In This Issue
Canadian CED Network News
In recognition of the strong and vibrant community economic development sector in Manitoba, as well as the National CED Conference held in Winnipeg last week attended by hundreds of community leaders from across the country, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs issued a proclamation declaring it "CED Week in Manitoba!" Participants attended more than 40 workshops, 5 full day site visits, and heard passionate keynote speakers from Pukatawagon, Manitoba as well as Quebec, Guatemala, and Bolivia and contributed to a collective National Action Planning forum. The Conference, hosted by SEED Winnipeg and Ka Ni Kanichihk, focused on exploring Indigenous Models of CED.
The Province of Manitoba and the Canadian CED Network also partnered to bring together more than 60 civil servants to hear about innovative and effective CED-related policy initiatives from Nunavut, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, and Ontario. As well, the Canadian CED Network's Food Policy Working Group organized a forum attended by more than 50 people from all parts of the country to talk about building a national policy framework for strengthening local food systems in Canada.
These activities all emerge out of the priorities identified by members: bringing people together to learn from each other, to find solidarity and support, to explore supportive policy frameworks that enable CED, to profile effective models and practice, to raise the profile of CED, and to create space for members to identify priorities for advancing our work and for building a supportive environment for CED activities in Canada.
Thanks to all who attended and contributed!
CED Certification
Simon Fraser University is looking at offering a Certificate Program for Community Economic Development Professionals in Calgary starting in Fall 2009. This program is for professionals working in Community Economic Development who want to increase their skills and knowledge in the field. All instructors are practitioners with many years of experience and a special knack for sharing their experience. For more information contact info@thrivecalgary.org
Thrive!
Thrive brings together people and organizations (voluntary, public and private sector) to advance Community Economic Development in Calgary to open doors to the possibilities of good jobs for all, a strong local economy, affordable housing, opportunities for low income Calgarians, vibrant neighbourhoods and a sustainable city. Read more at http://thrivecalgary.org/
National CED News
Co-op Development Funding Renewed
The federal Co-operative Development Initiative (CDI) has been renewed! After countless hours of lobbying efforts by the Canadian Co-operative Association, the Conseil Cooperation Canadien et de la Mutualite and provincial associations and their members across the country, the federal program has been renewed for $19.1 million over 4 years. The new CDI program will be managed by the two national associations, with the provincial associations as delivery partners, and it will continue to be an important support mechanism that encourages co-operative development across the country.
The Canadian CED Network congratulates the Coop Community on this achievement, and was more than happy to advocate for renewal of the CDI and to mobilize our members across the country in support of it as well. To see our letter of support click here.
Alberta Co-operative Awards
The Alberta Co-operative Awards were presented to three outstanding exemplars of co-operative achievement. The Alberta Community and Co-operative Association and the Government of Alberta presented the awards at the annual Co-operative Awards Luncheon in Red Deer. Find out who the winners were at http://www.acca.coop/
Canadian Social Economy Hub Releases Procurement Newsletter
Following up on it's May 13th Telelearning Session, in which York University Professor J.J. McMurtry and Brendan Reimer, CCEDNet's Regional Coordinator for the Prairies and Northern Territories shared their research and experience with different approaches to social purchasing and procurement, the CSEHub has released an accompanying newsletter with resources to build on the discussion from the telelearning session.
Download a pdf of the newsletter
Download the Telelearning Session as an Mp3 (49MB, 55 min)
Visit the CSEHub's website and learn more about their telelearning sessions
A CED Dating Service? Looking at the CEDTAS Initiative
Send us your profile, tell us what you are looking for, and we'll see if we can find the perfect match for you! Sound familiar?
All kidding aside, this is one way to describe the pilot project community leaders in Winnipeg launched three years ago. They had identified the same thing as the Canadian CED Network (CCEDNet) did when it surveyed community economic development (CED) organizations in 2002: many people active in CED feel that they lack many of the skills required to pull off all the projects that need doing.
This is why one of the pillars of the first National CED Policy Framework concerned building the capacity of communities.That is also why CCEDNet stipulated that a capacity building component (if only $18 million over five years) was essential to the ill-fated federal Social Economy Initiative back in 2004.
To answer this need for capacity in Winnipeg, four groups simultaneously arrived at a series of diverse but related concepts. They ranged from the provision of mentoring and side-by-side training in proposal writing, budgeting, management, project development, and governance, all the way to direct engagement of technical professionals, after the example of the Community Design Centre in Pittsburgh. The provincial government, which was interested in funding to address this community need, asked the parties to go into a room together and not come out until they had agreed on one unified concept.
Read the rest of the article here>
Job Postings
For the latest CED postings visit the National and Regional job pages on CCEDNet's websiteNational | AB | SK | MB | North
Positions to post? Send them to breimer@ccednet-rcdec.ca.