The Basque Country is a global landmark for the cooperative model, in particular industrial cooperativism, and the Consejo Superior de Cooperativas de Euskadi (Basque cooperative council), which is 40 years old in 2023, is a public/private body unique in the cooperative world, being made up of representatives of the Basque government, the three provincial authorities, the three Basque universities and the Basque cooperative movement.
The job of this council is essentially to promote and publicise cooperativism. And this is what led us to set up the Denon Artean prize (Denon Artean is Basque for “Between Everybody”).
This prize has been awarded twice, the first time in 2019 recognising the figure of José Maria Arizmendiarrieta (in memoriam), founder of the MONDRAGON cooperative experiment, the biggest industrial cooperative in the world. In 2021 it went to the ICA (International Cooperative Alliance), which collected this accolade – so celebrating the 125th anniversary of an institution which includes over 1,000 enterprises – in the person of its president, Ariel Guarco.
This prize is awarded every two years in recognition of the work of people and institutions for a more social business model, one that distributes wealth better and improves society as a whole.
The ceremony will take place in the city of Donostia-San Sebastian, chosen by the Spanish government as European Capital of the Social Economy 2023, at the European Social Economy Summit, to take place on 13th and 14th November.
Cooperative Symphony
The ceremony will feature the Cooperative Symphony with the collaboration of Euskadiko Orkestra / Basque National Orchesta, and the choirs Goikobalu Arrasateko Abesbatza, Iubilo Bilbao Abesbatza and Txorbela Otxotea and conducted by Fernando Velazquez.
Registration to attend the event: form on the Denon Artean website.
