English – Page 96 – Canadian CED Network

Staff at the Nunavut Anti-Poverty Secretariat and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. recently sent out the first edition of a new e-newsletter which tracks the progress of the Nunavut Poverty Reduction Action Plan.

The Roundtable is a gathering place for the various Nunavut organizations involved with poverty reduction in the territory. Partners include the Nunavut Literacy Council and the Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre, and municipal governments, businesses, labour unions and ordinary citizens.

For more information or to get on the mailing list for this great newsletter, contact

North-South CED Partnerships – Examples from Bolivia and Nepal

Wednesday, February 16th 2011, 12:00pm Eastern

Register TODAY and join us to hear about great examples of innovative CED partnerships between Canadian organizations and partners around the world.

BACKGROUND

Over the years, Canadian CED practitioners have developed partnerships with organisations in a wide range of developing countries. This session will present the challenges and rewards of two innovative partnerships, the benefits for Canadian practitioners, and how others can get involved.

Empowering Women with Microcredit – the Bolivian Communal Bank and Haida Gwaii Community Futures
Bolivian micro finance institutions and Canadian CED organizations, such as Canadian Crossroads International, FONCRESOL (Solidarity Credit Fund) and Haida Gwaii Community Futures, are working in solidarity to build and support sustainable livelihoods in rural and disadvantaged communities. The Bolivian Communal Bank concept will be used to illustrate the practice of shared learning, expanding CED knowledge by sharing expertise and experience through exchanges between Canada and Bolivia.

Community Forestry in Nepal and British Columbia
Community forestry is happening in every forested country in the world. It is a system that acknowledges that local forests have long served as a source of water, food supplies livelihoods, living space, recreation, and inspiration for rural people. Nowhere has the community forestry movement taken hold in a greater way than in Nepal. The Nepali approach to community forestry has evolved over nearly 30 years out of a desire to devolve control to local people over the land and resources surrounding their communities. This presentation will tell the story of ongoing collaboration between the British Columbia Community Forestry Association and the Federation of Community Forestry Users-Nepal.

SPEAKERS:
• Art Lew, is the General Manager of Haida Gwaii Community Futures
• Mary Pullen, is the Program Officer, Sustainable Livelihoods – Bolivia, at Canadian Crossroads International
• Susan Mulkey is the Manager of Communication and Extension, with the BC Community Forest Association and served as a Uniterra volunteer in Nepal.

MODERATOR:
• Yvon Poirier, Chair of CCEDNet’s International Committee

CALL LOGISTICS:
• Session Date: Wednesday February 16th 2010
• Call begins at 12:00 pm Eastern time, 9:00 am Pacific time
• Call will be free of charge
• Register before February 15th to obtain dial-in information and additional resources
This session is in English only

REGISTRATION:
Register by phoning (819) 795 3056 # 224, or e-mailing with your name, location, and work or volunteer position. For more information about the Canadian CED Network, please visit: http://www.ccednet-rcdec.ca/

We suggest that organisations share this invitation to interested members.

Limited number of spaces available – Register soon!

Over the last two months, we have been increasing our presence in social media websites in order to better reach our members and others interested in CED and the social economy. This is an easy way for you to keep in touch and follow the latest daily news and resources.

You can also ask questions or share your own information and comments on our Facebook page, on Twitter or on our YouTube channel.

Facebook
Our Facebook Fan page was created to better communicate with your friends. So if you are on Facebook, visit and ‘like’ our page in order to see our updates. You can also post your resources, questions and comments! The new fan page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/CCEDNet. Hope to see you there!

Twitter
If you love tweets, you can also catch our daily Facebook updates through our Twitter account. Our Twitter page is https://twitter.com/CCEDNet_RCDEC

YouTube
On our YouTube channel, we post and ‘favourite’ interesting videos on CED and the social economy. You can see these videos by visiting our channel at https://www.youtube.com/. If you know of other YouTube videos on CED and the social economy that should be shared, please let us know, so we can ‘favourite’ them and share them with others.

The Canadian CED Network’s regional and national newsletters keep you informed about the Network’s activities as well as the work of our members. They are filled with interesting resources and new developments in CED.

The December 2010 National Newsletter is now available.

Click here to subscribe to future newsletters or to access the archive of past newsletters.

Within the framework of the organization of the 2011 International Forum on the Social and Solidarity Economy (FIESS) that will take place in October 2011 in Montreal, Canada, the organisers are currently looking for social economy and public policy actors to illustrate the five themes of the Forum.

1- FIESS- Territories and local development

2- FIESS- Innovation and collective entrepreneurship

3- FIESS- Solidarity finance and trade

4- FIESS- Work and employment

5- FIESS- Food security and sovereignty

The deadline for receiving proposals is January 10th 2011.

The objective of this selective call for proposals is to identify best practices, rather than to receive the largest number of proposals.

The programming objectives of the Forum are the following:

1. To highlight successful partnerships in the development of public policy. As such, organizers are particularly interested in the process that promotes the successful development of the social and solidarity economy and the nature of the collaborations between civil society and public authorities in this process.

2. To represent the experiences of key players in the social and solidarity economy from countries in the North and the South and their partners in government, labour movements, research institutes and international organizations. The Forum will give voice to all of the actors of this process, including practitioners in the social economy, government representatives and social organizations and researchers that collaborate closely with the social and solidarity economy.

3. To contribute to an inter-regional and international dialogue on the social and solidarity economy. The Forum will provide a platform to learn about best practices in many parts of the world. To provide a wide range of inspiring experiences, the program will select proposals to reflect both geographical and sectorial diversity throughout the workshops.

To submit a presentation proposal, please complete Call for proposals form and return it to Beatrice Alain () by January 10th. The preliminary program will be announced in February 2011.

Manitoba Excellence in Sustainability Awards 2010

BUILD – Action on Climate Change, Air Quality and Energy Efficiency Award
The Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation – Honourable Mention
Diversity Food Services – Education for Sustainability Award
Fresh Option Organic Delivery – Outstanding Achievement in Sustainability Award

Credit Union Central of Canada

Duane Nicol – Winner of the ‘Be the Voice’ 2010 Contest

Manitoba Co-operative Association Awards 2010

David Kerr – Cooperative Merit Award
Evan Bownes – Youth Leadership Award

The Manitoba Excellence in Sustainability Awards 2010

The Manitoba Excellence in Sustainability Awards honour people, projects and ideas that successfully turn the province’s principles and guidelines of sustainable development into concrete and lasting achievements. On November 25, four CCEDNet members and partners were acknowledged and celebrated for their contributions to building stronger, more sustainable communities.

Building Urban Industries for Local Development, Inc. (BUILD)

BUILD, a member of and nominated by CCEDNet, was presented with the Action on Climate Change, Air Quality and Energy Efficiency Award for its work in providing energy retrofits in lower income housing, and for improving overall socio-economic well-being by providing supportive training and employment opportunities for low-income individuals.

The Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation

The BNRC, also a CCEDNet member, received Honourable Mention for making measurable improvements in reducing greenhouse gases and increasing energy efficiency through its Brandon Energy Efficiency Program (BEEP) and the Community Led Emission Reduction (CLER) pilot project.

Diversity Food Services

Diversity Food Services was nominated by CCEDNet, and is partly owned by SEED Winnipeg, a CCEDNet member. Diversity received the Education for Sustainability Award for its work in training and employing inner-city residents, and its committment to using locally sourced, organic, and fair-trade ingredients in their nutritious and affordable menu.

Fresh Option Organic Delivery (FOOD)

FOOD received the Outstanding Achievement in Sustainability Award for working with local producers to strengthen Manitoba’s organic market and increase the sustainability of our food system. CCEDNet has proudly collaborated with FOOD on the Farm to Cafeteria Working Group, and other food policy initiatives.

Credit Union Central of Canada – Be the Voice Contest

For this year’s Be the Voice Contest, the National Young Leaders Committee challenged credit union leaders under 40 to submit their ideas on the next innovation opportunity in banking for the Canadian Credit Union System.

Duane Nicol

Duane Nicol is manager of corporate social responsibility at Assiniboine Credit Union, Deputy Mayor of Selkirk, and a CCEDNet member. His “radically simple” idea to make credit unions more convenient and flexible for their members has earned him the top prize in this year’s national Be the Voice Contest.

Click here to read his winning submission.

Manitoba Co-operative Association Awards

The Manitoba co-op movement annually recognizes individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the promotion of cooperative values and to the development and success of cooperatives serving Manitoba, Canada and internationally. This year, the following CCEDNet members were acknowledged at the 21st MCA Awards Gala in October.

David Kerr

David Kerr was a co-recipient of this year’s Cooperative Merit Award for his lifelong commitment to co-operative development. David had an illustrious career with the Province of Manitoba, and now works as an independent
cooperative developer and is a member of the Cooperative Community Strategy working group on the creation of a more supportive environment for the establishment and ongoing operation of cooperatives.

Evan Bownes

Evan Bowness is a sociology graduate student at the University of Manitoba and President of the South Osborne Urban Community Cooperative. He was the recipient of this year’s Manitoba Cooperative Association Youth Leadership Award for his work raising awareness and providing programming that helps to connect community members to the food that they eat. The South Osborne UCC currently runs a local food buying club, a community conversation series, an intergenerational gardening project and fruit and garden share programs.

Below is the final, member-approved set of Manitoba policy resolutions that was voted on at the CCEDNet Manitoba Policy Summit on November 16, 2010.

During the summer of 2010, members of the Canadian CED Network – Manitoba worked together to create a set of policy resolutions that would highlight policy priorities for the network and our communities. These resolutions articulated the reasons why each policy was required to make a difference in our CED activities, including a description of the current context, and a clearly stated position that CCEDNet could advance.

This package, titled Toward Strong, Fair, Sustainable Communities, presents a set policy priorities for the network and our communities to pursue in 2011. The document now becomes a tool for all of us to use in advancing our collective agenda with policy makers.

Download as a pdf or View online

The November Parliamentary Committee report Federal Poverty Reduction Plan: Working in Partnership Towards Reducing Poverty in Canada calls for the federal government to immediately commit to a federal action plan to reduce poverty in Canada. If implemented, it could change the face of poverty in Canada.

Unfortunately, previous reports on poverty have sat on the shelf. The national campaigns Make Poverty History and Dignity for All are encouraging Canadians to send a message to Human Resources Minister Diane Finley and their local MP, urging the government to respond positively to the recommendations in the report.

Make Poverty History’s campaign page makes it easy to send a message. Take action now to tell the government that we need immediate action to end poverty in Canada.

To support the report, visit Make Poverty History’s website

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities has tabled an extensive report calling for a federal poverty reduction plan. The report’s 59 recommendations include measures to increase funding for community organizations to reduce poverty, and increased funding for social economy initiatives.

The federal report can be retrieved from the parliamentary website

Dignity for All: the Campaign for a Poverty-Free Canada and Make Poverty History, two national anti-poverty campaigns of which CCEDNet is a member, have issued a joint release applauding the report and already looking towards the government response which is required in 120 days.

The Dignity for All and Make Poverty History release is available here.

The Canadian Community Economic Development Network is proud to be a partner in today’s launch of the International Forum on the Social and Solidarity Economy, to be held from October 17 to 20, 2011 at the Palais des congrès in Montréal.

To see the Release click here

The November 2010 National Newsletter is now available.

Click here to subscribe to future newsletters or to access the archive of past newsletters.

Ian MacPherson is an Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Victoria, and is a founding director of the British Columbia Institute for Co-operative Studies. On October 22, 2010, he made the keynote address at the 8th Annual CD/CED Gathering. His speech was titled ‘Cultivating Co-operation: The Roots Run Deep.’ Click here to read the full speech.