Introduction -- The Swiss cooperatives then and now -- The Swiss cooperative landscape: A quantitative and qualitative overview -- Swiss cooperative law: Driver or obstacle to economic growth? -- Participation in participatory governance: cooperatives in a Swiss con-text -- A comparative history of cooperatives in Switzerland, 1800-2000 -- The future of and with Swiss cooperatives -- Digital transformation and solidarity in cooperatives -- Reception and perspectives of experts and cooperative members on Austrian cooperatives during the Corona crisis - a qualitative and quantitative survey -- Changing the mindset: Cooperatives and Complexity. Looking into the Future -- Balancing Flexibility and Stability: Leveraging Cooperatives for Organizational Resilience -- Cooperative ecosystem: perspectives and challenges -- Cooperatives and Grand Societal Challenges -- Collaborative responses to grand challenges: the case of La Scuola Open Source -- The evolution and evaluation of the Italian legislationon social cooperatives and social enterprises: facilitator or obstacle to their diffusion? -- Opportunity recognition and innovative solutions to societal challenges: the case of community cooperatives in Italy -- Is SwissCovid a Responsible Innovation for a Grand Societal Challenge? The Case for Better Deliberative Capacities in Innovation Governance -- The contribution of large cooperatives: data and examples from the World Cooperative Monitor -- Cooperative Approaches as a Way to Build Resilient Societies -- Understanding cooperatives from a Bourdieusian perspective.

Open Access

This book focuses on different aspects of cooperatives in Switzerland and its neighboring countries, and their contribution to meeting overarching societal challenges. It seeks to identify how cooperatives can tackle grand societal challenges and extends the body of research on cooperatives. The discussions are highlighted in the context of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The respective chapters cover topics such as cooperatives in Switzerland (historical roots, current landscape, embeddedness in profit/nonprofit organizations, participatory governance and legal aspects), grand societal challenges and cooperatives, and the future with and of cooperatives. This is an open access book.

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