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The conference sponsored by the Frontiers Foundation is taking place Oct 21-24 at Canad Inns , Polo Park, in Winnipeg. The conference has  five content streams: Employment and training in Housing and Forestry, Forestry. Housing Management, Housing Technology and Business  Models. On Tuesday October 22, I will be making a presentation in on social enterprise in the business model stream. Up to 300 people including community leaders and managers from housing, employment and training, social and economic development, academics, public service  and non profit groups are expected to participate.

I will be teaching two courses on social enterprise at U of W in the 2013 Fall semester. BUS 3255, Social Enterprise in the current economy,  is being offered in the executive program of the business faculty and UIC 3100, Social Enterprise in the Inner City is offered in the Urban and Inner City Studies Program. The course examines the role of social enterprises, identifies and assesses their different types, explores management issues unique to social enterprises and measures their impacts. Case studies and guest social enterprise practitioners are featured in both courses.

The UIC 3100 Social Enterprise course is scheduled at the U of W Selkirk Avenue campus on Thursdays from 1:00 to 3:45 PM starting on September 5. The course still has space available. The course can be taken independently for interest or as a credit towards an university degree.

You may wonder what this topic has to do with social enterprise and why it appears in this social enterprise blog. I graduated as a forester in 1971 and subsequently spend four years (1989- 1993) as a policy advisor to Bud Wildman, Minister of Natural Resources and Native Affairs in the Ontario government. The Crown Forest Sustainability Act, developed and passed during this time frame, was chosen as part of celebrating the 20^th anniversary of the Ontario Environmental Bill of Rights. Bob Miller, the current Ontario Environmental Commissioner, facilitated the discussion with Minister Wildman, ADM David Balsillie and myself.  The story, pictures and the  audio of that discussion are available on line at http://environmentalbeginnings.ca/crown-forest-sustainability-act/.

I recently met with Broadway Neighbourhood Centre (BNC) board and staff members to discuss social enterprise as an option for JustTV, a program that provides youth with opportunities to express themselves through multimedia in a safe, fun, creative environment as an alternative to negative influences such as drugs, gangs, and violence. Participants engage in all facets of the audio and video industry and are required to make a video based on their interests, experiences, activities, and lives including a body of work aimed at dissuading young children from drugs, crime and gang activity.

BNC Inc. is a nonprofit organization committed to providing the highest quality recreational, social, health, educational, and employment training programs and services. BNC will evaluate this option as an earned revenue strategy to support their overall program.

I have been invited by the British Council Canada to attend discussion on social enterprise at the MaRS Collaboration Centre In Toronto on May 22, 2013. The discussion will focus on the development and current status of social enterprise in Canada; review research carried out by CEiS, a organization based in Scotland; and how the British Council Canada program might add value to the development of social enterprise in Canada. The British Council Canada creates interesting opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and builds trust between them worldwide.

Neechi Commons Community Business Complex is now open and on its way to becoming a major focal point for commerce and development in Winnipeg’s North End.

Neechi Commons includes a neighbourhood supermarket, produce courtyard, cafeteria restaurant, bakery, fish market, a specialty foods boutique, Aboriginal books, arts, crafts, music and clothing, a seasonal farmers market, and hardware.

If you haven’t already done so, check it out.

The 2013 Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF) will bring together 1,200 individuals from more than 30 countries and speakers from more than 20 countries.  Attendees will come from diverse backgrounds – social enterprise practitioners from all sectors, traditional non-profits, for-profit businesses, philanthropists, intrapreneurs, the public sector, support agencies, funders and investors, consultants, indigenous groups, and students – but all share a dedication to resolving the world’s most complex and confounding social challenges. The inaugural SEWF met in Edinburgh, Scotland. Since then it has been to Melbourne, Australia; San Francisco, U.S.A; Johannesburg, Africa; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

To learn more or to register go to www.socialenterpriseworldforum.org/

My work in the social economy was interrupted in the early 1990s, when I spent four years as a policy advisor to Bud Wildman, Minister responsible for Natural Resources and Native Affairs in the Ontario government.

You may wonder what connects social economy and forestry policy. The answer, in my case, is that I graduated from Forestry at University of Toronto and spent my early career in the forest industry.

Gord Miller, the Environment Commissioner of Ontario, is celebrating the 20^th anniversary of the Ontario Environmental Bill of Rights. Memories of people who were involved in significant environmental events and organizations are available on line at www.environmentalbeginnings.ca. I will be telling my story of working for sustainable forestry in a panel discussion later this month.

The session on sustainable forestry should be available shortly after it is recorded on April 24, 2013.

This two day workshop on “Strategic Economic Development Opportunities” organized by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs will take place in Winnipeg on February 19 and 20.  I will be presenting a session on social enterprise at this workshop for First Nation economic development officers.