Youth Social Entrepreneurship Webinar Series

This webinar is being hosted as part of the Youth Social Entrepreneur Webinar Series:

Who should attend: 

• Young people interested in social entrepreneurship
• Non-profit or other youth serving organizations interested in using a social enterprise model with their clients
• Funders, community partners, local government stakeholders interested in learning how to scale up the sector.

March 12
12:00 - 1:00 pm PST

Social enterprise organizations are supporting youth in achieving sustainable livelihoods through innovative programs and initiatives, world-wide. Learn from the organizations through their long experience in the areas of food security, youth engagement, homelessness and employment creation and how they are using social enterprise and community economic development models in providing valuable opportunities for young people. 

Presenters: 

• Santropol Roulant, a Montreal community centre that has been using food as a vehicle to break social and economic isolation between generations and cultures and creating innovative ways of youth engagement. 
• Eva’s Initiative, a Toronto based organization offering innovative programs and services for homeless and at-risk youth to assist them reach their potential to lead productive, self-sufficient and healthy lives.
• LOFT Youth Centre for Social Enterprise and Innovation, is a multi-use space that nurtures creativity, community engagement, social enterprise and entrepreneurship amongst youth in Toronto through three in-house social enterprises based on art, music, and food and innovation. 

[REGISTER HERE]

Youth Social Entrepreneurship Webinar Series

This webinar is being hosted as part of the Youth Social Entrepreneur Webinar Series:

Who should attend: 

• Young people interested in social entrepreneurship
• Non-profit or other youth serving organizations interested in using a social enterprise model with their clients
• Funders, community partners, local government stakeholders interested in learning how to scale up the sector.

• Kanika Gupta, founder of Social Journal (SoJo), a web based learning tool geared towards youth passionate about social change and building social ventures. The development of SoJo was influenced by Gupta’s master’s thesis experience in Canada-wide study on the factors influencing the start-up of youth-initiated social ventures.
• Julia Norman, founder of social enterprise, the Didi Society, which is working towards empowering women through fair, direct trade and educating local youth on social justice issues and using marketing, sales strategies and traditional cooperative values.
• Adam Olsen, is one of the Olsen family members who started local small business Salish Fusion Knitwear, producing modern knitted products with inspiration from Coast Salish art. The small business is providing employment opportunities for the local knitters and supporting the local art. 

A resilient community or neighbourhood has the capacity to respond and adapt to the social, environmental and economic challenges. Join us online at no cost for this interactive webinar exploring the key characteristics of resilient communities and opportunities and strategies to strengthen resilience at the local level.

[REGISTER HERE]

Special Presenters:

• MICHELLE COLUSSI, Canadian Centre for Community Renewal
• SARAH AMYOT, Community Social Planning Council of Greater Victoria
• ROB WIPOND, Transition Victoria
• STACY BARTER, Smart Planning for Communities, Fraser Basin Council

Through this webinar:

• LEARN about the key characteristics of a resilient community, and how using a “resilience lens” can complement community sustainability efforts
• DISCUSS how community leaders, planners, and citizens are fostering greater resilience at the neighbourhood and community levels
• EXPLORE inspiring examples of how communities and neighbourhoods are building their capacity for resilience through policy, planning, partnerships and community engagement. 

Who should participate:

• Community Members and Community Organizations
• Community & Neighbourhood Associations
• Local Service Providers 
• Non-Governmental Organizations
• Local Government Representatives
• Community developers and planners 

More information:

Conference Theme
Co-operatives have always been innovative organizations operating at the edge. Historically, they have emerged as bottom-up responses to socio-economic distress or in communities that are under-serviced or otherwise on the margins. In enabling people to meet their economic, social, and cultural needs in association, co-operatives have innovated equitable and just ways of creating and distributing socially generated wealth. Moreover, despite constraints imposed upon them by their legal status, the complex nature of their ownership and governance structures, and the principles and values by which they abide, co-operatives have often outperformed and outlasted conventional, investor-owned firms.

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In our latest global slump, co-operatives not only continue to provide viable solutions to economic crises and social exclusion in local communities, but are also taking the lead in promoting more environmentally sustainable practices. Indeed, transnational organizations such as the ICA, the ILO, the UN, CICOPA, and increasingly regional and national governments, have taken notice of the resilience of co-operatives and the strength of co-op movements the world over; in recent years, co-operatives have often led the way in sustainable production and work practices and have promoted economic activity rooted in solidarity rather than self-interest.

The theme of this year’s annual conference aims to draw analytic attention to the ways in which co-operatives and related social economy organizations innovate:

• to champion social inclusion
• to support economic and business practices fostering sustainability
• to build solidarity economies.

These are the conference’s three thematic pillars. We are especially interested in how cooperatives and co-operation offer palliatives to and paths beyond crises. Seeking to bring together Canadian and international researchers and co-operative practitioners, our ultimate goal is to explore how co-operatives are creating new socio-economic realities for communities “at the edge,” and how they are also “cutting edge” organizations pushing mainstream economic practices and social policy into new, more inclusive, and more community-focused directions.

Conference Topics

Social Inclusion

• Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Youth and Student Co-operatives
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Social and Solidarity Co-operatives
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Inter-co-operation between Co-operatives Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Aboriginal Communities
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Fair Trade, Poverty Reduction, and Local Development Strategies and Practices
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship in crisis and conflict contexts
• Business Conversions to Worker Co-operatives: Recuperating Businesses, Saving Communities

Sustainability

• Is “sustainability” the new co-operative value for the 21st century?
• The Role of Education in Promoting Co-operative Innovation
• The Role of Research in Promoting Co-operative Innovation
• The Role of Public Policy in Promoting Co-operative Innovation
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Green Production
• Co-operative Management Structures and Practices
• Co-operative Ownership and Governance Structures and Practices
• Co-operative Business and Marketing Strategies

Solidarity Economies

• Mainstreaming the Co-operative Advantage
• Co-operatives and Development
• Fostering Co-operation among Co-operatives
• Transnational Co-operation among Co-operatives: Bridging North-South Divides
• Co-operative types (i.e., worker co-ops, financial co-ops, consumer co-ops, agricultural coops, etc.)
• Moving Beyond Crises and Marginalization via Co-operative Values and Practices

DRAFT PROGRAM

Conference Information
This year’s CASC conference will be held from June 4th to June 6th, 2013, during the Annual Congress of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences (CFHSS) 2013 at the University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada. Participants in the CASC Conference should register through the Congress website. Registration, which includes the early bird prices, begins in January 2013. Fees for the conference include both Congress registration and a one-year membership in CASC. There is an additional fee for those wishing to attend the Annual CASC Banquet, which is a joint affair held in collaboration with ANSER. The Congress website also includes information on accommodation, discounts for travel, and local informatio

Save the Date!

June 26 - 28
Edmonton, AB

Co-operators from across Canada will be gathering in Edmonton from June 26-28 for the joint Congress of the Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA) and the Conseil canadien de la coopération et de la mutualité (CCCM).  

Highlights:

• Welcome reception
• Co-op tours
• Speakers and discussion panels
• Gala awards dinner
• Silent auction
• Annual General Meetings of CCA, CCCM and ACCA
• Inaugural meeting of a new apex organization, pending approval of Unity proposal by members

 
For more information, contact:
 
Tanya Gracie, CCA
tanya.gracie at coopscanada.coop
613-238-6711 ext. 243