their own community-based cooperative business. These coop ambassadors will already have a range of resources, expertise and networks, as well as a range of skills acquired through their activities as youth leaders (see how much you as an Ambassador are networked enough in EU here - EN)

Coop ambassadors will typically be young people (up to 30 y.o.) who have demonstrated experience in successfully designing, setting up and implementing youth projects and/or managing youth organisations, or they may simply be motivated to start up their own cooperative business. Coop ambassadors will also have gone through a specific training about cooperatives and how to mobilize a community around a cooperative concept during CoopStarter 2.0, a EU project about cooperatives and youth entrepreneurship. Want to know more about what European Youth are looking for? Here's some interesting insights from an EU-wide project (EN).

What the Guidebook is for and how it should be used

This Guidebook is designed to be a resource for coop ambassadors, after they have gone through a specific training on cooperatives and have studied and acquired concepts through learning materials, such as the Manual provided during the training or this very useful booklet about cooperatives (EN). The Guidebook is meant to assist ambassadors in setting up and carry out local initiatives on cooperative entrepreneurship for young people (click here to get inspired - EN or here - FR). After having learnt how to set up a cooperative business, through physical training sessions provided by mentors, they will have to transfer this knowledge and experience in their local territories. This Guidebook was created with this purpose: all resources available on cooperative entrepreneurship and support, compiled in CoopStarter 2.0, are here integrated in order to be used in the most appropriate way and for the most efficient purpose, during local events/initiatives.

This Guidebook gives coop ambassadors a step-by-step methodology to carry out local initiatives meant to mobilize young people in setting up a cooperative business. It also helps them to organise their time/sessions in the most efficient way, making sure that clear objectives are set out and accomplished during those sessions. Get inspired here: how to get groups to work well together (FR). Plus, want to know more about startups and finance? Here's something useful (EN).

What’s in the different sections of the Guidebook?

The manual has been developed in three sections:

• THE BASICS introducing cooperative principles: this part explains how to run a session on how to get young people to think about a business run in a cooperative form.
• GENERATING IDEAS: this part explains how to run a session on how to go from a business idea to the planning of a cooperative, which will be realising that idea and making it sustainable in time.
• BRICK AFTER BRICK making the cooperative a strong and stable house: this part explains how to run a session on business planning of a cooperative, making young potential entrepreneur understand how to start the path to building a coop business.
• ANNEXES: in this section, all resources used in the above three seminars/workshops are listed, including a main reference to this Guidebook, which is the booklet “Money Grows on Trees”.
  Each section grows in complexity, starting from basic cooperative principles to compiling a business plan for a cooperative enterprise.
  Each activity described in the manual is explained through the same scheme:
• OBJECTIVE (of the activity described)
• HOW TO USE IT + KEY QUESTIONS (related to the activity proposed)
• PROCESS (describe how to set up the activity, what you need to gather as resources, how and where to organize such an activity)
• DURATION (time span activity should take)
• EXPECTED RESULT (what young participants should take away from the specific activity)

Where can I find other useful resources?

Other resources connected to this project that you will find useful are:

• "Young leaders, cooperative entrepreneurs" report
  This report outlines the context for youth entrepreneurship activities across the EU as well as showcasing case studies for inspiring ambassadors with their own cooperative start-ups.
• Manual for ambassadors
  This learning material is aimed at young leaders who are interested in setting up their own community-based cooperative business. These coop ambassadors will already have a range of resources, expertise and networks, as well as a range of skills acquired through their activities as youth leaders.
• Training tools for mentors
  These tools aim to enable mentors to support and up-skill ambassadors by providing resources in the form of practical training methods and tools. It will also help give ambassadors a deeper understanding of the cooperative economy.
• Take a look at this instrument (FR) if you want to play with other models to carry out group work around the principles of solidarity economy.