🚀♻️🥰 Cooperative solutions for a fairer economy

CoopTech Hub is Poland’s first center for cooperative technologies, operating under PLZ Cooperative. We were founded in response to a growing crisis of trust in the digital economy, where extractive platforms dominate local markets, eroding transparency and community resilience. Our mission is to build cooperative alternatives that empower people, strengthen local economies, and foster shared ownership.

What We Do 🤝

We believe that cooperation is the key to resilient communities. That’s why we provide hands-on education, strategic consulting, and tailored implementation support to help organizations thrive and turn cooperative principles into real-world solutions. Our work focuses on:

⚡ Energy Transition & Energy Cooperatives

We support the formation of energy cooperatives, helping communities take control of their energy supply, reduce costs, and transition to affordable, renewable energy solutions. From policy guidance to digital tools, we make sustainable energy accessible for all.

🌐 Platform Cooperativism & Digital Transformation

We challenge the dominance of Big Tech by developing democratic, community-owned digital solutions. Through the PLZ Platform, we enable cooperatives, labor unions, and local organizations to communicate, manage finances, and grow—without relying on exploitative corporate platforms.

🏡 Cooperative Incubation & Local Development

We help new cooperatives launch and thrive—whether in energy, food, design, or digital spaces. We also work with cities undergoing revitalization or decarbonization, supporting bottom-up economic development driven by local communities. To support these efforts, PLZ Platform empowers these cooperatives and communities with the digital tools they need to operate efficiently and independently in an increasingly digital economy.

📚 Research, Education & Advocacy

We conduct cutting-edge research, provide training, and advocate for policies that support a cooperative economy. Through collaboration with European cooperatives and international partners, we build a global movement for solidarity-driven innovation.

PLZ Platform: Empowering Community Building 📱

One of our flagship projects is the PLZ Platform, the largest digital platform in Poland designed for labor unions, cooperatives, and community organizations. With over 1,000 active communities, it enables democratic decision-making and seamless communication through voting modules, group chats, event management, task assignments, and community news boards—all without reliance on exploitative corporate platforms.

Built on principles of democratic ownership and shared value, the PLZ Platform provides an alternative to extractive digital marketplaces, ensuring that unions, cooperatives, and local organizations have the tools they need to coordinate, engage members, and operate independently in an increasingly digital world.

Why Platform Cooperativism? 🌈

The current digital economy extracts value from communities. Platform cooperativism reclaims it and adapts digital innovation for community benefit. This model promotes:

  • Fair digital economies that redistribute value to workers and users.
  • Trust and transparency through member-led governance.
  • Stronger local economies by keeping financial and social capital within communities.
  • Urban resilience by turning local marketplaces into centers of shared economic and cultural life.

Why It Matters 💡

The digital economy is broken—it prioritizes monopoly power, surveillance, and wealth accumulation at the top. We offer an alternative: an economy built on openness, trust, and shared value. Through cooperative ownership, we ensure that technology serves people, not the other way around.

By empowering local communities, we reduce inequality, strengthen democracy, and promote sustainability. Our work is about more than just economic alternatives—it’s about rethinking how society organizes itself in the face of today’s challenges.

Our Team 👥

CoopTech Hub is powered by a diverse team of experts from PLZ Cooperative and our dedicated CoopTech Hub employees. Our members bring deep expertise in energy, urban resilience, community building, social economy, public policy, business, and digital strategy. Together, we are committed to creating sustainable, community-driven economic solutions that put people first.

Join us in building a cooperative future.

✉️ [email protected]

 

 

CoopTech Hub has received funding from the LIFE Programme of the European Union for the LIFE Comet and LIFE Shine projects.

Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

LIFE