The Solidary Economy as a work organization principle: training and technical assistance for recyclable material collectors

Abstract

The field of study of this article is about the solidary economy and self-management in recyclable material cooperatives aiming to present the partial results from an extension program called Selective Collection, involving three extension projects (Solidary Economy, Management Systems and Environmental education) under development at the Universidade do Sagrado Coração (USC). The article will focus on the solidary economy extension project , which relates to the preliminary analysis of factors regarding selective collection, self-management and productivity of the cooperatives involved. The motivation of the study is a result of the need to understand how good self-management affects the organization of the cooperatives. Therefore, the current reality of two cooperatives, Cootramat and COOPECO, was portrayed- to identify what are their needs and expectations. Level of commitment of members and the major problem identified by them were some of the issues addressed during in loco observations. The results presented are part of the research that is underway in partnership with the Municipal Company for Urban and Rural Development (Empresa Municipal de Desenvolvimento Urbano e Rural - Emdurb) Bauru/SP

Keywords

• Self-management
• Cooperatives
• Cooperative Member
• Solidary Economy
• Recyclable Material