Conclusion

This book has brought together both scholars and participants in the co-operative movements in two countries in a project that held its first meeting at the University of Sydney in February 2010. The project occurred against the background of the planning and activities associated with the UN International Year of Co-operatives in 2012, which was the first time that the UN had explicitly endorsed a business model. This endorsement challenges the neglect of the economics profession of co-operatives in recent years and business school reluctance to include co-operatives in research and teaching programmes. This year was to have particular impact in Australia where it has prompted Australian co-operatives and mutuals to form a business council – the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM). The book highlights the three streams that have underlay the project – a comparison between the Australian and Italian co-operative sectors, a further development of co-operative theory and insights that may assist co-operatives expand their effectiveness in managing their organisations and public policy.