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CoopZone AGM 2016 Report
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The CoopZone AGM was held by conference call on September 20, 201
6.
There were three 3-year seats up for election on the CoopZone Board of Directors: for BC, Atlantic and At-large, plus one 2-year position for the Prairies. Erwan Bouchaud, David Daughton, and Ted Hyland have left the board. Many thanks to all three for your time and contributions!
Elections welcomed new board members Billy Granger (SEED Winnipeg) representing the Prairies seat; Peter Hough representing the Atlantic seat and Ben Prunty for the At-Large Seat. Jill Kelly was re-elected for the BC seat. The board reorganization meeting resulted in Pascal Billard as President, Ben Prunty as Vice President and Jill Kelly as Treasurer. All resolutions passed.
To review the AGM documents please visit the CoopZone website
here.
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BC Co-op Developers Meet with Provincial Association to Explore Ways of Working Together
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Photo by Robin Puga |
Submitted by Joy Emmanuel
While the CWCF-CoopZone conference in Vancouver was underway, some developers from BC met with representatives of the
BC Co-op Association to explore ways of working together to support co-op development in the province. BCCA is drafting a new strategic plan and will no longer be offering co-op development services in-house. BCCA is interested in working with developers to establish a referral system. When BCCA receives an inquiry about a potential new co-op, they could use CoopZone's data bank to identify a developer in the same geographic region or with a speciality in a particular co-op sector. This is an opportune time for developers to work with BCCA to consolidate a new network and cooperatively provide support services for emerging co-ops.
Eight developers were present for the meeting. Some speciality areas were identified, such as: health, agriculture, worker co-ops, food co-ops, working with immigrant populations, and financing.
Other suggestions were put on the table such as mapping opportunities and gaps for co-op development. As this was a first meeting squeezed in over lunch at the conference, there are still many details to work out. For more information, you can contact Joy at [email protected].
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| On Co-op Outreach Project |
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Attendees of the new Hamilton Co-op Network Meeting November 10_ 2016 |
by Jennifer Ross
On May 6, 2016 the Ontario Co-operative Association (On Co-op) received a significant grant of $486,500 from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to help develop healthy and vibrant communities through the development of new co-operatives across the province. In June, six Regional Managers were hired to assist with the creation of 60 new co-operatives and the training of 2000 people over a two year period.
In 2012, the funding allowed for 3 regions to be supported, in 2014, that grew to 6 and now in 2016, it is expanded to 9 regions consisting of Thunder Bay and Sudbury in the North, Ottawa and Kingston in the East, Toronto, Kitchener/Waterloo, Hamilton, Niagara, and Windsor in the South West. The work of Regional Managers has already begun to impact these communities by developing co-operative networks and providing peer-to -peer networking and region-specific assistance to new and developing co-operatives.
Studies in Quebec have shown that business survival rates increase when enterprises engage actively in supportive co-op networks. Feedback from our members has been very positive. This funding will also facilitate ON Co-op's goal of encouraging Ontario's 125 business development organizations to promote co-operative corporations at the same level as they support private and non-profit corporations. By integrating co-op specific resources into these organizations' services, they will be better equipped to support the growth of co-operative enterprises and respond to the needs of community-focused entrepreneurs.
Since June 2016, 30 new potential co-ops or conversions have been identified, two of which have already incorporated and the Regional Managers are working closely with the rest to keep them on track. There have also been seven workshops/training sessions on various topics across the province that have educated more than 300 people on the co-operative business model.
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Sondage sur l'éducation coopérative / Co-op Higher Education Needs Assessment
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**English follows**
Qu'en est-il de l'éducation coopérative dans votre organisation? Quels sont les besoins? Si vous êtes un membre ou un employé d'une coopérative, nous vous invitons à remplir le court sondage qui suit. Votre opinion contribuera à alimenter la stratégie que Coopératives et mutuelles Canada et le mouvement coopératif canadien est à élaborer autour de l'éducation et la formation coopérative post-secondaire. Le sondage requiert 10 minutes de votre temps. Notre équipe de recherche à l'Université de Sherbrooke vous remercie de prendre le temps :
**English**
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Fundamentals of Co-operative Organizations certificate program - Bursaries available
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by On Coop (
2016 On Co-op e-Newsletter: Issue 10)
The program is designed for those who are working in, governing, managing or developing co-operatives or credit unions, and equips them with the knowledge and skills they need to lead their organizations and capitalize on the co-operative difference. Those interested in co-ops, co-operative leadership and those not based in Ontario will also find value in the program.
Crystal McNerney, graduate of the fall 2016 cohort, said that the learning she did in the course blew her mind, and made her analyze co-operative enterprises from a more critical perspective - a departure from her usual role as a co-op "cheerleader". Other graduates valued the opportunity to learn from leading scholars, co-op executives, and peers from across the sector.
The FCO program is being offered part-time over a 10-week period, from January 12 until March 25, 2017 and applications are being accepted until December 31, 2016. The sessions are designed to fit into a working professional's busy schedule: three intensive in-person seminars are held at the corporate offices of
Alterna Savings in Toronto, complimented by six evening webinars conducted online. All sessions are taught by leading scholars, and feature interactive discussions with co-op executives.
To access the program brochure and application form,
click here . View the recent
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Platform Cooperativism Conference proposed - March 2017
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By On Coop (
2016 On Co-op e-Newsletter: Issue 10)
Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada (CMC), in partnership with On Co-op, is aiming to bring together key actors in Toronto in spring 2017, to explore Canadian opportunities for innovation and democratic wealth creation using member-owned digital platforms. CMC is currently seeking support and participation to convene a broad-based coalition of stakeholders, by jointly sponsoring and supporting an event in Toronto similar to the NYC platform democracy conference held in 2015.
The term "Platform Cooperativism" is used to describe a wide variety of initiatives related to co-operative and democratic ownership in the digital world. Platforms are any entities used as intermediaries to provide services, products or content to purchasers: an app, an app-driven business or a network. Platform co-operativism proposes adopting the technologies used by Uber, Airbnb, et. al. or creating new apps and networks and using them within democratic ownership structures.
Key speakers at the proposed conference would include experts and leaders in the fields of progressive economics, critics of the sharing economy, co-op development experts, and entrepreneurs in online and IT co-operative enterprises. Given the Canadian focus, most speakers would be Canadian experts, but several American and European speakers could be valuable contributors on economic democracy innovations internationally. To create meaningful outcomes from this learning event, they are drawing on organizations and participants from the tech sector, labour movement, co-operative movement and business studies academics, as well as municipal, provincial, and federal policy makers.
The event, Sharing Ownership in the "Sharing Economy": Economic Democracy and Platform Co-operative is being proposed for early March 2017 at the University of Toronto. Day 1 would be a forum for academics and researchers, followed by a general welcome reception in the evening. Day 2 would feature the plenary and sector specific learning labs. Day 3 would consist of organizational workshops (smaller scale, highly focused). They are seeking sponsorship to live stream the conference and build a permanent website home for the Toronto event.
To learn more about Platform Cooperativism, the proposed event and how you can get involved, click
here, or contact Brendan Denovan, Communications Manager, Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada by
email or at 613-238-6712 ext. 206.
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A Cooperative Manifesto:
There Is No More Important Social Change Work You Can Do Than Cooperative Development
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Tim Huet (republished Oct. 2016). Grassroots Economic Organizing (GEO).
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Youth Cooperative Entrepreneurship campaign (CICOPA)
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For the past several years, the level of
youth unemployment in the world has increased to alarming levels
. At the same time, young people around the globe have been expressing increasing dissatisfaction about mainstream economic governance and an increasing interest for cooperatives, in a quest for
more democracy and transparency
. Cooperative entrepreneurship has shown one very concrete way for young people to find a job with a
higher level of stability and resilience
than the average.
As worker, social and producers' cooperatives showed in the video Working together for a cooperative future, cooperators want to keep on raising awareness about how young people can meet their employment needs and aspirations while contributing to a better society through the creation of cooperatives. In order to reach this goal, CICOPA,
the international organisation of industrial and service cooperatives, has designed the one-year
Youth Cooperative Entrepreneurship
campaign that will be launched in December 2016, but the funds required still need to be collected.
Would you like to make a contribution towards making this campaign real? If that is the case, then
please donate here !
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La Coop Vélo-Cité, le premier atelier de réparation de vélo à l'est de la rivière Rouge à fonctionner en français, a officiellement inauguré son local dans le quartier Saint-Boniface de Winnipeg.
Sa présidente et cofondatrice Janelle Delorme affirme avoir travaillé sur le projet depuis plusieurs années. « C'est une coop qui encourage les gens à pouvoir entretenir et à construire leur vélo. Et on rend tous les outils accessibles aux gens », explique-t-elle.
Des services-conseils et des formations sont aussi donnés sur place aux utilisateurs par des mécaniciens et des bénévoles.
Lire la suite
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RegenVillage Almere: A Self-sufficient Neighborhood to Generate its Own Food and Energy
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What if you could generate all the food and energy you need without ever leaving your neighborhood? That's the vision for
ReGen Villages and its first project being built in Almere, Netherlands (a suburb outside of Amsterdam).
The brainchild of entrepreneur
James Ehrlich and Danish architecture studio
EFFEKT, the village aims to tackle a range of pressing global issues, including rising CO2 emissions, food shortages and the water crisis with a comprehensive approach to sustainable housing. Read the full article
here.
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CoopZone is a network of people and organizations which help others to start and develop co-operatives.
Please send any comments, suggestions and ideas for articles to:
Editor of CoopZone Newsletter
Phone: 204-257-
1198
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