The Berlin Institute for Co-operative Studies (BICS) is an independent research organization that has been based at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin since 1992. Its main aim is the study of co-operative organizations, which are member-based collective action organizations governed by democratic rule and the principle of user-ownership.
The BICS is constituted by a number of academics that demonstrate a vivid interdisciplinary research interest in studying and finding solutions for a wide spectrum of problems relating to collaborative organizations. Academic members of the BICS research, lecture, and share expertise on the topic.
Erasmus+ Project: Good Marketing and Brand-Building Practices in Agricultural Cooperatives (GPMBAC)
Erasmus+ Project: Good Marketing and Brand-Building Practices in Agricultural Cooperatives (GPMBAC) The project, which has been running since November 2024, is coordinated
Students of the master’s course on Cooperatives participate in the Global Social and Solidarity Economy Forum 2025
Students of the master’s course on Cooperatives participate in the Global Social and Solidarity Economy Forum 2025 In October 2025, five students
Students from the master course on Cooperation and Cooperatives presented their research at the ICA CCR Research Conference in Helsinki 2025
Students from the master course on Cooperation and Cooperatives presented their research at the ICA CCR Research Conference in Helsinki 2025 Aiming
Celebrating the UN International Year of Cooperatives 2025: Student Poster Exhibition Initiative
Celebrating the UN International Year of Cooperatives 2025: Student Poster Exhibition Initiative Since 2007, the “Co-operation and Co-operative Organizations” course has been
Cooperatives as Change Agents for Value Change Development
Members of the institute participated in the Symposium “The Role of Value Chain Development in Agri-Food Systems Transformation” held on September 22-23,
Erasmus+: Good Marketing and Branding Practices in Agricultural Cooperatives
Duration: November 2024 until November 2026 Funded by: European Commission The specific objectives of our project are to create and disseminate 3
ICA CCR Research Conference 2025: Cooperative Identity – Who we are as a movement, a form of organization and as cooperators?
More than a hundred researchers and practitioners met at the ICA CCR Research Conference in Helsinki on the 12th to 13th of
GenoScience Newsletter 2024 Published
In the GenoScience Newsletter 2024, the Berlin Institute for Cooperative Studies and its Supporting Association present a summary of their work over