The European Music Cooperators Manifesto was launched in Cáceres, Spain, on 10 November 2023 as part of the Music4Coop Fest, which brought together 20 aspiring European Music Cooperators from across Europe and 20 community-level stakeholders to improve their cooperation skills and work together towards a common goal of sustainable development in rural, low-populated and remote areas of Europe.
European music cooperators are music professionals working in conjunction with community-level stakeholders for the promotion of a common end of sustainable development of rural, low populated and remote areas of Europe. In order to consolidate this new professional profile, Music4Coop has developed a Manifesto that inspires us and reminds us of our principles and values, which we proclaimed for the first time together with the first generation of European Music Cooperators in Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain.
These are the 7 points of our manifesto:
1 – We will jointly lead the social transformation of our environment
To do this, we will stop asking for opportunities and start offering them. we will develop a constructive mindset that shows no resistance to positive change and innovation and we will lead the change we want to see in our communities.
2 – The transformative power of music will be our driving force for sustainable change.
We will use music not only as an art form, but as an inspirational tool to motivate and mobilise our communities towards both change and improvement, and to strengthen our collective identity.
3 – Cooperation will be our key strategy to achieve a fairer future.
We will work together with key actors in the territory to achieve a common goal. we will bring commitment and focus on results. because it is time, in europe’s rural, low populated and remote areas, to deliver the results we need to move towards sustainable development.
4 – We will always be an indivisible part of the local community in rural, low-populated and remote areas
This will be based on the philosophy of self-help and self-reliance. we will use our own resources, capacities and strengths to meet our challenges. we have the capacity to solve our own problems, enjoy our own successes and be the protagonists of our own stories.
5 – We will practise the oxygen mask principle
As in an air emergency, before helping the other passengers and companions, we will put on our own oxygen mask. in doing so, we will prioritise self-sustainability based on decent work that allows us to be strong enough to have the capacity to solve the challenges of our community in the short, medium and long term.
6 – We will co-found democratic and jointly owned organisations
Worker cooperatives will be our means to achieve our aims of sustainable development of rural, low-populated and remote areas of europe. our co-operatives will enable us to work together, with all the benefits of social protection for workers and decision-making power for owners.
7 – We will maintain a European perspective in our local action
we will promote a european consciousness in all our local initiatives, reinforcing the unity in diversity that characterises our communities. rural, low-populated and remote territories also build europe.
