cooperative

youth deal cooperative is a research, development and training cooperative.

social development

Youth Deal Cooperative is committed to ensure that all segments of the society can access decent work opportunities.

organization

youth deal cooperative aims to promote social and solidarity economy.


As new generation cooperators we believe in a more equal, democratic and sustainable economy.

Because we know: We are stronger together!

discover!

We are a group of progressive minds who believe in...

An economy that is equal, democratic and sustainable. Our generation is inheriting gross inequalities, environmental destruction, poverty and political institutions that no longer serve us. 

We are working towards a world owned in common, moving beyond an economy based on private ownership and accumulation of wealth.

We believe the co-operative movement can transform society. It can create meaningful and rewarding work, empower the disempowered and serve the collective wellbeing of people and our planet. 

We use the co-operative model as a tool to take control over things that matter in our lives: from housing to food, work to community spaces. To bring back ownership and say in spaces that it has been lost. 

Young cooperators from all around the world innovate a new generation cooperative movement that is committed to democracy, equality, and social and environmental responsibility. Youth Deal Cooperative works for this cause in Turkey.

As a member of International Cooperative Alliance Youth Network, we are expanding an agile and resilient social cooperative ecosystem in Turkey.

*Youth Deal Cooperative adopts the manifesto of Young European Cooperators Network.

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what do we do?

Unemployment, inequality, economic bottlenecks, poverty, and exclusion require alternative organizational models to traditional businesses. Social solidarity economy is one of these unordinary models which includes cooperatives, associations, foundations, and social enterprises, which fuel solidarity, pursue social and economic goals, and produce goods, services, and knowledge. Youth Deal Cooperative only works with social solidarity economy actors.

consultancy and advocacy for cooperatives


We are stronger together! However, in order to be strong, we need technical knowledge, a trust relationship, and efficient teamwork. We share our knowledge on cooperatives with communities that want to produce together. We are ready to support you with legal, accounting, and technical aspects of cooperatives, collective production, sales, and allocation relations, and we can help you to develop a strategy for your cooperative.

    project development and implementation


    There is no doubt that everyone has an idea!  However, the ability to turn an idea into a project, and to implement that project is a rare quality. We are ready to support you in developing projects for your ideas that contribute to sustainable development and strengthen social solidarity economy, and in implementing those projects.

      field research and data analysis


      Social studies help to understand social groups and issues demographically, economically, politically, and culturally. Thus, in order to create a conceptual foundation, we support you in developing methodology and data collection tools, conducting field studies, and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data.

      strategic consultancy and capacity development


      We support you in solving structural problems in businesses and grass roots organizations such as lack of team dynamics, vertical relationships and lack of communication, inefficiency, lack of skills, and organizational disarray. Also, we help businesses that want to become a part of the social solidarity economy, to transform their business culture.


      what have we achieved so far?

      we have accomplished a great deal of tasks in Turkey.

      take a look!

      how did we do?

      Thinking outside the boss – We do not have a boss; our cooperation is based on horizontal relationships. Right of choice and volunteering are essential for us.

      Equal pay for equal work – Each member and volunteer working at the cooperative earn the same rate of pay in consideration of the work they do.

      Fair allocation– We allocate 20 percent of our earning for overheads, the remaining is allocated among those, who worked for the cooperative, based on the time they worked.

      Competent staff - We employ people who are experts in their field. Each member is assigned duties matching his/her education and experience.

      Collective and participatory – Our work and outputs are collective, not individual. We always work together with our solution partners.

      Learning together – We do not prescribe ready-made solutions. The important thing is to find the solution together. We learn from our mistakes and we strive to do better.

      I want to work with you!

      what did we do?


      Cooperators without Borders

      In partnership with the Hollings Center for International Dialogue, Youth Deal Cooperative brought together 25 leading social cooperative professionals from the United States, Tunisia, Lebanon, and Turkey, in İstanbul for an international workshop to increase social cooperative capacity. National dissemination activity took place in the form of a seminar on introduction to cooperative business model, which was held in Gaziantep with 95 refugees and local community members, in partnership with ILO Ankara.


      Social Cooperative Training for Young People

      25 young people with an average age of 22 participated in the training held in cooperation with Seferihisar Municipality on Introduction to Social Cooperatives for Young People. We shared teamwork, collective production, fundamental principles, and examples of social cooperatives with the young trainees, making them familiar with the notion of producing cooperative solutions for local social problems.

      Thanks to the innovative team of the Youth Deal Cooperative, the international workshop fueled creative discussions, and paved the way for possible future collaborations. We appreciate the Youth Deal Cooperative for the networks it mobilized before the workshop and for its skillful moderation of the discussions. We support them in their efforts to internationalize cooperative knowledge, and hoping to collaborate with them in the future

      The Hollings Center (2018)

      Thanks to this training, the Youth Deal Cooperative translated the Think.Coop training module of International Labour Organization (ILO) into Turkish.

      End-of-Activity Report (2018)

      Social Cooperative Work

      We made study visits to Spain, Italy, Belgium, and Croatia with the support of Sivil Dusun EU Program in order to collaborate with rights-based, community-oriented cooperatives in advocacy and capacity building, and we had the opportunity to start cooperation and collaboration networks in these visits.


      Social Cooperative Training for Local Administrations

      We gave a series of training courses to local administrations that allow social cooperatives to meet local social needs, based on good practices abroad.

      Youth Deal Cooperative has shared the proceedings of the international networking action through national dissemination workshops, the Co-op produced a conceptual framework for Turkey's social cooperative movement thus contributed to national lawmaking.

      Supervisory Board Report (2018)

      We obtained relevant information on the role and duties of municipalities in development of social cooperatives within existing legal and administrative framework, and we had the opportunity to devise our roadmap with the Youth Deal Cooperative.

      Participant Assessment Questionnaire (2018)

      Social Cooperative Work

      With the support of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Turkey Office, capacity development trainings were held for 9 grassroots organizations under the scope of “Social Cooperatives for Everybody: Strengthening Communities through Training and Capacity Development” in 8 cities (Izmir, Balikesir, Istanbul, Corum, Rize, Burdur, Isparta, Mugla) in the first half of 2019. 154 activists benefited from training modules tailored to needs.


      Responsible Business Conference

      Hoested by Izmir Commodity Exchange, Responsible Business Conference was organized on 18-19 April 2019 in Izmir in cooperation with FES Turkey Office and the Hollings Center for International Dialogue. Alternative collaboration models among cooperatives and private businesses were discussed. Click for further information.

      Youth Deal Cooperative has shared the proceedings of the international networking action through national dissemination workshops, the Co-op produced a conceptual framework for Turkey's social cooperative movement thus contributed to national lawmaking.

      CİHAN HÜROĞLU (2019)

      Economic system is embedded into social system and it has its ecological limits. Unless we accept this, it is not possible to correctly face with the ongoing crisis. To overcome this crisis, we need to cooperate - not compete.

      Prof. Aylin Cigdem Kone (2019)

      Youth at Work Project Field Study

      We conducted a field study with a sample group of 514 people, focused on vulnerable groups under the Erasmus+ KA3 Structured Dialogue Project ledby the İzmir Governor’s Office, and we made data analysis, and drafted the Sustainable Youth Employment Policy Paper.


      Social Cooperatives Research Report

      We prepared a research report on the cooperative system, and proposed a cooperative model organizing local craftsmen for the Conservation and Development of City Values Association of İzmir.

      Here, they don’t think highly of Syrians. There are too many young people, and the quality of the jobs does not fit us. People tell us that we take their jobs from them. Life and working conditions are very difficult, and that’s why we, young people remain unemployed.

      Survey Respondent (2016)

      Particularly the information on legislation, advantages and disadvantages, and relations with local administrations was very useful. We developed our roadmap based on this report, and we worked very efficiently together.

      Kentimiz İzmir Association (2018)

      İzmir Industrialists and Businessmen Association Local Social Development Projects

      We developed various projects for the Association, including those aiming to improve the efficiency of the labor market in İzmir, to increase competitive production and export capacity of cooperatives and family farms, and to ensure participation of the local civil society in decision-making mechanisms.


      Project Development for İzmir Children’s Museum

      We provided comprehensive project development service and online survey analysis for an educational, cultural, and recreational center for 6-15 years old children that will be established in İzmir.

      Projects that we wanted to conduct as İZSİAD became meaningful. Consultancy provided by the Youth Deal Cooperative enabled us to discover our social sensitivity and responsibility areas, and to come up with sustainable solutions.

      İZSİAD (2018)

      The museum is designed as a creating, learning and experimenting venue for children and their parents with different socioeconomic and sociocultural backgrounds, using as a child-oriented spatial imagination.

      Certified Project File (2015)

      Consultancy and Capacity Building for S.S. Bosch Factory Employees Retail Cooperative

      We provided various trainings to the consumption cooperative established in 1991 in Bursa Organized Industrial Zone with 3000+ members and 4 stores, including training on human resources management training, and utilization of efficiency tools, and we organized seminars on cooperatives for the members, and also provided international mobility service through a grant, to allow members to learn about practices of consumption cooperatives abroad.


      With its efficient and dynamic team, the Youth Deal Cooperative brought innovative methods to the traditional structure of our long existing cooperative. We derived substantial benefit from using digital tools, and from participation of our personnel in the learning process with an institutional perspective.

      S.S. Bosch Employees Food Retail Cooperative (2018)

      Let's keep in touch!

      * monthly newsletters are only available in Turkish for the moment.


      contact us!