2019-10-26 CWCF 2019 Conference

[TOC]

Event Summary

• made note of lack of diversity at event
  • acknowledged that i was humbled by my welcome, and was very nervous to mention something might on the surface seem like criticism, but was actually opportunity.
  • clarified that spoken from a place of care
  • recognition that equity is hard and we try and fail all the time in the spaces I’m in. but important to be voicing the ways we’re struggling.
  • 1/4 Canada is “visible minority”
  • capital economy is already not treating those well who aren’t already in power. would hope that in the co-op economy, we might respond to that, and perhaps even “oversteer” in our goals of representation.
  • mentioned that it was noted last year but a woman of colour in attendance. She’s not back this year
  • there’s nothing explicitly in CWCF strategic plan about diversity & inclusion of movement
  • there is no committee working on it
• reba is wonderful!
  • Sam is also with urbane cycle. marketing & comms.
  • recommended we drop in sometime.
  • potential opportunity to work together
• hazel seemed very interested in hacknight community model
• spoke with Sonja (St Mary’s University academic) about coopdevs model, re: community+co-op.
  • spoke with research assistance Cian (key-an), who has a labour background. really interested in that intersection
• chris @ parIT: http://www.parit.ca/about-parit/
• someone (older man) recommended i run for board, just based on the way i was contributing on final day

Who did I meet

( Photo of full list of attendees)

• Rick @ Sun Certified Builders
• Chris @ ParIT
• Hazel @ CWCF
• Kaye @ CWCF
• Jessica @
• Reba @ Urbane Cyclist
• Sam @ Urbane Cyclist
• Frank @ Just Us Coffee
• ??? @ Just Us Coffee
• ?? @ London Brewing Co-op
• Sonja @ SMU School of Co-op Management
• Cian @ SMU School of Co-op Management
• Peter Hough @ CWCF / CoopZone

Live Notes: Day 3

session 1

• sonja novkovic
• https://www.smu.ca/academics/sobey/sobey-cooperative-management-education.html
• social economy = cooperatives, mutuals, asssociations (+ foundations? qc)
• democratic gov
• “3rd sector”
• not disuputing investor-owned, capital system
• BUT solidarity econ = about changing the system
• from latin american econs being so used and abused
• redistrib justice, active citizenship, profound reorg of power relations
• SSE = attempt to put two together
• social solidarity econ (strategic merger, though tensions)
• ethan miller has great diagram
• #ask conservative sensibility (george will). leviathan of gov. make it smaller. bring gov it down to us instead of backfilling space between
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Will
• social enterprise. hero entrepreneur philosophy.
  • social co-ops can be in it
• social business. business with other ideas. not just philanthropy. e.g., tom’s shoes. buy one pair and give another away. realizing profit in the social.
• #ask ronald burt. social capital networks. 90s.
• worker co-ops work at the heart of capital labour. other co-operatives that might not be the case. they still hire labour.
  • with that point of view, have a lot to say at many tables
• mindshift. widely established as way to report on non-financial indicators
  • influencing the supply chain.
• solidarity econ
  • brazil. university hubs.
  • kerala., India. high unionization.
  • cleveland model. evenrgreen co-operatives. public procurement linked to worker co-ops (laundry, maintenance, etc.). university. hospital. worker co-ops.
  • preston model in UK. community enterprises.
  • barcelona city. public ownership revived. citizen income partly paid in social currency to be spent at local businesses. social market, trade amongst one another (democratic orgs, indicators). public procurement. conditions from city give advantage to social solidarity enterprises. or private business must partner with social enterprises.
  • costa rica. gender equity in banking. buy exhausted land to remediate.
  • quebec.
• #ask catalonia. https://coopdevs.org/
• #ask jackson mississipi. coop jackson. BSA. citizen assemblies.

session 2

• Rick.
• Sun Certified building co-op
• high perf builds and retrofits.
• in some towns, the co-ops are the only businesses left standing
• BUILD: Urban Industry for Local Development
  • 80% indigenous employees. manitoba.
  • Purpose Construction. another business was taking ppl trained in BUILD and give them stable work (also focussed on new immigrants)
• want to be involved in larger buildings. more capacity for high-perf in large buildings. also care about density.
• high value alignement. same worldview. bring ppl up.
• WHY does gov building shitty buildings for low-income persons, who then can’t pay heat, when you can build so that there’s no heat bill
• Purpose Construction has an angel funder who wants them to design 30 housing units.
  • funder: if it works well, we’ll do more. standalone. co-op housing.
• want to break into reserve housing. e.g., mid-northern reserve.
  • “reserve housing.” shittiest home you can build. “building down to code.”
  • reserve just finihsed land claim. taking over barracks. long plains reserve. unoccupied fed land. we get first choice.
  • #ask is purpose training employees as owners? with co-op, each can start their own company.
• we love to build, but we don’t have to build. purpose construction can.
• plan = to start factory to do wall builds and ship them out. purpose is in industrial section, with lots of vacant buildings
  • factory for walls is a lower skill environment. good for training. so purpose training being near factory would be huge.
  • #ask where might the divides be with the incentives of purpose. how might they want to expand that might be in conflict with co-op goals?
• habitat with humanity discussions. high level of material theft. hard to manage on-site. volunteer “stick build” (building on site).

Ignite Talks

• session 1… dcw co-op
• session 2… open sky
  • how did video affect you? when they asked: “we have no time.”
  • one of filmmakers had daughter with schizophrenia. so very personal.
  • still current.
  • beutiful tool. we’ve grown. we have next steps.
  • more focus on measuring before and after.
  • priceless to us. still works.
  • rick. sun cert. young filmmaker created video. wierdo to sit down and watch presentation of other. way he did it was interviewing buyers of homes. artefacts. place and time where we were. way to artifculate. paraphraser. “bell media”.
    • liked it so much he’s pitching a reality TV show. “passive-aggressive house”
• session 3: workplace democracy (frank @ just us coffee)
  • crazy org chart. create clarity around channels of comms.
  • create definted roles
  • hire for attitude . unlearn things.
  • harder to be democracy when larger. engage
  • “not everyone comfortable chairing meeting”
    • meet them where they’re at
  • what prevents members from engaging? work together to remove obstacles – can’t do it for them.
  • take risks? win = happy. lose = wise.
  • disagree respectfully. hold one another accountable.
  • celebrate accomplishments, not matter how small. (gratitude)

Misc

• neat facilitation tactic that was used during whole conf
  • assign 2 secret listeners. no one knows who. can’t influence. they present at the end on what they heard.

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