Cooperatives and Cooperative Social Responsibility

Abstract

A cooperative is an independent association of people who combine their work as opposed to joint stock companies in which they combine their capital. It is a type of organization established with the aim to meet common economic, social or cultural needs in a democratic way. Energy cooperatives, which are particularly widespread in some European countries, are a type of cooperatives which primarily aim to resolve energy and environmental problems, stabilize the local economy, meet the needs of people in the community, create fairer distribution systems and contribute to the common good. Social entrepreneurship as a new way of doing business combines entrepreneurial practices from the business world and values related to social responsibility. In that sense, a socially responsible business implies absolute compliance with all laws and regulations but also takes care of the resources and the environment as well as follows the cooperative principles, such as: voluntary and open membership, democratic governance and supervision, economic participation of members, autonomy and independence of cooperatives, providing education and information to members, cooperation between cooperatives and care for the communities in which they operate.
In this paper, we analyse the activities of Green Energy Cooperative in Zagreb as an example of an innovative business model in the energy sector that contributes both to the energy transition and the development of social entrepreneurship in Croatia.