This page links to a whole host of resources on www.students.coop and external websites. This is a growing list – with many sections very limited in content – so if there’s anything you’d like to add, contribute or any comments you’d like to make then please do get in touch!
Getting started
- What is a Co-operative?
- How to start a student food co-operative – Covering everything from space to pricing, people to suppliers.
- Could your group or society become a co-operative? – How co-operative values, principles and practices could benefit your group.
- A student’s guide to starting a co-operative – A collection of articles produced with Co-operative News
- Student housing co-operatives
- Sheffield Student Housing Co-operative feasibility study
- Edinburgh Student Housing Co-operativeinitial business plans. These are out of date and inaccurate, but still useful. ContactESHC for more accurate info.
- Business plan
- Initial financial projections
- Financials notes to go with projections above
- Radical Routes’ How to Set Up a Housing Co-operative – Though more specifically based on the Radical Routes model, this is still very useful
- Democratic Housing in Edinburgh! – Great video featuring interviews with Edinburgh Student Housing Co-operative members.
External resources:
- Sample constitution for unincorporated associations – A basic constitution for groups who use consensus decision making
- How to set-up a workers’ co-operative
- How to set-up a housing co-operative – Not necessarily entirely relevant for student co-ops, but useful none the less.
- Co-operative principles poster
Organising and facilitating meetings
- Organizing Successful Meetings – Key things to consider to make your meetings a success.
- Facilitating Meetings Guide
- Introduction to Facilitating Meetings
- What is facilitation?
- A facilitator’s skills and qualities
- Co-facilitation roles at a meeting
- Facilitating a meeting – beginning to end
- Facilitating consensus
- Dealing with disruptive behaviour
- Dealing with blocks in the process
- Facilitating large group meetings
- Top tips and tools for facilitators
- Rhizome facilitation resources:
- Further external resources:
- 11 surefire ways to shorten meetings
- Meeting facilitation: the no-magic method
- The makings of a good meeting
- One way to run a productive meeting
- From conflict to co-operation, booklet 3: Meetings and Decision Making
- Making meetings accessible
- Facilitating workshops
- Facilitation tools for meetings and workshops
- Active listening
- Group agreements for workshops and meetings
- Break the Rules: How ground rules [group agreements] can hurt
- Using Questions in workshops
- Giving and receiving feedback
- Access issues at events
- Taking minutes at meetings
- Making changes in your group
Consensus Decision Making
- A short guide to Consensus Decision Making – A shorter version of the guide below.
- Consensus flowchart
- Consensus Decision Making Guide
- Introduction to Consensus Decision Making
- What’s wrong with the democracy we’ve got?
- Why use consensus?
- Who uses consensus?
- Conditions for consensus
- The consensus process
- The stages of the consensus process
- An example of a consensus process
- Guidelines for taking part
- Quick decision making
- Consensus in large groups
- Troubleshooting consensus
- Rhizome consensus resources
- Consensus Decision-making – an introduction and overview
- A History of Consensus – combined and abridged version of their ‘brief history of consensus‘ blog posts
- Consensus flowchart – bringing together the values of consensus with the process
- Rhizomeconsensusdecisionmakingblogposts
- Other external consensus resources
- Tree Bressen’s consensus resources, which include some well-balanced and thoughtful articles on the thorny issue of the use of blocks in the consensus process
- Autumn Brown’s consensus resources, including a world map of consensus and a useful summary of different consensus models
- Consensus Decision-making – a virtual learning centre for people interested in making decisions by consensus
- Consensus decision-making by War Resisters’ International
- Shared Path – Shared Goal by Zhaba Facilitation Collective
- Basics of Consensus by Rob Sandelin
- Two hour workshop plan on consensus decision making
- Diversity and consensus
Working as a group
- Take me to your leader – the problems of leadership in groups
- Take me to your leader 2 – developing shared leadership
- Lunching out on accountability – accountability, leadership and implementing action points
- Taking play seriously
Conflict resolution
- Conflict resolution and mediation
- What is Mediation? – includes a mediation reading list
- A State of Mind for Mediation
- Principles of Mediation
- The Stages of Mediation
- Active Listening in Mediation
- Mediation Competencies
Liberation
- Liberation – What is it? Why is it important? How can you get involved?
- Intersectionality: a fun guide
- Gender: a fun guide
- How to deal with being called out
- Guidelines for being strong white allies
- Feminism is for everybody – bell hooks
- Mental health: Tips for talking
- Sustainable activism and avoiding burnout
Finances
- Financial Literacy for Co-ops – A great in-depth guide for beginners