BCICS has been awarded a three-year grant of $219,000 from the
Social Science and Humanities Research Council to study the roles
of BC’s rural co-operatives in the so-called New Economy.
The underlying premise of the research is that communities are
being transformed by the impact of a ‘new economy’.
In British Columbia this means the decline of jobs in the traditional
industries, such as the fishery and forestry, restructuring to
build new economic activities, efforts to further develop tourism;
it also means the changing role of the state. The project will
document the development, progress and challenges that new co-operatives
encounter in the early years of their development. BCICS is approaching
individual co-ops and co-op federations, which have formed since
1996, to participate in the three-year study. About twelve co-operatives
located throughout the province are expected to be involved.
In addition to Ian MacPherson and Kathleen Gabelmann from BCICS,
the other key researchers in the project are Dr. Ana-Maria Peredo
of the U Vic Faculty of Business, and Dr. Eric Morse, formerly
in the Faculty of Business and now the Director of Entrepreneurship
at Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario.
In addition, students will be hired to work as research assistants.
The research will include in-depth case studies, extensive documentation
of challenges and opportunities, the recording of best practices
and explanations for any failures that occur. Researchers will
work with the co-ops to identify the key questions, useful resources
and expertise that the researchers could offer to the co-ops.
When the researchers are in the communities they would arrange
to facilitate workshops and present information sessions to interested
co-op members focussing on these areas.
BCICS believes the study is important for three groups in particular:
people involved or interested in co-operative organisations and
activities; scholars and students involved or interested in the
field of Co-operative Studies; and decision and policy makers
concerned with finding ways to build and sustain healthy communities.
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