BCICS researchers Laura Sjolie and Michael Burdge attended a Community Economic Development Student Research Workshop this summer hosted by the Tompkins Institute, at the University of Cape Breton Community College. The aim of the workshop was to take in nation-wide examples of graduate students' work in the field of community development. The workshop was part of the University's MBA programme, and featured five presenters on a variety of topics related to co-operatives. It was facilitated by Drs. Greg MacLeod and Harvey Johnstone, both professors at UCCB.

Brad Donovan, pursuing an MBA with a community economic development focus, spoke on the Cape Breton Ingonish Development/Innovation Project he is undertaking in partnership with the town of Ingonish, on the east coast of Cape Breton Island. His project involves a plan to develop the area's natural beauty to capitalise on the tourist industry. The project is based on the successful New Dawn Model. First employed in Sydney, Nova Scotia in the mid-1970s, New Dawn Enterprises employs a co-operative structure to run a 'community-owned business,' with assets over $10 million.

Doug Lionais, a former UCCB student and now a Community Economic Student at Durham University in the UK, discussed his paper tentatively titled "An Institutionalist Critique of Community Economics." Despite its rather dry-sounding title, Doug's presentation produced the most lively discussion of the seminar. It centred on the ideas of community-based alternatives to conventional economics.

After lunch, Michael presented the projects currently underway at BCICS, following a short introduction of the Institute's mandate.

Laura described her project, the Galleria, to the group. Her presentation generated a good deal of interest in the Galleria, as well as on the Institute's website's value as an education tool.

Jorge Sousa, PhD student at University of Toronto and president of the Graduate Student's Society at U of T, discussed his dissertation topic, Toronto's Alexandra Park Housing Project conversion to co-operative housing. In 1998 Alexandra Park became the first public Housing in Canada to convert to a co-operative structure. A former resident at Alexandra Park himself, with family members still there, Jorge has followed the community's progress with both academic and personal interest.

After the seminar, the class adjourned to Greg MacLeod's home in Sydney for dinner where they experienced some of that famous Maritime hospitality. As the evening progressed, the dinner party turned into a Ceilidh, or traditional Scottish evening of singing, dancing and story-telling.