EN
This paper presents a new paradigm of cooperative societies and the major changes that have occurred in the cooperative sector in Poland and abroad over the past 10 years. In addition, a discussion of the current challenges facing cooperatives. Development is a review. The data source was literature in the field of cooperatives and the report and the report prepared by experts from the National Cooperative Council. Analysis of the data indicates that the analyzed years, the number of cooperatives in Poland decreased by 2 361 entities. Change is the role of cooperatives – from a purely economic liability to the owners to multi-threaded, which owes its existence to various stakeholders. The world and European cooperatives noticeable are the two phenomena are: the concentration of their own potential and the creation of cooperatives in new areas of social and economic life.