A webinar on Knowledge Base Platform (KBP) was held on 8th April 2020, within the framework of ICA-EU Partnership (#coops4dev). The webinar, an initiative between Global Cooperative Entrepreneurship (GCE) programme and CoopStarter, was to share the KBP with GCE mentors and have them contribute to it. GCE mentors from Asia and Pacific and ICA-AP staff members also attended the webinar along with mentors and colleagues from other regions. 

 

A Knowledge Base? What Is It?

 

The KBP builds on the fifth cooperative principle (education, training and information) and is imagined as a ‘cooperative search engine’ of information and resources. The idea of developing an open-source software to index resources (guides, e-books, explanatory videos, etc.) emerged through the Erasmus+ CoopStarter 2.0 project led by Cooperatives Europe and was up-scaled by the GCE programme. Both initiatives aim to train mentors from cooperatives and youth organizations to stimulate youth cooperative entrepreneurship. 

 

The software will enable GCE mentors to reference existing material on cooperative entrepreneurship, access publications in a variety of languages. The users will be able to contribute to the growth of the knowledge base, by sharing resources and information that will be peer-reviewed and validated by other mentors. Users will be able to learn about cooperation and entrepreneurship by joining this online global community.