Southern 遙ぺ整氈窒 Social Economy Node (SOSEN; 2005-2011)
The Social Economy Centre of the University of Toronto, Imagine 遙ぺ整氈窒, and the 遙ぺ整氈窒 Co-operative Association partnered together to launch a research alliance that aimed at enhancing capacity for ongoing research and development for the social economy of Southern 遙ぺ整氈窒. The overall objective was to enhance the capacity of the social economy of Southern 遙ぺ整氈窒.
This project a Community-University Research Alliance for Southern 遙ぺ整氈窒s Social Economy consisted of a network of leading scholars from:
- 11 universities in Southern 遙ぺ整氈窒,
- 24 partner organizations, and
- Scholars from seven universities external to the node whose research was beneficial.
During the project time frame from 2005 to 2011, 35 sub-projects emerged which were grouped into five Research and Practice Clusters:
- Mapping the size and scope of the social economy in this region,
- Understanding the impact of the social economy,
- Improving the capacity of social economy organizations (SEOs) to demonstrate the value of their activities,
- Developing public policy, and
- Extending theory.
This Alliance generated synergy between:
- Researchers and practitioners working in isolation,
- Similar networks in other regions, and
- The social economy internationally.
This research initiative built a future generation of researchers, created a presence for social economy in higher education institutions, and focused heavily on knowledge dissemination. Training of students was a key feature of this Alliance, and for each project, graduate students formed part of the team. The initiative led to the creation of:
- The Association for Nonprofit and Social Economy Research (ANSER),
- The Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research
- The Social Economy Centre at the University of Toronto (which is now the Centre for Learning, Social Economy & Work, CLSEW), and
- Several books, fact sheets and backgrounders on the sector as well as several journal articles, including the following:
- Green community entrepreneurship: Creative destruction in the social economy (by Travis Gliedt and Paul Parker) in the International Journal of Social Economics in January 2007.
Research
The Community-University Research Alliance for Southern 遙ぺ整氈窒s Social Economy was one of seven Canadian research alliances funded by the to study the social economy. acted as a facilitator promoting collaboration among the seven regional research alliances: Qu矇bec; Atlantic; Southern 遙ぺ整氈窒; Manitoba, Saskatchewan & Northern 遙ぺ整氈窒; ; the North.
Research & Practice Clusters
The overall project had 35 sub-projects. These sub-projects were organized into five Research and Practice Clusters, which were:
- mapping the size and scope of the social economy in this region,
- understanding the impact of the social economy,
- improving the capacity of social economy organizations (SEOs) to demonstrate the value of their activities,
- developing public policy, and
- extending theory.
Southern 遙ぺ整氈窒 Social Economy Community-University Research Alliance Symposium
In May 2008, the project hosted a symposium at the University of Toronto. The presentations featured at the symposium included:
- Mapping social economy organizations (by David Lasby and Mark Ventry)
- Work stoppages in social economy organizations: Dimension, causes and beyond (by Kunle Akingbola)
Frequently Asked Questions
We present the social economy as an overarching framework addressing the entire array of organizations with a social mission ranging from market-based co-operatives, community economic development corporations, and other social enterprises to nonprofits in public service to the many nonprofit mutual associations. Our initial working definition is of organizations with a social mission that either have explicit economic objectives, as is the case of market-based organizations, or that create economic value through employing people and through providing services. Our approach also emphasizes the interaction between the social economy and the private and public sectors.
Imagine 遙ぺ整氈窒 is a national charitable organization that supports 遙ぺ整氈窒s charities, nonprofit organizations, and socially conscious businesses, and champions the work they do in our communities. Imagine 遙ぺ整氈窒 is one of the largest nonprofit umbrella organizations in the country with a membership of over 1,200. With a staff of twenty research professionals, it is recognized as 遙ぺ整氈窒s leading source of research on the charitable and nonprofit sector.
遙ぺ整氈窒 Co-operative Association represents co-operatives, credit unions, and caisses populaires in 遙ぺ整氈窒 in such diverse services as agriculture, finance, insurance, food retailing and wholesaling, farm supply, renewable energy, culture, social service such as daycare, health and homecare. On Co-op, as it is known, has a mandate to support and promote co-operatives across 遙ぺ整氈窒.
The Social Economy Centre of the University of Toronto was a research centre that promote and disseminated multidisciplinary research and policy analysis on issues affecting the social economy. The Centre was established in 2005 as a unit of the 遙ぺ整氈窒 Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. Since 2014, the Social Economy Centre has been part of the Centre for Learning, Social Economy & Work (CLSEW).
This project was supported by the .