The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) is an autonomous research institute within the UN system that undertakes multidisciplinary research and policy analysis on the social dimensions of contemporary development issues. Through our work, we aim to ensure that social equity, inclusion and justice are central to development thinking, policy and practice.
10am Eastern Time
Bristol boasts the strongest economy of any UK city outside London, and is one of the country’s fastest growing city. Like many dynamic, booming cities its growth includes rapid demographic change, increasing diversity and a growing gap in prosperity. How do resilient cities address the challenges of deepening social and economic inequality? Why is diversity, migration and inclusion essential to a conversation about city resilience and livability? As one of Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities, a program intended to help cities “better address the increasing shocks and stresses of the 21st century,” Bristol has a unique opportunity to put social resilience into an urban agenda for economic vitality, innovation and sustainability. Join us for a Big Idea webinar to learn how Bristol is managing these complex community challenges and building its capacity to leverage diversity and the economic and social innovations that drive urban prosperity.
Di Robinson
Service Director, Neighbourhoods and Communities, Bristol City Council (Bristol, United Kingdom)
Di Robinson has worked in the public sector over the past 17 years, mainly delivering in the areas of Neighbourhood Management and Governance, Service Transformation and Community Engagement. Her current role as Service Director for Neighbourhoods with Bristol City Council includes managing the city’s Neighbourhood Governance agenda, Community Development, Corporate Equalities, Voluntary Community Investment, Libraries and Regulatory Services. Prior to this Di worked in a variety of roles within in the public, private and VCS sectors.
Ian Roderick
Director, The SchuIan Roderick smmacher Institute (Bristol, United Kingdom)
Ian is the director of The Schumacher Institute, an independent research and learning organisation working with the ideas of E.F. Schumacher, author of Small is Beautiful. The Institute is in Bristol, UK.
He has a BSc in Mathematics, an MSc in Operational Research and an MSc in Responsibility & Business Practice. He started his career at the Building Research Establishment before joining Rank Xerox International, eventually to head up strategic forecasting and business modelling. He then co-founded a successful software development company which was sold in 2000 leaving him free to pursue his interests in systems thinking, environmentalism and social justice. Ian is the Chair of the Resilience Action Group, Bristol Green Capital, the agency leading Bristol: European Green Capital 2015 agenda.
He was President of the UK Systems Society (2005 – 2008). He is co-founder of a charity called The Converging World and is on the board of Low Carbon South West.
Mary W. Rowe
Director, Urban Resilience and Livability, Municipal Art Society of New York City (New York, United States)
Mary W. Rowe is currently Director, Urban Resilience and Livability at Municipal Art Society of New York City, one of the country’s oldest and most successful advocacy organizations, working to promote the livability and resilience of New York City through effective urban planning, land use, design and civic engagement. Current initiatives include Re-Imagining the Civic Commons, supported by the Knight Foundation, to explore the ever-changing uses of shared places – civic assets including libraries, community centers, settlement houses, and public spaces – in contemporary cities, and the possibilities for new models that enhance their value, ensure their sustainability, and contribute to creating successful cities.
Mary also coordinates the MAS Global Network, a peer-to-peer learning platform connecting urban practitioners contributing to the livability and resilience of cities around the country, continent, and around the world. Previously, she spent five years learning about granular approaches to urban innovation while supporting the New Orleans Institute for Resilience and Innovation, a loose alliance of initiatives that emerged in response to the systemic collapses of 2005, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Originally from Toronto, Mary worked closely for ten years with Avana Capital Corporation and the Maytree Foundation on a variety of urban focused initiatives, and began her career working for the federal government in Canada on policy connections between immigration and employment. She has a particular interest in self-organization in cities, as the underpinning of urban social, economic, cultural and environmental resilience, and is a contributor to several volumes on urban life.
12pm to 1pm Eastern Time
Speaker: Al Etmanski
Host: Sylvia Cheuy
Al Etmanski has spent the last 10 years exploring the world of social innovation looking for useful insights about social change that lasts. He's met, read, studied, spoken, applied, travelled, stumbled and written. What emerged from his work were six recognizable patterns and a book that captures the energy of those interactions. In his new book, Al explores the paradox between short term success and minimal long term impact. He suggests that strategies have limitations and that it’s worth paying attention to the deeper patterns of change. Al is hoping these ideas will ignite a resurrection of the ordinary. This genuine Canadian perspective on social change is full of stories about Canadian innovators, activists and entrepreneurs including many Ashoka fellows, which is why we wanted to invite you to our first public discussion about the book’s framework and stories.
Join Tamarack Thought Leader Al Etmanski on Thursday March 5, 2015 for a pre-launch webinar and first public discussion on concepts emerging from his soon to be released book, Impact: Six Patterns to Scale Your Social Innovation.
About Al EtmanskiAl Etmanski is a community organizer and author. He is one of the first two Canadians welcomed into the Ashoka fellowship of social entrepreneurs. He is founding partner of Social Innovation Generation (SiG), BC Partners for Social Impact and co-founder of Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network (PLAN). He and his wife Vickie Cammack were recently awarded the Order of Canada for their innovative work with people with disabilities and their families. Al blogs at www.aletmanski.com.
12:00 Noon EDT
This webinar will present findings from a knowledge project submitted to ESDC. We will have an overview of the challenges and opportunities that not-for-profit (NFP) organizations experience when attempting to partner with the private business sector and identify resources/tools that NFPs could use for partnering with the private sector.
Format: 30-minute presentation followed by 30 minute Q & A session
About Dr. Tessa HebbDr. Hebb is the Director of the Carleton Centre for Community Innovation, Carleton University, Canada. Her research - which focuses on Responsible Investment and Impact Investment - is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Government of Canada. She has published many books and articles on responsible investing and impact investing policies including the volumes Working Capital: the Power of Labor’s Pensions; No Small Change: Pension Fund Corporate Engagement; The Next Generation of Responsible Investing; and SRI in the 21st Century: Does it make a Difference to Society. In November, at the 2014 Social Finance Forum Dr. Hebb received an award from the Women In Leadership Foundation & the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing celebrating her career of groundbreaking work in impact investing.
11:00am - 12:15pm Pacific Time
Please note: event listed in Pacific time. To participate in this free tele-seminar, please register online and you will receive call details via email.
The alternative currency known as Timebanking seeks to re-weave community in a similar fashion to Transition: from the bottom-up. At its core, Timebanks gather neighbors together to accomplish simple tasks for one another. At first, this seems to be a simple concept, but the small acts of helping neighbors, reskilling, and volunteering in community are at the heart of making Transition work. Timebanking, as a bottom-up tool to solve the problems created by the mismatch of unmet needs and unused skills, provides the space for the work of building true community through co-creation (rather than co-consumption.)
The work of timebanking and the Transition movement are deeply allied. This TeleSeminar with Marie Goodwin of Timebank Media and Transition Town Media, PA will help you imagine “the more beautiful world your heart tells you is possible” through the lens of both transition and time banking. Its goal is to help Transition activists learn about how these two movements, Transition and Timebanking, deeply augment one another and become powerful tools when combined that help to engage communities in the important work ahead of us all.
I am an archaeologist by training, but found myself much more interested in the modern stories of our culture than any ancient ones being thought up by academics. In addition to stories, I'm interested in activism and transition. I am on a great team of community builders that is Transition Town Media, and with their support founded the Media FreeStoreand Timebank Media. I am also passionate about issues relating to local food, herbal medicine, traditional cultures, new-story education and local economic resilience. For my day-job, I work in the gift with author/philosopher Charles Eisenstein.
Noon-1PM (MST)
This year Albertans will put billions of dollars into RRSPs. The majority of this money will leave the province, and won’t be used to support local businesses that create jobs, or strengthen the local economy.
Communities across Alberta are bucking this trend. They are investing directly in their savings in their local economy. This has led to the revitalization of businesses districts, created jobs, and increased vibrancy. By investing locally, community members receive both a financial and social return.
This webinar will teach participants about raising local capital, to finance local business development. Unleashing Local Capital is a new and innovative local financing program that supports communities in establishing Opportunity Development Co-operatives (ODCs) that pool capital within a designated community using RRSP eligible shares.
This lunchtime webinar will teach you everything you need to get started, as well as provide an opportunity to ask questions and discuss your local business development project. It will include: The webinarwill include
At the end of this session you will be prepared to get started on a local financing project in your community! If you are involved in local business, community economic development, or are an entrepreneur this webinar will provide you with some excellent new information and insight into how local financing can be used to build strong and vibrant communities. Opportunity Development Co-operatives can be used to finance:
Opportunity Development Co-operatives also:
For more information please contact Paul Cabaj, Director of Co-operative Development at pcabaj at acca.coop
