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NASCO
Conference a Goldmine of Co-op Resources
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BCICS
researchers Ryan George and Laura Sjolie attended the North American
Students for Co-operation (NASCO) conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan
4-5 November, 2000. They took from the conference a tremendous amount
of information relevant to the co-operative sector in BC. The majority
of the conference was geared toward the development of housing co-operatives,
but there were also workshops on co-op financing, social auditing,
fair trade and co-operatives, and a number of other topics. In all,
Ryan and Laura spent two busy days of hob-nobbing with American
student co-operative housing advocates.
Although many Canadians are loathe to admit it, many similarities
exist between the Canadian and American ways of doing things, so
much of the information from the American-centred conference is
also useful in a Canadian context. Among the topics Ryan and Laura
found constructive were the discussions surrounding the development
of a co-operative housing movement, especially for a university
setting, as well as the promotion of social auditing, which is using
criteria other than financial growth as a measurement of an enterprise's
health.
Lastly, because the fair trade movement has become such a popular
topic of discussion, Laura and Ryan took from one workshop at the
conference new ways in which more can be done in looking at how
North American co-ops can build bridges to co-operatives in other,
less wealthy countries.
BCICS is pleased that it was also able to contribute to assisting
Victoria resident Tara Matsuzaki to attend the NASCO conference.
Tara is a member of the newly formed solid Roots and Autonomous
Roofs Housing Co-operative and a UVic alumnus. |
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