In this issue:
- "Time to Choose: community economic development or more ‘have' and ‘have not' neighbourhoods?" by Nicloe Chaland. Within a community economic development (CED) approach, housing initiatives can strengthen neighbourhoods by rehabilitating or adding to housing stock, while also contributing to relationship building and social cohesion, employment opportunities, access to services and an improved quality of life for all residents. Click here to read more>>
- 2008 Election Five major networks representing thousands of co-operatives, community-based organizations, and nonprofit enterprises across the country, are proposing a new partnership between communities and the Canadian government in order to build a stronger economy, invest in sustainable communities, and tackle poverty. The proposal provides six recommendations for federal policy. Click here to read more>>
- Good Ideas What if your favorite NHL team was a co-operative owned by the fans? Would you start watching hockey again? Click here to read more>>
- New Resources and Knowledge "Social Profits" by Sherri Torjman. This essay, published this month, deftly cuts through the jargon of the social economy, demonstrating the difference between socially conscious entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs with international examples including government changes such as tax credits and community development venture funds in place in the UK and the USA. Click here to read more>>
- Events SFU Certificate for CED Professionals fall course schedule, and more. Click here>>
- Funding and Contract Opportunities Welcoming and Inclusive Communities and Workplaces Program, and more. Click here>>
- Jobs See our up to date listing of CED jobs in BC and the Yukon. Click here>>
Time to Choose: community economic development or more ‘have' and ‘have not' neighbourhoods?
By Nicole Chaland
The Roman's were not the first to plan cities, but pretty close. They built their cities to serve military needs. They wanted to be able to move in and out fast. They also organized cities in a way that minimized the amount of effort and infrastructure required to get services to and from residents. The basic plan was a central forum that held all the services; the streets were laid out in a rectangular grid, and the entire city all wrapped in a wall for defence. It was efficient and it was logical. That worked pretty well for Rome - for about 500 years.
When the Roman Empire started to show signs of stress, the Latin word for city changed. During the heyday of Rome, the Latin word for city was urbs.. When Rome fell, the Latin word urbs was replaced by civitas. Civitas was the new word for city and the notion was linked directly to emerging concepts such as citizenship and civility. The very idea of living in a city was thought to be the ideal state of society. Notions of living in a city and being a civil person-meaning interacting in a way that promoted peace and good governance-were interchangeable. The idea of living in a city and philosophies about maximizing the common good could not be separated.
Cities were designed with the explicit purpose of maximizing the common good. The common good was understood to exist when everyone wins or - stated alternatively - the common good recognizes that if one person loses, we all lose.
These ideas had staying power and stuck around for the development of early Italian cities like Siena and Bologna. Siena and Bologna were designed to create an enabling environment for the common good. Specifically, the streets of Siena and Bologna are circular and the outer streets form a circle around a town square. The curved streets slow people's movements, they nurture and maximize exchanges and therefore foster relationships between people. A stark contrast to Roman cities! We can attribute two innovations to these cities that are immensely relevant today - Siena is home to Europe's first hospital; Bologna is home to Europe's first university. Not only did residents of these cities come up with innovative ideas, but they also had the resources to implement their ideas for maximizing the common good.
In The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs asked "What do city neighbourhoods do - if anything - that may be socially and economically useful in cities themselves and how do they do it?"
For the planners of early Italian cities, the purpose of neighbourhoods and thus neighbourhood planning was to maximize the common good. Sadly, it has been observed and well-documented that the purpose of planning in the 1950s until now is to manage the movement of automobiles.
Jane Jacobs also understood that the function of neighbourhood was to promote the common good, although she wrote about it in different terms. Jacobs argued that a neighbourhoods' purpose is to provide self-government in the broadest sense of the term-to provide a certain level of safety through public watch and also to provide help when help is needed. She also argued that not only do neighbourhoods perform these types of societal or collective services-but neighbourhoods are also the starting point for establishing political power. This political power is necessary and drawn upon when a neighbourhood has a problem it cannot solve on its own. When the people in neighbourhoods know each other, when some of those people have histories of working together and when trusted leadership exists in a neighbourhood they are able to solve certain problems on their own. When one neighbourhood is linked to other neighbourhoods and also linked to city hall, then a neighbourhood has a certain amount of power.
Gentrification is the process of displacement through regular real estate transactions. When people with sufficient money identify qualities of a neighbourhood to be desirable, they have the means to purchase the homes in that neighbourhood. In a short period of time, others with means find it desirable and also move to the new ‘hip' area - bringing with them new investments in the form of coffee shops, dog bakeries and yoga studios. Real estate prices rise and residents with lower incomes eventually leave. This is happening in most urban centres in Canada. It is one of the major causes of neighbourhood inequality in Canada.
Non-profits, specifically housing associations, neighbourhood associations and community economic development organizations, can and should take an active role in intervening in the real estate market. In the absence of true community economic development corporations in BC, neighbourhood and housing associations have a greater responsibility to get involved in neighbourhood renewal.
However, neighbourhood renewal efforts will likely cause gentrification unless they have - as a central organizing principle - a stated goal to increase a neighbourhood's ability to solve its own problems and to increase the political power of a neighbourhood. Poverty and income inequality have been rising in Canada since the 1970s. Income inequality between neighbourhoods is rapidly increasing with the absolute number of poor neighbourhoods growing. For example, in Toronto from 1981 to 2001 the number of poor neighbourhoods (delineated by postal codes) increased from 30 to 120. In inner city neighbourhoods, average incomes in Winnipeg and Saskatoon are $20,000 - $30,000 less than the city-wide average.
Within a community economic development (CED) approach, housing initiatives can strengthen neighbourhoods by rehabilitating or adding to housing stock, while also contributing to relationship building and social cohesion, employment opportunities, access to services and an improved quality of life for all residents. CED, with its focus on redirecting economic and social benefits to community members, can play an important role in protecting neighbourhoods and residents from the unintended negative consequences of gentrification.
With three upcoming elections in BC, it's a perfect opportunity to advocate for government support of community economic development organizations. The central role of these organizations is to increase a neighbourhood's or a community's ability to solve its own problems. CED groups have developed a myriad of successful models over the last 100 years in Canada including co-operatives, land trusts, peer lending circles, social enterprises and CED investment funds. It's time we took the power of community-driven ideas about maximizing the common good seriously - starting with holding the politicians who represent our communities accountable.
Or, we can attach our fortunes to Rome and hope for the best.
2008 Election
ELECTION STATEMENT ON COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT UNITES FIVE NETWORKS
Five major networks-the Canadian Co-operative Association, the Canadian Community Economic Development Network, Chantier de l'économie sociale, Conseil québécois de la coopération et de la mutualité, and the Conseil Canadien de la Coopération-representing thousands of co-operatives, community-based organizations, and nonprofit enterprises across the country, are proposing a new partnership between communities and the Canadian government in order to build a stronger economy, invest in sustainable communities, and tackle poverty. The proposal provides six recommendations for federal policy:
• A Greater Role for Social Enterprise in Economic Revitalization
• Support for New and Emerging Co-ops
• Sustainable Support for Community Economic Development (CED) Organizations and Community Capacity Building
• Support for Technical Resources and Expertise for Enterprising Non-Profits
• Access to Capital
• A Canadian Anti-Poverty Strategy with Targets, Timetables and Resources
Read the full common election platform here>>
Read CCEDNet's case for a greater role for communities in re-localizing economies here>>
With the upcoming federal elections close at hand, now's the time to make sure your candidate cares about community economic development. During campaign time, there will be many strategic opportunities for you to approach candidates. This is your chance to ask candidates to support community economic development and the social economy. It's important for you to meet with candidates to ask questions, build discussion, raise the profile of CED in your community and get informed.
Click here for more information on how you can get informed and involved>>
GOOD IDEAS
Pro Sports Co-operatives?
What if your favorite NHL team was a co-operative owned by the fans? Would you start watching hockey again? There's a movement afoot in the UK-13 football teams are now wholly owned by their fans, joining over 100 fan clubs who have at least partial ownership of their teams. Click here for more info>>
Trust Funds for CED exist in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. They are financed by government grants and through tax credits and provide patient capital to affordable housing and other types of social enterprise. Is it time for CED Fund in BC? Read this new report by CCEDNet board member, Alex Chernoff. Click here for more info>>
NEW KNOWLEDGE & RESOURCES
*New* "Social Profits" by Sherri Torjman. Published Sept 2008 This essay deftly cuts through the jargon of the social economy, demonstrating the difference between socially conscious entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs with international examples including government changes such as tax credits and community development venture funds in place in the UK and the USA.
"...the loss of a focused and values driven Social Economy Initiative was a regrettable set-back for the sector and for the country. The move put Canada behind well behind our closest trading partners and competitors. Both the US and the UK have brought in measures in the form of tax credits and direct funds to promote investment in social enterprise and in low-income communities," Sherri Torjman.
Click here to read the full document.
*New* Understanding and Responding to Neighbourhood Decline and Renewal
Prepared by Nicole Chaland (CCEDNet) and Lorenzo Magzul. Published Sept 2008
Click here to read the full document.
*New* The Economic Well-being of Children in Canada, the United States and Mexico provides reliable and up-to-date data. Published Sept 2008 www.ccsd.ca.
*New* The final report of the World Health Organization Commission on the Social Determinants of Health was recently published. It is very much in line with CCEDNet's policy agenda, and explicitly focuses on social justice issues, making explicit the health impacts of inequities in income, social conditions, physical environments and opportunities for human and social development. Click here for more info>>
EVENTS
2008 Union of BC Municipalities Convention, Sept 22 - 26, Penticton, BC
Click here for more info>>
SFU Certificate for CED Professionals fall course schedule
Sept 26 & 27 - Victoria, Community Participation
Oct 17 & 18 - Vancouver, Local Development & the Global Economy
Nov 28 & 29 - Victoria, Developing CED Ventures
Register online here>>
Here's what students are saying:
"Honestly, I think it is some of the most practical education I have ever received." Patricia Morgan, Dawson Creek
"I loved every second of the program. I was expecting to leave with a deeper understanding of CED, and I did, but more importantly I connected with my fellow students and have been inspired by their passion and enthusiasm for making a difference in their communities." Michelle Eggli, Communications and Program coordinator, enterprising non-profits program
enterprising non-profits fall orientation sessions
Sept 30 - Kelowna
Oct 1 - Trail
Oct 3 - Victoria
Oct 4 - Richmond
Oct 28 - Vancouver
Reversing the Tide: Strategies for Successful Rural Revitalisation, Oct 6 - 8, Prince George, BC. Click here for more info>>
9th Annual National Aboriginal Women in Leadership Training Conference "Exploring Leadership for Unity" Thanks to Jessica Chenery - Oct 8 - 10, Vancouver.
Click here for more info>>
HOMELESSNESS ACTION WEEK October 12 - 19 Click here for more info>>
Co-op Week October 16 - 22 Click here for more info>>
Communities Without Boarders Conference, Oct 30 - Nov 1, 108 Mile, BC
Contact Cariboo Family Enrichment Centre at 250-395-5155
Heart of the Strait Soiree: Join the Georgia Strait Alliance in an evening of celebration and fun, fine food, music by The Malloys and delightful treasures in live and silent auctions. Oct 4, Victoria Tix: gsa@georgiastrait.org or 250.753.3459 or 604.633.0530
FUNDING & CONTRACT OPPORTUNITIES
Welcoming and Inclusive Communities and Workplaces Program - Thanks to Brandon Hughes - Deadline: October 20, 2008
Click here for more info>>
Creating the Future we Want to be: Transformation through Partnerships, April 29-May 2, 2009, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Deadline: October 10, 2008
The call for proposals for Community-Campus Partnerships for Health's 11th Conference is now available under "coming up" at www.ccph.info. This is a 4 day skill-building, networking and agenda-setting conference in CCPH's new home city! Proposals for pre-conference workshops, story sessions, skill-building workshops, film screening and discussion session, and posters are sought that relate various sub-themes (see the complete call for proposals for specific examples).
RFP: Local Government Management Internship Program 2009/10
Deadline: Oct 15, 2008
Click here for more info>>
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS - 2009 National Awards for Excellence in Mental Health and Addictions Initiatives Award recipients receive $10,000 to be given to a recognized charity of their choice. www.kaiserfoundation.ca
Enterprising non-profit Grant Application
Deadline: November 21, 2008
Click here for more info>>
Jobs
Public Policy Analyst, Municipal Affairs, Urban Development Institute
Deadline: September 19, 2008
http://www.civicinfo.bc.ca/161.asp?jobpostingid=8092
Environmental Coordinator, District of Squamish
Deadline: Sept 19, 2008
http://www.civicinfo.bc.ca/161.asp?jobpostingid=8382
Sustainability Manager, City of Campbell River
Deadline: Sept 22, 2008
http://www.civicinfo.bc.ca/161.asp?jobpostingid=8406
To view all CED jobs currently available in BC, click here>>
To advertise a job posting on our website or newsletter, please send an email to ebrocklebank@ccednet-rcdec.ca
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