Resources Index

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
  • What is a co-operative? And why start one?
  • Step one: the idea
  • Step two: the people
  • Step three: the money
  • Step four: the launch (and after)
  • Blog: Students for Cooperation by Sean Farmelo
  • Blog: Edinburgh Student Housing Co-operative by Lucy Eskell
  • Blog: Birmingham Bike Foundry by Chris Tomlinson
• Student housing co-operatives
  • Radical Routes’ How to Set Up a Housing Co-operative – Though more specifically based on the Radical Routes model, this is still useful for giving you an overview of what you need to consider
  • 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:
  • Active listening – includes listening and ‘framing’
  • Facilitation tools
  • Facilitating difficult behaviour
  • Facilitating group agreements
  • Facilitating phone conferences
  • Facilitation team roles and skills: 5 roles of facilitation
  • The meeting process
  • Splitting into small groups
• 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
  • What it is and what it is not
  • Why?
  • Go with the flow
  • The first step
  • The muddle in the middle
  • Weaving it all together
  • The moment of truth
  • When not to use consensus
  • Near-consensus alternatives: Crowd Wise
• 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