Fifth International Conference on Cooperatives (ICOOP2025)

The 5th International Conference on Cooperatives (ICOOP2025) was convened at a moment when communities across the world are confronting profound economic, social, and environmental transitions. Held in parallel with the United Nations International Year of Cooperatives 2025, the conference brought renewed attention to the enduring relevance of cooperatives as people-centered institutions that advance inclusion, resilience, and shared prosperity.

Anchored on the theme “The Cooperative Advantage: Empowering Communities, Transforming Futures,” ICOOP2025 served as a platform for dialogue, reflection, and exchange among scholars, cooperative leaders, policymakers, development practitioners, and youth. Over the course of two days, participants explored how cooperatives respond to inequality, market exclusion, climate risk, and the evolving demands of sustainable development through plenaries, panel discussions, parallel sessions, and special forums.

This volume, ICOPED-UPLB Event Proceedings, Issue 2, Part 1, documents the proceedings of ICOOP2025. It presents the conference program, session summaries, speaker profiles, thematic discussions, and key highlights that shaped the collective learning experience of the event. This issue captures the breadth of voices, ideas, and exchanges that unfolded across sessions.

By assembling these materials, the Proceedings preserve not only what was said, but also how the conference functioned as a space of engagement between research, policy, and practice. Readers will find here the thematic architecture of the conference, the diversity of perspectives represented, and the key issues that animated discussion across the cooperative and social enterprise community.

The Institute of Cooperatives and Bio-Enterprise Development (ICOPED) extends its sincere appreciation to the University of the Philippines for its institutional support, and to our partners, speakers, moderators, and participants whose commitment and energy made ICOOP2025 a meaningful and productive gathering.

This volume is intended to serve as a reference for participants and readers who wish to revisit the discussions, themes, and exchanges during ICOOP2025. Together with Part 2, which presents the peer-reviewed Research Notes, this Proceedings volume reflects both the process and the knowledge generated through ICOOP2025.