Co-op education is one of the most important tools we have for sustaining our co-operative organizations and growing the co-operative movement. Over the summer, one of BCCA’s major focuses was on building out free and openly accessible resources for our members and other “co-op curious” groups to use for educating their members about the co-operative … Continued
Defined by Wikipedia, renewable energy is “energy that is collected from renewable resources, which are naturally replenished on a human timescale, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat. Renewable energy often provides energy in four important areas: electricity generation, air and water heating/cooling, transportation, and rural (off-grid) energy services.” There are groups dedicated to providing access to renewable energy resources and September’s Co-op Café will review the Community Generation Project … Continued
BCCA recently conducted a review of the Co-operate Now! program offered in partnership with Vancity. Our hope was to gather some insights into how we might improve it and better understand the impact of this popular three-day intensive co-op bootcamp. Co-operate Now! is the brainchild of Vancity’s Co-operative Portfolio Manager, Elvy DelBianco, and has resulted … Continued
BCCA is excited to announce our new Co-op Governance Workshops! Designed for intact co-op boards, these interactive 90 minute live virtual workshops focus on the following leadership elements: Co-op Models Hallmarks of Effective Governance Board Decision-Making Board Responsibilities Board Challenges, Pitfalls and Mitigation Ideal for board chairs, board committees and board directors, the sessions include pre-workshop consultation for customization and to identify key issues and questions and ensures time for … Continued
Like many of our co-op members, the BCCA has had to shift some of our core offerings in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, we are having to re-imagine our popular in-person Co-ops 101 workshops. The workshops highlight the co-op difference and the diversity of the co-op sector across BC, offering our members an … Continued
Daniel Brunette, Director of Advocacy and Partnerships at Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada (CMC) led our May 8th Co-op Meetup and shared his vast knowledge of federal financial programs and supports are currently available to co-operative businesses. Along with reiterating that co-ops have equal access to all federal COVID-19 emergency financial programs and supports, Daniel highlighted that … Continued
The B.C. and Alberta Provincial Governments have both recently released their strategies for restarting local economies by outlining phases for businesses to re-open over the coming weeks and months. But are you ready to re-open? Have you been operating an essential service since the outbreak began but are wondering what you may need to do … Continued
The BCCA Co-op Meetups strive to be an opportunity and platform for co-ops to come together and share their knowledge and insight with each other, spark new ideas, and help each other grow and flourish. This week, we had the opportunity to engage in an international conversation with the Alberta Community & Co-operative Association … Continued
Our first Co-op Meetups session featured Mary Childs as our guest speaker. Mary is a lawyer with Vancouver office of Miller Thompson LLC and is a part of the firm’s Social Impact Group. She works with many co-operatives, charities, non-profits, and social enterprises and also sits on the steering committee of the CoopZone Legal Network, … Continued
At BCCA we want to provide forums for our co-operative community to come together during these difficult times. So we are be offering a digital meet up series focused on issues specific to co-operative businesses. The meet ups will feature local co-operators and subject matter experts and provide plenty of opportunity for knowledge sharing among … Continued