Having trouble seeing this email? Click here
Follow CCEDNet:
In this issue:
Canadian CED Network News
Alberta CED News
- Albertans Ring in the UN International Year of Co-ops
- New Research - Developing and Setting a Research Agenda for Aboriginal Homelessness
- Calgary’s Social Outlook
- Putting Co-ops on the Map
- Alberta Co-ops Are Survivors
- The Dollars and Sense of Poverty - New Report
- Faith-Based Organizations Engaged in the Social Economy
- Meetings with the Regional Development Co-operatives in Eastern Canada
- 30 Social Enterprises Worth Following
- Co-operative Conference Calling for Proposals
- CED Book Club: The Resilience Imperative
CED Job Postings
Canadian CED Network News
Women’s Economic Empowerment Webinar
CCEDNet's International Committee is hosting a free webinar session, Women’s Economic Empowerment: Building Strong Economies and Communities in Canada and Internationally, on January 31.
Around the world, gender equality is key to economic development. This session will look at how women’s economic empowerment in Canada and internationally is contributing to stronger economies and communities, and what Canadians can do both here and abroad. Registration closes on January 29.
>> Read more
Meet our Members
The Northern Alberta Development Council advances the promise of Alberta's North. NADC’s mandate is to help the region’s 150 communities and 350,000 people realize their potential and strengthen their diverse economies. The Council is tasked with producing quality regional development information, supporting education and skills enhancement programs and building strategic partnerships.
The Pembina Institute is a Canadian non-profit think tank that advances sustainable energy solutions through research, education, consulting and advocacy.The Pembina Institute provides policy research leadership and education on climate change, energy issues, green economics, energy efficiency and conservation, renewable energy, and environmental governance.
Alberta CED News
Albertans Ring in the UN International Year of Co-ops
Albertans joined thousands of Canadians on January 12 to celebrate the Canadian launch of the International Year of Co-operatives. Events took place in ten different sites across the province, including Alberta's official launch celebration at Calgary Farmers' Market. The Calgary event, which was co-hosted by CCEDNet member Alberta Community and Co-operative Association, included music by Co-opupy and Clea Roddick, speeches from The Co-operators CEO Kathy Bardswick, and a video greeting from Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution declaring 2012 the UN International Year of Co-operatives on Dec. 18, 2009. The resolution recognizes the co-operative movement’s diversity and urges governments to create a supportive environment for co-operative development.
>> Click here to replay some highlights from Canada's IYC 2012 Launch
New Research - Developing and Setting a Research Agenda for Aboriginal Homelessness
Research on Aboriginal housing issues is sparse, which has led to a lack of understanding of the problems and opportunities of providing adequate shelter for Canadian Aboriginal people. This report is intended to: develop an understanding of the current state of activities and organizations involved in addressing Aboriginal homelessness and housing in Calgary; identify gaps in the literature on Aboriginal homelessness with a focus on the local setting; and establish a research agenda, setting priorities for research for Aboriginal homelessness in Calgary.
>> Read more
(Source: TheHomelessHub.ca)
Calgary’s Social Outlook
The Calgary and Region Social Outlook 2011-2016 (released November 30, 2011) is an annual five-year forecast that examines the overall social landscape of Calgary. Through the use of timely local data and the input of a wide network of community stakeholders, the Social Outlook (SO) provides a snapshot of the social state-of-the-city, its opportunities and challenges, and where it’s headed. The SO provides the community with information to help them understand and adapt to current and emerging opportunities and challenges.
>> Read more
(Source: TheHomelessHub.ca)
Putting Co-ops on the Map
Co-operators in Alberta have found a novel way to raise public awareness about the province's co-ops during the International Year of Co-operatives. They are developing a Google Map indicating the location of the province's co-ops and credit unions. While the map is still a work in progress, it can be seen here. Alberta co-operatives who would like to put their organization on the map should contact Sarah Arthurs at iyc@acca.coop or Kevin Crush at KCrush@FedGas.com.
(Source: CCA News Brief)
CED Tool
Cutting Through the Fog - Why is it so hard to make sense of poverty measures?
The paper is about the challenges facing citizens when presented with statistics on poverty, and emphasizes the need to question the implications and assumptions underlying various poverty measures. The authors look at how we measure poverty levels, the working poor, child benefits, unemployment and Employment Insurance. They provide some basic information about what measures are used and illustrate how different approaches to the data can colour social realities. As Stapleton and Shillington write, “... if we don’t make sense of poverty measures, we will limit our ability as a society to make good decisions about poverty and related issues.“ We hope this short paper will stimulate thoughtful debate about poverty and its measurement among Canadians.
>> Read more
National CED News
The Dollars and Sense of Poverty - New Report
The report, created by the National Council of Welfare, shows the high dollar cost we are currently paying for the consequences of poverty. The report provides insights into why the costs of poverty are far higher than many people realize, why poverty has persisted in wealthy countries despite many policies and programs for people living in poverty, and many other important issues. It examines why investments to end poverty make better economic sense, and it shows how ending poverty would save money and improve wellbeing for everyone. It concludes with recommendations for the way forward.
>> Read more
Faith-Based Organizations Engaged in the Social Economy: The Example of Catholic Religious Orders and the Mennonite
New research by Bob McKeon examines the contributions that faith-based organizations (FBOs) are making to the social economy sector in Canada. This study is the second BALTA research project looking at the role of FBOs in the social economy. It looks specifically at the approaches of Catholic religious orders and Mennonite community outreach organizations in their social economy projects.
For more information, contact Bob McKeon at rmckeon@shaw.ca
Meetings with the Regional Development Co-operatives in Eastern Canada
Quebec’s record of co-operative development success is looked to as a model in Canada and throughout the world. A key piece to Quebec’s co-operative development strategy is a system of Regional Development Co-operatives (RDCs), which help co-operative businesses through development steps. This summer, representatives from western provinces went on an exploratory study mission to find out more about how the RDCs in Quebec and New Brunswick work, and to see if the RDC model could be adapted to work in western Canada.
>> Read more
(Source: Co-operative Spotlight, November)
30 Social Enterprises Worth Following - A Belated Holiday Gift
The Trico Charitable Foundation has compiled a year-end round up of all the social enterprises they tweeted about in 2011. The list of 30 social enterprises are located from coast to coast and are involved in diverse market activities including providing affordable psychology services, a movie theatre, textiles, and the food industry.
>> Read more
Cooperative Conference Calling for Proposals
Organizers of the Cooperating for Change Conference, which will be held in Montreal in June 2012, are calling for proposals for papers, panels, and roundtable discussions. The goal of the conference is to bring together the overlapping communities of researchers, educators, practitioners and policy makers from academia, professional associations, civil society organizations and government to share knowledge and engage in discussion about policy proposals and strategic directions for the sector, both in Canada and internationally.
>> Read more
CED Book Club: The Resilience Imperative - Co-operative Transitions to a Steady State Economy
The Resilience Imperative will be published in June 2012 by New Society Publishers. The book is co-written by BALTA reseachers, Mike Lewis and Pat Conaty, and draws from BALTA research related to sustainability, economic relocalization and transition to a steady state economy characterized by much lower greenhouse gas emissions. See attached for further information and the book's table of contents. The book will sell for $26.95, but by pre-ordering now, people can get a 20% discount.
>> Read more
Job Postings
For the latest CED postings visit the National and Regional job pages on CCEDNet's website
National | AB | SK | MB |
Positions to post? Send them to breimer@ccednet-rcdec.ca