2009 Cooperative Education and Training Institute
In Our Backyards: Defending the Environmental Commons
November 6-8, 2009
University of Michigan Union
530 S. State St.
Ann Arbor, MI
Ann Arbor, MI
In an era where the word "green" is used to describe everything from construction practices to the economy, environmental sustainability is in the spotlight more than ever as environmental injustices continue to threaten the health, safety and sustainability of communities everyday. As leaders of the cooperative movement, we must ask ourselves what it means to engage in environmental issues at the local, regional, and global level. How do we transform mainstream environmentalism into environmental justice and create and support just, sustainable (re)uses of land? What opportunities emerging from economic and environmental crisis exist to grow the cooperative movement?
At the 2009 NASCO Institute, we will build on last year's exploration of cooperatives and land rights to explore the role and future of cooperatives in the current greenwashed recession with an internationalist perspective. We will develop strategies for promoting healthy relationships with each other, with our land and resources, and across cultures. Through workshops, discussions, film screenings, panels, and caucuses, we will rethink how we produce, transport, and consume; share everyday tools for just sustainability in cooperative practices; and create cooperative solutions that spark change in "our backyards."
A Cooperative Education & Training Conference
Each November, over 400 participants from all over the United States, Canada and beyond converge in Ann Arbor, Michigan to share ideas, learn new skills, and look at issues affecting the cooperative movement worldwide. NASCO's Cooperative Education & Training Institute, which has been providing cooperative training and education annually since 1977, is widely recognized as one of the most important training and networking opportunities available to cooperative members, directors, staff and managers.
The annual NASCO Institute is always a one of a kind opportunity to network with hundreds of cooperative leaders and employers, to caucus about pressing issues, and to work on building an inclusive and accessible cooperative movement. This year's Institute promises to be especially compelling as we build on recent explorations on tools for economic justice and land rights.