The United Nations has declared 2025 as the International Year of Cooperatives. This declaration comes at a time when the negative consequences of the lack of participatory ownership models in the economy are becoming increasingly apparent. Particularly in Western countries, economic inequality is rapidly rising, threatening the normal functioning of democracy, while the Global South remains subservient to the interests of the wealthiest nations. Despite increasing productivity, real incomes are stagnating, especially outside major urban centers. As a society, we are also significantly lagging in implementing measures to combat climate change, exacerbated by short-term thinking and an excessive focus on profit, which dominate today's economy.

As it seems, these challenges will deepen in the coming years. In the context of financialization and globalization, ownership of an increasing number of companies – including Slovenian ones – is flowing into the hands of anonymous financial owners who are both physically and emotionally distant from the local communities in which these companies are embedded. Companies with a long tradition of responsible business, previously known for their care for the local environment, are thus being transformed into tools for maximizing the profits of the economic elite, which does not consider the well-being of other stakeholders, such as employees and the local community, when making business decisions. All this leads to extractive business practices, in extreme cases even to mass layoffs and the relocation of production to less regulated areas.

It is high time we change our understanding of our role in the economy and start striving for a more democratic vision. We are pleased that the United Nations also recognizes this and that in recent years, alternative ownership models in politics and the economy have been receiving increasing attention.

At the start of the International Year of Cooperatives, the Institute for Economic Democracy commits to playing its part in creating a more inclusive economy that puts people first by promoting advanced employee ownership models. We believe that worker cooperatives and other forms of employee-owned enterprises show us the right way forward. The path of social responsibility. The path of stability for local economies. The path of decentralized economic development. The path of a fairer distribution of added value. The path of sustainability and democracy.

You can read more about this route in the #KateraPot campaign contribution, where we highlight the already visible negative consequences of the lack of participatory ownership models in the Slovenian economy and offer a more democratic and sustainable alternative.