Supporting Innovative Co-operative Development: The Case of the Nova Scotia Co-operative Development System

Description The research was initiated in order to contribute to one of the central research goals of BALTA – namely, to highlight “the scope and characteristics of social economy innovations that are achieving demonstrable social and economic results in other regions” in order to provide lessons and insights for strengthening the social economy in BC and Alberta. This research was subsequently used to inform further action research on how to strengthen the co-operative development systems in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. The NS-CDS case study looks at 6 main areas of the co-operative development system including: 1. Development Finance 2. Human Resource Development 3. Planning, Advocacy and Research 4. Policy and Governance 5. Community Economic Development 6. Accountability and EvaluationThis research paper was presented to the 2007 Canadian Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences. It discusses a case study of the recent history of successful innovation and development in the co-operative sector in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada, that has been unparalleled in other parts of Anglophone Canada. The case study looks at the Nova Scotia Co-operative Development System from a systems perspective in order to encompass a wide range of interacting processes that are involved in the Nova Scotia experience. The research identifies success factors in the Nova Scotia experience that might be relevant to co-operative development in other regions.BC-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA) ; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) ; Canadian Centre for Community Renewal (CCCR