SAVES publishes its second Report on Cooperativism and Social Economy
14-06-2021
The Virtual Assistance for Cooperativism and Social Economy, SAVES, has published the second of its four planned Reports, which shows the Economic-Financial Situation of Cooperativism in Galicia.
This assistant, created by researchers María José Cabaleiro and Carlos Iglesias, is a tool capable of generating a set of indicators, both graphical and quantitative, which includes the particularities of cooperative societies, especially their economic and financial structure, and their results. In addition, it elaborates economic ratios usually used in financial analysis, but adapted to the specificities of cooperatives. These reports are intended not only for cooperatives, but also for the public administration, the sector’s associations and the research staff of the three Galician universities. The basic and non-protected information will be available to the public, but for the specific analysis or measurement there are different levels of accessibility.
At present, the information on Cooperativism and the Social Economy in Galicia is dispersed in different statistical sources, which makes its computer processing difficult: there is no historical series with comparable data over time; there is no set of indicators adapted to the singularity of cooperative societies; and none of the statistical sources provides data that can be consulted on the mobile electronic devices that are used today. It was this reality that led to the launching of the project that gave rise to the creation of SAVES.
The importance of Cooperativism
Historically, Galician cooperativism is characterized by its importance in two areas: agriculture and associated work. The former groups together both SMEs and large companies operating in the agricultural sector; and the latter is made up, above all, of micro-companies in all sectors of activity. Over the years, however, other types of cooperatives have emerged, such as sea cooperatives, social services, consumer, housing, transport and financial services cooperatives, among others. All of them make up the Galician cooperative movement, which, year after year, consolidates its presence in Galicia.
The pillars of SAVES
SAVES would not be possible without its human team. In addition to the researchers María José Cabaleiro Casal and Carlos Iglesias Malvido, they have the support of ECOBAS for the project management tasks, and their own technician, Belén Lemos, in charge of data collection tasks, and of collaborating in the preparation of the reports and the design of the website, developed, as could not be otherwise, by a Galician Cooperative Society, Triwus. In order for this project to get underway, funding came from the EUSUMO Network of the Xunta de Galicia and the ECOBAS Strategic Grouping. But there are also other organizations that contribute with their experience, with information, with their spaces, and with their collaborations. We are talking about support from the General Subdirectorate of Social Economy, dependent on the Department of Employment, Economy and Industry of the Xunta de Galicia; from the associations of Galician Cooperatives ESPAZOCOOP and AGACA; from the School of Cooperative Studies of the Complutense University of Madrid, or from the School of Business Studies of Vigo.
With the intention of continuing the work of SAVES after reports 3 and 4 are published in July and September, respectively, work is underway to seek new funding and support to create more tools and applications in SAVES to help consolidate and promote the cooperative movement in Galicia.
