Programme

9:30am           Registration

10:00am         Prof. Kathleen Lynch: Welcome and introduction to the PRAXIS & Equality Studies ‘Communiversity Knowledge Exchange Forum’

10:20am         Key Speaker: Dr. Conor McCabe, A fertile breeding ground for alternative economic organising: Ireland in crisis?  (author of ‘Sins of the  Father’, 2011)

10:45am         Keynote address: Dr. David Erdal, Beyond the corporation: (author of the best selling book “Beyond the Corporation”  David is former chairman of the Tullis Russell group, Scotland’s largest coop with 520 worker owners – an industrial coop competing on the world stage, with subsidiaries in Europe, China & USA.)

11:30am         Break for tea/ coffee

11:50am         Facilitated Panel Discussion

1. Ciaran Moore (Dublin Community Television – Media Co-operative)

2. Bernie Walsh (SunFlower Recycling – Dublin)

3. Anne Costello (Galway Traveller Movement)

4. Stevie Nolan (Trademark, Belfast)

5. Bill Kelly (Meitheal Mid West)

            Key questions for discussion: What alterative economic model are your involved with? Why did you set this up? How did you set it up? What are the positives? What are the negatives? Who benefits? Can anyone do it? What are the barriers?

1:15pm         Break for lunch

2:10pm           Workshop discussions

Workshop 1: Communities creating employment (facilitated  discussion on communities developing their own employment  opportunities via co-operatives, social enterprise models). Speaker Dr. Senan Cooke (Dunhill, Communities Creating Employment)

Workshop 2: Communities providing services (facilitated workshop  on the development of  co-operatives focused on services such as education). Speaker Dr. Eileen Fagan (EFem, Empowerment, Training & Consultancy)

Workshop 3: How to set up an alternative economic organisation (facilitated workshop on logistics of funding and governance etc. in setting up a community, social or co-operative enterprise). Speaker Kathleen Prendergast (Economic Development Officer, South Tipperary County Council)

Workshop 4: Building support for alternative economic organising (facilitated workshop on building dialogue, media coverage and cross party support for alterative economic organising etc.). Speaker Dr. Stevie Nolan (Trademark, Belfast)

Workshop 5: Developing alternative economic development models (facilitated discussion on alternative economic development models). Speakers Jim Power (Economist) and Laura Watts (Policy Analyst, Forfas)

3:15pm           Regroup for feedback

3:30pm           Closing remarks: Dr. David Erdal