Co-operative Governance
Democratic, people-centred, and transformational practice
Join us for this engaging course on co-operative governance, as democratic, people-centred, and transformational. Designed for seasoned decision-makers and emerging leaders from any sector or type of co-operative, all will benefit from this knowledge-rich course. This participatory education experience focuses on enhancing your knowledge and building your network.
Governance is core to all co-operatives, relevant to all members, and applied in a diversity of ways based on the co-operative type, size, and stage in life cycle. Whether you are new to co-operatives or an experienced professional, this session will stretch your thinking on governance as a system fit for values-based, member-owned, and democratically controlled organizations. You will leave the room with a renewed sense of the importance of governance structures and processes being consistent with the organization’s purpose while fulfilling goals, meeting objectives, and protecting member and community interests. This session highlights the critical importance of governance as a tool to set transformational purpose and vision for co-operatives to meet complex social, economic, and environmental agendas. Naturally, this includes all types of co-operatives across all sectors of the economy and society as we collectively seek to grow a strong co-operative economy.
Case study examples will be used to illustrate best governance practices, highlighting how strategic governance enables organizations to lead deeply on social justice, economic resilience, and the climate emergency, to name but a few challenges facing co-operatives today. To do all of this while being true to a people-centred enterprise model, governance systems must maintain member ownership and control while being democratic and responding to external and internal factors influencing members’ evolving needs and goals. Notably, individual co-operatives cannot do this alone; working together and across sectors is key to our collective future.
Objectives
As an attendee, you will:
- Understand the critical features of co-operative governance at the conceptual, systems, and applied levels.
- Connect strategic governance to solving complex social, economic, and environmental problems.
- Learn about specific examples of governance excellence in practice.
Recent Offerings
- A pre-Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada 2024 Congress short course was held on June 10, 2024, at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
- A pre-2023 Cooperative IMPACT Conference course (all seats filled) happened October 3, 2023, at the National Cooperative Bank, 2011 Crystal Drive (8th Floor), Arlington, Virginia, 22202, USA.
- A workshop version of this course was offered on October 28, 2023, during the Directors' Forum themed "The Future of Co-operative Governance" in Mississauga, ON, Canada/ virtually.
Stay Tuned for Future Offerings
Email Erin.Hancock@smu.ca to register your interest in future offerings.
The Centre’s work on co-operative governance has been sustained at a high level of quality over many years, culminating in a major international research conference, and a recent book on the theme of humanistic governance. This has made an outstanding contribution to research on governance and has made a distinctive positive contribution to thinking about cooperative governance, thereby facilitating improving policies and practices of boards and managers.