Coop Conversations

Join us in this episode as we dive into the world of Vienna's housing cooperatives with Jean-Pierre Girard, a renowned professor and researcher at HEC Montreal. Jean-Pierre shares his insightful observations from his site visits to Vienna's renowned limited-profit housing associations, highlighting how these cooperatives foster inclusive, supportive communities across generations. Discover the his...

Notre invité, Jean-Pierre Girard, professeur et chercheur à HEC Montréal au Canada, discute de modèles d'habitation coopérative novateurs en Italie et en Suisse. Jean-Pierre partage les idées qu'il a tiré de ses récentes visites dans des coopératives de soins aux personnes âgées et des coopératives multigénérationnelles en Italie et à Genève. Apprenez comment ces coopératives favorisent des commun...

In this episode of Coop Conversations, we sit down with Rosanna Zaccaria, the president of Legacoop Abitanti , to explore the transformative power of cooperative housing in Italy. As the first Italian guest on our podcast, Rosanna draws upon her nine years of experience leading the association, shedding light on the historical and current landscape of housing cooperatives. Rosanna shares the vital...

In this enlightening episode of 'Co-op Conversations', we dive into the world of cooperative housing with guest Alicia Maneiro, President of CUDECOOP - the Confederation of Cooperatives in Uruguay. Alicia talks about the unique model of housing cooperatives in Uruguay that has shaped the cooperative housing landscape in Latin America and Europe. She highlights the key concepts of building communit...

In this episode, we interview Paul Bradley, former CEO of ROC USA, and Kristi Peterman, a resident and board member of Liberty Landing Cooperative. ROC USA is a non-profit social venture that aims to facilitate resident ownership of manufactured home parks on a larger scale. Liberty Landing is a resident-owned manufactured home park located in Liberty, Missouri - a suburb of Kansas City. During th...

Meet Thom Armstrong, the CEO of the Co-operative Housing Federation of British Columbia in Canada. He has over 30 years of experience in the cooperative housing movement and serves as the CEO for COHO Management Services Society and the Community Land Trust group of societies. Furthermore, he serves as the chair of the board of Encasa Financial Inc., which oversees an investment fund of more than...

In this episode, we’re joined by Tsukasa Ono and Marina Takahasi  who live in a housing cooperative in Japan on an island called Yakushima. The coop is called Sumu Yakushima and was conceived and designed by Tsukasa, an architect. Eight members collectively own the coop via a joint-stock company, each having an equal share. The design combines modern and traditional Japanese architecture and civil...

English follows-En este podcast presentamos a MULTIPRO, una cooperativa de servicios profesionales con sede en Matagalpa, Nicaragua, fundada en 2013 por un grupo de jóvenes profesionales como ingenieros, administradores, desarrolladores sociales), que trabajan en coordinación con CECOVI, la organización paraguas de las cooperativas de vivienda del departamento de Matagalpa. Actualmente Multipro es...

(This episode is in French) À Bruxelles, il y a plus de 6 millions de mètres-carrés vides, et entre-temps des milliers de personnes sont à la recherche d’espaces décents et abordables pour se loger ou mettre en place des initiatives. Maxime Zaït est avocat, recherchiste et co-fondateur de Communa, STUN Europe et Fairground Brussels, des organisations sans but lucratif qui s'intéressent à la créati...

Sostre Civic is a cooperative in Catalonia, Spain that promotes and develops housing cooperatives under the right of use model. This housing model consists of collective ownership of a building or a number of buildings by the housing co-op. Members of the co-op have the right to occupy a particular apartment by mutual agreement but do not hold exclusive ownership. Sostre Civic also makes use of a...

This week we feature Rosie Moore from Peterborough Housing Co-op in Christchurch, New Zealand. The Peterborough Housing Co-operative was founded in 1982 but had to be rebuilt after experiencing extensive damage in the 2011 earthquake. The coop rebuilt a unique pocket neighbourhood in the heart of Christchurch, with community at its centre.  In this episode, Julie LaPalme, CHI's Secretary-General t...

Ana Džokić is an architect, with over 20 years of experience pioneering unconventional approaches to the challenges of contemporary urban development. Ana is a founding member of two civil associations that deal with the unsustainability of the current housing condition. In Belgrade, Ko Gradi Grad is setting up a new breed of non-speculative housing cooperatives; in Rotterdam, Stad in de Maak mana...

In this episode, we talk to Chang Hong, Facility Manager for Minsnail Housing Co-op in the Republic of South Korea. Chan discusses the origins and evolution of Minsnail Housing Co-op. It started off as a student housing civil organization in Seoul, South Korea that sought to create more affordable housing for students and young people. Ten years later, Minsnail Housing Co-op has 15 homes in three...

Brel Hutton-Okpalaeke is our guest for today's Coop Conversation episode. Brel is the Director of Development at The North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO), a network of student co-ops educating and organizing an emerging generation of cooperators. They talk to us about co-op life in Madison, Wisconsin, and the benefits of raising a young child in shared housing.

In our latest podcast episode we talk to Emma Liebherr, who recently moved in a co-op housing community in Carlow, Ireland. In her previous home she was a victim of anti-social behaviour, but is now settled in what she describes as her forever home. Living in a co-op allows her to raise her family in a safe, spacious and welcoming environment.

In our latest podcast episode we talk to Martin Müller, a long-time ABZ housing co-op resident in Zurich, Switzerland. Martin also works for ABZ, Switzerland's largest housing cooperative. ABZ builds, administers and maintains 5,000 apartments in and around Zurich, where 11,000 people live in 60 different residential areas. Martin talks about how he and his family feel incredibly lucky to be livin...

In today's podcast episode we talk to Fariha, Fatima, Zaid and Juju, four youth living in Sarcee Meadows Housing Co-operative in Calgary, Canada. Living in Sarcee Meadows has given these four youth great opportunities to not only feel welcome and part of a larger family but to also learn about community service. We're also joined by another co-op member, Kathy Aubichon, also known as Auntie Kathy....

In this episode, we talk with Brenda Torpy who championed a type of affordable land ownership model called a Community Land Trust. She started with the Champlain Housing Trust in Burlington, Vermont in the USA over 35 years ago when she worked in the office of Mayor Bernie Sanders. Today there are now over 260 CLTs in the United States and over 300 in England and Wales. The Champlain Housing Trust...

La vie dans une coopérative d'habitation pour personnes à la retraite est sujet de cet episode. Nous discutons avec Anne Frostin et Chantal Nay, deux femmes qui vivent dans la Coopérative d’habitants Chamarel les Barges à Vaulx en Velin, tout près de Lyon en France. Anne et Chantal nous disent pourquoi elles ont choisi de vivre en coopérative et comment leurs enfants sont soulagés de savoir que le...

In this very first episode of our new podcast series, we talk to Sarah Jensen, a university student from Thunder Bay, Canada, who grew up in Castlegreen Housing Co-op where she still lives today. Sarah describes the strong bonds she has formed in her community and how getting involved in her co-op and the wider co-op movement has influenced her and shaped her life so far.