Welcome to CCRN-RCRC

Welcome to the Canadian Co-operative Research Network -
Réseau canadien de recherche sur les coopératives

The CCRN-RCRC is your gateway to research on co-operatives in Canada. The goal of this site is to create an online network of co-operative researchers and practitioners that allows for idea exchange, research-sharing, collaboration, determining research priorities and creating a link between researchers, students, practitioners and existing co-op networks year-round.

Researchers across the country have contributed to this project as we continue to build a comprehensive portal of research on the most recent, relevant and significant co-operative research.

For more information about the network and how to use this site, visit the About page.

Chair in Co-operative Enterprises at University of Winnipeg Announced

International scholar Dr. Claudia Sanchez Bajo comes to the position with a significant research background in co-operatives.

Several co-operative partners have sponsored the establishment of this new Chair at the University of Winnipeg aimed at strengthening the co-op movement and developing socially responsible entrepreneurs.

Learn more about the position, Dr. Sanchez Bajo and the sponsors here

Co-operatives, Peace and Social Inclusion

Co-operative Initiative for Peace and Social Inclusion

For over 200 years, the international co-operative movement has advocated peace and social inclusion. It has done so partly because it often emerged during periods of war and social violence and because of a commitment to economic democracy and social inclusion and its principle of being open to everyone who can use its services.

The Co-operative Initiative for Peace and Social Inclusion brings together researchers and practitioners concerned about this important theme in Co-operative Studies. It focuses on co-operatives that bring people together who traditionally have not collaborated effectively because of historic, ethnic, religious, or political reasons. It explores how co-operatives serve diverse members through the kinds of governance and managerial approaches they employ; their connections with other civil society organisations; and their understandings of co-operative thought.

An Executive Committee drawn from the University of Victoria and from other organisations, including the International Co-operative Alliance, will guide its work. Currently 40 research associates from 17 different countries will be involved in this work.  This initiative will be under the direction of Dr. Ian MacPherson, Emeritus Professor of History and specialist in Co-operative Studies.  The Univerity of Victoria’s Centre of Co-operative and Community Based Economy will host and support this work in association with the Centre for Global Studies.

-Centre for the Study of Co-operatives and Community-based Economy

Registration open – ACE Institute, Puerto Rico August 4-7

Theme: Regenerating the Economy Through Cooperation

This year’s Association of Cooperative Educators Institute will feature speakers discussing innovation in cooperative research, education and development from not just North America, but Latin America as well.  You can find a preliminary agenda listing speakers and topics here.

More info on accommodations, programs, registration and other details: http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=uxzhayeab&oeidk=a07e78ez0w2a6818895&oseq=a019kh5u0llob

Through the Eyes of Women: What a Co-operative Can Mean in Supporting Women During Confinement and Integration

This research study considers criminalized women’s lived experiences while in custody and upon release. The study pays particular attention to women’s perceptions of institutional programming with the purpose of outlining service and other gaps and clarifying how co-operative initiatives might fill these gaps.

It explores how participation in a co-operative can impact the capacity of provincially sentenced women to negotiate incarceration and successfully reintegrate into the community upon release from custody. The study provides women the opportunity to voice their needs and hopes, their stories and experience of imprisonment, and their capacity for social, economic, cultural, and civic integration. It explores how living under conditions of confinement may structure women’s choices, their social, cultural, and civic identities, and shape their mental well-being and their capacity to manage their lives upon release — and what participating in a co-operative might mean for their capacities and choices.

Download the full report here.

Citation: Findlay, I. M. ; Popham, J. ; Ince, P. ; Takahashi, S. (2013). Through the Eyes of  Women: What a Co-operative Can Mean in Supporting Women During Confinement and Integration. Saskatoon, SK: Centre for the Study of Co-operatives, University of Saskatchewan.

-Centre for the Study of Co-operatives, U of S

Co-operative library and historical documents – University of Saskatchewan

The Centre for the Study of Co-operatives at the University of Saskatchewan has an extensive co-operative library and also an online archive of co-operative historical documents such as meeting minutes and photos.

Take advantage of these great resources today online:

University of Saskatchewan – Centre for the Study of Co-operatives
usaskstudies.coop
Centre for the Study of Co-ops Library
Online history (artifacts/meeting minutes/photos) of co-operatives in Saskatchewan

Dr. Ana Maria Peredo wins research dissemination award

Dr. Ana Maria Peredo, the Director for the Centre of Co-operative and Community-based Economy at the University of Victoria is granted the Craigdarroch Research Award for dissemination. She has served on several committees to organize international conferences and she is also known for many “lunch and learn” events at the Centre where she invites both academics and the community alike. Congratulations Ana Maria!

http://ring.uvic.ca/news/2013-craigdarroch-research-awards

Norm Bromberger Research Bursary – Accepting Applications

Credit Union Central of Saskatchewan is pleased to sponsor the Norm Bromberger Research Bursary to be awarded in support of research relating to co-operatives and/or credit unions

This bursary has been established in recognition of the outstanding contributions made by Norm Bromberger to the development of credit unions and co-operatives in Saskatchewan and across Canada. Bromberger was Research Director and then Chief Executive Officer of Credit Union Central, for a total of twenty-seven years of service with the credit union system of Saskatchewan. He also played a prominent role in developing Credit Union Central of Canada and establishing other co-operatively owned financial service organizations.

The Norm Bromberger Research Bursary will provide $2,000 each year to encourage research in the area of co-operatives and credit unions.

Applications are available in PDF format or by contacting the Centre for the Study of Co-operatives at the University of Saskatchewan.

Applications should be sent to:

Centre for the Study of Co-operatives
101 Diefenbaker Place, University of Saskatchewan
Saskatoon SK S7N 5B8
Canada

Phone: (306) 966-8509
Fax: (306) 966-8517
E-mail: coop.studies@usask.ca

CASC Conference in Victoria – Register today!

CASC Conference – Registration and Keynote

The CASC Conference in Victoria, BC (June 4-6) is a month away.  The deadline for on-line registration is fast approaching.  Please remember, that you need to register (both for Congress and for CASC) to attend the conference.  We would especially encourage you to also register for the annual joint banquet with ANSER (on June 6^th).  To register on-line please go to: http://www.congress2013.ca/register

We are delighted to announce that we will have Mirta Vuotto from the University of Buenos Aires deliver the keynote address at this year’s conference.

Conference draft program
-Darryl Reed, CASC President

CASC Representative to the ICA’s International Committee on Research – Seeking Nominations

Call for Nominations for CASC Representative to the International Co-operative Alliance’s International Committee on Research – Over the years CASC has been fortunate to have several of its members serve on the International Co-operative Alliance’s Committee on Co-operative Research (ICACCR) –http://ica.coop/en/ica-committee-co-operative-research

Currently, one of our members, Lou Hammond Ketilson serves as the Chair of the Committee (and Ian MacPherson also sits on the committee).  Lou’s term will be ending shortly, however.  This means that CASC should nominate someone else to serve on the committee.   CASC has not historically had a procedure for doing nominating people to sit on this committee, so at our most recent board meeting we adopted a procedure.  It was decided that we should issue a call for nomination before our annual general meeting and then at the annual general meeting we would vote to select a nominee.

We are hereby issuing this call for nominations.  In terms of criteria for the position, we have determined that two conditions are the most important:
(1) The nominee should have some history of participating in ICACCR events and discussions (e.g., attendance at the Annual ICACCR conference);
(2) The nominee must be willing and able to secure their own financing for participating in the work of the ICACCR (e.g., attending meetings), as the ICACCR is not able to provide financial support.

If you are interested in being nominated to be a member of the ICACCR, please let us know before the CASC AGM (though we will also accept nominations from the floor, we would strongly encourage you to inform us before hand).  We would ask that you prepare a short statement on your interest in the position, which you can send to Darryl Reed (dreed@yorku.ca), President of CASC.

Call for ideas – International Conference on Tools to Measure Co-op Difference and Impact

Dr. Sonja Novkovic of Saint Mary’s University and the Measuring the Co-operative Difference Research Network would like to invite your participation in a planning meeting for an international conference on tools to measure co-operative difference and impact. The event will likely happen in 2014, which means planning begins now.

At this stage Sonja is inviting people who wish to participate in a pre-planning meeting on September 5th in Halifax (phoning in may also be an option), to happen just before the St. Mary’s Symposium on Co-operative Governance. Further details and an option to RSVP to Sonja are included in this document.