SOCIAL ECONOMY CENTRE BLOG

Award Winner Jack Quarter Keeps Co-Op Organizations in Focus in Education: Thanked by On Co-op

2009-12-09T20:59:00.002-05:00

News release: Jack Quarter wins On Co-op Spirit Award

Symposium: Sustainable Purchasing Policies

2009-09-16T09:29:00.005-04:00

The Business & Society Program at York University presents a symposium on

Sustainable Purchasing Policies: Developing and Implementing Living Documents

Thursday, September 24th, 2009
Founders Assembly Hall
York University

8:30 – 8:45 Registration

8:45 – 9:00 Welcome & Opening Remarks

9:00 – 10:15 “KeyIssues in Sustainable Purchasing”
LoriStahlbrand, Local Food Plus
MichelleKortinen, Forest Stewardship Council
BillBarrett, Sumac Community Worker Co-op (WearFair/Planet Bean)

10: 30 – 11:45 “Student Involvementin Sustainable Purchasing Policies”
RobTiffin, Vice-President Students, York University
LazarKonforti, Équiterre
Representativefrom Canadian Federation of Students

12:00 – 1:15 “Challenges of Designing & ImplementingLiving Documents”
MichaelZelmer, TransFair Canada
TrudyLockyer, Brock University
Representativefrom Trent University
J.J.McMurtry, Business & Society Program, York University

1:30 – 2:45 Workshops

Developing “Fair Trade Universities”
IanHussey, York University
PatrickClark, University of Waterloo
Representativefrom Engineers without Borders (tbc)

Student-run Social Enterprises: A Path toSustainability?
TinaSorbara, Guelph Campus Co-operative
Tegan Moss, SeasonedSpoon, Trent University

Experiences of Implementing Sustainable PurchasingPolicies
(sessionfor administrators and sustainable businesses)
SteveGlassman, York University Bookstore
ArleneStein, Hart House, University of Toronto
JeffMoore, JustUS! Coffee Roasters
HowardDaugherty, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University

3:00 – 4:30 Business and Society Annual Lecture –Francisco VanderHoff

4: 30 – 5:30 Reception

REGISTRATION: We would like everyone who wants to attend any of the sessions to feel free to do so. We also need to covers cost so we would like to suggest the following fees for those who can pay: Students – $10.00; Others – 20.00
The registration fee includes a box lunch and a “Support Fair Trade Universities!” T-shirt (made with 100% certified Fair Trade and organic cotton). Please try to pre-register by Sept. 18th, so that we know how many people to expect. To pre-register, e-mail busoclub@gmail.com

CO-SPONSORS: Business & Society Club(York); Canadian Federation of Students (CFS); Dept. of Social Science (York); Facultyof Environmental Studies (York); Guelph Campus Coop; Graduate Program inDevelopment Studies (York); Graduate Program in Social & Political Thought(York); International Development Studies Student Assoc. (York); Labour StudiesProgram (York); Las Nubes Student Assoc (York); Health & Society Program(York); Net Impact (Schulich School of Business, York); Peace & ConflictStudies Program (U of Waterloo); Planet Bean Coffee (Guelph); Social EconomyCentre (OISE, University of Toronto); South Asian Studies Program (York);Sustainable Purchasing Coalition (York);Ten Thousand Villages; United SouthAsians at York (USAY).

FOUR STUDENTS WIN CASC SCHOLARSHIPS

2009-09-13T16:13:00.002-04:00

Four students attending Canadian universities are the winners of this year's Canadian Association for Studies in Co-operation (CASC) scholarships, administered by the Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA).

Marcelo Vieta, a PhD candidate at York University, is the winner of the $3,000 Amy and Tim Dauphinee Scholarship, established by the Ontario Credit Union Charitable Foundation. Mr. Vieta is conducting research on worker co-operatives in Argentina. He is also a member of the Southern Ontario Social Economy Community University Research Node, working on a project on social economy initiatives in Latin America.

Wassila Merkouche Tir, a Master's student at HEC Montréal, won the $1,000 Alexander Fraser Laidlaw Fellowship to support her research on outreach to multicultural entrepreneurs by a Desjardins caisse populaire. The Laidlaw Fellowship was established by the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada.

John McNamara and Andrew McLeod, both students in the Masters of Management - Co-operatives and Credit Unions program at St. Mary's University, will each receive a $1,000 Lemaire Co-operative Studies Award, which is aimed at students who are active in the co-operative sector. Mr. McNamara is looking into how co-operative management theory translates into practice through a study of Union Cab, a worker co-op in Madison, Wisconsin. Mr. McLeod is researching co-operative food systems, including producer, distribution and consumer co-operatives.

In addition to the scholarship money, the award winners will each receive a free membership in CASC and free registration at the 2010 CASC conference, which will be held at Concordia University in Montreal next spring.

Just Published: Living Economics: Canadian Perspectives on the Social Economy, Co-operatives, and Community Economic Development

2009-08-13T16:24:00.004-04:00

Edited by J.J. McMurtry of York University, the authors in this new edited volume grapple with the debates, challenges, and opportunities offered by the social economy as Canada experiences rapid changes in the 21st century, be they economic, industrial, environmental, or social.

Table of Contents

1. Introducing the Social Economy in Theory and Practice (J.J. McMurtry)
2. Co-operatives and the Social Economy in English Canada: Circles of Influence and Experience (Ian MacPherson)
3. The Social Economy in Quebec and Canada: Configurations Past and Present (Yves Vaillancourt)
4. Building the Social Economy Using the Innovative Potential of Place (Doug Lionais and Harvey Johnstone)
5. Educating for the Social Economy (Jorge Sousa)
6. Social Accounting for Sustainability in the Social Economy (Laurie Mook and Jennifer Sumner)
7. Aboriginal Perspectives on the Social Economy (Wanda Wuttunee)
8. Building Bridges with Government: The Social Economy in Practice (Denise Guy and Jen Heneberry)

Published by Emond Montgomery.
Edited by J.J. McMurtry
ISBN: 978-1-55239-282-9
2009 / softcover
$39

For more information, and to order, go to http://www.emp.ca/index.php/book-catalogue/property/university/living-economics

Enterprising Non-Profits Toronto Matching Grants Program

2009-08-10T13:43:00.001-04:00

Enterprising Non-Profits Toronto (ENP-TO) is a program designed to seed and support social enterprise in the Greater Toronto Area. ENP-TO will distribute $100,000 in matching grants to nonprofit organizations and registered charities. In order to apply for funding you must attend an ENP-TO Orientation Session. For more information about Enterprising Non-Profits Toronto and to register for one of the upcoming Orientation Sessions, visit www.socialinnovation.ca/enp

Inner City Renovation on CBC June 30

2009-06-22T10:22:00.005-04:00

UPDATED: On June 30th, the CBC News ran a feature on former Noranda vice-president, Marty Donkervoort and his Winnipeg-based social enterprise, Inner City Renovations. The feature focuses on how Marty's company is changing the lives of those living in Winnipeg's marginalized communities through on the job training, and how he is transforming inner city housing, from run-down dwellings to modern, affordable homes for low income families.

Click here to watch the news clip, and to see the difference that Marty is making in his community.

New book on the social economy

2009-06-16T17:28:00.004-04:00

The Social Economy: Working Alternatives in a Globalizing Era
By Hasmet M Uluorta
Published by: Routledge
Publication Date: 17/12/2008
Pages: 256

About the Book

Critically examining economic developments within the last sixty years, this book argues that a crisis in global social reproduction is altering existing understandings of work, labour and the economy.

The author of this original volume, Hasmet M. Uluorta, contends that the crisis in the global economy is triggering a potential paradigm shift from one defined under the rubric of Employment to an alternative theorized as Work. Discussing the Employment paradigm that formed the dominant mode of development after the Second World War through to the 1970s, the author considers the economic and political forces that resulted in its eventual decline.

Focusing on already existing practices of organizations and workers in Toronto, Canada, the book goes on to consider the shift to Work and the consequent rise in the social economy which has broken down conventional categories of work and leisure. The author concludes that the social economy presents fundamental challenges to understandings that underpinned the previous economic order.

Building on insights from a range of disciplines, The Social Economy will be of interest to students and scholars of international political economy, international relations, labour studies, sociology, and globalization studies.

Link: http://www.routledge.com/9780415775939

Causeway Employment Opportunity (Social Finance)

2009-05-25T22:03:00.001-04:00

Causeway is hiring a full time, 2 year contract position with a particular focus on building a social finance marketplace in Ontario. More information can be found here.

Causeway is a project of Social Innovation Generation (SiG) National, hosted at SiG@MaRS in Toronto

Who we are

Causeway is a national collaboration working to accelerate a social finance marketplace in Canada
This Initiative is being founded with the values of:
• Focusing on measurable, durable, scaling contributions;
• Building on the wisdom and m! omentum of the pioneering Canadian Social Finance Community; and,
• Serving the community from a comprehensive community interest perspective.

Job Description – Associate Coordinator - Causeway

24 month contract position, with Causeway Social Finance

Details of the position

• Full time contract position until September 2011
• Compensation type: salary
• Amount: Commensurate with experience. Range $41,000-$51,000 inclusive of MERC (mandatory
employment related costs)
• Applications due June 1st, 2009.

Just Published: Social Economy Stories

2009-04-21T19:25:00.005-04:00

The Canadian CED Network has published 7 Social Economy stories designed to provide practitioners' perspectives on what the Social Economy means to them and their communities. These stories capture the human face of the sector and demonstrate the Social Economy as a real movement that is addressing the social, economic and environmental challenges of today in integrative and innovative ways.

These stories were developed by the Canadian CED Network as a partner in the Canadian Social Economy Hub (CSEHub), with funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. To download these stories and to learn more about CSEHub and the Canadian CED Network's involvement in this community university research alliance click here: www.ccednet-rcdec.ca/?q=en/our_work/socialeconomy/stories!

Speakers' Series: Green Collar Jobs

2009-04-16T07:54:00.003-04:00

APRIL22 - GREEN COLLAR JOBS

When: Wednesday, April 22, 2009, noon - 1:30 pm.
Where: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto , 252 Bloor St. West, Toronto, Room 5-280.

Speakers:

John Cartwright (Labour Council, Toronto & York Region)… will discuss how a green economy must combine sustainability with equity and social justice. Can a green jobs strategy be developed that respects workers and communities in the face of corporate globalization?

Chalo Barrueta (Banyan Tree Community Initiatives)…will speak about a number of exciting projects the Banyan Tree Community Initiatives group is currently involved in. This discussion will focus on youth training and youth-led projects that work toward green, affordable housing solutions.

Melinda Zytaruk (The Fourth Pig Worker Co-Op Inc., Green Construction and Education Specialists)... will talk about why the Fourth Pig Worker Co-op chose the worker co-operative structure as an innovative economic model. She will discuss the opportunities for good green jobs in the growing natural, green building and renewable energy industries.

Bring your lunch and a mug – coffee, tea and water will be provided.

For more information, contact Lisa White at <secspeaker@oise.utoronto.ca> secspeaker@oise.utoronto.ca, or visit our website at http://socialeconomy.utoronto.ca

This event will also be webcast live on the Internet. Please see our website for detailed instructions.

Call for Papers: "The New Cooperativism"

2009-04-16T07:51:00.001-04:00

Affinities: A Journal of Radical Theory, Culture, and Action

Deadline for submissions: 1 June 2009

Issue editor: Marcelo Vieta (vieta@yorku.ca)

Since at least the mid 19th century, cooperative modes of organizing social and economic life have proved promising alternatives to capitalist norms of production and distribution. These have included worker, agricultural, and consumer coops; mutual societies; credit unions; cooperative daycares and educational initiatives; artist-run centres; health care coops; and other forms of service-oriented cooperatives controlled and co-owned by their members. Despite the entrenchment of the neoliberal global order in the past four decades, cooperative practices and values that both challenge the neoliberal status quo and create alternatives to it have returned in recent years–both within and beyond the cooperative movement.

Examples of contemporary groups practicing both reclaimed and new cooperative values of autonomy, direct-democracy, self-reliance, equity, and solidarity include Brazil’s landless peasants’ movements, Argentina’s worker-recuperated enterprises, the Zapatistas and other indigenous autonomist movements around the world, North America’s intentional communities and housing cooperatives, and Europe’s myriad autonomous social centres and squats. We might call these experiments that both resist neoliberal enclosure yet also prefigure different forms of economic organization the new cooperativism. What is the genealogy of these new cooperative movements? What do these new yet historical-materially rooted experiments in collectivity, cooperation, and cooperativism look like? Where are they to be found within today’s neoliberal global reality?

Affinities: A Journal of Radical Theory, Culture, and Action invites cooperative practitioners, members of artist collectives, activists engaged in affinity groups, and academics working within anarchism, Marxisms, critical theory, indigenism, feminism, or other traditions, to submit either theoretical papers or case studies that analyze and demonstrate how cooperation, cooperativism, or cooperatives are being re-imagined by groups committed to sustainable alternatives to neoliberalism and the capitalist nation-state.

Broad questions that might be taken up include:

• What promising cooperative experiments exist today that both challenge the state and corporate models and prefigure another economic reality—another possible world?
• What does the new cooperativism look like? How are contemporary groups, movements, and communities struggling to rethink alternatives to the current economic order around the globe re-imagining economic and creative life through the concept of cooperativism and the practices of cooperation? That is, how are they actually practicing cooperative forms of production?
• How can the new cooperativism be theorized? For example, what does it mean to reorganize life (productive, economic, artistic, and creative life) cooperatively, both within and despite our current neoliberal conjuncture?
• Can cooperatives help reconfigure creative, economic, and productive life in more sustainable, more equitable, less racist, less hetero-sexist, and more directly democratic realities?
• How are the practices of the newest cooperatives engaged in the (co)production and (co)invention of “solidarity economies” or, as J.K. Gibson-Graham terms it, “community economies” that exist beyond the productivist and ethically bankrupt standards of “capitalocentrism”?
• As with the “coming communities,” can we equally speak of the “coming cooperative economies”?
• How is self-management (autogestión) being (re)conceptualized within the new cooperativism?
• What do networks of economic solidarity look like today, where are they located, and how do they embody the values of new cooperativism?

Other concepts and practices that may also be taken up include, but are certainly not limited to:
• Mutual aid and the new cooperativism
• Horizontalism
• Subsidiarity and the new cooperativism
• Associated labour
• The new-cooperativism and self-reliance
• Redistributive surplus
• The new cooperativism and DIY communities
• New communication technologies and the new cooperativism

Format and Deadlines

• Deadline for submissions: 1 June 2009
• Submissions can be made via the journal website at www.affinitiesjournal.org. Information on the submission process and formatting requirements are available on the site.
• Please direct any further inquiries to the issue editor: Marcelo Vieta (vieta@yorku.ca)

The Philanthropist Moves to Open Access

2009-03-11T10:55:00.001-04:00

The Philanthropist is currently in the process of moving fully into the online environment – saving some trees in the process – and providing open access to all readers, thereby increasing our reach to the philanthropic community. In making the move to what they call the “toll-free” online environment, made possible by our financial supporters, The Philanthropist will offer free and open access not only to our archive of back issues but also to new articles as they are published. Access will be through a redesigned version of this website and it will include the opportunity for you to be informed of new content as it is posted. If you haven’t already, bookmark www.ThePhilanthropist.ca now and spread the word about our open accessibility to your colleagues. Also, please let us know if you would like to be notified of new content as it is posted. An email to our incoming Managing Editor, Marilyn Bittman at bittmanme@shaw.ca would do the trick.

In the coming months we will be working with CCSP Press, the Canadian Centre for Studies in Publishing Press at Simon Fraser University, to redesign and add functionality to our website. Once it is in place, CCSP Press will be managing The Philanthropist for us.

Our aim is to address the needs and preferences of our readers thus please provide us with your needs and opinions of our site as it unfolds. Our projected launch date is May 1, 2009. We look forward to this new worldwide platform of open access to The Philanthropist's articles.

Don Bourgeois, Editor
The Philanthropist

Graduate Student Research Funding

2009-03-04T19:49:00.003-05:00

The Institute for Nonprofit Studies of Mount Royal College will be awarding grants to graduate students for the 2009-2010 academic year. Individual research awards will be made up to a maximum of $2,500. A total maximum of $7,500 will be available for applied research pertaining to the Institute's three research priorities - governance, sustainability and policy. Interested graduate students who will be conducting research during the 2009-2010 academic year are invited to send a one-page letter of intent to Peter Elson at the Institute for Nonprofit Studies. The one page letter of intent must be received before April 17, 2009. Further details concerning the letter of intent and the overall funding priorities for the 2009-2010 Research Program for 2009 - 2010 are available on the Institute web site (see link below). A full application will be due by May 15th. Application details will be sent to those students who submit a letter of intent.

For more information, go to:

http://www.mtroyal.ca/ProgramsCourses/FacultiesSchoolsCentres/InstituteforNonprofitStudies/AppliedResearch/index.htm

SPEAKERS SERIES/WEBCAST: FOOD SECURITY

2009-03-03T08:52:00.005-05:00

Wednesday, April 1, 2009, 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education,
University of Toronto (OISE/UT)
252 Bloor St. West, Toronto
St. George subway station
Room 5-280

*Debbie Field, Food Share
*Michael Oliphant, Daily Bread Food Bank
*Lori Stahlbrand, Local Food Plus

With world hunger growing, there is a need to look at the ways governments and communities can work together to ensure sustainable and affordable access to food - for everyone.

Debbie Field (Food Share) will explore a variety of food security options.

Michael Oliphant (Daily Bread Food Bank) will speak to the efforts the Daily Bread Food Bank has made to address the underlying causes of hunger and poverty through public policy and political advocacy.

Lori Stahlbrand (Local Food Plus) will discuss how growing local sustainable food systems which preserve agriculturals land and ensure that farmers can make a decent livign, is key to food security.

Bring your lunch and mug. Water, coffee and tea will be provided. For more information, contact Lisa White at the project office at: (416) 978-0022 or secspeaker@oise.utoronto.ca

The event will be broadcast live at the time of the event and we will accept email questions from remote participants. Click here for instructions and to view the webcast.

Report: Symposium on Measuring the Impact of Doing Good

2009-02-18T22:40:00.002-05:00

Report: Symposium on Measuring the Impact of Doing Good

Posted using ShareThis

2009 ASAC Conference: CREATING KNOWLEDGE IN THE NEW ECONOMY

2009-01-14T09:18:00.002-05:00

The term “*new economy*” was coined in the 1990s to represent a movement from an industrial and manufacturing-based economy toward a more service-oriented economy that evolved substantially based on advancements in information technology. Although associated with the rise and fall of the dot.com, what the new economy really ushered in was a greater reliance by organizations on knowledge and human capital. Considerable research opportunities developed concerning ways to leverage these aspects of economic growth potential. Business schools are particularly well placed to examine the roles of knowledge and human capital in organizational success. As the primary Canadian forum for business scholars to discuss their ideas, the conference theme for ASAC 2009 focuses on creating the knowledge necessary to be successful in this new economy.

Deadline for paper submissions, symposia and workshop proposals is 30 January 2009.

More information can be found at: http://asac2009.somethingon.com/

2nd International CIRIEC Research Conference on the Social Economy

2009-01-14T09:15:00.001-05:00

2nd International Research Conference on the Social Economy organised by CIRIEC in Östersund (Sweden) on October 1 and 2, 2009 on the theme "The social economy in a world facing a global crisis." This call for papers will also soon be available in French, German and Spanish.

After the huge success of the first edition of the conference in Victoria (Canada), October 2007, we once more rely on your participation.

The abstracts should be between 250 and 500 words long and include a bibliography. Abstracts shall be submitted preferably in English until 2009/02/15 in order to simplify the work and selection procedure for the Scientific Committee. However optionally we will accept them as well in French, Spanish or German.

Additional information can be found on the conference website http://www.socek.se/ciriec_research_2009

2nd EMES International Conference on Social Enterprise

2009-01-14T09:11:00.001-05:00

to take place on 1-4 July 2009 in Trento (Italy)

Call for abstracts deadline: January 30, 2009

This conference aims to facilitate a fruitful exchange of views among scholars - both senior and early-stage researchers - who have recently contributed to enrich the research and debate on social enterprise and social entrepreneurship.

A multi-disciplinary approach will be adopted with the goal of both carrying out an in-depth analysis of and valorizing the various contributions of the literature, from a theoretical as well as an empirical perspective. The ultimate objective of the conference is to favor a better understanding of the role of social enterprises in different contexts, in advanced as well as developing and transition countries.

CONFERENCE THEMES:

1) Conceptual aspects
2) Legal frameworks and public policies
3) Theoretical analyses across disciplines
4) Innovation, entrepreneurship and social enterprise
5) Management issues
6) Governance models

For more information, download the call for papers at http://www.emes.net/fileadmin/emes/PDF_files/2ndEMESconf_call_FINAL.pdf

Free dotCOOP domain names to new co-ops!

2008-12-21T13:13:00.000-05:00

dotCOOP DOMAIN NAMES

For a limited time, dotCoop is giving away one free domain name to young co-operatives. You must be within the first 100 to make the request, and have been organized as a co-op for less than a year. Contact the NCBA .Coop Sales Partner at 202-383-5442 or ncba.support@domains.coop if you qualify or would like more information.

2009 National CED Conference Request for Presentations - Expressions of Interest

2008-12-18T21:51:00.002-05:00

Full Circle: Sharing a Vision for the 7th Generation

June 3-6, 2009
University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB

In every deliberation we must consider the impact on the seventh generation...
- Great Law of the Iroquois

The 2009 National CED Conference Committee is accepting ‘Expressions of Interest' for presenters and presentations. Concurrent workshops are scheduled for June 4 & 5. These workshops should represent a range of CED streams and lenses that reflect our member priorities and provide topics of interest to all participants. Please view our workshop sheet by clicking here. This year, a key theme will be Indigenous Models of CED.

You are invited to respond by filling out the Expression of Interest Form for consideration as we develop the workshops and program for this conference. Please identify where your proposed presentation would fit on the workshop worksheet. Deadline for submissions is January 08, 2009. Please contact Lydia Giles (lgiles@ccednet-rcdec.ca), National Conference Coordinator, if you have questions about the process for submission.

The 2009 National CED Conference will be held June 3-6 at the University of Winnipeg in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba. Plan to join more than 400 community economic development workers, volunteers, professionals and supporters from across Canada to explore ideas and share insights on community economic development activities and policies.

Come also to help us celebrate the Canadian Community Economic Development Network's 10th anniversary!

For more information, click here.

Call for papers: ‘Volunteering: the making of communities?’

2008-12-18T09:04:00.003-05:00

Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers Annual International Conference: Manchester, 26th – 28th August 2009.

‘Volunteering: the making of communities?’

Against a background of concern at declining political participation, anxieties about welfare provision, and worries about the meaning of citizenship, increasing attention is being given to voluntary activity as a potential panacea to the problems of post-Fordism (Brown et al., 2000). Associated with this has been increased interest in social capital and norms of trust and reciprocity(Putnam, 1995) and claims for the relationship between volunteering and social capital, active citizenship, social inclusion and health and wellbeing significantly raising the profile of volunteering in political and academic discourse.

Research assessing geographical variations in the quantity of voluntary activity being undertaken at the international (Salamon et al. 2003, Dekker et al. 1998) and national (Low et al. 2007, Kitchen et al. 2006) scales is well established. Whilst variations in the amount of voluntary activity undertaken by individuals of particular socio-economic group (Williams 2003a, 2003b, 2002), ethnicity (Reilly 2004, Pankaj 2002) and age (Onyx and Leonard 2002), for example, is also increasingly well documented. The nature - that is - the motivations for, processes of and experiences and meanings generated through voluntary activity for both individuals and groups remains relatively under-researched, however. To analyse this will require identifying the activity that is undertaken, not just as an understanding of a political voluntary sector, but as fluid and diverse volunteering communities.

This session uses the above as a starting point, to facilitate discussion between academics, practitioners and policy makers. Themes covered in the session may include, but are certainly not limited to:

* How far is the commonly postulated relationship between voluntary activity and social capital, active citizenship and ‘community’ justified?

* To what extent can it be said there are links between nature, well-being and voluntary activity?

* How does the nature of and motivations for voluntary activity alter throughout the lifecourse?

* To what extent are barriers to the establishment of, and participation in, voluntary activities successfully negotiated?

* To what extent is a sense of ‘place’ generated through voluntary activity?

* Is there a relationship between ‘informal’ and ‘formal’ voluntary activity?

* What are the aims of ‘grassroots’ initiatives including Time Banking and LETS, and how successful are they in achieving these?

* What are the implications of the ‘professionalisation’ of certain forms of formal voluntary activity for (potential) volunteers and volunteer involving organisations?

* How are policy initiatives aiming to ‘develop’ voluntary activity, and to what ends?

Please submit any questions and abstracts (of approximately 250 words) to: Mike Woolvin (m.r.woolvin@dundee.ac.uk) or Stuart Muirhead (s.z.muirhead@dundee.ac.uk) or phone 01382 384 286.

Deadline for abstracts: Friday 30th January 2009.

The December 2008 ECO-SOC INFO bulletin of The Canada Research Chair on Social Economy is now available on its website!

2008-12-12T17:16:00.009-05:00

Up-to-date references on research on the social economy, as well as related events (new research centres and projects, events, call for papers), are prepared monthly by the Chaire de recherche du Canada en économie sociale at UQAM - Université du Québec À Montréal (www.chaire.ecosoc.uqam.ca).

Click HERE to access

Contents:

ARTICLES

Les enjeux et la place des coopératives et des OBNL dans le système de santé au Québec
From tackling poverty to achieving financial inclusion—The changing role of British credit unions in low income communities
Foundation Impact on Environmental Nongovernmental Organizations
Simple Measures for Social Enterprise
Do Occupational Group Members Vary in Volunteering Activity?
Defining the co-operative difference
Innovation in social enterprise: achieving a user participation model
The Economics of Nonprofit Organization: In Search of an Integrative Theory
Finding that grit makes a pearl: A critical re-reading of research into social enterprise
Cooperative games and cooperative organizations
Reducing the negative consequences of identity: a potential role for the nonprofit sector in the era of globalization
Challenging tensions: critical, theoretical and empirical perspectives on social enterprise
Le dépanneur Sylvestre. Une coopérative de solidarité multifonctionnelle dans l’Outaouais
Les OSBL d'habitation au Québec, l'offre et les besoins en soutien communautaire
Mobilisation par le logement social. Projet pilote Îlot Pelletier. Rapport sur l'évolution de la mobilisation locale autour du projet pilote
Les approches volontaires et le droit de l'environnement
The role of co-operatives in poverty reduction: Network perspectives

EVENTS

RAPPEL - Forum Social Mondial – Amazonie 2009
RAPPEL - Forum on the Solidarity Economy : Building Another World
11e Colloque annuel des étudiants-es de cycles supérieurs du CRISES
RAPPEL - IV Forum international - Globalisation de la solidarité
RAPPEL - 2009 CASC/ACÉC Conference
9th Annual Meeting of the European Civil Society Ph.D. Dissertation Network
RAPPEL - First European Research Conference on Microfinance
2nd International CIRIEC Research Conference on the Social Economy

Social Entrepreneurship Course Announcement

2008-12-03T17:04:00.004-05:00

MGMT E-154 SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Harvard Extension School: 23070
Location: Sever Hall 214
Meeting Time: Tuesday 7:35-9:35 pm, 27 January through 19 May 2009

If willing and motivated, virtually anyone, in any sector, can be a social entrepreneur. Yet most of the best examples to date had no formal training in social entrepreneurship because such training was not available. This course addresses five crucial elements that may better orient and equip the prospective social entrepreneur. It provides a conceptual framework for understanding social entrepreneurship in the context of changing social arrangements; a vocabulary for thinking and communicating about social values in concrete terms; seven practical tools to launch, lead, and manage a social venture that succeeds financially, without a cost to social justice; specific funding sources for the venture; and an idea foundry to test and forge specific concepts for social entrepreneurship before taking the plunge.

Download the syllabus: http://my.extension.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k42238

From the course instructor:

If you are serious about social change, I strongly encourage you and/or one or more of your colleagues to attend the following course. Here’s why:

1. Having the opportunity to reflect on theoretical and practical approaches to social change may actually improve one’s performance in identifying and selecting courses of action, ultimately leading to greater effectiveness.

2. This course is designed to address how to be socially entrepreneurial in seven different models of social change strategy, including charity, the market, education, public policy, grassroots activity, social movements, and philanthropic funding.

3. We will be working in teams to examine and document specific ways that social entrepreneurship is being applied in organizations in each of the seven models of social change, an opportunity that will not only open your eyes to how things are getting done by others, but will give you the chance to share your ideas for how things can work even better.

It’s going to be fun, intense, and productive. But the course is strictly limited to only 40 students. Sign up now: http://www.extension.harvard.edu/2008-09/register/ or call 617- 495-4024.

K-Net: An Amazing First Nations Initiative in Tele-health and Online Education

2008-11-10T09:11:00.003-05:00

The Social Economy Centre (OISE/UT) Presents

Speakers' Series

Brian Beaton
K-Net Services Coordinator
Brian Walmark
Director of Keewaytinook Okimakanak Research Institute

Wednesday, November 12, 2008, Noon – 1:30 pm
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
252 Bloor St. West, Toronto
Room 12-199

Brian Beaton…is the coordinator of K-Net Services, the telecommunications department of Keewaytinook Okimakanak; a tribal council serving First Nations in Ontario's far north. He will discuss the migration of broadband and the development of applications such as telehealth and digital education through the expansion of the Kuhkenah Network, the largest First Nations-owned and managed broadband network in Canada.

Brian Walmark…is the Director of Research at Keewaytinook Okimakanak, a tribal council serving First Nations in Ontario’s far north. The KO Research Institute (KORI) was created by the Chiefs with a twin mandate, to build research capacity at the community level and to build bridges with like-minded academics who are willing to put the research priorities of the communities first over the institutional imperatives of traditional academic research. Brian will be speaking about several of the research projects that KORI has undertaken as well as the partnerships with academics and graduate students.

Bring your lunch and a mug – Coffee, tea and Water will be provided. For more information, contact Lisa White at secspeaker@oise.utoronto.ca, or visit our website at http://socialeconomy.utoronto.ca

This event will also be webcast live on the Internet.

October 12-18 is National Co-op Week in Canada

2008-10-12T19:07:00.002-04:00

National Co-op Week will be celebrated in Canada next week (October 12 - 18). Ontario's 1300 co-operatives and credit unions, and Canada's 13 million co-op and credit union members are part of a global movement that is 800 million members strong. International credit union day will be celebrated Thursday October 16. Many individual co-operatives and credit unions will be hosting events in their branches all week long.

In the face of globalization, concentration of ownership, and advancing technology, co-operatives and credit unions have two significant advantages over their investor-owned competitors. First, unlike the private, public or voluntary sectors, they are guided by internationally shared values and principles designed to ensure fairness and equity. And second, they are controlled by their members - members who can say of their co-op or credit union: It Belongs to Me!

National Co-op Week is always a busy time in the co-operative sector. It is a time to celebrate and promote the role, accomplishments and contributions of our co-ops and credit unions. Co-op week events help raise the visibility of the co-op business model, and improve understanding and awareness of co-operatives.

The National Co-op Week brochure may be downloaded from the On Co-op website www.ontario.coop.

Working Skills Centre is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year!

2008-10-06T14:03:00.001-04:00

30 years of helping immigrant women integrate in the Canadian society/workforce through providing them with appropriate training and opportunities to gain Canadian work experience.

We've been working on the 30th anniversary gala for months now - it will be very entertaining night with food from around the world, and great performances and even an auction (big/small items). You will have the chance to hear the stories of our graduates/students through different art forms. It is taking place on Tuesday, October 28th, from 6-9pm, at St-Lawrence Hall, at King and Jarvis.

Tickets are only 60$, and they're going fast! Check out the website for the ticket order form. I hope to see you there! Please pass along to people who would be like a great night out (or a treat!). Thanks!

http://www.workingskillscentre.com/what%27s_new.html

Social Economy Centre Announces New Podcast Series: ON CUE

2008-10-04T22:07:00.010-04:00

The Social Economy Centre of the University of Toronto has started a new podcast series called ON CUE: Community University Extension. The podcast features its 2008-09 Speakers' Series. The first episode is The Conversion of Alexandra Park Public Housing into Atkinson Housing Co-operative featuring speakers Tom Clement, Executive Director, Co-operative Housing Association of Ontario, & Jorge Sousa, University of Alberta (September 24, 2008).

To subscribe, paste this URL into your browser: feeds.feedburner.com/OnCue

Upcoming episodes include:
October 15/08: Participatory Local Development and Grassroots Planning: From Kerala to Leh
November 12: K-Net
December 3: Social Purchasing
January 21/09: Youth Initiatives
February 18: Mandatory Community Service
March 18: Food Security
April 22: Green-Collar Jobs
May 20: New Canadians and the Social Economy

Making Waves, Autumn 2008 issue preview

2008-10-03T20:54:00.006-04:00

Here's a sample of what's on tap in the next edition of Making Waves magazine ...

Et si la crise alimentaire profitait aux paysans africains?
Hyperinflated food prices may be just the opportunity West African countries need to rebuild their neglected agricultural sectors. For that to happen, producer organizations have to educate policy-makers and urban consumers about the linkage between family farms, food sovereignty, and an affordable (though not cheap) food supply. Lisez-le maintenant.

Good & Scary
Some analysts of Peak Oil and climate change go out of their way to inspire terror and guilt. Some good that does. In The Transition Handbook: from oil dependency to local resilience, Rob Hopkins spurs his readers to imagine compelling, alternative ways of life. Read about it now.

"Winging It" Is Not Enough
There are social entrepreneurs out there with the street smarts and chutzpah to make an enterprise - any enterpise - go. To satisfy the leadership needs of a growing sector, however, we require systematic, comprehensive training specific to the needs of social enterprise.

Ripple
Many retail consumers make it a habit to blend social, environmental, and economic criteria with issues of price and quality in their purchasing decisions. Here's ways for corporate, public, and nonprofit actors to follow that lead.

http://www.cedworks.com/waves.html

Ontario Co-operative Association e-newsletter receives a facelift

2008-10-01T06:27:00.005-04:00

The On Co-op e-newsletter has received a facelift. The new, two-column format is easier to read, and places 'housekeeping' information in a separate column on the right. The e-newsletter has been tested with a number of browsers and e-mail programs for compatibility, which is important as it is sent to more than 5600 e-mail addresses every two weeks or so.

In this issue (September 30, 2008):
Click here for PDF version

CO-OP CONFERENCE OCTOBER 15

SPIRIT AWARD RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED

CIEP INTERN PROFILE

ALMOST BUSINESS AS USUAL AFTER FIRE

CABINET SHUFFLE FOR ONT. GOVERNMENT

BLOUNT EMPLOYEES CU MERGES WITH VIRTUAL ONE CREDIT UNION

DIRECTORS' FORUM NOVEMBER 7&8

ON CO-OP MEMBERSHIP GROWS

E-NEWSLETTER RECEIVES A FACELIFT

MEETINGS AND HAPPENINGS

THE CO-OP JOB BANK

Ontario Co-operative Association: www.ontario.coop

PARTICIPATORY LOCAL DEVELOPMENT AND GRASSROOTS PLANNING: FROM KERALA TO LEH

2008-09-24T19:38:00.003-04:00

Social Economy Centre Speakers' Series
Wednesday, October 15, 2008, 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education,
University of Toronto (OISE/UT)
252 Bloor St. West, Toronto
St. George subway station
Room 12-199

Speaker: Dr. Manjula Bharati
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Bombay, India

You are invited to a presentation on the micro level planning process in Leh, India, an innovative participatory process influenced by the highly acclaimed People's Plan of Kerala. Dr. Manjula Bharathi, an internationally renowned researcher who participated in both processes of democratic decentralization, will discuss key issues faced by local communities in understanding and articulating their own development problems, and how these can be resolved.

This session will be moderated by Daniel Schugurensky, Transformative Learning Centre, OISE, University of Toronto

Bring your lunch and mug. Water, coffee and tea will be provided. For more information, contact Lisa White at: (416) 978-0022 or secspeaker@oise.utoronto.ca

The event will be broadcast live at the time of the event and we will accept email questions from remote participants. Click here to view the webcast.

THE CONVERSION OF ALEXANDRA PARK PUBLIC HOUSING INTO ATKINSON HOUSING CO-OPERATIVE

2008-09-23T22:42:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, September 24, 2008, 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education,

University of Toronto (OISE/UT)
252 Bloor St. West, Toronto

St. George subway station
Room 12-199

Tom Clement
Executive Director, Co-Operative Housing Federation of Toronto

Jorge Sousa
Assistant Professor, University of Alberta

Tom Clement will introduce, “Atkinson Co-op Revolution,” a short film about community development activities resulted in young people engaging in their co-op by running for the board of directors. Atkinson Co-op’s board now has five directors under 25 years of age, and Tom will be joined by members of the Atkinson Co-op to respond to questions and to share their experiences.

Jorge Sousa will discuss the Atkinson conversion as it relates to housing policy and community building initiatives, including the need to align the two. Jorge will also describe ongoing efforts to convert public housing projects into co-operative communities in other jurisdictions.

This session will be moderated by David Hulchanski, Director, Centre for Urban and Community Studies, Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto

Bring your lunch and mug. Water, coffee and tea will be provided. For more information, contact us at: (416) 978-0022 or secspeaker@oise.utoronto.ca

The event will be broadcast live at the time of the event and we will accept email questions from remote participants. Click here for instructions and to view the webcast.

For more information about the Speakers' Series, contact Lisa White at the project office: (416) 978-0022 secspeaker@oise.utoronto.ca

The September ECO-SOC INFO bulletin of the Canada Research Chair on the Social Economy is now available on its website!

2008-09-17T20:35:00.011-04:00

To download a pdf file of the Bulletin (260 kB), click here.

Here you will find up to date references on the research on the social economy as well as a review of related events (new research centres and projects, events, and call for papers).

Marcel Lauzière Named New President & CEO of Imagine Canada

2008-09-17T20:35:00.008-04:00

TORONTO, Sept. 15 /CNW/ - Don McCreesh, chair of the Board of Imagine Canada is pleased to announce the appointment of Marcel Lauzière as President/CEO of Imagine Canada. Marcel will begin his duties effective November 20, 2008.

Marcel Lauzière is currently President with the Canadian Council on Social Development, a position he has held for eight years.

Board chair Don McCreesh said, after an extensive search the Board of Directors believes it has chosen an excellent leader.

"Marcel is a superb choice to lead the organization," said McCreesh. "His charitable and nonprofit sector experience and track record of success make him uniquely qualified for the position. All of us at Imagine Canada look forward to building upon the current work we do on behalf of the sector with Marcel at the helm."

Marcel Lauzière takes over from Georgina Steinsky-Schwartz, Imagine Canada's President & CEO for more than four years.

"I am honoured to be appointed the new President and CEO of Imagine Canada," says Lauzière. "This is an amazing organization that is there to support charities and nonprofits working in communities all across the country. These organizations play such a crucial role in strengthening our social fabric and it will be a real privilege to work with so many of them in
the years ahead."

Since 2000, Marcel Lauzière has been the President of the Canadian Council on Social Development. Marcel has recently returned from 2 years in New Zealand where he was Assistant Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Social Development. Marcel had responsibility for Strategic Policy, Research and Evaluation and for the Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector. Prior to this, he worked as Special Advisor to the President of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. He was also the founding Executive Director of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Marcel has served on a number of boards and advisory committees including the Statistics Canada Advisory Committee on Social Conditions, Imagine Canada, the Voluntary Sector Forum, the Coalition of National Voluntary Organizations (NVO) and the International Council on Social Welfare.

Imagine Canada: http://www.imaginecanada.ca

September 2008 Social Economy Researcher of the Month - Ray Dart

2008-09-02T17:35:00.001-04:00

Interview with Ray Dart by Annie McKitrick
(MP3 file, 10:41 mins, 4.9 MB)
Please click on the above link to listen to the interview.

Raymond Dart is an Associate Professor in Business Administration, and also Principal of Peter Gzowski College at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, where he teaches Entrepreneurship, Organization Analysis, Nonprofit Organizations and Qualitative Research Design. He both consults and researches widely in the nonprofit sector with a particular focus on ’social innovation’ (i.e. clever approaches to societal and environmental problems solving), social enterprise, and environmental organizations and sustainable development. He has recently published in the journals Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly and Nonprofit Management and Leadership and is part of the Social Economy SSHRC group based in Ontario and led by Jack Quarter and Laurie Mook.

Journal call for papers from Social Enterprise Journal

2008-09-01T22:35:00.000-04:00

Background

In September 2007 Emerald, a leading international publisher of management journals and databases, acquired the publication and production of the Social Enterprise Journal (SEJ) from Social Enterprise London (SEL) with Liverpool Business School at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) serving as the Editor. The SEJ has flourished since its inception in 2005. The three volumes published to date by SEL have attracted considerable interest from both academic and social enterprise communities, and have been downloaded many thousands of times each year. The aim is to make SEJ a quality peer-reviewed journal, with an editorial board comprised of leading international scholars in the field.

Social enterprise is a powerful global concept, which describes those businesses with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally re-invested for that purpose in the business or in the community. It is an umbrella term for a range of alternative business models, which combine civic engagement and public service with wealth creation. Social enterprises share a number of common characteristics including an enterprise orientation, a social mission and social ownership based on wider stakeholder participation. Internationally social enterprises provide solutions to market perceived failures in both the private and public sector and assist sustainable development. The mission of SEJ is to provide an opportunity for practitioners, academics and policy-makers to share new insights into how social enterprise is contributing - and may increasingly contribute - to a more prosperous and sustainable society, economy and environment and how this can be evidenced.

In 2008, the SEJ will increase from one issue per annum to three, will be peer-reviewed and will be sold internationally, with a focus on cutting-edge research and an inter-disciplinary approach.

Call for submissions

Social enterprises have not been the subject of rigorous research to determine the current practices and needs of managers within this developing area. It is also debatable whether we have a robust and agreed "map" of the sector. The SEJ seeks to address this void by inviting scholars and practitioners to present their theories and frameworks for understanding social enterprise, and invites research that examines a range of topics related to this developing sector of the social economy.

The editorial team has consciously chosen not to restrict the subject areas for this journal, but to open the door wide to all scholars publishing in social enterprise. The SEJ will accept both rigorous research papers and shorter case study submissions that address key aspects. Issues of importance, which can be addressed at a global, national and/or individual social enterprise level, include but are not limited to:

• Theorisation of the nature of social enterprise

• Strategic management tools and their application within social enterprises

• Entrepreneurship in social enterprises

• Social enterprise delivering public services

• The sustainability of social enterprise

• Governance systems for social enterprises

• Value creation and competition based on social resources

• Stakeholder management theory in social enterprises

• Accountability and measuring impact

• Social capital, building and its measurement

• Strategic marketing in social enterprises

• Ethical marketing and ethical consumerism

• Values based marketing

• Managing people in a social enterprise environment

• Social enterprise and social exclusion from the labour market

• Achieving diversity through use of social enterprise models

• Network theory within the social sector

• Longitudinal case studies examining the emergence of management mechanisms in social enterprises

• Empirical studies looking at added value training, skills development in the labour market through social enterprise initiatives

Submission instructions

Papers must be electronically submitted (in a Word format file) to the new Editor of the SEJ, Bob Doherty, Senior Lecturer in Social Enterprise, Liverpool Business School, JMU at r.doherty@ljmu.ac.uk

There are two different types of submissions, short case study papers, which are about 3,000 words in length, and full papers, with a maximum length of 5,000 words(not including references). Please see the Emerald web site; www.emeraldinsight.com/info/authors/wnting_for_emerald/submissions.jsp for formatting guidelines. All submitted papers will be refereed according to a peer refereeing process. Authors wishing to discuss their paper prior to submission may contact the editor by e-mail.

ECO-SOC INFO bulletin for July 2008

2008-07-18T15:31:00.004-04:00

English follows.

Español sigue

(Veuillez nous excuser si vous recevez cette invitation plusieurs fois.)

Le bulletin ECO-SOC INFO de juillet 2008 de la Chaire de recherche du Canada en économie sociale est maintenant disponible sur son site Internet !

Cliquez ici pour y accéder !

Vous y trouverez des références récentes sur la recherche en économie sociale, de même qu’une recension de l’actualité provenant du milieu de la recherche (nouveaux centres et projets de recherche, événements, appels à contribution).

(Please apologize for cross-posting)

The July’s 2008 ECO-SOC INFO bulletin of The Canada Research Chair on Social Economy is now available on its website!

To read it, click here !

Here you will find up to date references on the research on the social economy as well as a review of related events (new research centres and projects, events, call for papers)

(Discúlpenos por favor si el envío es múltiple)

El boletín ECO-SOC INFO de julio 2008 de la « Chaire de recherche du Canada en économie sociale » está ahora disponible en su sitio Internet!

Para leerlo, haga clic aquí !

Habrá recientes referencias sobre la investigación in economía social así como una recensión de los eventos actuales (nuevos centros y proyectos de investigación, avisos de licitación y otros eventos).

ACE INSTITUTE TO EXAMINE CO-OP SUSTAINABILITY

2008-07-14T00:35:00.001-04:00

North American and Caribbean co-operative researchers and educators are visiting Ottawa in late July and invite you to participate in their conference. The Association of Cooperative Educators (ACE) welcomes members, students and friends to attend its first-ever institute held in Ottawa, which runs July 29-Aug 1. The theme of the conference is The Sustainable Cooperative: Vision. Leadership. Education. As part of the conference, participants will visit area co-operatives and caisses to witness their environmental and social innovations. Other parts of the program will focus on sustaining leadership (Francoise Morissette), valuing what counts (Laurie Mook), strategic planning (Jim Hoyt), and greening co-operative organizations. Simultaneous interpretation in English, French and Spanish is provided during formal presentations. Visit www.ace.coop for registration packages and program information.

LOU HAMMOND KETILSON RECOGNIZED WITH CASC MERIT AWARD

2008-07-14T00:32:00.002-04:00

Lou Hammond Ketilson, Director, Centre for the Study of Co-operatives, has received the Merit Award from the Canadian Association for Studies in Co-operation (CASC). Developed to promote research on co-operatives in Canada, CASC is a multidisciplinary network of researchers whose work involves co-operatives. Dr Hammond Ketilson is the first women to receive the award.

ON CO-OP LAUNCHES NEW MISSION, VISION AND VALUES AT AGM

2008-07-14T00:29:00.002-04:00

It was standing room only for the On Co-op membership and guests during the Association's Annual General Meeting, held Friday June 20th in Guelph. Donna Bailey, Chair of the board of directors, introduced the Ontario Co-operative Association's new vision, mission and values statements during the business meeting. Reflecting its role as a 'gateway to co-operation,' On Co-op's new mission is to lead, cultivate and connect the co-operative sector. All three statements, which continue to support On Co-op's four strategic areas, were approved by the board in May after consultation with the membership and staff over the past 8 months.

For more, see http://www.ontario.coop

Better Business Practices for Sustainable Social Change: International conference

2008-07-14T00:21:00.004-04:00

Deadline for submission of abstracts to Nitte International Conference extended to 20th July 2008.

The Justice K.S.Hegde Institute of Management, India and the School of Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania, U.S.A. are pleased to invite you to be a part of the International Conference on "Better Business Practices for Sustainable Social Change" on 29-30 December, 2008. It's a rare opportunity for researchers, decision makers and the representatives of business and third sector from all around the world to exchange ideas and understand the best practices.

For more details visit our website: http://www.jkshim.ac.in/conference/confhome.html

The Canadian CED Network Welcomes New Executive Director

2008-07-14T00:11:00.002-04:00

The Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet), Canada’s leading voice for community economic development (CED), is pleased to announce the appointment of Michael Toye as Executive Director, effective July 22, 2008. Mr. Toye succeeds Rupert Downing, who will be leaving the Network to move on to other areas of interest in the CED field.

Read more at http://www.ccednet-rcdec.ca/?q=en/node/5099

Screenings: Threads of Wrath: Stirring the Fibres of Fairness

2008-05-12T10:12:00.004-04:00

Threads of Wrath: Stirring the Fibres of Fairness, is a documentary on different conceptions of fairness in the cotton trade in Burkina Faso, a small French speaking country of West-Africa. It focuses on the daily interaction between cotton producers and the SOFITEX, a large state company with a regional buying monopoly, and puts it side by side with different Western conceptions of trade justice. Come out to learn how 6-month payment delays and quality control corruption in the fields relate to the growing and popular Fair Trade movement!

There will be THREE screenings of the film:
- May 16th from 7-9pm
- May 17th from 7-9pm
- May 25th from 4-6pm

at the Centre for Social Innovation, 215 Spadina Road (just south of Dundas), in the Alterna Room on the 4th floor. Each screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Émanuèle Lapierre-Fortin, a recent U of T graduate who spent 10 months working in Community Economic Development in Burkina Faso and wrote her honours thesis on Fair Trade Cotton. Freshly roasted fair trade coffee (the best you'd ever have!) and samosas will also be served!

This event is a fundraiser to support the efforts of the Trade Justice Education Network, which engages high school students and community groups in issues of trade justice and encourages them to take meaningful action. The suggested donation is 10-20$.

PILOT PROGRAM HOPES TO ENCOURAGE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE IN GTA

2008-04-10T09:08:00.001-04:00

The Centre for Social Innovation and BC-based Enterprising Non-Profits (ENP) have officially launched ENP-Toronto—a pilot program to spark and support social enterprise in the Greater Toronto Area. The Enterprising Non-Profits Program provides matching grants of up to $10,000 to non-profit organizations that are exploring the development of business activities (social enterprises) for the dual purpose of generating revenue and furthering their mission. This funding will allow non-profits to access the technical assistance they need at any stage along the social enterprise development path, from idea exploration and development to project launch and growth. Organizers will be hosting social enterprise workshops and ENP-TO orientation sessions in spring and fall 2008. To join our mailing list for further announcements, including the call for proposals, visit www.socialinnovation.ca/enp

A number of co-ops and related organizations are listed among the project’s funders including Alterna Savings, Carrot Common, Citizen’s Bank and The Co-operators Group.

Not-for-Profit Corporations Law Reform

2008-04-09T14:34:00.004-04:00

CORPORATE LAW MODERNIZATION -
Sector weighs in
From: Canadian FundRaiser eNews, March 15, 2008, Article 4
http://www.canadianfundraiser.com/newsletter/article.asp?ArticleID=2578&ClientID=20032

The Ontario government, or its Government Services ministry, cannot complain there was no response to its request for input from the sector on the directions it should take in modernizing governance of the voluntary sector (CF August 15, 2007).

The bureaucrats are now dealing with two large missives from The National Sector Task Force on Not-for-Profit Corporations Law Reform – a co-operative effort of Imagine Canada and the Charities Bar – and a brief from the Ontario Nonprofit Network Expert Working Group.

All three documents are lengthy, technical and detailed in their recommendations, but essentially agree in their overall recommendation that Ontario needs a separate law governing the operation of nonprofit corporations.

As the National Sector Task Force puts it: “The Task Force recommends passage of a new Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act. It should be an organizational statute drafted as companion legislation to the Ontario Business Corporations Act. These two statutes should be harmonized, except where there is a clear and compelling case for different measures.”

With a similar approach, the Ontario Nonprofit Network notes: “We believe a dedicated Not-for-Profit Corporations Act is needed. The revised act should focus exclusively on incorporation of not-for-profit and mutual benefit organizations that have public benefit objects.”

As background for its many detailed recommendations and the over-riding major one that a new act should be drafted to govern not-for-profit corporations, the National Sector Task Force notes in its Executive Summary to the second submission that the Ontario Corporations Act was first enacted in 1907 and updated in 1953. Since then, the scope of the act has been substantially reduced as a variety of acts detailing with specific business areas were carved out of it, and then in 1971 the Ontario Business Corporations Act was created.

Not updated

“As business and other types of corporations were modernized through new statutes, the OCA came to govern largely not-for-profit corporations,” says the Task Force. “While other corporate statutes were further updated and modernized, including the OBCA in 2007, the OCA was not. The OCA can no longer be considered effective framework legislation for Ontario’s nonprofit corporations.”

The OCA provides the statutory framework for creation, governance and dissolution of not-for-profit and charitable corporations in the province, it points out, prescribing a corporate structure and organizational model under the supervision of a board of directors of each organization.

However, it agrees with the government that the legislation is overdue for wholesale review, and to that end brings forward 27 recommendations in response to the seven issues raised in the government’s second of three consultation papers.

For the complete submissions: www.imaginecanada.ca/files/en/publicaffairs/mgs_ontario_submission1_20080215.pdf; www.imaginecanada.ca/files/en/publicaffairs/mgs_ontario_submission2_20080215.pdf; www.lynneakin.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/revising_corp_act.pdf.

Social Economy Centre Meets with the Honorable Kathleen Wynne, Minister of Education of Ontario, to Discuss the Social Economy in High School Textbook

2008-03-31T22:06:00.001-04:00

On March 28, 2008, Social Economy Centre members Jack Quarter, Laurie Mook, Daniel Schugurensky, Jan Haskings-Winner and Denyse Guy along with Andre Brisebois of Conseil de la Cooperation de l'Ontario (CCO) & Tanya Gracie of the Ontario Co-operative Association met with Ontario Minister of Education Kathleen Wynne to talk about the presence of the social economy in high school curricula and textbooks. The presentation was based on two studies conducted in 1995 and 2005 on this topic. The two studies found that the social economy has a significant presence in Canada and Ontario, but such presence was under-represented significantly in curricula and textbooks. The Social Economy Centre expressed concerns about this situation, and asked that in the next curricula revisions this matter will be addressed. The Minister planned to follow up with her staff and her office will get back to us regarding the next steps.

Announcing the first ever searchable database of Ontario co-ops, credit unions and caisses populaires

2008-03-11T14:21:00.004-04:00

On Co-op launches first-ever online and searchable directory of co-ops, credit unions and caisses populaires operating in Ontario. We're calling it the e-directory.

Check it out at http://www.coopsontario.com .

The e-directory is publicly accessible and fully searchable by name, city, keyword and postal code. It features basic contact information and detailed descriptions. A handy feature is the ability to display a Google map for each location. E-mail addresses are never revealed, which helps eliminate spamming - instead a contact window appears, and a security code must be entered.

Government, the public and academics can use the e-directory to see what co-ops are in their community, what products or services are provided by co-ops, and to contact a co-op if they choose. The co-op sector, credit union system and co-operative champions can use the e-directory to find out more about their "co-op cousins".

We recommend every co-op, credit union and caisse populaire check its own listing as soon as possible, as well as search for other co-ops by city, keyword or name to understand how the e-directory works. We anticipate the directory will very quickly evolve into a central hub for accessing co-op information and we would like to ensure the best possible experience for anyone looking for co-op information.

*** PLEASE CHECK YOUR LISTING(s) FOR...

1. Contact information. Are the correct co-op name, address, phone (local and toll-free) and fax numbers displayed? Check to make sure the e-mail address and website links are valid and go to the correct person/department in your organization. Verify that the Google mapping function correctly identifies your address. If you have more than one location, check each one for accuracy.

2. Description. The keyword search looks here, as well as at your name. Words core to your business should be here (examples - fair trade, banking services, organic, dairy, housing, energy, child care, etc). This isn't a listing of all of your products, but allows people who view the description a useful glimpse into your business. The description field is 50 words maximum and must be in sentence/paragraph format.

3. Category. Confirm that your organization is listed in the correct category(s).

UPDATING THE INFORMATION...

1. INCOMPLETE, MISSING OR INCORRECT INFORMATION; ORGANIZATION NOT LISTED (INCLUDING MAIN, BRANCH OR SATELLITE OFFICES); OR ORGANIZATION TO BE REMOVED FROM THE LISTING: Click on the "Contact Us" button. One of the choices available from that screen is to update your information. Please provide us with all the details, including what should be changed. We will receive the message, confirm the information and make the changes to our database, generally within 1-2 business days. On Co-op has an e-directory review board to review each addition/deletion/change before it is uploaded to the e-directory to ensure we are adding the correct information.

2. If you have questions or suggestions about the e-directory program/interface itself, send your thoughts to us using the "Contact Us" button. We will continue to enhance the look and functionality of the e-directory over the next few weeks, and your input is important.

3. Where did the information initially come from? We've been updating our records for the last few months, and been checking other publicly available sources to make sure we haven't missed listing any co-operative, credit union or caisse populaire that is based in, or operates in, Ontario. IF WE HAVE, PLEASE LET US KNOW!!

On Co-op has created, and will operate and maintain the e-directory. As each co-op reviews and updates its information, the e-directory will become larger and even more accurate. Remember that there is no one organization or government agency in Ontario that has ever compiled this type of information on ALL of Ontario's co-operatives, credit unions and caisses populaires in one place before.

SPREAD THE WORD...

• Please forward this e-mail to others in your networks, and include the information in your print and electronic communications. The more people and organizations that know about the e-directory, the larger and more accurate it can become.

• Associations, federations and alliances are encouraged to send this message to all of their members so that as many individuals and organizations as possible can verify the directory information. If you operate an intranet, blog or RSS feed, consider placing a link to the e-directory there.

• Please include a link to the e-directory on your website (perhaps on your home page or co-op contacts/links page). You may use this text, or feel free to create your own:

Ontario is home to more than 1,300 credit unions, caisses populaires and co-operatives, operating in over 1,900 locations throughout the province. The Ontario Co-operative Association (On Co-op) maintains a searchable electronic database of Ontario's co-operatives, credit unions and caisses populaires at www.coopsontario.com.

NEXT STEPS

The co-op sector will have about a week to review and verify the information before the information goes to the media. We will be sending a press release to all major media, scheduled for the week of March 17th. At that time, we expect a great deal of interest from the public, including academics, government and others.

Visit www.coopsontario.com to access the e-directory. Please review your listing as soon as you can.

** Please forward to others in your network... including your board, staff, committee members, champions, supporters and friends. Co-operative information is best shared! If this message didn't come directly from On Co-op, you may be added to our e-newsletter distribution list by sending your contact information to Mark Ventry mventry@ontario.coop If you'd like to receive our printed mailings (sent January and September), please send us your mailing address.

Online Articles of Interest

2008-02-06T11:10:00.000-05:00

Journal of Gender Studies, Volume 17 Issue 1 2007
One college campus's need for a safe zone: a case study
71 – 74
Authors: Sandy D. Alvarez; Jeffrey Schneider
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/section?content=a790359447&fulltext=713240928

European Journal of Industrial Relations 2008
Torgeir Aarvaag Stokke
The Anatomy of Two-tier Bargaining Models
14: 7-24

http://ejd.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/14/1/7

Review of Radical Political Economics, Winter 2008, Volume 40, No. 1
Mara Fridell, Ian Hudson, and Mark Hudson
With Friends Like These: The Corporate Response to Fair Trade Coffee

http://rrp.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/40/1/8

Gender, Work & Organization, Volume 15 Issue 2 Page 202-225, March 2008
'Why Do All the Women Disappear?' Gendering Processes in a Political Science Department
Johanna Kantola

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1468-0432.2007.00376.x

Local Economy, Volume 22 Issue 4 2007
Enterprise, Diversity and Inclusion: A New Model of Community-based Enterprise
Development
Author: Tony Swash
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/ftinterface~content=a788291536~fulltext=713240928

Sociological Spectrum Mid-South Sociological Association, Volume 28 Issue 2 2008
THE FADING DREAM OF RETIREMENT: SOCIAL AND FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS AFFECTING THE RETIREMENT DECISION
Author: John Markert
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/ftinterface~content=a790243300~fulltext=713240928

Gender & Society 2008 22: 31-55
Hava Rachel Gordon
Gendered Paths to Teenage Political Participation: Parental Power, Civic Mobility, and Youth Activism

http://gas.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/22/1/31

Studies in Continuing Education, Volume 30 Issue 1 2008
Theories and methods for research on informal learning and work: towards cross-fertilization
Author: Peter H. Sawchuk
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/ftinterface~content=a790044537~fulltext=713240928

American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 51, No. 6, 721-736 (2008)
Understanding the Impact of Homelessness on Children: Challenges and Future Research
Directions
John C. Buckner

http://abs.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/51/6/721

Call for papers - Canadian Association for Studies in Co-operation (CASC)

2008-02-03T10:31:00.000-05:00

ANNUAL MEETING
JUNE 5 - 7, 2008
UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

Cooperative Renewal: Cooperatives in the Twenty-First Century

Cooperatives and theories of cooperation have successfully adjusted to extensive social, economic, and political challenges over the more than a century and a half of since the writings of Robert Owen and others influenced the founding of the Rochdale Cooperative in 1844.

In fact, renewal could be seen to be an essential feature of cooperative study and practice. However, it could also be argued that the combinations of forces confronting cooperatives and theories of cooperation in the twenty-first century pose the most serious challenge yet to their relevance and continued survival. This conference encourages scholars, practitioners, and "fellow travellers" of cooperation to participate in discussing frankly the necessity for, forms of, and challenges to, cooperative renewal as well as the adjustments required (if at all) for cooperation to survive and thrive throughout the upcoming century in Canada and the wider world.

Call for papers is available here: http://www.coopresearch.coop/?page_id=31

Thinking Beyond Borders: Ideas, Values and Concerns of Food in a Global World

2008-01-24T12:29:00.000-05:00

The 2008 Canadian Association for Food Studies Conference and AGM
University of British Columbia in Vancouver on 31 May – 1 June 2008

Come to the beautiful University of British Columbia campus located on the Point Grey Peninsula and in one of the most livable cities in the world: Vancouver, British Columbia. Here, daytime temperatures in late May allow for dresses, shorts and short-sleeved shirts!

Following two successful meetings in 2006 and 2007, which demonstrated the impressive breadth and depth of research being undertaken by Canadian food scholars, the Canadian Association for Food Studies (CAFS) would like to welcome you to its third annual conference and annual general meeting. CAFS promotes critical, interdisciplinary scholarship in the broad area of food systems, including production, distribution, and consumption.

During the conference, delegates will have the opportunity to share with colleagues from across Canada the latest research, education, programs and policy development relevant to food studies. There will also be additional learning and social opportunities, including a full day of pre-conference tours and a reception following the Saturday conference sessions, hosted by UBC’s Faculty of Land and Food Systems.

Food Tours: Friday 30 May 2008

Each tour is priced at $25 and includes a light meal as well as public transportation. The tours will be coordinated so that it will be possible to attend more than one tour.

Tour 1) Food Unfair: where a city block separates two vastly different food landscapes

Friday morning
We will walk down Hastings Street into the Downtown Eastside and discuss the food access challenges faced by some of Vancouver's most vulnerable population groups. Then step into a different world. Only a block away, we find plentiful Pender Street with Chinatown and its rich selection of foods and fresh produce. How can two such distinct food landscapes exist in one neighborhood? Learn how Vancouver is using its food policy mandate, in combination with neighborhood revitalization strategies to address a range of urban challenges.

Tour 2) Growing in Vancouver: a half-day tour through a selection of the many exciting examples of urban agriculture in Metro Vancouver.

Friday afternoon
As Metro Vancouver prepares to host the 2010 winter Olympics urban agriculturalists are working hard to fulfill the motion passed by city councilors to build 2010 new community garden plots. Find out what is happening in the city: from roof top gardens, to school and community gardens. Come see the city growing!

Tour 3) The Green Table Network: Can eating out be sustainable?

Friday evening
On this tour you will be introduced to the Green Table Network and see examples of how progressive restaurants and catering companies in Vancouver are taking steps to tread more lightly on the earth. You will hear and see how participating businesses are reducing waste, increasing recycling, conserving energy and water, using local foods and adopting other eco-friendly practices. At the end of the tour a light meal will be provided by one of the participating restaurants or caterers.

To register: http://www.fedcan.ca/congress2008/registration/delegates.html (early bird deadline 31 March 2008)

For further information about CAFS, the conference, and Call for Papers, visit: http://www.foodstudies.ca

For further information about the Conference location:
- City of Vancouver: http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/
- Super, Natural British Columbia: http://www.hellobc.com/en-CA/default.htm
- UBC Campus map and driving directions: http://www.maps.ubc.ca/PROD/index.php

See you in Vancouver!

CALL FOR PAPERS (DEADLINE: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2008): THIRD ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR FOOD STUDIES

2008-01-24T12:20:00.000-05:00

31 MAY – 1 JUNE 2008

“THINKING BEYOND BORDERS: IDEAS, VALUES AND CONCERNS OF FOOD IN A GLOBAL WORLD”

Following two successful meetings in 2006 and 2007, which demonstrated the impressive breadth and depth of research being undertaken by Canadian Food Scholars, the Canadian Association for Food Studies (CAFS) will host its third annual general meeting at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver on 31 May – 1 June 2008. Founded in 2005, CAFS promotes critical, interdisciplinary scholarship in the broad area of food systems: production, distribution, and consumption.

CAFS recognizes the need for coordinated interdisciplinary research efforts not only in academia, but in response to societal needs for informing policy makers, assessing the outcomes of community-based work, and demonstrating the environmental and social impacts of changes affecting food systems and food policies. To encourage interdisciplinarity, and to reflect the broad range of important work happening in this field, we encourage academics and/or community members to submit proposals for either sessions or individual papers related to this year’s theme.

The 2008 CAFS conference theme, which reflects the Congress theme, is “Thinking Beyond Borders: Ideas, Values and Concerns of Food in a Global World”. We invite session proposals and individual paper proposals dealing with aspects of societal ideas, values and concerns related to food in an increasingly ‘global’ world. Submissions dealing with crossing borders, either actual or metaphorical, to create food communities are particularly welcome. However, submissions are not restricted to this theme. The conference also encourages proposals dealing with issues such as curriculum and program development and evaluation, research priorities, methodological issues, policy and funding priorities in food studies.

SESSION PROPOSALS: Please send the session title, name and organizational affiliation of the session organizer(s). Please also include the authors’ names, affiliations, and abstracts (150 words) of each paper to be included in the session. If you suggest a chair for the sessions, please include this as well. If possible, we appreciate it if submissions are in both English and French. The program committee will work with session organizers to ensure disciplinary diversity and content compatibility.

PAPER PROPOSALS: Please send a brief abstract (150 words), along with your paper title, and name(s) and affiliation(s) of the author(s). If possible, we appreciate it if submissions are in both English and French. The program committee will work to ensure disciplinary diversity and content compatibility when placing individual papers within sessions.

The deadline for proposals is: Friday, February 1, 2008

Organisers will aim to include some papers in a special issue journal or an edited collection; we will also aim to create conference proceedings. Therefore, please ensure all papers are formatted in Chicago style.

CAFS members are drawn from an array of disciplines including (but not limited to) adult education, agriculture, anthropology, economics, environmental studies, health studies, home economics, human nutrition, geography, literature, psychology, philosophy, policy studies, public health, rural studies, sociology, social work and urban planning. CAFS membership is open to academics, students, policy makers, community workers, professionals, practitioners and others interested in food studies research. CAFS encourages research that promotes local, regional, national, and global food security, but does not advocate or endorse specific policies or political platforms.

All proposals should be sent as a rich text (.rtf) or Word (.doc) document and sent to:

Patty Williams (email: Patty.Williams@msvu.ca)

Further information is available at:
Canadian Association for Food Studies: http://www.foodstudies.ca
Canadian Federation of the Humanities and Social Sciences: http://www.fedcan.ca

____________________________

Appel de communications

Troisième assemblée générale annuelle de
l’Association canadienne des études alimentaires

31 mai-1er juin 2008

« Penser sans frontières : idées, valeurs et préoccupations en alimentation
dans un contexte de mondialisation »

Suite à deux rencontres couronnées de succès en 2006 et 2007 qui ont démontré l’étendue et la profondeur des recherches entreprises par les chercheurs universitaires canadiens en alimentation, l’Association canadienne des études alimentaires tiendra sa troisième assemblée générale annuelle à University of British Columbia, Vancouver, les 31 mai et 1er juin 2008. Fondée en 2005, l'Association (CAFS) promeut des études savantes critiques et interdisciplinaires dans le vaste domaine des systèmes alimentaires que sont la production, la distribution et la consommation.

La CAFS reconnaît le besoin de coordonner ses efforts de recherche interdisciplinaire non seulement du point de vue académique, mais aussi en réponse aux besoins sociétaux afin d’informer les dirigeants politiques, d'évaluer les effets des actions communautaires, et de démontrer l’impact environnemental et social des changements affectant les systèmes alimentaires et les politiques alimentaires. Afin d’encourager l’interdisciplinarité, et refléter la gamme des travaux d’importance dans ce domaine, nous encourageons les membres de la communauté universitaire et/ou communautaire à soumettre des propositions soit de colloques scientifiques soit de communications individuelles reliées au thème de cette année.

Le thème de la conférence 2008 du CAFS, qui reflète celui de la Fédération canadienne des sciences humaines qui nous accueille, est celui-ci : « Penser sans frontières : idées, valeurs et préoccupations en alimentation dans un contexte de mondialisation ». Les colloques scientifiques, ou la présentation de communications individuelles, traitant d’idées, de valeurs et de préoccupations sociétales en lien avec l'alimentation des populations dans un contexte de plus en plus de mondialisation sont sollicités pour cette conférence. Les soumissions au carrefour de frontières (sens concret ou métaphorique), dans une optique de création de communautés bien alimentées, sont tout particulièrement bienvenues. Cependant, les soumissions ne se restreignent pas à ce thème. La conférence encourage aussi les propositions traitant de questions de développement de programmes et d’évaluation, de priorités de recherche, de questions méthodologiques, de politiques, et de priorités de financement des études alimentaires.

Proposition de colloques scientifiques : Faites nous parvenir le titre du colloque scientifique, le nom et l’affiliation des organisateurs du colloque. Aussi, inclure les noms des auteurs, les affiliations ainsi qu’un résumé (150 mots) de chacune des communications qui seront présentées au colloque. Si vous voulez suggérer un président de session pour le colloque, l’inclure aussi. Si possible, nous apprécierions que les soumissions soient présentées en français et en anglais. Le comité du programme travaillera avec les organisateurs des colloques afin de s’assurer de la diversité disciplinaire et de la compatibilité du contenu.

Proposition de communications : Veuillez envoyer un bref résumé (150 mots) avec le titre, ainsi que le(s) nom(s) et affiliation(s) de l’auteur ou des auteurs. Si possible, nous apprécierions que les soumissions soient présentées en français et en anglais. Le comité du programme travaillera ave les organisateurs pour s’assurer de la diversité disciplinaire et de la compatibilité de contenu en situant les communications individuelles dans les colloques scientifiques appropriés.

La date butoir de réception des propositions est fixée le vendredi 1er février 2008.

Les organisateurs souhaitent inclure quelques publications dans une édition spéciale d’un journal ou dans une collection éditée; nous prévoyons aussi préparer les actes de la conférence. En ce sens, nous recommandons de vous assurer que tous les écrits soient conformes au style Chicago.

Les membres de la CAFS proviennent d’une variété de disciplines incluant (mais ne s’y limitant pas) l’éducation aux adultes, l’agriculture, l’anthropologie, l’économie, les sciences environnementales, les sciences de la santé, l’économie familiale, la nutrition humaine, la géographie, la littérature, la psychologie, la philosophie, les sciences politiques, la santé publique, les études rurales, la sociologie, le travail social et l’urbanisme. Peuvent devenir membres, les étudiants, les enseignants, ceux qui rédigent des politiques, les travailleurs sociaux, les professionnels, les praticiens et autres personnes intéressés par les recherches en alimentation. La CAFS encourage la recherche qui promeut la sécurité alimentaire au niveau local, régional, national et globale, mais ne recommande pas ou n’endosse pas de politiques spécifiques ni de plate-formes politiques.

Toutes les propositions doivent être envoyées par courriel dans un document en format (.rtf) ou Word (.doc) à :

Patty Williams (email: Patty.Williams@msvu.ca)

De plus amples informations sont disponibles sur les sites Internet suivants :
Further information is available at:
Canadian Association for Food Studies: http://www.foodstudies.ca
Canadian Federation of the Humanities and Social Sciences: http://www.fedcan.ca

Call for Papers - New Views of Society: Robert Owen for the 21st Century

2008-01-16T14:18:00.000-05:00

Conference date: 11-14 September 2008, New Lanark, Scotland
Deadline for proposals & papers: 30th March 2008

This major international conference will be a 2 stage event appealing to both academics from a range of disciplines and co-operative practitioners.

The first part of the conference (from the morning of Thursday 11th September to lunchtime on Saturday 13th) will consist of a series of interdisciplinary thematic sessions exploring various aspects of Owen’s ideas and their contemporary and future relevance. The second part of the event (from lunchtime on the 13th to lunchtime on the 14th) will have a practitioner focus. It will consist of invited speakers, interactive workshop sessions and the AGM and Annual Research Roundtable of the UK Society for Co-operative Studies.

While this formal call for papers is for contributions to the first part of the conference, the organisers hope that academic contributors and delegates will choose to stay on for the whole event.

The conference will include a tour of the New Lanark Mills Visitor Centre and a Dinner on the evening of Saturday 13th September. Accommodation will be available either in the New Lanark Mill Hotel, or New Lanark Youth Hostel.

This event is being organised by the UK Society for Co-operative Studies as part of a programme of events throughout 2008 to mark the 150th Anniversary of Robert Owen’s Death in co-operation with partners including the Co-operative Group, Co-operative College and New Lanark Heritage Trust.

Dates:

Deadline for receipt of proposals for papers or other contributions: 30th March 2008
Papers that have been selected will be confirmed by the 31st May 2008

Rationale:

Robert Owen was one of the giants of social, political and economic life in the nineteenth century. He combined an intellectual critique of emerging industrial society with a remarkable capacity for practical innovation. At New Lanark Mills in Scotland, not only did he pioneer the use of new technology in the textile industry, but he combined this with radical ideas about education and management.

He was one of the guiding inspirations for the global Co-operative Movement and under his influence ‘prophets of co-operation’ travelled all over Britain and internationally. As a ‘practical utopian’, he established, inspired and lived in various community experiments in both Britain and the USA organised according to his co-operative philosophy, and while in the UK these endeavours are generally thought to have ‘failed’, in the US his descendants are still to be found living at New Harmony, and the influence of his activities there upon the development of US politics has been significant.

In considering Owen’s legacy as part of the programme of events being organised to commemorate the 150th anniversary of his death, this conference is not intended to be an exercise in historical nostalgia. Rather, it aims to use the inspiration of Owen’s thinking in a wide range of areas to consider and debate the contemporary and future relevance of his ideas in the twenty first century.

Themes:

Session topics are grouped into 3 main themes. Below each theme are suggested some aspects of Owen’s thought in these areas that might be usefully explored, but this is not by any means an exhaustive list and the organisers would welcome further relevant proposals.

Part 1: Economic justice

- Ethical issues relating to trade
- Co-operative Management in theory and practise
- Trades Unions in the 21st Century
- Micro finance and Credit Unions

Part 2: Practical Utopia

- Community living and co-housing
- Time currencies
- The ‘e-commonwealth’
- ‘Socialism’ then and now

Part 3: Education for a better world

- Co-operative structures for delivering education
- Children’s Rights
- Co-operative Learning
- Adult and Continuing Education

There will also be a ‘history workshop’ style session on the Friday and Saturday exploring the impact and experiences of Co-operatives established for social change in the UK from the mid 1960s onwards. Please let us know if you have something to contribute to this theme.

Guidelines for papers and other contributions:

- 500 word proposals for papers or other contributions to sessions must be received (either by post, email, or both) by the UK SCS Secretary, Richard Bickle, no later than 31st March 2008.
- Proposed presentations should be no more than 20 minutes each in total.
- Presentations should make some reference to Owen’s work in the relevant area and show the ideas being explored relate to his thinking.
- Please include full contact details for the proposed speaker/s and clearly mark which session theme you feel your proposal fits in to.
- While we urge you to propose papers according to the session themes outlined above, if you have a proposal which does not fit into these topic areas, but which you feel is still relevant to the wider conference, please send it in anyway with a covering note explaining why you think it should be considered.
- The organisers are open to innovative or interactive formats for presentations. If this is what you are proposing, please set out exactly what you have in mind.
- The UK Society for Co-operative Studies does not have the funds to cover your attendance at the conference. However, we are negotiating a limited number of bursaries to support participation from individuals who could not otherwise afford to do so. If you are likely to require this kind of assistance, please inform the Secretary as soon as possible.

Richard Bickle (Secretary), UK Society for Co-operative Studies
Holyoake House, Hanover Street, Manchester, M60 0AS
Tel: 07768 184882, Email: richardbickle@cooptel.net, www.co-opstudies.org

Community-University Exposition (CUexpo) - May 4-7, 2008

2008-01-14T16:20:00.000-05:00

We would first like to acknowledge that we will be meeting on the traditional territory of the Coast Salish First Nations.

Bringing the resources, dreams, assets and issues of our communities and our post-secondary institutions together is a movement that is building across Canada. We would like to most cordially invite you to participate in the third national CUexpo, the Community-University Exposition 2008 (CUexpo 2008)

Goals of CUexpo 2008

* celebrate and create opportunities for new community-university partnerships;
* support research that is collaborative and community-based and leads to positive change;
* create a space for policy-makers and university and community representatives to take action on research, resource-sharing and research ethics;
* provide opportunities for networking across Canada and world-wide.

Themes for CUexpo 2008

* community-university engagement, partnerships and ethics
* climate change and sustainable community green economic development
* life-long learning, popular education and community / green mapping
* environmental and social justice
* Youth engagement, food security
* Community and green economic development
* Aboriginal perspectives and cultural diversity
* women, poverty and social inclusion
* Homelessness, housing, health promotion and well-being

For more information, visit http://www.cuexpo08.ca/index.html

Call for Papers / Demande des communications - ANSER / ARES - January 14 deadline

2008-01-10T14:31:00.001-05:00

Inaugural Annual Conference / Conférence annuelle inaugurale

ASSOCIATION FOR NONPROFIT AND SOCIAL ECONOMY RESEARCH (ANSER) / ASSOCIATION DE RECHERCHE DES ORGANISMES SANS BUT LUCRATIF ET DE L'ECONOMIE SOCIALE (ARES)

University of British Columbia
Vancouver
June 4 – 6, 2008

Deadline for receipt of proposals via email attachment: / Date limite de présentation des propositions en pièce jointe par courrier électronique :

January 14, 2008

La version française: http://www.anser-ares.ca/proposals_fr.asp

ANSER is a newly formed organization for the support and encouragement of research in the broad fields of social economy, the voluntary sector, and nonprofit organizations in Canada. We will hold our inaugural conference as part of the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences 2008 from June 4-6, 2008 at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. All those engaged in applied and theoretical research related to the ANSER mandate, including researchers from outside of Canada, are invited to submit proposals for papers, panels, and roundtables by January 14, 2008. ANSER is not limited to faculty and graduate students from universities and colleges; consultants and practitioners who engage in research are especially encouraged to submit proposals.

Examples of areas of interest include:

• accountability and performance evaluation in community organizations;
• charitable giving and philanthropy;
• citizen engagement, mobilization, and movements;
• civil society;
• community economic development;
• community service learning/community-university partnerships;
• conceptualizing the social economy;
• foundations;
• gender, race, diversity in the social economy;
• governance, democracy, and participation in community organizations;
• nonprofit mutual associations;
• nonprofit sector/government relations;
• organizational change in the social economy;
• public policy;
• regulatory and legal dimensions of nonprofits and the social economy;
• social and environmental accounting;
• social capital/informal co-operation;
• social economy human resource management and labour relations;
• social enterprises/social purpose businesses;
• volunteering.

Types of Proposals

Three types of proposals will be considered: individual papers, panels, and roundtables. Proposals should be submitted as email attachments in Microsoft Word to info@anser-ares.ca with the type of proposal indicated in the subject line (for example, paper, panel, or roundtable) . Proposals will be subject to peer review and notification of acceptance will be provided by February 28th. Authors of accepted papers will be required to provide a 5-8 page (double spaced) summary of their paper by May 1, 2008, for publication in online conference proceedings (editor, Peter Elson).

Paper Proposals

Paper proposals typically are presentations of research findings and theory on a topic. Paper proposals can also be think pieces and discussions of research and thesis proposals. Paper proposals should include a cover sheet containing the paper's title, name and affiliation of presenter(s), and contact information of each presenter including email. This should be followed by an abstract of not more than two pages including the paper's title and key reference sources.

Panel Proposals

Panels are collections of three or four papers on a related theme. Ideally, these papers build upon each other, thereby adding to the coherence of the panel. For a panel, the cover sheet with contact information for the entire group should be the first page, followed by a one-page overview of the panel, including its title, and then up to 2 pages for each participant (as described under paper proposals).

Roundtables

Roundtables are discussion groups ideally suited for the discussion of research needs or research in progress around specific topics, e.g., "Current research needs in nonprofit organization governance," with a designated facilitator. Roundtables, typically consisting of three to four individuals, are ideally suited for a mix of researchers and leaders of community organizations. For a roundtable, the cover sheet with contact information for the entire group and the roundtable's title should be the first page, followed by a two-page summary of the primary issues to be addressed.

Conference Information

Participants in the ANSER 2008 Conference should register through the website of the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences , which includes a reduction for early registration. The fees, posted on the website, include those for the Congress and the association. The Congress website also includes information on accommodation, discounts for travel, and local information. For more information, email us and please check the ANSER website for updates.

February 16 - Visionary Farmers and Visionary Consumers: How organics is transforming our world

2008-01-10T12:23:00.000-05:00

Saturday, February 16, 2008 - one-day conference
9:00 am - 5:00 pm

89 Chestnut St., U of Toronto Conference Centre
Presented by Canadian Organic Growers
$65 ($85 after Jan 15); COG members $55

Includes an organic lunch and mini-market!
Info and registration: www.cog.ca or 1-888-375-7383 or email: conference@cog.ca

Why are more farmers and consumers choosing to go organic? Join us as we share how organic is making a difference in how we eat and live. You will be stirred with inspiring stories, the difficult challenges and the proven visions that are bringing organic food from the field to the table, creating new careers, markets and a more livable planet. Is there a role for you?

Keynote speaker: Helge Hellberg, Executive Director of Marin Organic
Marin Organic is an award winning, innovative organization of local farmers that is realizing a vision for the first all organic county in North America. They have inspired schools, businesses and governments to take a stand for an alternative way of doing business and in doing so show us what a sustainable food system looks like.

Panels on topics including “Where’s the local in organic?”; “Being organic in a non-organic world”; “Can organics feed Ontario”; and “Ensuring organic integrity”.
Panelists include: Ann Clark, Gavin Dandy, Dag Falck, Wayne Roberts, Wally Seccombe.

Plus a career track – meet the intrepid “new” farmers who, despite lacking land and farming skills, took the leap and followed their dreams of being organic farmers.

For a complete agenda, see http://www.cog.ca/visionaryfarmersvisionaryconsumers/home.htm

January 24-27 - 27th Guelph Organic Conference, Canada's premiere organic event

2008-01-10T12:21:00.000-05:00

January 24-27, 2008
University of Guelph

Trade show and Organic food expo:
Saturday Jan 26 - 7 am to 5:30 pm
Sunday Jan 27 - 9 am to 4:30 pm

For complete event details, registration and workshop schedule, visit the conference website at: http://www.guelphorganicconf.ca/registration08.html

SEC January Speakers' Series/Webcast - Mapping the Social Economy: Three Views

2007-12-19T11:45:00.000-05:00

David Lasby of Imagine Canada will discuss the recently completed mapping of Ontario's social economy that combines nonprofits, co-operatives, credit unions, and other community organizations.

Using data taken from the first-ever census of Ontario co-ops, credit unions and caisses populaires, Mark Ventry from the Ontario Co-operative Association will discuss the social and economic impact of the province's co-op sector, what census information surprised On Co-op, and what the data confirmed.

Sherida Ryan of OISE/University of Toronto will discuss Ontario organizations that meet the broad definition applied to social economy enterprises and that rely on internet-based technology to achieve their organizational objectives, their similarities to traditional social economy enterprises, use of information technology and their understanding of an online social economy enterprise.

Wednesday, January 16, 2007, noon - 1:30 pm
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto
Room 12-199, 12th floor, 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto
This event will be simultaneously webcast (see our website for details).

For more information, see http://sec.oise.utoronto.ca/english/lectures.php

Apply Now for the 2008 York University - Maytree Foundation Executive Directors' Institute

2007-12-13T13:42:00.000-05:00

The York-Maytree Executive Directors’ Institute focuses on the development of strategic leadership in a rapidly changing voluntary sector. The program is designed for innovative non-profit management executives who are interested in developing networks, tools and knowledge to enhance their abilities to lead effective organizations and communities. The Institute is open to executive directors from the non-profit sector. The deadline for applications is Friday, December 14, 2007.

Learn more about EDI and apply now: http://www.maytree.com/index.asp?section=2&art=edi_yorkmaytree

TSCF 2008 INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL CAPITAL CONFERENCE, "Perspectives on Social Capital and Social Inclusion"

2007-12-07T12:04:00.000-05:00

Buggiba, Malta
19-22 September 2008

The Social Capital Foundation invites papers and proposals for the TSCF 2008 International Social Capital Conference. The call will open on 2 January 2008. All papers and proposals should be submitted by 30 July 2008. For more detailed information (including guidelines, themes, submission and registration forms) please visit:

http://www.socialcapital-foundation.org/conferences/2008/TSCF%20International%20Conference%202008.htm

To submit a paper, a roundtable or to volunteer to serve as a chair or discussant, or if you have any questions, please contact conferences@socialcapital-foundation.org.

Papers submitted and accepted before 31 January 2008 will be inserted into the programme of the conference. Proposals are reviewed within two weeks of submission.

We look forward to receiving your proposal and hope you will be able to join us in Malta in September 2008.

***

The Social Capital Foundation
Mailing address: B.P. 30, 1310 Terhulpen, Belgium
Fax: +32-2-2569837
Website: http://www.socialcapital-foundation.org

FoodShare's Focus on Food Youth Program Accepting Applicants

2007-12-03T18:01:00.000-05:00

FoodShare Toronto has 10 positions for youth 15-30 in a 24-week long paid internship program beginning January 14, 2008 and ending June 27, 2008.

If you are interested in a multi-faceted work environment, we will train you to work in our food distribution warehouse, as well as in our kitchen. You will learn about nutrition and how our food system works, as well as developing your interpersonal skills. You also are committed to participate in lifeskills courses.

The deadline to apply is December 6, 2007.

For more information: http://www.foodshare.net/Upcoming-FOFposting.htm

CO-OP HOLIDAY GUIDE LAUNCHED

2007-12-03T17:33:00.000-05:00

The winter holidays are a time to connect with friends and family and celebrate with each other. Some folks choose to exchange gifts, others hit the party circuit, and others host smaller intimate gatherings. No matter what the occasion, the co-op sector can help you meet your needs this season.

Ontario Co-operative Association (On Co-op) has put together a Co-op Holiday Guide to help you source all your holiday needs through the co-op sector. All of the co-ops listed provide products or services in Ontario, either through retail outlets or the Internet.

Available from the On Co-op home page at http://www.ontario.coop/pages/index.php?main_id=381.

There is still time to add your co-op's products or services to the list. E-mail the details to tgracie@ontario.coop.

This Holiday Season, Buy Union

2007-11-26T17:32:00.000-05:00

Union members, college students, and all kinds of folks are doing the right thing by deciding to wear clothing made under decent conditions, in union shops instead of sweatshops. Click on the links below to find union-made, sweat-free suppliers.

Visit www.shopunionmade.org to buy items from artwork to chocolate, from books and clothing to clocks, computers, and vacation packages.

While you're planning your holiday trips, please visit our Union Hotel Guide (www.unitehere.org/hotelguide) and stay in UNITE HERE hotels across North America.

At Justice Clothing we don't think fashion should hurt. Justice Clothing's mission is to support democratic principles, workers' rights and economic sustainability through the sale and distribution of goods manufactured by workers protected by collective bargaining agreements. http://www.justiceclothing.com

Beyond grey pinstripes: Rankings of socially conscious business schools

2007-11-26T15:59:00.000-05:00

Beyond Grey Pinstripes is a research survey and alternative ranking of business schools that spotlights innovative full-time MBA programs leading the way in the integration of issues concerning social and environmental stewardship in to the curriculum. These schools are preparing students for the reality of tomorrow's markets by equipping them with the social, environmental and economic perspectives required for business success in a competitive and fast changing world.

The Global 100

The Beyond Grey Pinstripes ranking is the result of over 18 months of rigorous research- designing the survey, outreach to full-time MBA programs around the world, data collection and analysis- looking at how well MBA programs incorporate social and environmental issues into the training of future business leaders. Over 40,000 pages of data were analyzed to come up with the 100 top MBA programs.

http://www.beyondgreypinstripes.org/rankings/index.cfm

News: Credit Union Directors' Forum

2007-11-20T16:18:00.000-05:00

Guelph ON, November 8, 2007

More than 180 volunteer credit union directors from across Ontario attended the 23rd annual Directors’ Forum on November 2 and 3, 2007. The conference explored the theme of ‘The Changing Landscape’ through seven sessions and workshops, including a joint keynote address by Walter Palmer, a spokesman for Al Gore’s The Climate Project, and Derek Gent of Vancity, the largest credit union in Canada.

The 2007 Directors’ Forum encouraged credit union boards of directors to go beyond traditional ways of thinking about their membership, their communities and their competition. Dr. Thomas Homer-Dixon, author and director of the Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (and professor of political science at the University of Toronto), challenged directors to explore the opportunities that will come from the growth, breakdown and renewal of society. In other sessions, directors had the opportunity to learn more about: climate change; the adoption of sustainability as a core value; attracting and retaining members through customer relationship management software; the development of “green” financial products; and the status of the merger between Credit Union Central of Ontario and Credit Union Central of British Columbia.

Sessions were interactive and designed to stimulate debate and discussion between speakers and the audience. One director, from a southern-Ontario credit union, said the sessions were “very practical and useful.” Another participant commented that what she learned would enable her to “…challenge my board and management, and to think outside the traditional approach.”

The conference, hosted by the Credit Union Directors of Ontario (CUDO), and held in Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York hotel, attracted board and committee members from more than 60 credit unions, as well as credit union system supporters, regulators and affiliates, and guests from other provinces.

During the annual general meeting, Bruce Corbett, a member of the CUDO executive since 1989, announced his retirement. The two openings on the executive were filled by newcomer Shari Sekel of PenFinancial Credit Union, and returning director Dave Sitaram from Auto Workers Community Credit Union. The AGM also included a presentation by Eve Sigfrid, a director with the boards of both Credit Union Central of Ontario and FirstOntario Credit Union, on her recent trip to Uganda as a credit union “coach”, and recognition of the most recent graduates of the Credit Union Director Achievement program.

Many of the presentations given during the 23rd annual Directors’ Forum are available for download from the Directors’ Forum pages of the Ontario Co-operative Association at www.ontario.coop/Directors.

The annual Directors’ Forum provides Ontario credit union directors and other credit union system volunteers with education, training and networking opportunities. It is presented by the Credit Union Directors of Ontario (CUDO), an independent organization representing the boards of directors of Ontario’s credit unions. Ontario, Canadian and international credit union/caisses populaires directors and committee members are invited to attend the Directors’ Forum. No affiliation with Credit Union Central of Ontario is required.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Mark Ventry, Member Services and Marketing Officer, Ontario Co-operative Association
Tel. 519.763.8271 x30 or 1.888.745.5521
www.ontario.coop/Directors

Call for Papers - Association for Nonprofit and Social Economy Research (ANSER)

2007-11-20T16:05:00.000-05:00

Inaugural Annual Conference / Conférence annuelle inaugurale

ASSOCIATION FOR NONPROFIT AND SOCIAL ECONOMY RESEARCH (ANSER) /
L'ASSOCIATION DE RECHERCHE DES ORGANISMS SANS BUT LUCRATIVE ET DE L'ÉCONOMIE SOCIALE (ARES)

University of British Columbia, Vancouver
June 4 – 6, 2008

Deadline for receipt of proposals via email attachment / Date limite de présentation des propositions en pièce jointe par courrier électronique: January 14, 2008

La version française suit

ANSER is a newly formed organization for the support and encouragement of research in the broad fields of social economy, the voluntary sector, and nonprofit organizations in Canada. We will hold our inaugural conference as part of the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences 2008 from June 4-6, 2008 at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. All those engaged in applied and theoretical research related to the ANSER mandate, including researchers from outside of Canada, are invited to submit proposals for papers, panels, and roundtables by January 14, 2008. ANSER is not limited to faculty and graduate students from universities and colleges; consultants and practitioners who engage in research are especially encouraged to submit proposals.

Examples of areas of interest include:

•       Accountability and performance evaluation in community organizations
•       Charitable giving and philanthropy
•       Citizen engagement, mobilization, and movements
•       Civil society
•       Community economic development
•       Community service learning/community-university partnerships
•       Conceptualizing the social economy
•       Foundations
•       Gender, race, diversity in the social economy
•       Governance, democracy, and participation in community organizations
•       Nonprofit mutual associations
•       Nonprofit sector/government relations
•       Organizational change in the social economy
•       Public policy
•       Regulatory and legal dimensions of nonprofits and the social economy
•       Social and environmental accounting
•       Social capital/informal co-operation
•       Social economy human resource management and labour relations
•       Social enterprises/social purpose businesses
•       Volunteering

Types of Proposals

Three types of proposals will be considered: individual papers, panels, and roundtables. Proposals should be submitted as email attachments in Microsoft Word to info@anser-ares.ca with the type of proposal indicated in the subject line (for example, paper, panel, or roundtable). Proposals will be subject to peer review and notification of acceptance will be provided by February 28th. Authors of accepted papers will be required to provide a 5-8 page (double spaced) summary of their paper by May 1, 2008, for publication in online conference proceedings (editor, Peter Elson).

Paper Proposals
Paper proposals typically are presentations of research findings and theory on a topic. Paper proposals can also be think pieces and discussions of research and thesis proposals. Paper proposals should include a cover sheet containing the paper's title, name and affiliation of presenter(s), and contact information of each presenter including email. This should be followed by an abstract of not more than two pages including the paper's title and key reference sources.

Panel Proposals
Panels are collections of three or four papers on a related theme. Ideally, these papers build upon each other, thereby adding to the coherence of the panel. For a panel, the cover sheet with contact information for the entire group should be the first page, followed by a one-page overview of the panel, including its title, and then up to 2 pages for each participant (as described under paper proposals).

Roundtables
Roundtables are discussion groups ideally suited for the discussion of research needs or research in progress around specific topics, e.g., "Current research needs in nonprofit organization governance," with a designated facilitator. Roundtables, typically consisting of three to four individuals, are ideally suited for a mix of researchers and leaders of community organizations. For a roundtable, the cover sheet with contact information for the entire group and the roundtable's title should be the first page, followed by a two-page summary of the primary issues to be addressed.

Conference Information

Participants in the ANSER 2008 Conference should register through the website of the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, which includes a reduction for early registration. The fees, posted on the website, include those for the Congress and the association. The Congress website also includes information on accommodation, discounts for travel, and local information. For more information, email and please check the ANSER website http://www.anser-ares.ca for updates.

Invitation à présenter des communications pour la Conférence inaugurale de l'ARES

L'ARES est une association canadienne créée depuis peu pour appuyer et promouvoir la recherche sur l'économie sociale, le secteur bénévole et communautaire et les organismes sans but lucratif au sens large au Canada. Notre Conférence inaugurale aura lieu dans le cadre du Congrès des sciences humaines, du 4 au 6 juin 2008, à l'Université de la Colombie-Britannique à Vancouver. Toutes les personnes qui participent à des travaux de recherche appliquée et théorique, pertinents par rapport à la vocation de l'ARES, y compris des chercheurs de pays étrangers, sont invités à proposer des communications, des panels et des tables rondes, pour le 14 janvier 2008. L'ARES n'est pas réservée aux enseignants et aux étudiants de cycle supérieur des universités et des collèges; les consultants et les intervenants impliqués dans des travaux de recherche sont vivement invités à soumettre leurs propositions.

Les domaines d'intérêt sont notamment les suivants :

•       apprentissage par le service communautaire/partenariats entre la collectivité et l'université;
•       associations mutuelles sans but lucratif;
•       bénévolat;
•       cadre réglementaire et juridique des organismes sans but lucratif et de l'économie sociale;
•       capital social et collaboration informelle;
•       comptabilité sociale et environnementale;
•       conceptualisation de l'économie sociale;
•       développement économique communautaire;
•       dons de charité et philanthropie;
•       entreprises sociales/entreprises à but social
•       évolution des organismes de l'économie sociale;
•       fondations;
•       gestion des ressources humaines et relations de travail dans les organismes communautaires;
•       gouvernance, démocratie et participation dans les organismes communautaires;
•       participation, mobilisation et mouvements de citoyens;
•       politiques publiques;
•       relations entre le secteur sans but lucratif et les gouvernements;
•       responsabilité et évaluation du rendement au sein des organismes communautaires;
•       sexe, race et diversité dans l'économie sociale;
•       société civile.

Types de propositions

Trois types de propositions seront mis à l'étude : les communications individuelles, les panels et les tables rondes. Ces propositions sont à transmettre en format Microsoft Word et en pièce jointe à info@anser-ares.ca en mentionnant le type de proposition dans la ligne-objet (communication, panel ou table ronde) . Ces propositions seront évaluées par les pairs et leur acceptation sera notifiée pour le 28 février. Les auteurs des communications acceptées seront priés de fournir un résumé de 5 à 8 pages (à double interligne) de leur communication pour le 1er mai 2008, en vue de sa publication dans les actes de la Conférence (coordonnateur : Peter Elson ).

Propositions de communication
Les propositions de communication exposent en principe des conclusions de travaux de recherche et une théorie sur un thème particulier. Les propositions de communication peuvent également être des textes de réflexion, ainsi que des commentaires de travaux de recherche et des propositions de thèse. Les propositions de communication doivent comporter un document de présentation, précisant le titre de la communication, le nom et l'organisme du ou des conférenciers et les coordonnées de chacun d'eux, y compris leur adresse électronique. Ce document devrait précéder un résumé de deux pages au plus, mentionnant le titre de la communication et les principaux ouvrages de référence.

Propositions de panel
Un panel est un groupe de trois ou quatre communications traitant de thèmes connexes. Ces communications s'appuient théoriquement l'une sur l'autre, ce qui augmente la cohérence du panel. Le document de présentation d'un panel devrait indiquer les coordonnées de tout le groupe et précéder une présentation générale du panel d'une page, mentionnant son titre, puis deux pages au maximum par participant (au contenu identique à celui décrit pour les propositions de communication).

Tables rondes
Les tables rondes sont des groupes de discussion constitués théoriquement pour débattre des besoins de recherche ou des travaux de recherche en cours sur des thèmes particuliers « p. ex., besoins de recherche actuels sur la gouvernance des organismes sans but lucratif ». Une personne est désignée pour les animer. Trois ou quatre personnes participent en principe aux tables rondes, qui conviennent parfaitement à un groupe composé à la fois de chercheurs et de dirigeants d'organisme communautaire. Pour une table ronde, le document de présentation du groupe entier sera la première page, qui indiquera son titre et qui précédera un résumé de deux pages des principales questions traitées.

Renseignements sur la Conférence

Les participants de la Conférence 2008 de l'ARES doivent s'inscrire à partir du site Web du Congrès des sciences humaines, qui offre une réduction pour les inscriptions hâtives. Les frais affichés sur ce site Web correspondent aux frais d'inscription au Congrès et d'adhésion à l'Association. Le site Web du Congrès contient également des informations sur l'hébergement, les tarifs de voyage à prix réduit et des informations locales. Adressez un courriel pour vous renseigner. Merci de bien vouloir consulter les mises à jour qui seront publiées sur le site Web de l'ARES http://www.anser-ares.ca/default_fr.asp.

Last Call for Papers & Posters - 5th Annual Organic Research Symposium

2007-11-20T15:57:00.000-05:00

5th Annual Organic Research Symposium
January 25th, 2008, at the 27th Guelph Organic Conference

"Building Sustainable Organic Business"
Our theme for 2008

Natural Sciences researchers, click here: http://www.oacc.info/Docs/Guelph2008/guelph_call_natsci08.pdf

Social Sciences researchers, click here: http://www.oacc.info/Docs/SocialScienceConferences/call%20for%20papers%202008.pdf

Business of Education Conference – Exchanging Ideas for a Sustainable University

2007-11-20T15:48:00.000-05:00

Registration for the 2007 Business of Education Conference – Exchanging Ideas for a Sustainable University is filling up fast.

We are expecting a sold out room for this exciting event. Come and hear about how the University is incorporating sustainability in all aspects of the institution – from recycling and food service to use of space and 25 years in the future. Plenary sessions, breakout sessions as well as displays from University organizations that are committed to sustainability will be available to all registrants.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007
89 Chestnut Street Conference Centre
Toronto

To register, go to http://www.boe.utoronto.ca/

Co-Operative Internship Experience Program (CIEP) Looking for Host Organizations

2007-11-20T15:40:00.000-05:00

This is the fifth year of On Co-op's Co-operative Internship Experience Program (CIEP). Phase I is progressing, with a diverse list of co-op organizations about to play "host" to 15 interns. Job titles include: Community Development Intern; Administrative Assistant; Anniversary Planning Co-ordinator; Co-operative Development Intern; Membership and Volunteer Intern; Member Education and Programs Intern; Database Support Co-ordinator and Public Relations Co-ordinator.

The 26-week program provides Interns with real-world “co-operative” job experience at a decent wage, at a cost of just 8 weeks’ wages (less than $3000) to the host organization. To qualify, interns must be 30 years old or younger, Canadian citizens or legally entitled to work in Canada, and have completed a post-secondary program at a college or university.

Phase II of the program begins in April 2008. If your organization is interested in hosting one or more Interns for the next 26-week phase, contact the Internship and Public Affairs Co-ordinator, Audrey Aczel-Castillo at: 1.888.745-5521 x24 or acastillo@ontario.coop.

More information is available at: www.ontario.coop/Interns.

Social Economy Centre (SEC) Lunchbox Speaker Series, November 28

2007-11-20T15:34:00.000-05:00

The Social Economy Centre of the University of Toronto invites you to the next event in its speaker series on Wednesday, November 28th: "Social Purpose Business for Persons with Psychiatric and Developmental Handicaps” with Carolyn Lemon (Board Member, Common Ground Co-operative), Laurie Hall (Executive Director, AWAY Express) and John Trainor (Director, Community Support and Research Unit, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health). The event will also be webcast live on the Internet. Please see the SEC website for detailed instructions at http://sec.oise.utoronto.ca/english/lectures.php.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
University of Toronto
252 Bloor St. West, Room 12-199
Toronto

Co-Operative Young Leaders 2008

2007-11-20T15:18:00.000-05:00

Approximately 500 young people have gone through the Co-operative Young Leaders (CYL) program since it began 40 years ago. Your participation in this unique youth leadership and self-confidence building experience ensures that our sector continues to develop the next generation of co-operative leaders.

CYL summer 2008 dates announced. Registration will begin in early 2008. More details will be posted to www.ontario.coop/CYL shortly.

     Junior (A): June 28 - July 5. (B): July 5 - July 12. (C): July 12 - July 19
     Intermediate (A): July 19 - July 26. (B): July 26 - August 2
     Senior (A): August 9 - August 16. (B): August 16 - August 23

Remember CYL when creating your annual budget.   On Co-op encourages all Ontario co-operatives and credit unions to take part in the CYL program: (1) Sponsor one or more young people from your organization to attend a week of camp; (2) Become a corporate sponsor, and support an entire week of CYL - providing supplies and keeping camp costs affordable for all participants; (3) Send a staff or board member as a guest speaker or a week-long Facilitator. Contact us for all the details: e-mail youth@ontario.coop or call 519.763.8271.

You can help get the Co-operative Development Initiative renewed

2007-11-20T15:12:00.000-05:00

Canada’s two national co-op associations have developed a proposal that will use co-operatives as a way to meet many of today’s federal policy challenges. The Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA) and Conseil Canadien de la Coopération (CCC) want to renew and expand their current Co-operative Development Initiative (CDI) partnership with the federal government, which is set to end on March 31, 2008.

CCA, CCO, and their partners (including On Co-op) are looking for your support in helping get this important initiative renewed. Co-ops, credit unions and co-op sector supporters are urged to contact Secretary of State Christian Paradis and Agriculture & Agri-Food Minister Gerry Ritz to let them know how important it is to renew and expand the Co-operative Development Initiative.

Use the tools and resources at www.CoopsCanada.coop/CDI to: Access sample letters to the Minister and Secretary of State (Agriculture), and to create an auto e-mail to your MP.

Harness the Power of Co-operation: A new Co-operative Development Initiative for Canada was presented to Secretary of State (Agriculture) Christian Paradis by CCA President Dave Sitaram and CCC President Michel Rouleau during a visit to CCA’s offices on September 10, 2007. Download a copy of the proposal at http://www.CoopsCanada.coop/CDI.

Canadian Worker Cooperative Federation (CWCF) AGM/Conference 2007: Worker Co-ops and Community Sustainability

2007-11-13T12:09:00.000-05:00

Thursday, November 22nd to Saturday, November 24th, 2007
Ancaster, Ont. (near Hamilton), Canterbury Hills Conference Centre

For more information: http://www.coopzone.coop/files/ConfProgram12Nov07.doc

Workshop Nov 30/07: Greening your Organization So Everyone Wins

2007-11-06T11:19:00.000-05:00

The Social Economy Centre is running a new workshop series/certificate on cutting edge issues affecting the social economy during the Fall 2007 and Winter/Spring 2008. The next workshop will be led by Paula Anderson from Peterborough Green-Up, on 'Greening your Organization So Everyone Wins', on November 30, 2007.

For more information, go to http://socialeconomy.utoronto .ca and click on Workshops/Certificate, or contact Lisa White, Workshop Co-ordinator at secworkshops@oise.utoronto.ca

Youth Reinventing Co-operatives Book Volume II Call for Submissions Due December 5, 2007

2007-11-03T12:18:00.000-04:00

GET PUBLISHED!
MAKE YOUR CO-OP KNOWN AROUND THE WORLD!
HELP OTHERS ESTABLISH THEIR CO-OPS!

After the wonderful feedback from the first youth book, a second volume is now underway. Please submit your stories of youth co-ops today. We want your stories and pictures (lots of pictures)!!!

- Download Call for Submissions in English
- Download Call for Submissions in Spanish

Email youthco@uvic.ca if you have any questions, comments, or stories.

Please read all the information on submission guidelines and email us with your stories, resources and pictures. Don't miss out!
Submission guidelines, case study templates and more info >>

ANSER/ARES: New Voluntary Sector and Social Economy Research Association in Canada

2007-10-19T18:53:00.000-04:00

A new voluntary sector and social economy research association is being launched in Canada.

The association will be called ANSER - Association for Nonprofit and Social Economy Research/ ARES - Association de recherche des organismes sans but lucratif et de l'économie sociale. This Canadian association is for those who have an interest in research that pertains broadly to nonprofit organizations and the social economy.

ANSER is working to:
• build a collaborative community of scholars and researchers; and
• to develop a Canadian body of knowledge that encompasses such fields as community economic development, philanthropy, nonprofits management, volunteering, social and environmental accounting, government/voluntary sector relationships, social movements, citizen engagement, and civil society.

The first inaugural ANSER-ARES conference will be part of the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences 2008 from June 4-6, 2008 at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

For more information, see the Web site: http://www.anser-ares.ca

CANADIAN CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATION SEEKS INNOVATORS IN CO-OPERATIVE GOVERNANCE

2007-10-18T13:52:00.000-04:00

The Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA) launched today a call for entries for its inaugural Innovation in Co-operative Governance Awards.

These awards will recognize governance innovation and excellence in co-operatives and credit unions across Canada. The awards seek to showcase the movement’s strengths in the area of governance and provide the opportunity for co-op and credit union boards to learn from each other.

CCA established a Good Governance Committee in early 2007 and tasked them with the dual objectives of overseeing the development of governance indicators to measure effective and distinctive co-operative governance, and to oversee the awards process. The Committee is comprised of leading governance academics, experts, regulators and serving board members from the co-operative and credit union system.

“We know, as a system, that our governance practices and processes are some of the most robust in Canada and by benchmarking our practices we can continue to strengthen them further,” says CCA President Dave Sitaram. “The excellent work put in by the Good Governance Committee and CCA staff has created a robust framework to measure excellence and innovation across our system. I urge directors and managers alike to support these Awards and submit an application.”

The Awards criteria are based on three factors: overall governance excellence; effective co-operative governance practices; and innovation in governance. Applicants will be required to complete a questionnaire on their co-op’s/credit unions’ governance practices. The questionnaire responses are used by the judges to benchmark selected indicators of co-operative governance as part of the evaluation process.

The awards are broken down by category – Large, Medium and Small – and are based on membership numbers.

The closing date for applications is January 31, 2008.

The winners will be announced at the CCA Annual General Meeting in Winnipeg in June 2008.

For further details on how to apply and the Awards Guidance Notes please go to CCA’s dedicated governance website – www.governance.coop.

The Canadian Co-operative Association is a national association for co-operatives in Canada, representing more than seven million co-operative and credit union members from over 2,000 organizations. CCA members come from many sectors of the economy, including finance, insurance, agri-food and supply, wholesale and retail, housing, health and the service sector. CCA provides leadership to promote, develop, and unite co-operatives and credit unions for the benefit of people in Canada and around the world.

7th annual Co-op Conference and Gala now spans two days - October 16 and 17, 2007

2007-09-28T19:34:00.000-04:00

Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington ON

October 16-17, 2007

The 7th annual Co-op Conference and Gala now spans two days - October 16 and 17. At 9am, October 17th, join Kathy Bardswick, CEO of The Co-operators as she discusses sustainability, innovation and the co-op principles. Following a networking break, participants may choose from one of five workshops: M1 - How can your co-op do a social audit; M2 - Co-op leadership in Canada; M3 - Co-operation and innovation at the regional level; M4 - How are co-ops adapting to change?; and M5 - the Funders Forum, an invitation-only session for organizations with an interest in funding and financing CED and co-op development.

After lunch, participants will attend an interactive plenary session, and then choose from five additional workshops. A cocktail reception and the Spirit Recognition Awards ceremony completes the day. This is the third year the conference will be held at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington ON. A tour of some of the region's most interesting co-ops; and four professional development sessions, presented by CUSOURCE Knowledge Network, take place October 16. All activities support the conference theme of 'Building Up, Moving Forward.' Learn more about the conference, and register online at www.ontario.coop/Gala. Sessions are quickly filling up.

Deadline to register is October 10, 2007.

Community Development Society (CDS) Annual International Conference, June 22-25, 2008 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

2007-09-25T17:07:00.000-04:00

Theme: Conversation, Collaboration and Democracy: Creative Community Engagement

The annual CDS conference provides an opportunity for students,
practitioners, researchers, and policymakers to share experiences,
expertise, and/or research findings on strategies to improve the
process and practice of community development. The Program Planning
Committee will accept Abstracts for proposed presentations for the
2008 Conference. Researchers, academics, and policy makers are
strongly encouraged to partner with practitioners on the submission
of abstracts and presentation of sessions.

The "Call for Papers" is available from www.comm-dev.org

Deadline for Submission of Abstracts is October 31, 2007

Student Workshop on the Social Economy

2007-09-13T23:05:00.000-04:00

In Association with the 1st International CIRIEC Research Conference on the Social Economy

Victoria, British Columbia – A pre-conference student Workshop on the Social Economy (SE) is scheduled to take place at the University of Victoria on Monday, October 22, 2007. This Workshop is open to any student (graduate or undergraduate) interested in the Social Economy. The Workshop will be a fun, interactive, student-led event, based around several “themed” presentations designed to enhance students’ research skills and expose them to methodologies for conducting Social Economy-based research. It will also facilitate information-sharing, networking and community-building through the use of breakout sessions and informal round-table dialogue and discussion. The Workshop offers participants a chance to get to know other students working in the SE field and to connect to one another by joining the Social Economy Student Network. [ http://www.graduate.socialeconomy.info/ ]

The Workshop builds upon the networks and linkages which were established among the participants of the Student Community-Based Research Workshop held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on May 28, 2007.

The Workshop is free to those students who are registered for the CIRIEC conference and a small $25 fee will be administered to non-registered students to help cover costs associated with holding the Workshop. Food and refreshments for the day will be served to participants at no cost.

For more information and to register for the Workshop please visit: http://conference.se-es.ca/?page_id=122

For conference information visit: http://www.conference.se-es.ca/

CONTACT:
Janel Smith, Social Economy Student Network and Workshop Coordinator
Canadian Social Economy Hub
Fax (250) 472-4541
studentnet@socialeconomy.info

Social Economy Centre Half-Day Workshop: BOARD-MANAGEMENT RELATIONS

2007-08-29T09:31:00.000-04:00

BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN THE IDEAL AND REALITY IN THE GOVERANCE OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS
Friday, September 21, 2007 - 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

Workshop leader: VIC MURRAY, Adjunct Professor, School of Public Administration, University of Victoria

Vic Murray is an internationally renowned scholar and specializes in the study of voluntary sector organizations of all types with particular emphasis on the areas of board governance, strategic planning, inter-organizational collaboration and the assessment of organizational effectiveness. He is also an active consultant in these areas and is the driving force behind the Volunteer Sector Knowledge Network project.

As part of the Social Economy Centre’s 2007-2008 offerings, Dr. Murray will present a workshop exploring the “stubborn paradox in the governance of community organizations by their boards of directors.” This workshop will also offer participants the opportunity to examine solutions for bridging the gap between the ideal and the real-world experience in the governance of community organizations.

For years, books, articles, web-sites and consultants have been offering all kinds of advice on how boards ought to operate and relate to the organizations they govern. Yet many boards have a very difficult time living up to these ideals or choose not to even try. Why is this? Is it the fault of the boards and managers? Or is it possible that the advice itself is not always what is needed?

Join us in this workshop to:

• Explore the gaps between the ideal and reality in board governance
• Learn how to develop ways of bringing the ideal and reality closer together
• Learn how to use contingency-based analysis and tailored board development approaches

FORMAT: An interactive workshop with opportunities to ask questions and tailor the information to your own organization.

DATE: Friday, September 21, 2007 - 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

COST: $100 + GST; Each additional participant from the same organization will receive a $15 discount.

LOCATION: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, room 5-175
252 Bloor Street West, Toronto (St. George subway station).

To register, click here or for more information contact Lisa White at: secworkshops@oise.utoronto.ca

Please note; space is reserved in these workshops on a first-come, first-served basis.

2007-08 Social Economy Certificate/Workshop Series

2007-08-17T16:08:00.000-04:00

The Social Economy Centre (SEC) of the University of Toronto is pleased to offer its 2007-08 workshop series. These half-day workshops (9 am to noon) can be taken individually or applied towards a Certificate (requires completion of 5 or more workshops).

Download poster of workshops

September 21, 2007: BOARD-MANAGEMENT RELATIONS: Bridge the gap between the ideal and reality in the governance of community organizations. Full description.
Workshop Leader: Vic Murray, University of Victoria

October 26: ROCK PAPER SCISSORS: Gain insights and enhance your strategies for voluntary sector/government relations. Full description.
Workshop Leader: Peter Elson, University of Toronto

November 30: GREEN YOUR ORGANIZATION SO EVERYONE WINS!: Turn your organization in a sustainable direction – environmentally, economically and socially. Full description.
Workshop Leaders: Paula Anderson, Manager, Waste Reduction Program, Peterborough Green-Up; and Sue McGregor-Hunter, Executive Director, Peterborough Green-Up

January 30, 2008: NON-PROFITS AND EMERGING INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES : Explore ways internet-mediated technology can add value to your organization. Full description.
Workshop Leader: Sherida Ryan, University of Toronto

February 29 , 2008: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN NON-PROFITS AND OTHER COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS: Develop progressive human resource management practices for non-profit organizations. Full description.
Workshop Leader: Kunle Akingbola, University of Toronto

March 28: SOCIAL ACCOUNTING FOR NON-PROFITS AND CO-OPERATIVES: Learn how to account for volunteer value in your organization. Full description.
Workshop Leaders: Laurie Mook, University of Toronto; Jack Quarter, University of Toronto; B.J. Richmond, York University; and Eric Plato, Frontier College

April 25: STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR NON-PROFITS, CO-OPERATIVES AND OTHER COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS: Discover how to develop a strategic plan that really works! Full description.
Workshop Leader: Jane Garthson, Garthson Leadership Centre

May 30: MENTORING IN NON-PROFITS: Learn how the Mentors Circle can add value to your organization. Full description.
Workshop Leader: Elizabeth Verwey, Small Office Mentors

June 20: COLLABORATION THROUGH CO-LOCATION: STRATEGIES FOR SHARING RESOURCES: Explore how organizations can work together to achieve greater efficiency and build a sense of community. Full description.
Workshop Leader: Eli Malinsky, Centre for Social Innovation

To register, click here.

For more information contact Lisa White at: secworkshops@oise.utoronto.ca

Please note; space is reserved in these workshops on a first-come, first-served basis.

Cost: $100 + GST for the first workshop, and $85 + GST for subsequent workshops. A Certificate is awarded for 5 or more courses.

Location: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, 252 Bloor St. W., Toronto, Ontario (St. George subway station)

Invitation to "Voluntary Sector Capacity Building Workshop," October 2-4, 2007

2007-08-14T22:58:00.000-04:00

The Ontario Council for International Cooperation (OCIC) welcomes registration of 20 representatives of eligible Ontario-based Canadian organizations to attend the next VSF initiative in Toronto, October 2nd-4th, 2007.

This workshop is open to Canadian civil society organizations and professional associations active in international development. Membership in OCIC is not a requirement, and Universities and Colleges and representatives from the Private Sector are not eligible. Participants must represent a civil society organization or professional association, and must be eligible to apply for the Voluntary Sector Fund (VSF) (please visit www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/vsf for full eligibility criteria).

This training will be conducted in English. Travel subsidies and accommodation will be provided to participants required to travel from a distance. A per diem allowance will be provided to eligible participants to enable them to participate fully in this training opportunity.

As registration is limited to 20 participants, only one representative per organization may attend. Preference will be given to organizations that have not already participated in this training initiative. As registration will be taken on a first-come, first serve basis, potential registrants are advised to request a registration form by email to Stephanie at admin@ocic.on.ca.

Green Communities Canada seeks a Director of Business Development

2007-07-20T11:32:00.000-04:00

Green Communities Canada seeks a Director of Business Development to help us capitalize on ever-expanding opportunities to grow and improve our programs. GCC is a national association of non-profit organizations that deliver innovative, practical environmental solutions to Canadian households and communities. (See: http://www.greencommunitiescana da.org.)

This is a new position. We are offering an initial one-year contract, which is expected to lead to permanent employment.

Salary to be negotiated.

The successful candidate will be highly entrepreneurial, with excellent skills in business planning and development, proposal-writing, presentations, relationship-building, and deal-making. We are looking for an individual who shares our passion for delivering environmental programs and services that promote personal action and community change. Knowledge of environmental matters and Green Communities a strong asset. Bilingualism a bonus.

The Director of Development will work as a member of a dynamic team that includes GCC staff and member organizations, and must be available for frequent meetings at the Peterborough headquarters of Green Communities Canada, as well as meetings in Toronto, Ottawa, and elsewhere as required.

Activities will include business planning, strategy development, business development, partnership development,

and proposal development for government and foundation requests. All areas of Green Communities work are likely to be involved, including our programs in the areas of walking and sustainable transportation, water protection, and home energy, as well organizational capacity development and efforts to expand the Green Communities network and partnerships across Canada. Priorities and a workplan will be established.

This position reports to the Executive Director.

Submit a cover letter and resume to info@greencommunitiescanada.org.

Common Ground Co-operative Appeal for Board Members and Staff

2007-06-22T15:31:00.000-04:00

Common Ground Co-operative, Toronto, Ontario is seeking volunteer board members who are successful innovators and who have a wide range of community contacts. We place high value on skills and experience in small business development, social enterprise and fundraising. We also are on the lookout for candidates, with similar assets to these, for a paid full-time Executive Director position in the near future. Prospective board members should have a good understanding of board governance, especially with regard to co-operatives.

Common Ground is a non-profit charitable organization that supports four thriving social enterprises, organized as food sector business partnerships among people with intellectual challenges in Toronto. This unique model of employment, established over the past decade, engages more than fifty people with challenges as long-term business partners, income earners, and registered owners and operators of a food catering company called Lemon & Allspice Cookery and three snack bars, known as the Coffee Sheds. They are assisted by job coaches who are paid by the Co-op. Our website is www.commongroundco-op.ca.

Why Common Ground makes this special appeal
Common Ground has been the grateful recipient over the past nine years of extensive in-kind and volunteer support of community agencies, and people associated with them, who have traditionally provided programmes to people with intellectual challenges. Staff and families who have been associated with the agencies testify to the value of what Common Ground is doing. We are now seeking to diversify our eleven-person board by adding people from other sectors of the community who have strong ties to the co-operative and social economy movements and want to help ensure that marginalized groups have access to the new approaches to employment that are being developed.

It is crucial that we seek out and find people who are familiar with the world of small business, and social enterprise and the kind of empowerment that comes to any group when they are given the opportunity to make decisions and have some control over their workplaces and their lives. New perspectives are especially important in light of Common Ground’s plans to expand its work through replication of this alternative model of employment.

Contact Carolyn Lemon at carolynlemon@sympatico.ca if you, or someone you know, finds our Co-op’s future development an attractive prospect.

Circulation of this announcement within the groups and organizations that you represent will be appreciated.

Pending reform of the Ontario Corporations Act regarding non-profits

2007-06-15T14:45:00.001-04:00

The Ministry of Government Services is undertaking a project to review and reform the Ontario Corporations Act (CA). The purpose of the project is to develop a new legal framework to govern the structure and activities of charities and not-for-profit corporations. Comments are requested by July 31, 2007, on broad issues relating to new not-for-profit legislation, including the following:

* Structure of a new not-for-profit Act
* Incorporation process
* Definition of not-for-profit corporation
* Classification system
* Corporate powers and capacity
* Other issues: directors' liability, financial disclosure, members' remedies.

To access a PDF version of the consultation document and for more information, see http://www.gov.on.ca/MGS/en/AbtMin/132784.html

April Social Economy HUB Tele-learning Session: Policies in Québec and Manitoba

2007-06-15T14:44:00.000-04:00

How has Community Economic Development (CED) policy evolved into a larger social economy agenda? How could it evolve in the future? To explore the answers to these questions and more, join John Loxley, from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, and Shauna MacKinnon from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, in this exciting telelearning session. To download the entire telelearning session, see http://www.socialeconomynetwork.ca/hub/?page_id=324

Eighth International Conference of the International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) and Second EMES European Research Network Conference

2007-06-15T14:41:00.000-04:00

Conference Title: The Third Sector and Sustainable Social Change: New Frontiers for Research
Date: July 9-12, 2008
Deadline for the submission of abstracts for papers: October 15, 2007
Location: University of Barcelona, Spain
Type of Participants: Social economy researchers and practitioners
More information: http://www.istr.org

CreateAction CED Work Experience Program

2007-06-15T14:32:00.000-04:00

The Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet) is recruiting candidates for four internships through its highly successful CreateAction Work Experience Program. CreateAction is the only pan-Canadian internship program that enables young post-graduates to gain community economic development experience in their own communities. Persons living with a disability and Aboriginal people are encouraged to apply.

To view the job postings click here.

FAIR TRADE, CORPORATIONS AND THE SOCIAL ECONOMY

2007-05-01T17:07:00.000-04:00

PANEL: BILL BARRETT, PLANET BEAN COFFEE
GAVIN FRIDELL, TRENT UNIVERSITY
GRAEME HUSSEY, KARMA CO-OP

Wednesday, May 16, 2007
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm.

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto
252 Bloor St. West, Toronto
Room 12-199

While the Fair Trade movement was originally an exclusively social economy movement, there has been increasing participation by traditional businesses, most notably large corporations, in recent years. Some would suggest that this increased participation by corporations has been a good development as it has contributed significantly to the movement’s tremendous growth. Others are less sanguine about the role that corporations have been playing, suggesting that it is altering the nature of Fair Trade and perhaps undermining its long term survival. This panel will examine the current state of Fair Trade in Canada, especially the opportunities that Fair Trade present for social economy actors and the challenges that corporate involvement in Fair Trade create for them.

Bill Barrett has been involved in importing, roasting and selling fair trade organic coffee since 1998. He is currently one of the owners of Planet Bean Coffee a worker co-op coffee roastery located in Guelph. Bill has nearly two decades of experience working in the social justice and ecology movements. This experience informs how he approaches business and economic development. He has had an opportunity to visit several of the co-ops which grow Planet Bean's coffee and film and interview the people involved in those organizations to gage the impact fair trade has on their lives.

Gavin Fridell is an Assistant Professor of Politics at Trent University. He is the author of Fair Trade Coffee: The Prospects and Pitfalls of Market-Driven Social Justice (University of Toronto Press: 2007), and has current and forthcoming articles in the Canadian Journal of Development Studies, Historical Materialism, the Journal of Academic Ethics, the Journal of Business Ethics, and Latin American
Perspectives.

Graeme Hussey is a firm believer in the power of values-based enterprises to drive social change. Currently, he is the General Manager of Karma Co-op, Toronto’s only consumer-owned retail grocery store. Graeme volunteers as the board president of the Ontario Natural Food Co-operative, board advisor to the Canadian Students’ Fair Trade Network, and was a participant in the Maytree Foundation’s Leaders for Change program. He is a former research analyst of Jantzi Research Inc., Canada’s leading social investment research company. Graeme has an educational background in environmental engineering and international project management.

Bring your lunch and a mug; coffee, tea and water will be provided. For more information, go to http://sec.oise.utoronto.ca/english/lectures.php

To RSVP, or for more information, contact Sherap Winn at swinn@oise.utoronto.ca or (416) 923-6641, ext. 2087.

Social Economy Centre Symposium

2007-04-30T21:07:00.000-04:00

Posted from Ontario Co-op News, April 30, 2007

The second annual Social Economy Symposium, held April 26-27, 2007, brought together researchers, academics and community partners to discuss cutting-edge research issues facing the social economy. Sessions included Mapping the Social Economy in Ontario (including presentations on the On Co-op co-operative and credit union census), The Impact of the Co-operative Model on Minority Francophones, Ontario's Mandatory Community Service Program and its Impact in Introducing Students to the Social Economy, and The Ontario We Want and the Role of the Social Economy in Building It. To learn more about the role of co-ops and credit unions in the Social Economy, or to find out more about the Symposium, visit http://socialeconomy.utoronto.ca

Le Forum national sur l'investissement communautaire et la responsabilité sociale des entreprises (RSE)

2007-04-30T17:22:00.000-04:00

INSCRIVEZ-VOUS DÈS MAINTENANT, pour obtenir les meilleurs prix et pour obtenir l’hébergement (l’hôtel ou l’université) de votre choix. Nous nous attendons à votre participation à cette excellente occasion, entre autres, pour bâtir le Réseau national en RSE pour les coopératives et les caisses populaires, ainsi que le Réseau de CoopZone. En plus que d’excellentes occasions d’apprentissages, des déliberations importantes sur la création d’un Réseau national en RSE pour les coopératives et les caisses populaires, ainsi que sur l’avenir de CoopZone, auront lieu à ce Forum.

Tous les détails sur le Forum sont disponibles au “www.coopzone.coop” à la page d’accueil, sous le titre “Les Possibilités de formation”; voir “CSR Forum Brochure(Fren).pdf”. De l’aide financière est disponible (veuillez vous inscrire le plus tôt possible pour être éligible; les prochaines demandes d’aide financière seront considérées le 1er mai). La date limite pour s’inscrire au Forum est le 2 MAI.

Inscription: www.rseforum07.com. Cela ne prend que deux minutes!

Corporate Social Responsibility & CoopZone Forum

2007-04-30T17:18:00.000-04:00

A National Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Community Investment Forum

Members of co-operatives, credit unions, co-op developers and all involved in the social economy are invited to an exciting event called “Working Together to Make a Difference”. This will be a Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility, Community Investment combined with CoopZone meetings. The Forum registration deadline has been extended to MAY 2ND.

REGISTER NOW - to secure the best rates and ensure the hotel or university accommodation of your choice. Looking forward to your participation in this exciting Forum, and in building the National CSR Network for Co-operatives and Credit Unions, as well as the CoopZone Developers’ Network. In addition to excellent learning opportunities, important deliberations on creating a National CSR Network for co-ops and credit unions, as well as on the future of the CoopZone Developers’ Network, will be held at this Forum.

All Forum details are available at: www.coopzone.coop, home page, under "Training Opportunities". Or, simply click on this link: and see "CSR Registration Brochure.pdf". Financial assistance is available (please register asap to be eligible; the next round of financial assistance applications will be considered on May 1st).

Register now at www.csrforum07.com. It only takes about 2 minutes to register!

Edmonton tax dollars to fund social enterprises

2007-04-30T16:28:00.000-04:00

Edmonton City Council agreed last week to bankroll a fund that would lend money to businesses whose profits go to worthy social causes. Council will give $1.8 million to the Social Enterprise Fund this year, with the possibility for another $1.8 million next year. The city's seed financing will be matched by the Edmonton Community Foundation, The Edmonton Real Estate Board has also promised to invest money. The fund will establish a $10.5-million endowment to finance socially beneficial businesses that might not qualify for loans from banks. For more information, visit: http://www.edmonton.ca

The Social Economy Centre (OISE/UT) Lunchbox Speakers' Series: Corporate Social Responsibility. Wednesday, April 25th, 2007 at 12:00 noon

2007-04-10T15:29:00.000-04:00

Corporate Social Responsibility: The Paths Taken by Two Ontario Credit Unions

Panel: Scott Windsor, Meridian Credit Union and Kimberley Ney, Alterna Savings
Moderator: Denyse Guy, Executive Director, Ontario Co-operative Association
Wednesday, April 25, 2007, 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm.
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto
252 Bloor St. West, Toronto
Room 12-199

Scott Windsor of Meridian Credit Union and Kimberley Ney of Alterna Savings and Credit Union discuss Corporate Responsibility from their credit union perspectives. Scott will discuss the challenges of implementing a new CSR program following his organization's corporate merger. He will focus on the development of Meridian's Good Neighbour Program and the formation and implementation of the credit union's CSR, sponsorship and donation programs. Kimberley will present Alterna Savings' initiatives in community economic development and its role in shaping financial literacy, corporate accountability and environmental sustainability programs. She will share Alterna's perspective on philanthropy, including some unique "twists." Denyse Guy, Executive Director of the Ontario Cooperative Association, will moderate the session.

This event will be webcast and we will accept questions via e-mail from remote participants. Go to the following webpage for detailed instructions to set up for and view the webcast:

Bring your lunch and a mug; coffee, tea and water will be provided. To RSVP, or for more information, go to or contact Sherap Winn at or (416) 923-6641, extension 2087

Mark you calendars, other sessions will include: May 16 - Fair Trade
For more information, visit http://sec.oise.utoronto.ca/english/lectures.php.

The role of community-based green co-operatives in advancing sustainable development and energy literacy: Tuesday April 10, 2007

2007-04-09T20:56:00.000-04:00

Community Development Collaborative Program (UT), Transformative Learning Centre, Social Economy Centre and Adult Education and Community Development Program (OISE/UT) present:

‘Part of the Solution’ The role of community-based green co-operatives in advancing sustainable development and energy literacy

Fiona Duguid, Ph.D.

WindShare Co-operative and OISE/University of Toronto

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

12.00-1.30 pm

OISE/UT, 252 Bloor St West, Room 7-162

After five years of development, WindShare Co-operative in Toronto, Ontario became the first urban wind turbine in North America and the first co-operatively owned and operated wind turbine in Canada. The development of WindShare Co-operative has spurred the growth of a green energy co-operative sector in Ontario. This presentation, which draws on 27 interviews and a focus group with members of WindShare Co-operative, focuses on the roles of community-based green energy co-operatives in advancing sustainable energy development and energy literacy. Members of WindShare expressed resounding feelings of pride, efficacy and understanding of WindShare’s role in sustainable energy. WindShare Co-operative provided the structure whereby members felt a part of the solution in terms of sustainable energy development. From this study it was found that policies and practices at all levels of government should encourage the advancement of green energy co-operatives to support Canada’s efforts at public involvement in addressing climate change.

Fiona Duguid has completed her Ph.D. in the Adult Education department at the Ontario Institute for the Study of Education, University of Toronto. Her research looks at sustainable energy development through green energy co-operatives. She is working with WindShare Co-operative and with the Toronto Renewable Energy Co-operative

Social Economy Centre half-day workshops for social economy organizations

2007-04-04T19:43:00.000-04:00

OISE Workshop – May 29, morning seminar
The Mentors Circle, Clear your path to growth
Learn this new model to collaborate with others in a co-mentoring program. This half-day session will introduce key templates and exercises that help you to grow your organization. You will gather new ideas and resources to help clear your path.

Elizabeth Verwey, from Small Office Mentors will facilitate this half-day session. Elizabeth was the founding Director of New Development for Performers for Literacy. She will share information, resources and encourage groups to collaborate in new and innovative ways.

Material from The Mentors Circle will be used in this session. www.mentorscircle.com

For more information, send an email to sec@oise.utoronto.ca

Special Panel Discussion: Towards a Canadian community-based research network?

2007-04-04T19:27:00.000-04:00

Towards a Canadian community-based research network?
April 12, 2007
4-6 pm
Room 7-105 OISE/UT
252 Bloor Street West, Toronto (St. George Subway stop)

Community-based research (CBR) is experiencing a new wave of energy in Universities across Canada. Building on traditions of participatory research, feminist research, anti-oppressive research, SSHRC and other research councils such as Canadian Institutes for Health Research now fund various forms of CBR. There have been two large meetings in Canada on Community University Partnerships, Policy, and Progress (Cuexpo 2003 and 2005), with a third planned for May of 2008. There is a growing interest in more intentional networking across the country. Should this be done? How can it be done? What pre/cautions need to be taken into account? What are the existing building blocks? What can be learned from others?.

Panel Members

Pramila Aggarwal, Community Worker Program, George Brown College
Sarah Flicker, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University
Budd L Hall, Office of CBR, University of Victoria
Ted Jackson, Centre for Community Innovation, Carleton University
Peter Levesque, Knowledge Mobilisation Project
Sarena Seifer, Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, University of Washington

Co-chairs:

D’arcy Martin (Centre for the Study of Education and Work) and
Daniel Schugurensky (Transformative Learning Centre)

Co-Sponsors:
Centre for the Study of Education and Work, Transformative Learning Centre, Ontario HIV Treatment Network, and Community Development Collaborative Program

Corporate Social Responsibility and Community Investment Forum: May 15- 17, 2007.

2007-04-04T19:24:00.001-04:00

2nd Annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Community Investment Forum, May 15- 17, 2007, Guelph, ON.

Organized by a steering committee of credit union and co-operative representatives, including Credit Union Central of Canada, the Canadian Co-operative Association, Canadian Community Investment Network Co-op and CoopZone following the first successful 2006 Forum.

Details will be available shortly. Contact Miruna Nichita for registration information.

Co-operative Development: Harness the Hidden Potential: June 26-29, 2007

2007-04-04T19:18:00.000-04:00

National Congress and Canadian Co-operative Association and Newfoundland-Labrador Federation of Co-operatives AGMs, St. John’s, NL.

Through a range of interactive and participative keynote presentations, plenary discussions and workshops, the Congress sessions will explore what co-operative development means and how the system can look to build a lasting legacy for the communities it serves. As part of the broader discussions over the three days, sessions will include dialogue and learning exchanges focusing on leadership and movement-building strategies from a global, national and local perspective.

For more information, go to www.CoopsCanada.coop/Congress2007.

The three-week program Co-op Studies program in Vancouver and Bologna

2007-04-04T17:00:00.001-04:00

Bologna Summer Program for Co-operative Studies, 2007
June 25 - July 29 – SFU, Vancouver Sessions
July 2 - July 13 – University of Bologna, Italy

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

We are very pleased to inform you of the upcoming Bologna Summer Program for Co-operative Studies for 2007, and we invite you to explore this unique opportunity to pursue advanced level co-op studies in one of the world's most elegant cities. Bologna, world renowned for its exquisite cuisine and quality of life, is also at the heart of one of the world's most advanced co-operative economies.

The Bologna Summer Program for Co-operative Studies for 2007 gathers together outstanding scholars and leaders in the co-operative movements of both Italy and Canada to deliver a unique blend of co-operative theory and practical experience to program participants.

The program will offer graduate level instruction and, although will not require an undergraduate degree for admission, will be geared to those with substantial professional experience in the co-operative or community economic development fields.

The Bologna Summer Program offers both credit and certificate streams, and will combine co-operative studies with site visits and a study tour of the region's co-operative economy. It is also intended for students of co-op and CED studies who are prepared to work at advanced levels of study.

For additional information visit http://www.bcca.coop/ or contact Michael Zelmer at the BC Co-op Association 604.662.3906.

The Bologna Summer Program for Co-operative Studies is jointly sponsored by the BC Co-operative Association, Vancity, and the Faculty of Economics, University of Bologna

MARK YOUR CALENDARS - Building Sustainable Co-op Futures: May 23-26, 2007

2007-04-04T16:05:00.001-04:00

The 5th Annual International Building Sustainable Co-op Futures conference is being held in Guelph, Ontario, Canada on May 23-26, 2007 on the University of Guelph Campus.

For more information, or to register visit www.ontario.coop/BCF or contact tbritton@ontario.coop

Todd Britton
Event Planner
Ontario Co-operative Association
450 Speedvale Ave., West, Suite 202
Guelph, On., N1H 7Y6
Ph: 519-763-8271, x31
Toll Free: 1-888-745-5521
Email tbritton@ontario.coop
Web: www.ontario.coop