Sustainability International Conference 2009, University of Technology, Mauritius, 5-7 January, 2009.

The fifth international conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability, will work in a multidisciplinary way across the various fields and perspectives through which we can address the fundamental and related questions of sustainability. Main speakers include some of the leading thinkers in these areas, as well as numerous paper, colloquium and workshop presentations.

Participants are also welcome to submit a presentation proposal either for a 30-minute paper, 60-minute workshop, a jointly presented 90-minute colloquium session. Parallel sessions are loosely grouped into streams reflecting different perspectives or disciplines. Each stream also has its own talking circle, a forum for focused discussion of issues. Virtual participation is also available.

Participants may choose to submit written papers before or after the Conference for possible publication in the International Journal of Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability, a fully refereed academic Journal. All Conference participants receive an online subscription to the Journal for one year after the Conference.  

Each year, the Canadian Community Economic Development (CED) Network holds a national conference to bring together those who support community-based efforts to improve social conditions and create economic opportunities in Canada and beyond.

As the premier CED event in Canada, the conference aims to:

• Strengthen CED practitioners and organizations
• Advance a pan-Canadian policy agenda for CED
• Contribute to skills development and capacity building

• Increase the profile of CED as a viable approach to the economic revitalization of Canadian communities.

2. Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences Congress 2008 May 31-June 8, 2008, University of British Columbia, Vancouver

The annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences is a national celebration of intellectual life in Canada. For over 75 years, Congress has been the meeting place for leading public intellectuals, authors, artists, researchers, scholars and students in the humanities and social sciences. It is the largest multidisciplinary academic gathering in Canada, attracting delegates from every province and territory, from every university and from universities-colleges around the world.

Congress 2008 is being hosted by the University of British Columbia and is expected to be the largest conference yet, with over 9,500 delegates attending. The theme is Thinking Beyond Borders-Global Ideas: Global Values. This is an unprecedented opportunity to explore what it means to be global citizens and it's particularly exciting that Congress is being held during UBC's Centennial year.

3. International Society for Third-Sector Research Conferences
University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain - July 9-12, 2008

Biennial conferences encourage the exchange of ideas and research findings about the Third Sector, and promote discussion and cooperation among researchers and scholars.

4. Community-University Partnerships: Connecting for Change
Greater Victory Region, Vancouver Island, May 4-7, 2008

Meeting on the traditional territories of the Salish peoples, CUexpo 2008 will offer a unique opportunity for field visits throughout the region. CUexpo 2008 will bring together community and university partnerships from every part of Canada with important stories from work in other parts of the world in community-based research.

So please come to tell us your stories, share the results of your research projects, celebrate your achievements, learn from others about the complex nature of this work and meet others with whom to work in the future.


This event is supported by the Office of Community-Based Research

5. The 4th International Conference on Technology, Knowledge and Society
Northeastern University, Boston, January 18-20, 2008

Presenters may choose to submit written papers for publication in the fully refereed International Journal of Technology, Knowledge and Society. If you are unable to attend the conference in person, virtual registrations are also available which allow you to submit a paper for review and possible publication in the journal, and provide access to the online edition of the journal.

6. 34th Annual Conference of the Atlantic Provinces Political Science Association (APPSA), October 3, 4 & 5, 2008

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1. Labour Market Flows: An Examination of Concepts and Measures ($24K)

2. Measurement of Workforce Exposure to Trade ($24K)

3. Applications of New Institutional Economics to the Canadian Labour Market: formal institutions, non-standard work and participation rates ($18K)

4. Applications of New Institutional Economics to the Canadian Labour Market: the role of social networks in finding suitable employment ($18K)

These four research projects are now posted at the Canadian Labour Market and Skills Researcher Network (CLSRN) website: http://www.clsrn.econ.ubc.ca  

The four RFP documents provide all the information required to submit a proposal (including work description and project requirements, eligibility criteria, deadlines, etc.). Please note the date to submit proposals has now passed.

2. Creating and Diffusing Social Innovation: from Initiative to Institutionalization (PDF, 295 KB)
Montréal, Québec, November 8-9, 2007

All proposals should be submitted by 5:00 p.m. on January 31, 2007

Depth examination and refers to numerous dimensions which must be brought out. Papers should therefore address the following questions:

• How can social innovation processes be analyzed?
• What means are used to diffuse them in the community from which they stem and from this community, into other communities?
• How can the fragile nature of many social innovations be explained?
• How do institutions interact with each other when taking initiatives and how are they trans formed following the inclusion of an innovation in the social fabric?
• Social innovation is often associated with the terms partnership and collaboration. But what role do power relations and conflicts play?
• What is the role of social research and academic
  research?
• Can we refer to a national system of social innovations?
• How does social innovation contribute to transforming
  society?

Researchers in the academic community, organizations and associations from civil society are invited to submit a proposal!

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3. CIRIEC Research Conference: Strengthening and Building Communities: the Social Economy in a Changing World
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, October 22-24, 2007  

The four thematic streams of the conference are:

• The Social Economy in Communities: an international view

• The Social Economy Facing Globalization

• The Social Economy and Governance

• The Social Economy facing the reconfiguration of the state
  

Following the main conference, a series of forums will be held on the Social Economy in local settings (municipalities, first nations lands, and communities) on October 25, 2007.

17. Second National Canadian Conference on Social Enterprise
Vancouver, BC, January 28-31, 2007

This year's conference will continue to build the social enterprise sector by enhancing the ability of organizations to start new social enterprises and to make existing enterprises more successful. The conference will also provide a space for all participants to engage in dialogue on issues, strategies and opportunities that will contribute to a more enabling environment for successful social enterprise development across Canada.

The 2nd Canadian Conference on Social Enterprise aims to provide an opportunity for Canadians involved or interested in social enterprise initiatives to deepen their understanding of the field, to develop new and tangible skills relating to social enterprise development, and to explore emerging policy and sustainability issues in the field. It will also provide an occasion for sector development through networking and mentorship building.

We hope to ensure that the conference properly represents the current national landscape of social enterprise initiatives and policy issues while simultaneously providing an opportunity for learning - and for "looking ahead".

The conference is being organized by a pan-Canadian committee that includes social enterprises, funders, credit unions, government representatives and community based organizations. The Enterprising Non-Profits Program (enp) based in Vancouver BC, is the secretariat for the conference.  

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Come and join a conversation with Alex Hill, Project Manager, Green Energy, Benny Hill Farm, Montreal.

Alex Hill has played a leadership role in a number of greening projects in Montreal. He was the project manager for Montreal's Rooftop Garden Project, which is in its fifth year. One of the five roof top gardens provides fresh produce for Santropol Roulant's meals-on-wheels service, an innovative social enterprise through which youth delivers meals on wheels, via skate boards and bikes, to seniors. Alex is currently the project manager for Green Energy Benny Farm, which is building a green-energy system with a $3-million grant from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to heat three social-housing projects that are being built on the Benny Farm site in Notre Dame de Grace. The Benny Farm property was developed in 1947 to provide housing for WWII veterans and their families. The redevelopment plan is designed to support the socio-cultural heritage of the site and the proud legacy of the appropriation of buildings and common spaces by the original tenants. This urban, landscape and architectural project (Greening the Infrastructure of Benny Farm) proposes an unprecedented integration of buildings, infrastructure and community-driven housing development. This project guides the sustainable construction and renovation of 187 units on four properties, and links each with a shared green infrastructure. A non-profit, community-run utility company will oversee the ownership, management and continual re-investment in sustainable construction for this common energy, water and waste infrastructure. Designed to expand in phases, the project provides a protocol for construction that reduces greenhouse gas emissions, potable water use, the production of waste water, and the production of solid waste through retrofitting, reuse and waste diversion. This new model for collectively driven sustainable construction was developed by the many stakeholders who have moved the Benny Farm redevelopment forward for over a decade, private and public, from grassroots groups to the City of Montreal. Three non-profit housing organizations will benefit from the first phase (COOP CHEZ SOI, Project ZOO, and HCNDG).

19. The Third International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability
University of Madras, Chennai, India, 4-7 January, 2007

This conference will use a multidisciplinary approach, linking environmental, cultural and economic factors, to address the fundamental issues of sustainability. The conference will feature an international roster of speakers, as well as paper, workshop and colloquium presentations by practitioners, teachers and researchers. Full details of the conference, including an online call for papers form, may be found at the conference website.

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1. 2006 AGM & Conference of the Canadian Worker Co-op Federation:
    Taking Global to Local (pdf, 93 KB), Edmonton, Alberta, Nov 16-18, 2006

This is a great opportunity to meet and network with associates of the Canadian Workers Co-op Federation. Exciting workshops for beginners, advanced members & developers will be held and free consulting time will be available. Lots of entertainment has been planned to make this event a success!

2. Global Microcredit Summit 2006
World Trade and Convention Centre, Halifax, NS. November 12-15, 2006.