Author: Gereon Wintz and Kira Lutz
Date: 18.10.2026
On October 5, the venerable Marble Hall in the HU’s main building served as the backdrop for an event that was definitely forward-looking. Upon invitation of the BICS Berlin Institute for Co-Operative Studies, a diverse group of scholars and practitioners convened to discuss some of the most pressing questions about the future of membership in cooperatives. The workshop was part of the research project on membership strategies in the banking sector and beyond, supported by the National Association of German Cooperative Banks (BVR).
An intensive day of sharing experiences and discussing common challenges was opened by Markus Hanisch, directorof the project, who raised the question why cooperatives need active members in the first place. His question set the tone for the talks and discussions that followed.
Subrahmanyam Bhima, president of the International Cooperative Banking Association, contributed an international perspective, sketching national trends in the development of membership strategies. Andreas Bley, chief economist of the BVR, turned to the membership challenges that German cooperative banks currently face. In the afternoon, Hans Groeneveld, professor of financial cooperatives at Tilburg University in the Netherlands, took the audience through the case of Rabobank in the Netherlands. Mathias Fiedler, board member of the Central Association of the German Consumer Cooperatives, rounded the picture by elaborating how membership should be linked to benefits, purpose and voice for the members.
A centrepiece of the event were six working groups on fundamental issues related to member acquisition and retention which had been identified in the research project. Each group started from a short input from one of our participants. Charlotte Castille presented the membership strategies and offers of OurCoop in the United Kingdom, and Nele Janisch of BVR’s in-house youth consultancy Neonblau talked about how to attract young people to cooperative banks in Germany. Francesco Carfì showed how the Italian Banca Etica creates and communicates tangible added value in its local environment. Przemysław Piasecki of the University of Poznan in Poland asked how employees can come to enact cooperative values. Nick Mäuser of the University of Cologne looked at how to create and enhance participation, and Kira Lutz of BICS explored how cooperatives can build alliances with other cooperatives and similar entities.
The group discussions benefited from the range of backgrounds in the room and the wealth of practical experience participants brought with them. Together, they identified the main practical challenges for each topic and discussed possible solutions and good practices. Although the topics were wide-ranging, some common themes recurred. Many cooperatives still struggle to be seen and understood, so explaining what cooperatives are and how they work remains necessary, ideally in a language of stories and images rather than outdated jargon. Equally, identifying and credibly addressing the needs of members is central to avoid losing relevance, and active member engagement is a powerful way to do this.
The insights from the discussions will feed into the next phase of the project, a report on membership strategies for cooperative banks due in the coming months.