Thursday, December 1, 2011, noon Eastern Time (9am Pacific Time)

BACKGROUND

This session will highlight some of the existing public policies that are supporting the development of the social economy in Canada and elsewhere while looking ahead to the policy recommendations that if implemented could further stimulate the growth of the sector.  The information shared in this session will draw upon lessons learned through the policy research and activities of the Canadian Social Economy Research Partnerships (CSERP). 

In this session we will explore the following questions:

• What are existing public policies that are supporting the social economy in Canada?
• How has CSERP supported the development of public policy recommendations?
• What are the areas of opportunities for policy development in Canada currently?

SPEAKERS:

• Rupert Downing, Executive Director of the Community Social Planning Council of Greater Victoria and Co-Director for the Canadian Social Economy Hub
• Crystal Tremblay is a fourth year PhD candidate in the Department of Geography at the University of Victoria, exploring the use of Participatory Video as a tool for community development.
• Sarah Amyot is the Youth Engagement Projects Coordinator for BC Healthy Communities and YouthCore. She is currently completing her M.A. in Studies in Policy and Practice at the University of Victoria.

MODERATOR:

• Dr. Jorge Sousa, Associate Professor and Adult Education Coordinator in Educational Policy Studies at the University of Alberta

RESOURCES

Visit http://canadiancednetwork.adobeconnect.com/p4cpndeupxy/, to hear and view the recording of this session.

Click here to download a copy of the PowerPoint presentation.

• Public Policy Trends and Instruments Supporting the Social Economy: International Experiences. Crystal Tremblay, February 2010, PDF, 61 pages.
• • Appendix 1: Policy Instruments by Country
• Public Policy for the Social Economy: Building a people-centred economy in Canada. Sarah Amyot, Rupert Downing, and Crystal Tremblay, June 2010, PDF, 53 pages.
• Strengthening Public Policy Supports for the Social Economy in Canada. Presentation at the Association for Non-Profit and Social Economy Research conference, Crystal Tremblay, May 27-29, 2009, PDF, 21 pages.
• The Canadian CED Network's Policy Priorities for CED in Canada. Kirsten Bernas and Brendan Reimer, September 2011, PDF, 12 pages.

BIOGRAPHIES:

Rupert Downing

Rupert Downing is the Executive Director of the Community Social Planning Council in Victoria BC, Co-director for the Canadian Social Economy Research Hub and the former ED of the Community Economic Development Network. Mr. Downing was previously an Executive Director of the BC Ministry of Community Development, and worked on major policy and legislative initiatives in the Cabinet Policy office, and Ministry of Employment and Investment of the BC government. 
Prior to joining government, Mr. Downing worked as a community development practitioner and policy advisor in rural, urban, and Aboriginal communities in Canada, Latin America, and Europe for over 25 years. He has written several publications on the importance of community led approaches to building dynamic and sustainable local economies inclusive of disadvantaged people and communities

Crystal Tremblay

Crystal Tremblay is a fourth year PhD candidate in the Department of Geography at the University of Victoria. Since 2004, she has worked on projects in Canada, Brazil and India with the Community-based Research Lab (www.cbrl.uvic.ca ), focusing on participatory community development and livelihood enhancement. Her PhD research is exploring the use of Participatory Video (PV) as a tool for community development that a) builds the capacity and empowerment of marginalized communities, and b) enhances dialogue between community and government.  Her research builds on some of the outcomes of an International Development Research Council (IDRC) funded project where leaders from recycling cooperatives in São Paulo, Brazil and Victoria, BC were trained in PV. In 2009-2010, Crystal worked for the Social Economy Research Hub of Canada as a researcher for the public policy program.  She is the recipient of the Hub's PhD fellowship (2010), exploring conservation-based programs that are supporting the Social Economy in Canada.  Crystal is also the recipient of the Joseph Armand Bombardier SSHRC Doctoral Scholarship (2009-2012) and the PhD fellow at the Centre for Cooperative and Community-based Economy (2011-2012).

Sarah Amyot

Sarah Amyot is the Youth Engagement Projects Coordinator for BC Healthy Communities and YouthCore. Sarah is a dedicated community and social advocate and has worked with the student and women's movement for a number of years. Sarah is passionate about, and committed to finding, community-based solutions to addressing social inequities. Sarah is currently completing her M.A. in at the University of Victoria.
Sarah is responsible for overseeing the SPARK projects program, YouthCore and YouthCore.ca. She also coordinates the Youth Service Provider Network and the City of Victoria Youth Council.

Dr. Jorge Sousa

Dr. Jorge Sousa completed his PhD at The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. He is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Alberta, in the specialization of Adult Education. He is currently a co-investigator with Community-University Research Alliance for Southern Ontario’s Social Economy and the B.C.-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance. Jorge’s research interests include: learning styles and social processes in Social Economy organizations; community governance models; building community capacity using audio/visual technology; community development; community economic development; housing policy; popular education and local democracy movements; life transitions of graduate and post-graduate students. Jorge has worked with community-based non-profit organizations in Edmonton and Toronto in conducting research as well as consulting on planning processes relevant to capacity building and development.