Interview with Professor Sonja Novkovic, member of COPAC Technical Working Group on Statistics of Cooperatives
The ILO has joined forces with other members of the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC) to improve statistics on cooperatives. They are working towards developing guidelines on the measurement of cooperatives to be presented at the 20th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) in October 2018. ILO COOP interviewed Professor Sonja Novkovic, member of COPAC Technical Working Group on Statistics of Cooperatives, on the progress, the challenges and the outlook of its work.
1. Could you tell us briefly about yourself?
I am a professor in Economics at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Canada, and Academic Director of the International Centre for Cooperative Management in the business school. I have been serving as Chair of the International Cooperative Alliance Research Committee since 2013.
2. How have you gotten involved in statistics on cooperatives?
I led a research project titled Measuring the Cooperative Difference Research Network in collaboration with Cooperatives and Mutuals Canada from 2010 to 2016, in which researchers across the country explored issues of assessment of cooperative impact and reach, as well as adherence to cooperative principles. We organized an international conference about these issues, and published a book titled Cooperatives for sustainable communities: Tools to measure cooperative impact and performance.