Studies in developing countries have demonstrated that co‐operatives have the potential to become an important economic factor. However, these studies have revealed deficient management practices that could hinder co‐operative's possibilities of playing this role in the economy. There are recurrent calls to study this issue and generate knowledge that could improve prospects for co‐operatives. This paper advances current research by applying an already tested methodology inspired on the viable systems model to provide a better understanding on co‐operatives' governance systems, in the context of developing countries. The results show positive evidence for how a participatory and facilitated systemic intervention could support the implementation of actions aiming to improve a co‐operative governance system. The approach and methodology used in the project represent a promising toolkit to work on governance systems within co‐operatives and provide new academic perspectives to address governance issues within these organizations.