Cooperative Voices – an event for co-op and mutual communicators

Cooperative Voices – an event for co-op and mutual communicators

Reframing the cooperative difference for a new generation.

Across New Zealand, co-ops touch daily life in ways most people don’t even realise. From supermarket aisles to rural water schemes, optometrists, DIY stores, insurers, GPs, and auto repair networks, cooperatives are woven into the fabric of our communities. The New Zealand Cooperative Economy Report 2025 shows just how significant their impact is: the top 30 co-ops alone contribute the equivalent of 12.5 percent of New Zealand’s GDP. Yet their collective story is still not widely understood.

This inaugural event, sparked by the International Year of Cooperatives 2025, is designed to change that. Participants will explore how to tell a cooperative story more clearly and confidently, relate cooperative identity, values, and the seven Cooperative Principles to their own story, and celebrate the value that co-ops and mutuals bring to people, place, and economy.

Through shared learning, real examples, and creative insight, we will look at how co-ops and mutuals of all kinds can strengthen awareness within their own ecosystems and across the wider business landscape. Together these voices can lift the profile of the model, inspire new co-op startups, and help ensure New Zealand continues to benefit from enterprises that keep ownership, profits, and opportunity close to home.

Whether you’re from a large national cooperative or a smaller emerging one, Cooperative Voices offers a unique opportunity to connect with peers, share ideas, and strengthen the collective story of a sector that keeps value, ownership, and opportunity close to home.

This is an invite-only, in-person, members-only event, with limited spots.  

working lunch supplied

If you need further information or have questions regarding the day, please contact events@nz.coop