Mar 25 - Jul 14, 2019

Towards Co-operative CommonWealth is a master class in movement building for a new model of political economy that is sustainable, democratic, and socially just. Offered by the Synergia Institute and Athabasca University, it sets out the practical models and pathways for meaningful systems change at multiple levels. The goal: to better secure our basic needs for land, food, livelihood, social care, energy, finance and more in these increasingly difficult times.

The course is suitable for newcomers to social change work as well as veteran activists, practitioners, policy-makers, and researchers. Individuals on their own and people working for social change through organizations, networks, and movements can leverage the course material and the expertise of the Synergia team to advance their own projects and activist work locally.

Enrol for Towards Cooperative CommonWealth

The course is offered in two sections: Section 1 is 4 modules over 4 weeks starting March 25th, followed by a 4 week intellectual pause to catch your breath from April 22 till May 20th, and Section 2 starts another 4 Modules from May 20th to June 22.

Following the course, feedback from the Synergia team will be available for three weeks to promote application of course ideas & models to your own projects or work.

*The course is free at the certificate level. The cost of degree accreditation is $269 CAD.​

OBJECTIVES

• Outline and explain the problematic, and transformative vision.
• Discuss emerging food system alternatives and strategies for transitioning to just, sustainable food systems.
• Recognize the role of public policy and bottom-up innovation in renewable community energy.
• Become familiar with the interplay of assumptions, interests, power, and technology feeding the growing precariousness of livelihoods and the implications for human wellbeing, and to explore emerging sector-, policy-, and place-based alternatives.
• Outline the philosophy, rationale, and organizational forms of user-controlled models of health and social care.
• Discuss enclosure, and the alternatives of commons and land trusts.
• Describe community development finance and co-operative capital raising and their potential to secure democratic and socially directed investment for the common good.
• Synthesize key ideas and practices that define systemic transition.

Target Audience: We imagine that if you were attracted to this course, you will be someone who shares our general world view and vision, and wants to broaden and deepen it and join us and others to develop it. That is its principal purpose, but a secondary purpose is to link people and projects that share these views in practical ways. You are likely to be people who are already engaged in social change work in three crucial movements – co-operation, commons, and sustainability. Most are already actively working to make this world view a reality. You may be active in the environmental movement, human or animal rights, social equality and development, the solidarity economy, co-operative finance and alternative currencies; the Transition Movement, permaculture, local food, eco-villages, the digital commons, peer-to-peer and open educational resources, community energy or many others.

For more information about Synergia Institute visit: synergiainstitute.org

Course is offered by Athabasca University in collaboration with Synergia.

"System Change Not Climate Change" Banner photo is copyright (c) 2009 by Kris Krüg and made available under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.

1:00pm Eastern Time
OISE Library, 252 Bloor St W
and online!

In case you cannot make it to OISE Library (252 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M5S 1V6) this Friday for Jack Quarter’s Celebration of Life, here are the instructions for viewing the formal part of the event from your computer. Also, see below for more information on how to make donations.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Professor Jack Quarter Memorial Bursary to support students in financial need; every dollar raised will be matched by the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). You can also donate to the Temmy Latner Centre for Palliative Care at Mount Sinai Hospital www.tlcpc.org, which made it possible for Jack to spend his last days in the comfort of his home with his loved ones. All donations will receive a charitable tax receipt. There will be donation forms and envelopes available at Jack’s Celebration of Life event on Friday, March 8 at OISE.

Join the Zoom Webcast

All you need to do is to click on the URL above or copy and paste it into your browser. You just click yes when prompted. If there aren't any prompts, click download and run Zoom.

Please also check out the following website in honour of Jack Quarter: www.jackquarter.org

How will you evaluate efforts to create systems change? Through our work at Tamarack, it has become clear that there is no one answer. The right approach depends on your situation, the type of change, and many other constraints that are unique. As demand for systems change initiatives has increased, so has the need to evaluate this type of work, though this type of evaluation is still emerging. To respond to this need, over the past year we have been developing a planning tool for evaluating Systems Change efforts — a Systems Change Evaluation Canvas. 

Register for The Systems Change Evaluation Canvas: A Tool for Planning to Evaluate Systems Change Webinar

In this webinar, Mark Cabaj and Galen MacLusky will introduce the canvas, walk through important things to consider when planning systems change, and show how the canvas can be applied to a real-world scenario. We’re excited to be releasing this tool and hope you will join us not only to learn what we have uncovered, but also to help us shape this tool and make it work for you.

Guest

Mark Cabaj

Mark is President of the consulting company From Here to There and an Associate of Tamarack Institute.

Mark’s current focus is on developing practical ways to understand, plan and evaluate efforts to address complex issues (e.g. neighbourhood renewal, poverty and homelessness, community safety, educational achievement and health). He has first-hand knowledge of using evaluation as a policy maker, philanthropist, and activist, and has played a big role in promoting the emerging practice of developmental evaluation in Canada.

Host

Galen MacLusky

Galen is a Consulting Director of the Tamarack Institute’s Community Innovation Idea Area. He is passionate about working with community organizations to help build and scale new ideas that deepen their impact. An experienced design, innovation, and co-creation consultant, at the core of his work are approaches that help organizations engage with those who are impacted by their services and test new programs and services with minimal investment. Over the past five years, Galen has used these approaches to help Fortune 500 companies and non-profit organizations across North America reinvent the services and programs they provide. Galen is an experienced human-centred design coach and holds a Master’s degree in Engineering Design and Innovation from Northwestern University.

6:30pm Eastern Time
By webinar or in person at 50 Wellington St E, Suite 400

Climate change is turning up the heat on your money. Is your portfolio ready?

As the impacts of climate change are felt around the world, a growing number of investors are adding greener investments to their portfolios, not only to make a positive difference but to take advantage of emerging opportunities and to avoid potential losses down the road.

Register for Adapting Your Investment Portfolio for Climate Change

So what do you need to know to get your portfolio ready? What are the risks associated with climate change and how are they showing up in your portfolio today? What are the financial opportunities and how can you take part? How can you integrate climate change into your current investment strategy? What climate-ready investment products are available to everyday investors?

CoPower is teaming up with experts from AGF, Good Investing and Arctern Ventures to bring you a free event and webinar to help you adapt your portfolio for a changing climate.

Panelists:

• Hyewon Kong, RIA & Portfolio Manager, Global Sustainable Growth Equity Fund - AGF
• Jennifer Macdonald, Manager of Impact Investing - CoPower
• Tim Nash, Founder & CEO - Good Investing
• Tom Rand, Managing Partner - Arctern Ventures

Register to join them in-person at CoPower's Toronto office or attend virtually through their live-streamed webinar.

12pm Eastern Time

You're invited to an online Q&A session with Shaun Loney, author of The Beautiful Bailout: How A Social Innovation Scale-up Will Solve Government's Priciest Problems (2018)

Shaun Loney is an Ashoka Fellow and Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year. He has co-founded and mentored twelve successful social enterprises, including BUILD Inc. (2011 Scotia Bank EcoLiving Green Business of the Year) and Aki Energy (2016 National Canada Startup Canada award winner). Prior to his work with social enterprises, Shaun spent over a decade in senior levels of government. Shaun is a widely sought-after speaker and is the team-lead at Encompass Co-op, which works with First Nations, non-profits and governments to promote social innovation.

Register now for the Ask Me Anything with Shaun Loney