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Welcome to the web site of the Linking, Learning, Leveraging SSHRC-funded research project investigating the Social Economy. This project is comprised of multiple community partner organizations, academic researchers, and university students. See our Project Overview for more information.
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A bit about the research project:
SEED Winnipeg makes concerted, deliberate efforts to be a good partner to other organizations, and according to SEED and its partners, the vast majority of these relationships are, indeed, successful. This research shows that success results from good planning, appropriate due diligence prior to engaging in partnership with an organization, making good choices in partners, and putting in the effort and resources required to make the relationships work well.
The results of this research project may be helpful to a variety of organizations that are considering entering into a partnership or assessing the partnerships they currently have.
See the final report for more information.
Please see the complete list of final Linking, Learning, and Leveraging project reports here.
A bit about the research project:
The co-operative community in Manitoba has identified co-operative management education as a priority need. This research addressed that need by designing a complete class curriculum that is the first of its kind in Manitoba at the postsecondary level and the first of its kind in Canada at an undergraduate level. The course was offered for the first time at the University of Winnipeg beginning in January 2011. The project is intended to contribute to co-operative development within the social economy for many years to come.
See the final report for more information.
Please see the complete list of final Linking, Learning, and Leveraging project reports here.
A bit about the research project:
It is important to understand the similarities, differences, and contributions of the social economy in urban, rural, and northern contexts so that communities across Saskatchewan can take full advantage of the social economy’s unique ability to address critical economic, social, and cultural issues. However, because development is often framed as either urban or rural, there remains too little understanding of the social economy—including co-operatives, mutuals, not-for-profits, and voluntary sector organizations associated with alternative development models, people before profits, and democratic participation—in the northern context. This case study on the social economy in the northern Saskatchewan community of La Ronge has three key objectives: to identify social economy actors in La Ronge; to document the economic, social, and cultural contributions of the social economy to the community; and to highlight the opportunities and challenges facing the social economy in La Ronge.
This study found that the social economy in La Ronge has made significant contributions to the economic, social, and cultural health of the community by mitigating the effects of economic leakage, skills shortages, as well as race, class, and gender divisions. The community has achieved this through individual organizational action or through the development of partnerships with other social economy organizations and/or the public and private sectors. Nevertheless, social economy organizations in La Ronge face a number of challenges that frustrate their efforts to do more, including administrative and jurisdictional boundaries; poor communication between or among organizations; a misunderstanding of the social economy among politicians, policy-makers, and the public; and a lack of financial and human resources. Despite these challenges, the social economy in La Ronge has been, and continues to be, a source of community resilience and innovation in a community faced with both incredible opportunities and hardships. Social economy organizations survive because of their relevance to the community and their capacity to meet real economic, social, and cultural needs.
See the final report for more information.
Please see the complete list of final Linking, Learning, and Leveraging project reports here.
A bit about the research project:
Immigration to rural areas is a significant element of Manitoba’s overall immigration experience, and thus shifting attention from Winnipeg to other communities is needed to better understand immigration in the province. Rural communities receiving immigrants struggle to ensure adequate service provision, partly because there are few pre-established institutions or organizations in these areas to assist newcomers. An important factor in immigrant attraction, settlement, and retention is the role of ethnocultural organizations and communities. In rural communities without large immigrant populations, however, these organizations may not be well established or exist at all. Ethnocultural organizations are vital to meeting the needs of newcomers and ensuring a vibrant, diverse community.
This project is part of a larger research initiative designed to understand the scope of immigration to Brandon and southwestern Manitoba, with a particular focus on how communities can become more welcoming.
The final report elaborates on several recommendations and includes several appendices, including one that describes a Language Co-operative that has been initiated in Brandon as a grassroots response to the ever-growing need in Brandon for interpretation and translation services.
See the final report for more information.
Please see the complete list of final Linking, Learning, and Leveraging project reports here.
A bit about the research findings:
The Inuit of Baker Lake rely heavily upon the local social economy for their material, social, and cultural well-being. The most prominent “institution” in the local social economy of Baker Lake is the mixed economy — household reliance upon a combination of harvesting, household clothing and tool production, and money from a variety of sources including government transfers, simple commodity production, and wage labour. The various components of the mixed economy have relationships with one another that are in some ways mutually supportive and in others, contradictory. This is perhaps most apparent in the relationship between harvesting and wage labour, especially when nonrenewable resource extraction is a substantial source of employment.
Due to the contradictions between these two activities and the continued and arguably irreplaceable role harvesting plays in community well-being, it is necessary to take a balanced and cautious approach to industrial activity. In the context of Baker Lake, the existing Meadowbank Gold Mine is a project not entirely irreconcilable with notions of balanced economic development and has thus far, with a few important exceptions, played a primarily positive role in the community. The proposed Kiggavik uranium mine, however, — if it becomes a reality — would represent a departure from a logic of balanced economic development and may have substantial negative implications for the local social economy, and more generally, the Inuit of Baker Lake.
See the final report for more information.
Please see the complete list of final Linking, Learning, and Leveraging project reports here.
Gayle Broad
Community Economic and Social Development
Algoma University College
Hammond Ketilson (2005:3) suggests that in the conduct of social economy research there can be “… no single template for productive [community university] research partnerships. Each requires new approaches to collaboration, new ways of honouring identities and building relationships, new ways of inhabiting institutional and other spaces … ”
This presentation will examine five community-university research partnerships in the social economy for learnings that can assist researchers in meeting the challenge of developing respectful relations between communities and universities. It concludes that researchers themselves can be the pivotal point of relationship-building.
Food Sovereignty: Reconnecting Food, Nature and Community__________
Advocating a practical, radical change to the way much of our food system currently operates, this book argues that food sovereignty is the means to achieving a system that will provide for the food needs of all people while respecting the principles of environmental sustainability, local empowerment and agrarian citizenship. The current high input, industrialized, market-driven food system fails on all these counts. The UN-endorsed goal of food security is becoming increasingly distant as indicated by the growing levels of hunger in the world, especially among marginalized populations in both the North and South. The authors of this book describe the recent emergence and the parameters of an alternative system, food sovereignty, that puts the levers of food control in the hands of those who are both hungry and produce the world’s food – peasants and family farmers, not corporate executives. As the authors show in both conceptual and case study terms, food sovereignty promises not only increased production of food, but also food that is safe, food that reaches those who are in the most need, and agricultural practises that respect the earth.
Learn more about the book, its contents, and the authors, see the Brunswick Books (formerly Fernwood Books) website.
F.J.H. Fredeen Memorial ScholarshipEligibility: Offered annually to a student entering or continuing studies in a masters or doctoral program who is conducting research on co-operatives. Student must have contributed to the development of his/her community as it relates to the study of co-operatives, which may include but is not limited to, working in developing countries, working with Habitat for Humanity, tutoring refugees and new Canadians, peer counselling, and projects that may contribute to peace in the world.
Application procedure: A letter of application outlining experience with co-operatives and community development, accompanied by a copy of university transcripts, and one reference letter.
Submit applications to:
Centre for the Study of Co-operatives
101 Diefenbaker Place
University of Saskatchewan
Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5B8;
Phone: (306) 966–8509
Fax: (306) 966–8517
Email: coop.studies@usask.ca
About the project:
This research explores the way in which local governments support community economic development (CED) and social economy (SE) activities. It aims to identify the roles that local governments play in promoting the CED and SE sector and to highlight innovative examples of this support. The research focused on local governments in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Northern Ontario.
Though a diversity of activities was evident prior to undertaking the research, this project further illuminates the wide range of undertakings in which Canadian local governments in the study region are engaged. The research highlights what these local governments are doing and how their involvement in CED and SE activities assists in addressing the complex challenges they face in the current socio-political-economic climate.
Almost all of the local governments interviewed in the study region are active in the CED and SE sector, although not in a homogeneous manner. This research identified seven common roles in which local governments engage to advance CED and SE efforts. Based on the research findings, members of the research team also developed six general frameworks of engagement that they felt reflected the types of interactions and relationships local governments employ when supporting and interacting with CED and SE organizations. Further, the research describes specific examples of local government involvement with CED and SE actors and activities.
I is hoped that these research findings will encourage dialogue among local governments and support further engagement in the CED and SE sector. It is also hoped that local governments will be inspired to learn from and build on the ideas and successes generated in other jurisdictions.
This is a joint publication of the BC-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA) and the Northern Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan Regional Node of the Social Economy Suite.
Please see the complete list of final Linking, Learning, and Leveraging project reports here.
by Maria Basualdo and Chipo Kangayi (CL1-16-SK).
A bit about the project background and objectives:
Cypress Hills Ability Centres Inc. (CHACI), established in 1989, provides vocational and residential services to persons with developmental and/or multiple disabilities in Shaunavon, Swift Current, and surrounding area. CHACI’s vocational day programs are designed to strengthen participants’ pre-vocational and vocational skills. CHACI also assists Saskatchewan Association Rehabilitation Centres in the administration and operation of a provincial beverage container recycling program, along with leftover paint and electronics recycling, and paper shredding. CHACI’s residential services (e.g., Houston House and Shaunavon Group Home) enable adults with intellectual and/or multiple disabilities live as independently as possible in a supportive family-like environment in the local community. Finally, CHACI provides transit services to and from school, work, or medical appointments for persons with physical disabilities and/or a history of mental health issues.
CHACI is looking at the feasibility of expanding its programs and services to meet even further the needs of persons with cross disabilities. It is likely that there are persons with cross disabilities in Swift Current and the South West Region who are either not receiving services or traveling to Saskatoon to receive them. It is important to identify these people and determine their needs, along with industry trends regarding options for vocational training.
Using a participatory action research approach, this project will develop an understanding of the operations at Cypress Hills Ability Centres Inc. by identifying the characteristics of the clients whom the organization is currently serving. Researchers will also attempt to identify the needs of persons with cross disabilities not attending CHACI, as well as services offered by and opinions of social services, disability organizations, marginalized groups, education councilors, youth groups, and government agencies to identify gaps in service, potential alliances, and possible funding sources. The goal is to fill gaps in service rather than duplicate a service already operating successfully elsewhere.
See the final report for more information including findings and recommendations resulting from the study.
Please see the complete list of final Linking, Learning, and Leveraging project reports here.
Member of the Canadian Social Economy Research Partnerships
Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada / Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada
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