10:00am Eastern Time

Learn to facilitate effective and transparent decision-making, while supporting equal voice in ANY organization. 

In the first 30 min of this free webinar, Sociocracy For All will present, then all participants will be able to ask questions about facilitation. This webinar requires basic knowledge of sociocracy. Both dates cover the same content so pick one! 

RSVP by email: info at sociocracyforall.org

If you can't make it on August 17th attend the free webinar on August 17th at 3:30pm

3:30pm Eastern Time

Learn to facilitate effective and transparent decision-making, while supporting equal voice in ANY organization. 

In the first 30 min of this free webinar, Sociocracy For All will present, then all participants will be able to ask questions about facilitation. This webinar requires basic knowledge of sociocracy. Both dates cover the same content so pick one! 

RSVP by email: info at sociocracyforall.org

If you can't make it on August 17th attend the free webinar on August 20th at 10am

Learn about the Global Social Economy Forum happening September 7-9, 2016 in Montréal, Canada - and why your organization should attend! 

All over North America community-based initiatives are taking place to ensure more inclusive and sustainable cities that meet the needs and aspirations of their citizens, from housing and access to local products and services, to ensuring decent jobs and fostering socially cohesive communities. More and more local governments have understood that by recognizing and encouraging these efforts they can support the economic and social development of their cities and oftentimes their environmental and/or cultural development as well. In many places in the world, these practices have been defined as “social and social economy initiatives” and in some cases national, regional or local legislation has been passed to ensure their development

The 2016 Global Social Economy Forum – GSEF2016 aims to highlight best practices of collaboration between these community-based initiatives and local governments that foster more equitable, sustainable and smarter cities taking place all over the world.

As members of the Honorary Committee of GSEF2016, CCEDNet and the New Economy Coalition invite you to listen to this introductory webinar on GSEF2016 to:

• learn more about what is meant by the term “social and solidarity economy”
• discover some of the initiatives that will be presented at GSEF2016
• discuss how applicable these are in a North American context
• learn more about the format of the forum and the ways to get involved

Some information on the 2016 Global Social Economy Forum:

The Global Social Economy Forum -GSEF2016 is the third edition of the Global Social Economy Forum (GSEF), a large international gathering that was initiated by the City of Seoul, South Korea in 2013, in collaboration with its local social economy partners. The 2014 edition, held once again in the South Korean capital, culminated in the founding of the GSEF as a permanent international association uniting local governments and civil society stakeholders that recognize the social and solidarity economy (SSE) as a key factor in local economic development.

Initiatives presented at GSEF2016 include:

• Different approaches that have contributed to the revitalisation and social cohesion of cities such as Cleveland, Seoul, Barcelona and Bamako
• Successful and innovative community-based approaches such as Mondragon, today the largest federation of worker cooperatives in the world, or the Greenbelt Foundation, which protects agricultural land and support the Local Food Economy in Ontario. 
• New ways governments are working with the social economy, including social procurement, co-development of new services operated by collective enterprises in municipal spaces, and supporting the commercialisation of local products and services developed by the community.
• Important ways to reinforce the visibility and growth of the social and solidarity economy such as effective public policy implemented at the local and regional level, financial tools to enable the creation of new enterprises and coalition-building at the local, regional, national and international level.

Public officials from over 50 cities have confirmed their presence including Mayors or elected officials of cities such as Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Bamako (Mali), Barcelona (Spain), Bilbao (Spain), Götebord (Sweden), Lille (France), Montreal (Canada), Paris (France), Seoul (South Korea). In all, 2,000 participants from local governments, SSE enterprises and networks, researchers as well as committed citizens from all over the world are expected to attend.

For more information on the program of GSEF2016 and to register, visit www.gsef2016.org. 

Additional Information

US initiatives being presented at GSEF2016:

• Cleveland
• Madison
• Reading

Canadian initiatives being presented at GSEF2016:

• Manitoba
• Ontario
• Toronto
• Toronto again
• Quebec

12:00pm to 1:00pm Pacific Time

As sunshine beams down over the Northern Hemisphere, there's no better time to consider the massive potential of that blazing ball of nucleur fusion in the sky. 

Solar power is one of the world's fastest growing sources of renewable energy. Efficiency is up and costs are down. Photovoltaic systems of all sizes are erupting across the globe as people, cities and countries look to the Sun for the solution to their energy demands. With solar power blooming and brightening people's lives wherever it's installed, BCSEA is proud to bring you this exciting webinar; Harnessing the Sun: The Future of Solar in BC.

Register for Harnessing the Sun

In this inspiring and educational webinar Ed Knaggs, VP of HES PV and solar tech engineer, will discuss the rapid and extraordinary developments in global solar photovoltaic technology, and what such development means for communities, people and businesses across British Columbia, Canada and the world. He will give the low-down on BC's net metering, the world energy markets and discuss what can be done to improve solar PV deployment.

The webinar will consist of a 30 minute presentation by Ed, followed by a 30 minute Q&A session with Ed and BCSEA's own Policy Director Tom Hackney, during which you can have your burning solar power questions answered by these experts in the field.

This webinar is sponsored by Avalon Mechanical Consultants Ltd