This initiative was originally founded by the Canadian Co-operative Association, which is hosting a launch of the Year across 14 cities on January 12th. Secretary General of Co-operatives UK, Ed Mayo, is now trying to encourage other countries to take part in this initiative to host a joint launch of the International Year.

"We’re encouraging co-operatives and national bodies in countries across the world to use January 12th as an opportunity to take a global action and mark the start of the International Year of Co-operatives” said Mr. Mayo.

"In the UK we’re following the lead of the Canadians and holding an online conference, but the options for what people can do to mark and celebrate o January 12th are huge. We’d love to see nations across the world marking the start of the Year on the 12th."

Tanya Gracie, Manager of the International Year at the CCA, added: "One of the key messages of the International Year is that co-operatives are inherently local, yet together we share a unique global network. The idea of having 12 countries use January 12th as a shared launch date allows us to demonstrate to our fellow co-operators and to people throughout the world the strength and diversity of co-operative enterprises."

Co-operatives UK said the idea is a day of co-operative action in which countries – whether their umbrella bodies or individual co-operatives in them – mark the start of the Year, whether it’s with an online conference, a press release, a media launch or an event.

The majority of action — news articles, coverage of events and live audio/video streams — is set to take place on the Global News Hub, www.thenews.coop.

Canada is already holding a press conference to be broadcast across all its provinces. The UK is aiming to run an interactive online panel and encourage co-operatives to celebrate the start of the Year. Co-operatives Europe will be also be launching a policy document on the day.