Collaboration with the intention of transforming society. This is the concept of several Canarian collectives that are driving a new movement towards an economy that serves people and communities, rather than the other way around. The full meaning guiding the activities of the Tenerife entities Office of Civic Innovation (OFIC), Tenergética, and Aeatec, all included in the CoopERA 2024 project of the Anagos Network.
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“An associative non-profit company in which workers or users are both contributors and managers”. This is the definition of a cooperative that guides three Tenerife entities – among the six Canarian entities that have joined forces – in the common vocation to move towards an economic model “with profits, but not at any cost”. The other constitutive commandment also appears in the dictionary: “Created with the purpose of jointly and efficiently producing or distributing goods or services to meet the needs of its members and the community at large”. The Office of Civic Innovation (OFIC), Tenergética, and Aeatec, all included in the CoopERA 2024 project of the Anagos Network, lead an initiative with the aim of social transformation.
Six cooperatives, three from Tenerife, operating in diverse areas such as housing, energy, agroecology, design, architecture, or urban planning. They come together to shape a new economically viable model that seeks profits but based on dignified work, equity, commitment to the environment, ecological sustainability, cooperation, and fair wealth distribution. These are the principles of the Social and Solidarity Economy that they embrace, under which they carry out their activities and which set them apart from other business models. A movement of transformative cooperation emerging in the Canary Islands that advocates for the economy to be at the service of people and communities, and not the other way around.
The example of OFIC.
The Office of Civic Innovation (OFIC), as explained by Bentejuí Hernández, a working partner of the cooperative, aims to “provide innovative responses to social and environmental challenges”. To achieve this, it proposes to “involve the people and communities affected through spaces for reflection and collective dialogue”. OFIC focuses its work on projects of all scales, from the design and construction of furniture or collective housing to strategic planning in the area. An example is the preliminary design of the remodeling of the Parkinson’s Association centre in Tenerife. Designed to turn the space into an asset for community health with a positive impact on its surroundings.
Energetic autonomy.
Tenergética is a community that organises individuals, SMEs, and local public administrations to produce and consume their own 100% renewable energy. On a small scale and managed collectively and democratically. On the other hand, the worker cooperative Agua, Energía, y Agroecología (Aeatec) is dedicated to projects related to energy, comprehensive water management, and agroecology.
Common project.
The three entities are part of the CoopEra 2024 project, an initiative of the Anagos Network financed by the Canary Islands Employment Service (SCE), organising informative sessions this year on each island aimed at those interested in entrepreneurship and established cooperatives looking to transition towards this model. Carlos Estévez, director of Anagos Network, praised the recent session in Tenerife which brought together about 70 people at the Canary Islands Institute for Advanced Study in La Laguna. Within this framework, they discussed associative work; consumers and users driving collaborative housing projects; energy communities; agroecology; or the planning of community spaces tailored to the needs of those who inhabit them. Estévez stated: “They create their own space to grow within the local business fabric”. He concludes: “They seek viable business models that are respectful of people, the environment, and the territory in which they are located to contribute to an increasingly necessary social transformation”.
Ecosocial and feminine.
CoopEra 2024 promotes two free tools to support individuals and groups in the entrepreneurship process or with the idea, but lacking structure. On one hand, through the Juana Millán School, women with drive and potential can develop their business projects with a triple perspective, economic, ecological, and social, without the lack of training, support, or resources being barriers. On the other hand, the Canarina School, from the Foundation for Nature and the Environment of the same name, provides training and advice to individuals and groups in ecosocial entrepreneurship initiatives. They gather every Wednesday at the University of La Laguna, where they advocate for the need for a different way of producing, distributing, and consuming that places care for life at the centre. From the concept of the cooperative and cooperation.
