November 19, 2009 – Something’s changed lately in the marketplace, according to Jeff Westeinde – and it’s a ripple that’s directly affecting the winds of business.<!–
Jeff Westeinde. (Photo supplied)
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“I think you’ve seen a lot of disenfranchisement with the typical manner of doing business, particularly with this recent fallout where people have realized greed was fuelling a lot of business decisions,” says the CEO of demolition, disposal and remediation firm Quantum Murray LP and partner at Windmill Developments.
“And to have a really sustainable economy, you’ve got to measure your business in different ways,” he continues.
Telelearning Session 16: Building a People-Centered Economy
How the Social Economy is co-constructing a new public policy framework for social and economic development and environmental sustainability
What are some public policies that support a people-centered economy in Canada and internationally?
What materials are currently available to support public policy and the social economy in Canada?
What are the international descriptions of outcomes and trends in public policy identified in the research and do they have relevance to current settings and priorities?
What are the opportunities for engagement on these issues?
This special telelearning session features Rupert Downing, former Executive Director of the Canadian CED Network and Co-director for the Canadian Social Economy Research Hub. Crystal Tremblay, second year PhD student and researcher for the Social Economy Research Hub at the University of Victoria in public policy and Jorge Sousa, Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Alberta. With facilitation by Leslie Brown, Professor and Chair in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Mount Saint Vincent University, practitioners and researchers will discuss how the Social Economy is co-constructing a new public policy framework for social and economic development and environmental sustainability. Please join us!
CALL LOGISTICS:
Session Date: Thursday, December 3rd 2009
Call begins at 12:00 pm Eastern time, 9:00 am Pacific time
Call-in information will be given upon registration
Register before November 27th to obtain dial in information and background papers
This session is in English.
SESSION FORMAT:
Duration: 1 Hour
Welcome: 5 min
Presentations: 10 min by each speaker
Discussion: 25 minutes
REGISTRATION:
Register by phoning 250-386-9980 x 102, or e-mailing with your name, location, and work or volunteer position.
Limited number of spaces available – Register soon!
BIOGRAPHIES:
Jorge Sousa is Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. He holds a PhD from The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. His primary inspiration for working in the realm of community development was based on his experiences of converting public housing to co-operative housing and as president of the Graduate Students’ Union at the University of Toronto. Jorge is comfortable working with different research methodologies, in particular mixed methods approaches. His primary research approach is community based, which results in research outcomes that have significant social value. He often works with community-based non-profit organizations to conduct research as well as participate in planning processes relevant to capacity building and development.
Areas of research expertise all fall within the context of the intersection of community development and adult education. He is primarily engaged in research aimed at understanding and strengthening Canada’s Social Economy. He is currently working with stakeholders interested in converting public housing into some form of tenant managed arrangement. The objective of this work is to develop appropriate learning strategies and to institute a process that can account for the needs of citizens as they take control of their housing community.
Crystal Tremblay is a second year PhD student and researcher for the Social Economy Research Hub at the University of Victoria in public policy. She completed an undergraduate honors degree with a specialization in resource management from the Dept. of Geography at Concordia University in 2001, and an MA in Social Geography from the Dept. of Geography at the University of Victoria in 2007. Her MA research explored the socio-economic significance of the informal recovery of recyclable beverage containers in Vancouver, British Columbia. The results of this research indicate that the appropriate policies valuing the ‘binning’ activity, as the collection of recyclables is locally called, have the potential to make a significant contribution to poverty alleviation, social inclusion and more sustainable waste management strategies (Thesis can be found on the CBRL website at: https://www.cbrl.uvic.ca/).
Since completing her MA, Crystal has worked on projects in Canada and Brazil with the Community-based Research Laboratory (CBRL) at the University of Victoria, focusing on participatory community development and livelihood enhancement. She is currently in her second year of PhD studies, working under the supervision of Dr. Jutta Gutberlet. Her proposed study will monitor and evaluate Participatory Video (PV) as a tool for community development with recycling cooperatives in Brazil. Crystal was awarded the SSHRC Joseph Armand Bombardier Doctoral Fellowship in 2009 for her PhD research.
Since 2008, Crystal has also worked as a researcher for the Social Economy Research Hub at the University of Victoria on the public policy program. She has published for the occasional working paper series “Advancing the Social Economy for socio-economic development an environmental sustainability” (available on the Hubs website) and “Social Economy Public Policy instruments and trends: International perspectives” (in review). Crystal is also the recipient of the Hubs PhD fellowship, in which she will explore community initiatives in Canada that synthesize socio-economic and environmental objectives for development.
Crystal will be traveling to Brazil in the winter of 2010 to continue her PhD field research. She can be reached by email at .
Rupert Downing is the former Executive Director of the Canadian CED Network and Co-director for the Canadian Social Economy Research Hub. The Network is a national member-based NGO committed to supporting community economic development and building Canada’s social economy, with offices in Victoria, Winnipeg, Toronto, and Ottawa supporting the work of thousands of community based organizations and other stakeholders in every province and territory. The Network is committed to reducing unemployment, poverty and social disadvantage in Canada by supporting the work of grass roots community development organizations through public education, policy development, research, practitioner development and peer learning.
Mr. Downing was previously an Executive Director of the BC Ministry of Community Development, and worked on major policy and legislative initiatives in the Cabinet Policy office, and Ministry of Employment and Investment of the BC government.
Prior to joining government, Mr. Downing worked as a community development practitioner and policy advisor in rural, urban, and Aboriginal communities in Canada, Latin America, and Europe for over 25 years. He has written several publications on the importance of community led approaches to building dynamic and sustainable local economies inclusive of disadvantaged people and communities.
Mr. Downing lives with his wife, Christine, in Victoria, British Columbia, has two daughters and three grandchildren.
Dr. Leslie Brown is Professor and Chair in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Mount Saint Vincent University. She has a longstanding interest in organizational democracy, co-operatives, and community development, and has written and presented extensively in these areas. In recent years she has worked in the area of social accounting and reporting and is currently conducting research in that field as part of the Southern Ontario Research Node on the Social Economy. Dr. Brown is the Director of the Social Economy and Sustainability Research Network, a collaborative partnership of over 80 community and university based individuals and organizations that has come together to study the Social Economy of Atlantic Canada. Dr. Brown is also on the Board of the Canadian Hub, a national Social Economy Research Network co-directed by Dr. Ian MacPherson and Mr. Rupert Downing. In 2003 the Nova Scotia Co-operative Council awarded the Distinguished Co-operator Award to Dr. Brown, and in 2009 the Canadian Association of Co-operative Studies recognized her contributions to co-operative research by presenting her with their Merit Award.
The Canadian CED Network requests your participation in a national survey. Information about the characteristics and needs of the Network’s membership, and the broader sector, is essential for us to be effective as a national network.
The 2009 National Survey, with your participation, aims to learn more about the organizational characteristics of our membership and the broader sector, as well as interest in potential products or services. In an effort to better meet the needs of our members, we want to hear about what services you need to be more successful in the work that you are doing.
The survey should take approximately 20 minutes to complete. It asks for your opinion on CCEDNet’s current services and potential future ones. The questions are designed to be easy to understand whether you are familiar with CCEDNet or not. The survey provides users with the option for quick responses, along with space for further input.
Your input is greatly appreciated. The deadline for responses is November 20.
Our Emerging Leaders (EL) Committee is a group of young people within the Canadian CED Network with the purpose of increasing the contributions of young people entering into the CED field and ensuring an active and meaningful voice in the Network
Community Economic Development (CED) is action by local people to develop common economic, social and environmental solutions.
Committee members are involved in:
Developing and presenting CED learning events (projects, conferences, workshops)
Projects based in social, economic and environmental values
Having a voice in the Network’s programming and planning
Developing outreach with other youth-focused CED organizations
Connecting with youth interested in CED in your community
Other EL members have:
Built lasting relationships with like-minded young adults
Attended networking and knowledge sharing events (locally and nationally)
Participated in project planning and implementation
Made lasting change in their community
Found meaningful CED jobs more aligned with their goals
We need your passion, excitement and skills to join our committee.
To apply, send a cover letter and resume outlining your personal experience (maximum 2 pages please) to Ryan, EL Co-Chair at emerging_leaders at live.com by December 1, 2009 (5PM PT).
EL has a national teleconference the 3rd Thursday of every month (7:30 ET)
Together, we are building fairer and stronger local economies and we need your help!
Community is the most important part of community economic development
Marlo Campbell
Manitoba’s community economic development network is filled with people committed to improving their communities from the ground up. They work hard, often in the face of complex challenges, and their passion and determination is both humbling and inspiring.
I’m reminded of this every time I attend a CED gathering – such as the one held Oct. 23 at St. John’s High School.
About 400 people showed up for the day-long conference, organized in partnership with the Canadian CED Network (a national organization that does research and helps local initiatives build capacity) – a diverse mix of youth outreach workers, policy wonks, co-op worker-owners, representatives from funding organizations and government departments, social workers, city workers, students and community-centre volunteers, all eager to learn from each other.
Join others engaged in all aspects of building fairer and stronger local economies, tackling poverty and homelessness, and investing in sustainable communities for a full day of networking, learning, sharing, and inspiration.
With over 30 workshops, this free, all-day event takes place on October 23rd at St. John’s High School in Winnipeg’s North End.
There is no charge for registering for this conference.
Registration closes October 21st at 12 midnight Central Time.
Here is a selection of the workshops confirmed thus far:
Session One (morning)
CED 101 / Profile Project
Expanding the Capacity to Serve
Transforming or reforming capitalism
It takes all day to be poor- 2009 inner city report CCPA
Putting you in youth engagement
Revitalizing Rural MB -two communities stories
Evaluation – Creating the framework
CCEDNET Policy
Removing barriers and creating opportunities for Manitoban’s with Disabilities
Sharing Responsibility, Sharing Wealth Participatory Management and Participatory Economics
Session Two (early afternoon)
Effective Proposal Writing (please note this session will be offered twice today)
Poverty Reduction: Measuring the Impacts of a CED Approach
Youth cooperative of services
Social Enterprise 101 Putting the E in CED
History of the Indian Act
Creating a limit- Creating awareness of Peak Energy
Building a global movement: How we are part of and can build global solidarity for social, economic and environmental justice
The Building of Community – Local Jobs, Housing and CED
Collaborating for a Common Vision: What’s Health Got to Do with It?
Ready for Anything – Preparing for Disaster Resiliency
Session Three (later afternoon)
Effective Proposal Writing (please note this session will be offered twice today)
Advanced Social Enterprise
Introducing West Central Women’s Resource Centre’s new Jeopardy Games: Residential Tenancies Jeopardy, EIA Jeopardy and Rewarding Work Jeopardy
The Art of Collaboration
The Way We Eat – A CED Approach to Building Sustainable Local Food Systems
NGO Handbook
Aboriginal Co-ops: Arctic and Winnipeg
Social Enterprise Development as an Effective Tool for Immigrant Settlement
As a little girl, when Elinor Ostrom gazed out at her mother’s Los Angeles “Victory” garden, she didn’t see peas, carrots and tomato plants, she saw a vast network of human beings, all digging in to prevent food shortages on the home front during the Second World War.
The morale stuck with the youngster and, after a lifetime of studying people who spontaneously unite to manage everything from water levels to lobsters, she became the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Science.
Dr. Ostrom’s research, and her celebrated publication, Governing the Commons, challenged the prevailing wisdom that the best way to manage something is to privatize it or regulate it. Her award, which she shared yesterday with another American economist, Oliver Williamson, is being interpreted as another knock by the Nobel committee against the free-market philosophy adamantly endorsed by the administration of former U.S. president George W. Bush.
In July 2009, the Canadian CED Network’s Board of Directors approved the final version of the 2009-2011 Strategic Plan. This plan is meant to focus the energies and guide the choices of the membership and staff over three years in order to achieve or move towards the objectives and priorities it identifies. The new strategic plan also establishes a renewed organizational vision, mission and values statement for the network.
The four areas of priority for the 2009 -2011 Strategic Plan are:
On October 16, 17 and 18, millions of people around the world will “Stand Up and Take Action” to demand that world leaders end poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
STAND UP is a three day global mobilization to show our solidarity with anti poverty activists around the world. We want to break a Guinness World Record (again) for the largest coordinated mobilization of people and send the strongest message possible to leaders around the world – “no more excuses: act now to end global poverty”.
Stand Up can be a large event or it can be a short moment on one of these 3 days. Essentially, it is a gathering of people who agree to stand up and read the Stand Up Pledge. Those who stand up are then counted and the number is submitted to the Make Poverty History website. Up moments can be inserted into pre-existing events, like sports games, faith gatherings, conferences, concerts, classrooms etc.
Last year, close to 80 thousand Canadians stood alongside almost 117-million world-wide. This year we hope to have a much larger number of Canadians participate because we want to send a strong message to the government that hundreds of thousands of Canadians want bold action taken to make poverty history both globally and here in Canada.
The Stand Up and Take Action mobilization this year is encouraging those organizing Stand Up events to promote specific actions people can take to help make poverty history.
There are two online actions that we you ask you to take:
Make us Proud to be Canadians at the G8/G20 Summit in June 2010. As host of the G8/G20 Summit in June of 2010, Canada has an amazing opportunity to provide bold leadership to solve global challenges of extreme poverty and climate change. The Canadian government is deciding now on the agenda of the 2010 G8 and what kind of new initiatives it could propose. Send a strong and clear message now to Prime Minister Harper that Canadians want their government to take initiatives at the G8/G20 in June 2010 to tackle extreme poverty and the impact of climate change on poor countries. Tell him to make us proud to be Canadians again.
Sign the Dignity for All online petition for a poverty free-Canada.
The Dignity for All Campaign is calling for a federal plan for poverty elimination that compliments provincial and territorial plans. Together, we can eliminate poverty in Canada!
What you can do in your community:
Attend an event: Check out the website to see if there is an event happening near you.
Organize an event big or small. Register your event at Make Poverty History
Let Make Poverty History know. Email to find out how we can help you.
Download our Stand Up kit
Hold your event on October 16, 17or 18, read the Stand Up pledge, stand up and then take a picture.
Count how many stood up and report your numbers to Make Poverty History by midnight on October 18th.
Provide opportunities during or after the event for people to sign onto the Make Poverty History campaign. If you have a live internet connection, you can sign online
or you can download our sign on sheet
Let us know how your event went! If you took any photos, please send them too! Email
“If everyone who wants to see an end to poverty, hunger and suffering speaks out at the same time, the noise will be deafening. Politicians will have to listen.” Desmond Tutu
The forum will bring together participants from Latin America and Canada to:
Share social economy experiences of participants
Discuss existing regional policy and advocacy models and their outcomes
Identify policy supports which the social economy needs to grow in various regions of the hemisphere
This is a major opportunity for engaging in discussion and learning on the role of the social and solidarity economy in responding to local and global economic, social and environmental challenges. Government officials at all levels, NGO staff and volunteers, academics and researchers, grass roots activists, practitioners, and students are invited to participate.
Dates:
The forum will have a duration of 6 weeks, from October 26th to December 4th 2009.
Format:
The forum will take place online from an electronic learning platform called Moodle. The course will consist of readings, available on the website, followed up with questions and discussions in which participants take part by writing at the time of their choosing. Participants should be able to dedicate 2 -5 hours per week to work on the forum.
The Conference Board of Canada today issued its annual ranking of Canada with respect to a number of “society” indicators. Overall, says the Board, Canada’s “social performance” ranks 9th out of 17 developed countries. However, Canada receives a “D” grade on the poverty rate for working-age people and “C” grades on child poverty, income inequality, gender equity, and assaults – all “troubling for a wealthy country.”
The Board’s conclusions further reinforce the need for federal, provincial, territorial, municipal and community leadership to combat poverty and inequality. To help secure enduring and stronger leadership from the federal government – optimally rooted in a commitment to uphold the economic and social rights of Canadians – please consider adding your name (and/or your group’s name) to those who/that have already endorsed Dignity for All: The Campaign for a Poverty-free Canada.
GUELPH, ON, Sept. 16 /CNW/ – The University of Guelph and The Co-operators today launched a new centre dedicated to preparing a new generation of business leaders committed to community engagement and sustainability. The Co-operators Centre for Business and Social Entrepreneurship will be supported over the next five years by a $400,000 gift from the Guelph-based insurance and financial services organization.
Based in the College of Management and Economics (CME), this special-focus centre will be among the first of its kind on a Canadian university campus. It will serve as a gateway between the University and the community. Business students and faculty will work with social purpose organizations on a broad range of collaborative initiatives that have tangible benefits for everyone involved. Along the way, students will gain management and economic experience, create and launch new ventures and develop a sense of social responsibility and leadership. There will also be opportunities for faculty and graduate student research.
The donation, provided through The Co-operators Foundation, builds upon more than two decades of collaboration and partnership between the two organizations.
“Our values align very well with the mission of this new centre, which is to foster a commitment to community engagement and sustainability among future business leaders,” said Co-operators president and CEO Kathy Bardswick, who is vice chair of U of G’s Board of Governors. “Through the centre, students will have opportunities to get hands-on experience with non-profits and other local organizations, which will not only further their learning, but will also benefit our community.”
Jorge Sousa is Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. He holds a PhD from The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. His primary inspiration for working in the realm of community development was based on his experiences of converting public housing to co-operative housing and as president of the Graduate Students’ Union at the University of Toronto. Jorge is comfortable working with different research methodologies, in particular mixed methods approaches. His primary research approach is community based, which results in research outcomes that have significant social value. He often works with community-based non-profit organizations to conduct research as well as participate in planning processes relevant to capacity building and development.
for the Social Economy Research Hub at the University of Victoria in public policy. She completed an undergraduate honors degree with a specialization in resource management from the Dept. of Geography at Concordia University in 2001, and an MA in Social Geography from the Dept. of Geography at the University of Victoria in 2007. Her MA research explored the socio-economic significance of the informal recovery of recyclable beverage containers in Vancouver, British Columbia. The results of this research indicate that the appropriate policies valuing the ‘binning’ activity, as the collection of recyclables is locally called, have the potential to make a significant contribution to poverty alleviation, social inclusion and more sustainable waste management strategies (Thesis can be found on the CBRL website at: 
Rupert Downing is the former Executive Director of the Canadian CED Network and Co-director for the Canadian Social Economy Research Hub. The Network is a national member-based NGO committed to supporting community economic development and building Canada’s social economy, with offices in Victoria, Winnipeg, Toronto, and Ottawa supporting the work of thousands of community based organizations and other stakeholders in every province and territory. The Network is committed to reducing unemployment, poverty and social disadvantage in Canada by supporting the work of grass roots community development organizations through public education, policy development, research, practitioner development and peer learning.