The 2009 Policy Colloquium, BuildingPolicy4 the Social Economy will bring together government policy shapers, cutting edge researchers, community builders, and the next generation of social economy leaders – our students.

This multi partner, multi network meeting will draw on recent research findings to lay the foundation for a dialogue on bridging social economy practice and policy.The meeting is hosted by the Social Economy and Sustainability Research Network, in collaboration with the Québec and Northern nodes and the Canadian Hub of the SSHRC-funded social economy suite.

We have developed the following objectives for BuildingPolicy4 the Social Economy

First, we want to:

* Reinforce collaborative relationships

* Dialogue on dynamics of building public policy

* Integrate results from collaborative research in Atlantic Canada, Québec and Labrador

Second, we want to begin to build a policy framework by:

* Presenting policy related findings from three social economy networks

* Identifying key policy initiatives that will further develop the social economy

* Establishing a network to promote the policy agenda in Atlantic Canada

Podcast audio from our Plenary sessions and our keynote speaker Tim Brodhead will be posted to this website after October 2nd. Post-colloquium materials will also be available publicly online in our commitment to broadly disseminate outcomes and developments from this collaborative Colloquium.

The Colloquium will offer a unique venue for networking and strategizing among attendees on building policy for the social economy. We look forward to showcasing the cooperative sector, social enterprise and the vibrancy of the social economy.

Co-producing public policies for the ESS

The Canadian Social Economy Research Program co-directed by the Canadian CED Network (with partners in practitioner and university settings across Canada) has been developing a comparative global analysis of public policy instruments being developed across the world to strengthen the social and solidarity economy as a means to address poverty, food sustainability, ecological sustainability, human development and other needs in the context of the triple crises facing the planet: social, economic and environmental. Our intent is to apply the findings to a participatory action research process to engage actors in the social and solidarity economy in co-producing a program of policy development with all levels of government in Canada, which will involve a major summit in 2010.

Click here for the current programme overview