Solidarity for a better future: Smart as a cooperative
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Solidarity and Purpose: A Cooperative for Social Fairness
Our Values and Goals
Solidarity for better working conditions
Smart is a solidarity-based cooperative. With our socially transformative solution, we are committed to social justice. Our aim is to make the world of work more equitable and to improve the quality of life of the self-employed in the long term. This includes both their financial and social security. All profits flow into the expansion of our services.
Innovative Support for our Members
We stand in solidarity
Solidarity & community are the central pillars of our cooperative. We stand together, support each other and take responsibility for the well-being of each other. Within our cooperative, we promote networking and cooperation between our members. We work together with other cooperatives, both in Germany and worldwide. This is in line with the sixth cooperative principle: “Cooperation among Cooperatives”.
Innovation is in our DNA.
We constantly strive to find new ways to adapt our cooperative to the changing needs of our members. We are proud of being innovative and driving forward the way freelancers and collectives work.
Get to Know us
Our Roots and Organization Structure
Our Roots
The Smart Initiative was born in Belgium. Smart stands for “Société mutuelle pour artistes” and was launched in 1998 as a social economy project by founders from the cultural sector. These visionaries created Smart as an innovative solution for freelance artists and cultural professionals who often work under precarious conditions.
The initiative quickly developed into a successful project and soon attracted a broader target group of self-employed people. Today, Smart Belgium already has over 35,000 members from various areas of the self-employment sectors, and this number continues to rise.
Supported by Smart Belgium, independent cooperatives have been founded in various European countries. In Germany Smart was founded in 2015. Since then, we have been working closely with our European Smart partners to create a transnational knowledge and solidarity network for new forms of work.
What makes us special
Smart offers a concrete solution to improve the working conditions of freelancers. We are part of the renaissance of the cooperative idea in Europe and belong to a network with over 100,000 members in Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Austria and Sweden. Smart has over 900 members from many different sectors across Germany: management, consultancy, creative and cultural industries, education, IT and software and many more.
Advisory Board
The Advisory Board of SMartDe eG consists of 5 members who are elected for a term of office of 3 years. The main task of the Advisory Board is to appoint and advise the Board of Directors.
Our Advisory Board: Norbert Kunz, Sébastien Paule, Marie Reiter, Céline Viardot, Prof. Dr. Dominika Wruk
The General Assembly
As a cooperative member, you are invited to attend and vote at the annual General Assembly. Each member has one vote, regardless of the number of shares they have purchased. At the annual General Assembly, we decide how profits and losses are distributed. In addition, the actions of the Board of Directors and Advisory Board are approved, and a new Advisory Board is elected.
Smart Bildungswerk
Smart Bildungswerk brings education directly to you: nationwide and flexible. Our wide range of courses, seminars and workshops are accessible to everyone and promote lifelong learning. Bildungswerk is based on the principles of social economy – maximizing profits is not our goal We are a non-profit organization (gGmbH) that is committed to fair working conditions for our employed teachers. Our teachers offer a wide range of courses, seminars and workshops.
Get to know the Smart BildungswerkSmart Association
Our association SMartDe – Netzwerk für Kreative e.V. is your source of information for everything you need for your artistic work and creative production. Our aim is to improve the working and general conditions for artists and creatives. To this end, we offer multilingual information events, seminars and advice.
Get to know the associationMore about us
Our Competencies
This is us: Creative in technologies, innovative in sustainability – together we accomplish great things.
Our competencies
Get to know our team
Meet the people that bring our vision to life day after day.
Get to know our team
