Sunday, November 4th, 10 am-12 pm
Please note: Course Block Three runs concurrently with part two of the Annual General Meeting
311. Conflict: Fight, Flight, or Opportunity?
Laird Schaub, Fellowship for Intentional Community
Does conflict mean your group is sick, or just paying attention? Starting with the premise that conflict is healthy and normal, we'll explore options for unlocking its potential using the whole person--rational, emotional, and intuitive. Rather than talking about "I" statements or being nice, we'll focus on what happens and what can be done when things get hot, concluding with a four-step plan for advantages of working in a group and in the dynamic moment, facilitated by those not in the stew.
331. Building a Participatory Economic Workplace and Society
Michael Albert , Z Magazine
Within the current corporate market context, how can we create exemplary workplaces that embody our values and that contribute to arriving at a fully transformed economy in the future, as well.
332. Other Economies Are Possible!: An Introduction to Solidarity Economics
Ethan Miller, Grassroots Economic Organizing; Riotfolk and Giant's Belly Farm
This workshop will focus on sharing and developing concrete strategies for democratic economic organizing. Specifically, we will explore the power of stories in shaping our collective sense of what kinds of economic livelihoods are possible to create. How do dominant stories about the nature of ""capitalism"" and ""the economy"" hinder our organizing? What kinds of stories can we tell that might empower us to see new possibilities, build relationships and articulate positive and compelling economic visions? Using the story of ""solidarity economics""--a broad, democratic and cooperative vision for economic organizing that is emerging from social movements around the world-- we will ask: Can we create a common language & practice of economic creation that encourages autonomy, democracy and diversity while also fostering a broad sense of solidarity? How can we link together existing alternatives into a broader, mutually supportive movement for social transformation?
333. UHAB: An Unique Approach to Affordable Housing in New York City
Andrew Reicher, Urban Homesteading Assistance Board
Since 1973, UHAB | Urban Homesteading Assistance Board has played an essential role in the creation of the largest community of shared-equity housing co-operatives in the United States. UHAB supports low-income, resident-controlled apartment style housing co-ops and has assisted over 1,700 buildings, providing homeownership opportunities for 30,000 households in New York City. Every city is a different story, but the essential formula behind UHAB's success is easily replicated in your city. This course is a brief overview of UHAB's history and efforts to organize, develop, preserve and sustain affordable housing cooperatives.
334. Cooperative Development and Community Organizing
Charles Hotchkiss, School of Community Economic Development, SNHU
Community Organizing in the tradition of Saul Alinsky has been an important tool for achieving social and economic justice for over 65 years. In a handful of cases, organizing has spawned consumer, housing, or producer cooperatives. This workshop will combine interactive training on the fundamentals of community organizing with discussion of case studies in which organizing led to cooperative development.
341. Worker-Owned Businesses on College Campuses
Jimmy Cooney, Maryland Food Collective
In this course we will discuss organizing and maintaining a worker-owned business on a college campus. We will confront the difficulties that worker-owned businesses face from both school administration and the campus environment. We will explore how we can forge our own models for co-operative workplace ethics in the sometimes hostile university/capitalist environment.
342. The Take: Screening and Discussion
In suburban Buenos Aires, thirty unemployed auto-parts workers walk into their idle factory, roll out sleeping mats, and refuse to leave. All they want is to re-start the silent machines. They're part of a daring new movement of workers who are occupying bankrupt businesses and creating jobs (without bosses) in the ruins of the failed system.
We will start with a screening of Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein's documentary film, The Take, and follow with a short group discussion.
351. Examining Power and Privilege: Tools to Organize Trainings for your Co-op
kiran nigam, Clonlara School; former NASCO staff
Providing quality member education and training, the 5th cooperative principle, is an important aspect of being a co-op. However, too often cooperative education and training utilizes the traditional styles of education that permeate the education system at large. These hierarchical and coercive methods of teaching (talking head, lecture based, "banking" style) act in opposition to the participatory, democratic model of a cooperative.
How can we incorporate more participatory, horizontally structured forms of educating into our co-op trainings? In this workshop, participants will examine the intersection of popular education (which combines politics with pedagogy) and cooperative education and training for the goal of empowering co-op membership with the tools they need to run their co-ops well. You'll come away with strategies and ideas that you can implement in your co-op to provide empowering trainings that are member-led and encourage member engagement and action, versus trainings that uphold hierarchies within co-ops and lead to member apathy and passivity.
352. Organizing for Racial Justice
Rowan Shafer, Anti-Racism Working Group, New Orleans
Jonah Daniel
361. Building Radical Community-Based Mental Health Support Systems in a World Gone Mad
Sascha DeBrul, The Icarus Project
As cooperative communities, how can we help members with mental health issues feel less alienated? How can we respond compassionately to crisis and encourage health? How can we talk about altered states of consciousness and what it means to be "crazy?" How can we encourage self-care, self-determination, and personal growth in our communities?
This presentation will be led by members of The Icarus Project, a grassroots network of people struggling with the dangerous gifts commonly labeled as "mental illnesses." Learn about the work we're doing and join a discussion about strategies for creating mental health support structures and a culture of radical wellness on your college campuses
362. Exploring Sexulaties
Kate Sassoon, Berkeley Student Co-ops
A workshop for those interested in candidly exploring the limits, definitions, and roles possible within the infinite diversity of human sexuality, as well as their intricate relationships to one another, and to our sensual bodies in a safe, non-judgmental and supportive environment; participants will receive a sampling of literature and materials for their continued exploration, as well as tools for negotiating intimate situations and beginning to explore and own their unique sexualities.
381. Part 3: Housing Co-ops: Assessing Feasibility & Finding the Right Building
Mark Fick, Stone Soup Cooperative; Chicago Community Loan Fund
Nancy St. Germaine, Northcountry Cooperative Development Fund
(Participants are expected to have attended parts 1 & 2.) Before checking the for-sale listings and touring open houses, you will need some basic real estate savvy and financial tools. Researching the housing market, assessing properties, and understanding proforma budgets are critical to your co-op's success. This course explores purchasing and leasing options and assessing the financial feasibility of your project.