SPECIAL INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH & EDCUATION CONFERENCE*

Cooperating for Change in the International Year of Cooperatives

June 24th-27th, 2012
Université du Québec à Montréal
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

The United Nations had declared 2012 to be the International Year of Cooperatives. In response, cooperative organizations around the world have been planning events to acknowledge, promote, investigate and celebrate the achievements of cooperatives.

In this spirit of collaboration and celebration, the leading cooperative research and education organizations and networks operating in Canada – the Canadian Association for Studies in Cooperation (CASC), the Interdisciplinary Research and Information Centre on Collective Enterprises (CIRIEC Canada), the International Cooperative Alliance Committee on Cooperative Research (ICACCR) and the Association of Cooperative Educators (ACE), the Measuring the Cooperative Difference network and Territorial Development and Cooperation network – are joining forces with apex cooperative associations in Canada – the Canadian Cooperative Association (CCA), le Conseil canadien de la coopération et de la mutualité (CCCM), and le Conseil québécois de la cooperation et de la mutualité (CQCM) – to organize this conference.

Early bird registration opens April 1st and runs through to May 1st, 2012.

* For this year only, CASC and the ICACCR are suspending their regular annual conferences and ACE is suspending the ACE Institute in favour of this one joint event.

CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS

The conference will feature a wide variety of panel presentations, roundtables and site visits, as well as numerous opportunities for networking with other co-op researchers, practitioners and policy makers from across North America and around the world. Panel presentations will examine, among other things a variety of co-operative sectors (worker cooperatives, agricultural co-operatives, financial co-operatives, services co-operatives, forestry co-operatives, etc.), aboriginal co-operatives, co-operative development in different countries and regions, management and governance issues related to co-operatives, educating and mobilizing for co-operation, and co-operatives and sustainability. Special roundtables will look at public policy issues related to co-operatives, social responsibilities policies and practices of co-operatives, co-operatives and Fair Trade, and campus co-operatives, among other topics. Prof. Linda Shaw of the Co-operative College in Manchester will deliver the keynote speech.

TRAVEL INFORMATION
There are many travel options to Montreal, Quebec and when booking we encourage you to use a co-operatively owned travel agency, such as the Canadian Travel Co-op of Burlington (1-800-263-5241).
If you are interested in arriving in Montreal early or visiting the area after Congress, you can find more travel information by visiting www.tourisme-montreal.org

HOTEL AND VENUE INFORMATION

All of the conference sessions (apart from receptions and the banquet) will be held at the Université du Québec à Montréal.

The conference has negotiated a special conference rate with the Sheraton for conference participants. The details are as follows:

Le Centre Sheraton Montreal
1201 Boulevard René-Lévesque West
Montreal, Quebec H3B 2L7
Phone: 514-878-2000

Reservations: 1-800-325-3535
Online reservations: http://www.starwoodmeeting.com/StarGroupsWeb/res?id=1112297517&key=825F4
Group code: CANADIAN ASSSSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF COOPERATIVE

The rate for a standard room is $149 per night, based on single or double occupancy. The room rate does not include taxes (3.5% lodging tax, 5% federal sales tax, 9.5% provincial sales tax). Hotel check-in time is 3:00pm and check-out time is 12:00pm (noon).

In addition, it is possible to book rooms at one the dormitories of the University. Participants need to contact them directly.

Les Résidences Universitaires UQAM Est
303 boulevard René-Lévesque est,
Montréal (Québec)
H2X 3Y3 Canada
http://www.residences-uqam.qc.ca/hotel/
E-mail: uqamres@netrevolution.com
Tel: 514.987.6669

CO-OP TOURS
Details coming soon.

CONTACT

Darryl Reed
Associate Professor, Business & Society Program, York University
President, Canadian Association for Studies in Cooperation
Tel: 416.736.2100, ext 77817
E-mail: dreed@yorku.ca

Sarah Pike
Association of Cooperative Educators
Tel: 763.432.2032
E-mail: pike@ace.coop