The participation of Sostre Cívic in the organization and content of the Congress, it refers to cooperative housing in right of use, highlighting its contribution to the growth of cooperatives as a whole, to a community life and internationalist solidarity with Palestine

Yesterday, July 4, different members proudly participated in the Congress of the 125 years of Catalan cooperativism in the Palau de Congressos de Barcelona. The event, organized by the Confederation of Cooperatives of Catalonia (CoopCat) under the motto "Avoid the collapse", gathered more than a thousand cooperative members to celebrate the values ​​and the trajectory of our movement.

Since Sostre Cívic, we were deeply involved in the organization of the congress, working with the federations Federation of Housing Cooperatives of Catalonia (Habicoop) I la Federation of Consumer and User Cooperatives of Catalonia. Our commitment to Catalan cooperativeism is demonstrated by our participation both in the governing councils of both federations and in that of the Coopcat Confederation.

The impact of housing on cooperatives

One of our most active partners, Eva Ortigosa, participated in the session "Living in balance: How cooperativeness links individual and collective needs". This session addressed how cooperatives can equitably and sustainably manage individual and collective needs. Eva Ortigosa is a working partner and user, in addition to being part of our team Governing Council. He shared the stage with Borja Monreal (writer specialist in public policy and social innovation, co-founder and co-director of SIC4Change), Maria Casoliva (representative in the world of organic agriculture and agricultural cooperatives) and moderated by journalist Mercè Folch.

Our colleague Eva Ortigosa, who also lives in Cirerers, emphasized that "cooperativism allows us to escape from individualism and observe the world from a collective perspective. It is essential to find a balance between our personal needs and those of the community, and cooperativeism offers an effective way to achieve this.” He also emphasized everything that the cooperative housing in the right of use contributes to the cooperative as a whole: "Cooperative life is not only for the use of housing: it involves community life and services such as internet, energy and mobility". In this sense, he emphasized the bet of Sostre Cívic for a comprehensive intercooperation valuing the global impact that a home has: "Sostre Cívic brings together the different forms of cooperative housing that exist: new construction, rehabilitation, rural and housing for the elderly. What is collective is also the impact it is having beyond community life. In the neighborhood of Roquetes, cooperative housing has a significant impact: the community is involved in the fabric of the neighborhood and in the community plan and activities.” By way of example, he listed some examples: build or rehabilitated with La Constructiva, design with cooperatives of architects, insurance with Arç, financing with ethical banking, energy with We are Energy, connectivity with We are Connection, sustainable shared mobility with We are Mobility, and a long et cetera. You can see the list of alliances with other cooperatives and alliances of the Social and Solidarity Economy of Sostre Cívic in this link.

"The cooperative housing model is key to a dignified life: stable, affordable and affordable. There is a desire to experience housing in a different way, outside of the individualizing logics that capitalism promulgates, creating networks of mutual support."

Eva Ortigosa, working partner and user, member of the Board of Directors of Sostre Cívic

Reading of the manifesto in support of Palestine

We defend that cooperativism cannot be alien to our social and political context. It should be borne in mind that co-operativeism has solidarity as one of its values ​​and has among its co-operative principles cooperation between co-operatives as well as interest in the community. Consequently, during the congress, we read a manifesto in support of Palestine and against the genocide perpetrated by Israel. This initiative, which we promoted with other cooperatives, has already gathered the support of more than 90 entities.

Those responsible for the campaign also stated that in recent days they have been in contact with the General Union of Cooperatives of Palestine, and that he has shared with them that due to the ongoing war and daily intensified bombing, they have not been able to fully assess the damage to the cooperatives in the Gaza Strip. However, at least 100 housing cooperative buildings were destroyed, with hundreds of deaths. Also, all cooperative fishing boats, large and small, anchored on the shore have been destroyed and bombed. The headquarters of many cooperatives in the strip, especially agricultural and craft cooperatives, have been destroyed, and agricultural land belonging to agricultural cooperatives has been confiscated.

The manifesto calls for solidarity, the defense of human rights and the halting of the arms trade with Israel:

"Following Israel's current military offensive against the Gaza Strip, a group of cooperatives have organized and promoted the manifesto 'For human rights and peace in Palestine and everywhere'. With this initiative we echo the serious violations of human rights that are occurring in Palestine and promote a joint line of work between Catalan cooperatives in favor of peace and the defense of human rights around the world."

As part of this initiative, the promoters of this campaign also made a call for donations from those cooperatives and entities that want it. From the driving group of the campaign, we have proposed allocating this symbolic contribution to three different initiatives:

• On the one hand, in campaign End the arms trade with Israel, led by the Palestinian community in Catalonia, with the aim of promoting peace and demanding an end to the arms and security trade by the Spanish state.
• To the General Union of Cooperatives in Palestine, with the aim of analyzing and disseminating the impact of employment on the cooperative movement, a need that has recently been conveyed to us.
• To the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees, with the aim of strengthening community and cooperative economies in the area.

For this reason, we encourage you to make a financial contribution, however small. On the initiative's website you have instructions on how to do them.

This Congress has been a platform to share the successes and values ​​of cooperative housing with the whole of Catalan cooperatives, in addition to reaffirming our commitment to social justice and international solidarity. We come from a working and fighting past that dreamed of another possible world. We, like the heirs of those who started it, will continue to work for another 125 years for a fairer and more sustainable future for everyone.

For more details about the event, you can consult a full chronicle at Jornal.cat.