On July 10, 2017, an exchange meeting for 37 Co-op Board members were organized by Nara Consumers' Co-operative Union to provide an opportunity for them to reconsider the value of co-op and co-operative movement in general.
This is the seventh time the meeting was held. Member coops of Nara Consumers' Cooperative Union formed an executive committee for the meeting.
Dr. TAKASHI Sugimoto, Professor at the Kansai University Faculty of Commerce was invited as the speaker. He spoke on the title "Thinking about what Co-op is and its social role" to the board members some of which were newly appointed.
Under this he mentioned the fact that many people do not know that cooperative is a non-profit organization while stressing the role required by co-op as stated in the co-operative principles.
This time board directors from 3 co-ops (Co-op Shizenha Nara, Nara Co-op and Nara health and welfare co-op) together with coop staff actively participated in the meeting.
The second half was a workshop in which participants were divided into groups, sharing their impressions, the advantages of co-op in their personal lives and the community as a whole.
The board members reaffirmed their continuing effort to promote activities that would enhance the development of the social economy in the region.