[Serial reports] Founding a co-operative in 45 minutes in Denmark (2)

Mr. Cristiansen and Mr. oh

Mr. Cristiansen and Mr. oh


This writer was curious why he quit being a lawyer who earns lots of money and is socially prestigious, and instead directed his passions to co-operatives. His answer was clear.

“First I participated in an apartment house co-operative, because I lived in that town.”

From him, we can learn that joining co-operatives is not a rare occurence but simply their own culture. Then how could the Danish have this culture?

He explained. “Trust does not come from God. If you meet your neighbor and you have an idea, put them together and you will have confidence. A group of citizens made the first co-operative, the farmers made the first co-operative and they just met and were networking before they made this kind of co-operative. This has something to do with the tradition of networking and knowing people.”

Resident participation in Denmark contributed to a remarkable change in the energy industry environment. Denmark once imported 99% of their energy, but now they are over the figure of 100% self-sufficiency. Eric said that participation in the co-operative helped the Danish to have sense of ownership, which is also associated with democratic actions. Because regardless of the amount of their investment, they follow the principle of one man, one vote.

* For the original article in Korean: http://bit.ly/18tL5Br  (by Yeon-ho Oh and Min-ji Kim)

About The Author

Eunbin Ko

Other posts by

Author his web site


06 2013

Comments are closed.