IICADD is pleased to be the local host of the 2024 Annual Conference of the Canadian Association for Studies on Cooperation (CASC). The theme of the conference is “Securing our shared futures – the cooperative way “. The conference will be held as part of the Congress of the Federation of Human Sciences, at HEC Montréal.

The conference will begin with a Practice Day on June 11, with the objective of exploring the cooperative landscape in the Montreal region. Between June 12 and 14, numerous discussions will be held around the theme “Securing our common futures – the cooperative way” with panels, round tables and gatherings with sector specialists.

Among these events, the main conference on June 12 will be given by Nathan Schneider, assistant professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, on the theme “Extending our shared futures: a horizon for the cooperative movement in the digital age”. The conference will be moderated by Rafael Ziegler, director of IICADD at HEC Montréal.

The main conference on June 13 will be presented by Barbara Duroselle, coordinator – Support for research and business development at IICADD and project manager at TIESS (Innovative Territories in Social and Solidarity Economy) on the theme “Enterprise of social economy and socio-ecological transition”.

There will also be a round table on the morning of the 13th, on the theme “The Transformative Role of Cooperatives for a Just and Inclusive Circular Economy”, led by Rafael Ziegler, Justine Ballon, assistant professor at HEC Montréal and member of IICADD, Martine Vézina, associate professor in the Department of Management, Emmanuel Raufflet, full professor in the Department of Management at HEC Montréal, and other academic collaborators from the international social economy and circular economy partnership. In the afternoon, a panel discussion will bring together Justine Ballon, Martine Vézina, as well as other experts, and will continue its exploration on the theme of the circular economy, this time at the intersection of governance and technology.

On June 14, under the theme “Democracy, digital transition and cooperatives”, doctoral student and IICADD member Meaghan Girard, Rafael Ziegler, Alana Pierce, doctoral student, and Jorge Mejia Morelos, associate professor in the Department of Entrepreneurship and innovation from HEC Montréal, will speak about “There’s not right answer here: The challenges of supporting social enterprises with digital business models in liminal spaces” (in English), an ethnographic study extended over two years about a digital support pilot between peers led by a key intermediary for cooperatives in Quebec.

On June 15, Gabriel Monette, member of IICADD and lecturer in business ethics at HEC Montréal, as well as Rafael Ziegler and Simon Pek, associate professor at the University of Victoria, will present: “Freedom and Self-determination, the Cooperative Way,” an article that presents a new framework for thinking about cooperative governance, drawing on republican theory of liberty to address challenges such as organizational degeneration and member domination.

The ACÉC Annual Conference is also an opportunity to learn more about PortailCoop, the largest digital library in the world on cooperatives and mutuals. We will be there to answer all your questions!

All program details: on the ACÉC website.
Find out more about the 2024 Congress of the Federation of Human Sciences and register here.