Cascadia Cooperative Conference 2025

Cascadia Cooperative Conference 2025

August 25–26, 2025 | Seattle, WA

This summer, cooperative leaders, organizers, visionaries, and values-aligned businesses from across the Cascadia bioregion will gather in Seattle for the first-ever Cascadia Cooperative Conference (CCC)—a landmark event dedicated to deepening the roots and expanding the reach of the cooperative economy in the Pacific Northwest.

Hosted by the Northwest Cooperative Development Center (NWCDC), this two-day gathering takes place August 25–26, 2025, at the Parkview Event Space, just steps from the heart of Seattle.

🌿 Why CCC Matters

Cascadia—stretching across British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and parts of Idaho—is home to an abundance of cooperative models that are already reshaping our economy from the ground up. From worker-owned businesses to community land trusts, food co-ops to credit unions, the region is ripe with people-powered innovation.

The Cascadia Cooperative Conference celebrates this momentum. It’s an invitation to strengthen cross-border networks, share knowledge across sectors, and explore how cooperative enterprise can respond to our most pressing challenges—especially in underserved rural and urban communities.

This is more than a conference—it’s a convergence. A place to build solidarity, strategy, and shared vision across the bioregion.

🧭 What to Expect

Over two packed days, CCC will feature:

  • Keynotes and panel discussions

  • Breakout sessions on housing, land, finance, governance, and tech

  • Case studies from thriving co-ops across Cascadia

  • Workshops on regenerative design, non-extractive lending, and regional policy

  • Evening social gatherings, live music, and connection time

  • A Seattle-area co-op tour following the event

The program includes topics like:

  • Designing cooperative housing models for rural communities

  • Converting traditional businesses into worker co-ops

  • Building multi-stakeholder and union-aligned cooperatives

  • Democratizing tech and evicting our digital landlords

  • Exploring public banking, credit unions, and alternative finance

  • Developing cross-sectoral education for the International Year of Cooperatives

  • A full-day track on building a Cascadian Cooperative Network of Networks

Full schedule available here (link optional for blog formatting).

🌎 A Bioregional Vision

Rooted in the watersheds of the Salish Sea and Columbia River, the Cascadia bioregion is uniquely positioned to lead a cooperative renaissance. CCC uplifts this vision—not only by showcasing economic alternatives, but by reconnecting economy to ecology, and community to place.

This conference embodies the bioregional ethos: cross-border collaboration, shared stewardship, and long-term resilience through locally-rooted systems. By aligning with the International Year of Cooperatives, CCC also connects Cascadia to the global cooperative movement.

🤝 Join the Movement

Whether you’re a longtime cooperator or just getting started, CCC offers space to learn, share, and get inspired. Register today and join a growing network of people transforming how we work, build, and care for each other across Cascadia.

💬 Scholarships available; sponsorship opportunities still open!
📍 Parkview Event Space, Seattle, WA
📅 August 25–26, 2025