Co-operatives and social enterprises can offer a new, more sustainable way of doing business, as our top five most read stories illustrate.
1. Alternative generation: disenfranchised youth look to co-ops for work
A new crop of co-ops run by young people present a non-conventional route to viable employment, as youth still suffer the effects of the economic downturn
2. How community shops are beating big business
The 21st-century co-op shop is surpassing supermarkets on like-for-like sales and providing vital local services, a report finds
3. Birmingham Students Housing Co-op on a solution to exploitative landlords
An interview with Helena Dunnett-Orridge, founding member of Birmingham Student Housing Co-operative, on bringing student co-ops to the UK
4. Credit unions are increasingly an alternative for banks and payday loans
Membership is increasing but credit unions still have an image problem to address to bring more sustainable finance onto their balance sheets
5. Jonathon Porritt: Community energy is becoming a force for real change
New policy and developments in the co-operative energy space offer great potential for generating wealth, says environmentalist
Get involved!
Let us know what your most memorable story or issue was around co-operatives in 2014. Tweet us @GuardianSustBiz with #GSB2014. To get in touch with ideas for coverage in 2015, email tess.riley@theguardian.com
The co-operatives and mutuals hub is funded by The Co-operative. All content is editorially independent except for pieces labelled ‘brought to you by’. Find out more here.
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