About the BC Social Economy Roundtable

The BC Social Economy Roundtable (BCSER) was formed following a July 2004 meeting in Vancouver of 30 leaders, allies and funders active in the social economy here in British Columbia.

The BCSER is a common forum where active social economy participants and leaders take a systemic approach to supporting and nurturing the social economy in BC. The BCSER is not an organization, but more of a means for social economy participants to work collaboratively.

The Roundtable Mission
The BCSER mission is to create an enabling environment for the social economy in British Columbia, Canada. What does an enabling environment look like? Click here to read about the Roundtable strategic plan and the vision of what an enabling environment looks like.

Guiding Principles and Operations
When at the Roundtable, the participating organizations use the following principles to guide their collective efforts:

• To take a systemic approach in our support, creating a space for local initiatives to flourish;
• To be nimble and responsive;
• To be collaborative;
• To be inclusive of the various viewpoints, participants, stakeholders and communities (of geography and interest) in the BC social economy;
• To be nonpartisan;
• To leverage the assets at the Roundtable (and throughout the province) instead of competing or duplicating; and
• To build on previous Roundtable work as appropriate.

Here is a list of how the Roundtable generally operates:

• BCSER works through the networks represented at the Roundtable to inform and receive feedback from stakeholders of BCSER activities and efforts;
• Organizations and networks at the Roundtable ensure that the many voices and lenses that they represent inform BCSER priorities, activities and efforts;
• Support through a Secretariat allows for the highest possible impact of the practitioners and leaders when contributing to the Roundtable; and
• BCSER participants meet bi-monthly to coordinate activities and discuss pressing issues.

Organizations Currently Active On the Roundtable
The BCSER is comprised of a mix of networks, organizations, association, funders, and enterprises that make up the various components of the social economy in our province. Currently, the following organizations actively participate on the Roundtable:  Participating organizations of the BCSER are:

• Aboriginal Business Service Network of BC
• BC Co-operative Association
• BC Cultural Sector Development Council
• Canadian Community Economic Development Network
• Coast Capital Savings 
• Community Futures Development Association of BC
• Ecotrust Canada
• Enterprising Non-Profits Program
• Fraser Valley Centre for Social Enterprise
• Institute for Media Policy and Civil Society
• Vancity and Vancity Community Foundation
• Voluntary Organizations Consortium of BC
• United Community Services Co-operative  
• United Way of the Lower Mainland

To find out more about the active participants of the BCSER, visit the Organizations page.

For more about how you and your organization/group can become an active participant of the Roundtable, visit the Join the BCSER page.