Koinè is a social cooperative, a non-profit organization, with 30 years of experience based in Lombardia Region in the north of Italy. Currently the cooperative works in more than 100 municipalities, managing over 10 million budget (yearly) and employing more than 400 people.
We design and promote projects to meet the needs of children, young people and families, through the development of a multistakeholder parntership (local Institutions, companies, other non-profit organizations) with a special focus on sustainability issues.
The social challenges that characterize our society (environmental, sanitary, socio-economic, humanitarian…) multiply their effects revealing the fragility of the socio-economic system and the strong interconnections among them.
To operate in this complex context, due to the multidimensional nature of unmet social needs, we adopt an interdisciplinary approach, integrating different skills and competencies.
Our methodology always starts with people in the community to promote multistakeholder participatory processes, inspired by the concepts of solidarity for the common good.
We work on four major areas : childhood, youth and families, environment & culture and training with a special focus on pedagogical approaches to promote the expression of the full potential of the new generations, social inclusion of vulnerable segments of society and the dissemination of cultural awareness on sustainable development.
The vision that characterizes our work is: ‘Changemakers. People, services and places for a social economy of wellbeing”
Children, young people and families that benefit yearly from our services and projects.
Social Base
In 1992
Our first activities
The feedback received
from families and teachers
users of our services
The communities we work with
Our history
Koinè was established in July 1989, when two members of the original Abacus cooperative (a market research and opinion polls company) decided to re-invsest the economic and professional assets accumulated over ten years of activity into social projects.
In July 1989 the cooperative officially started to operate in the area of social and educational services.
In May 1993, according to the Law 381/91 (establishment of social cooperatives), Koinè is officially recognized as a social cooperative, which also was certified as “onlus” for the italian law in 2004.
The first activity as childhood service started in Novate Milanese (Milan) with ‘Il Giardino d’Inverno’, a micro-nursery and a community space for adults and children. In the same year the first environmental education activities were launched in collaboration with the Groane Regional Park.
In 1994, the first service for “youth and family” was launched as a socio-educational support project for disadvantaged children in the municipality of Bareggio (Milan). Consistent with its history, the cooperative currently operates in the areas of social services with particular interest in childhood, youth and families, environment & culture and training.
Nomen Omen - the meaning of Koinè
Koinè is a Greek term (from the feminine adjective koinē, “common”) that identifies a “common language” shared by different cultures and people and, in a figurative sense, a communion of ideals or cultural or spiritual interests.
Consistently with the meaning of the name, we share the ideals and values of cooperation, which we passionately translate into our work, focusing on trust and quality relationships with people, the community and the territory.
