The cooperative idea
According to the motto formulated by Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen, "What is not possible for the individual, can be achieved by many...", many entrepreneurs today utilise the advantages of cooperative collaboration. Independent winegrowers who jointly produce and market their wines, purchasing cooperatives such as Edeka and Rewe, credit cooperatives such as the Volks- und Raiffeisenbanken and Sparda Bank demonstrate the broad potential of cooperatives. Many people, especially young families, use the financing advantages of housing cooperatives to make it easier to buy their own home. One in four German citizens is already a member of a cooperative.
The cooperative idea, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2016, looks back on a long tradition. Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen celebrates his 200th birthday on 30 March 2018. And we are celebrating too! Because the cooperative idea is old, but in no way outdated: it is still a strong idea!
The Seminar for Cooperative Research
The Department of Cooperative Studies at the University of Cologne was founded in 1926, making it one of the oldest departments of Cooperative studies in Germany. Its broad-based teaching and research programme includes business and economic perspectives as well as a social science view of cooperative economics and cooperative enterprises.
The Association for the Promotion of Cooperative Research at the University of Cologne
The "Verein zur Förderung der genossenschaftswissenschaftlichen Forschung an der Universität zu Köln (FgF)", founded in 1955, creates a special link between the Seminar for Cooperative Studies (Seminar für Genossenschaftswesen der Universität zu Köln (SfG)) and the practice of cooperatives and provides considerable financial resources for research projects.
For more information on the SfG's support organisation, please visit: Seiten des FgF.
