BUILDING COMMUNITY POWER 

Scottish Co-operative Party Conference 2022

In 2022, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the Co-operative Party is once again holding a series of virtual Conferences across all regions and nations of the UK.  Members and supporters from across Scotland are invited to take part in this online Zoom event on Saturday 26 February from 2pm to 5pm.

The pandemic has shown that we respond to crisis with kindness – shown in the hundreds of mutual aid groups that have established, in the way that community and co-operative businesses have stepped up to support those in need, and in the way that people made huge sacrifices to limit the spread of the virus. As we rebuild from Covid-19, we want to look at how we ensure this co-operation can live on.

The theme for this Conference is Building Community Power – how we can strengthen community wellbeing and resilience by examining how communities themselves can make a difference.  By empowering our communities we can actively involve them in the decisions that affect their lives. We will examine how we can widen ownership in our economy and give people the tools and support to tackle the big issues from inequality and hunger to green jobs and high street regeneration.

We’ll also hear more from some our Labour & Co-operative elected representatives on their current work in Westminster, Holyrood and in Scottish local government.

Programme

• Introduction
  • Claire Baker MSP
• Welcome address:
  • Anas Sarwar MSP, Leader of Scottish Labour
• Keynote address and Q&A: the Labour & Co-operative Party’s and their influence in Westminster
  • Ian Murray MP – Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
• Campaigning update: #Not part of the Job and the impact of the change in law to protect shopworkers, with:
  • Tracy Gilbert, USDAW Scotland
• Building Community Power – hear from a series of speakers representing the breadth and diversity of community projects across our nation as they share their learning and identify common principles that bring communities together to make change happen, with ideas and examples of how they can work for you and your local area:
  • Rhoda Grant MSP on the Right to Food campaign
  • Linsay Chalmers, Community Land Scotland
  • Cllr Joe Fagan,  Leader of South Lanarkshire Labour group on community transport
  • Cllr Lezley Marion Cameron , Director Edinburgh Community Solar Co-operative & The City of Edinburgh Council.
• 2022 Policy consultations  – members are invited to join these workshops as we explore these important areas of policy in further detail:
  • Health in Scotland with
    • Jackie Baillie MSP, Scottish Labour Spokesperson on Health
    • Richard McCready, Co-op Party Scottish Parliamentary Officer – chair
  • International development with
    • Adam Gardner, Head of Campaigns, Fairtrade Foundation
    • Foysol Choudhury MSP – Shadow spokesperson for Culture, Europe and International development
• Summary of the afternoon
  • Ruth Hall, Co-op Party NEC representative for Scotland

Register to join us on Zoom now