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BALTA Mapping Research Program

Go to the online survey.

Want to review a read only version of the BALTA Mapping Survey before going online? Click here

Preliminary Mapping Survey Results - Fall 2008

Phase One: The BALTA Social Economy Survey

The BC-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA) would like to invite you to participate in the BALTA Social Economy Survey. This survey represents the first phase of BALTA's mapping research program. BALTA is a regional collaboration of practitioners and researchers engaged in projects and initiatives designed to strengthen the work of co-ops, non-profits, foundations, credit unions, social enterprises and other social economy and solidarity organizations in BC and Alberta.

Part of the BALTA research is to identify the many types of 'social economy' organizations that contribute to the social and/or environmental well being of people and communities in BC and Alberta. With the data gathered through this survey, this project will provide evidence of the social, environmental, financial and job creation contributions of organizations like yours. Collecting and consolidating this information will allow both community development workers and public policy advocates to promote the sector in western Canada, build up support networks and more effectively lobby government. Your organization has been identified because of the work that you do in your community. The survey should take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete. You will need your organization's latest budget and financial report to answer a few of the questions.

Thank you for your participation!

Please note: The BALTA Social Economy Survey is housed on a secure website and all information will be kept strictly confidential and transferred to a database maintained at Athabasca University in Alberta. Access to survey information will be restricted to BALTA partners for research purposes only. At no time will specific information be attributed to any individual or organization unless prior permission has been granted by the participant.

Mapping of the Social Economy in British Columbia & Alberta

The BC-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA) is undertaking a "Mapping” project in order to capture the size, geographic scale, scope and characteristics of the social economy in BC and Alberta.

The BALTA mapping project has been designed as a multi-staged process consisting of three main phases:

  1. Identification and Compiling of a Master List of social economy organizations (Summer-Fall 2007) and Initial Survey (Fall 2007-Spring 2008);
  2. In-Depth Survey (2008-9); and
  3. Case Study Research (2008-2011).

A multi-staged strategy allows for relationship building and buy-in from organizations that might otherwise not be interested in participating in an in-depth survey or qualitative case study.

The purpose of the mapping research is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the social economy sector in the two provinces and to provide information that is relevant to academic, practitioner and policy interests. Specific objectives related to the mapping project include:

  1. To compile a comprehensive inventory of social economy actors and organizations in BC and Alberta;
  2. To categorize and survey the identified social economy organizations and actors comprising the sector in order to understand their characteristics, structures and functions;
  3. To identify primary and/or intermediate or support functions, social and/or environmental purpose, geographic reach, gender and governance, financial and employment impacts, and unique features of each SE organization and compile these in a database for research and analytical purposes
  4. To identify trends, patterns, gaps and opportunities for scaling up within the sector as well as opportunities for case studies and further research;
  5. To provide data and information relevant to practitioners, academics and policy makers for the purpose of strengthening the foundations of the social economy.

The BALTA Mapping Project will take place over the lifespan of the project (2006-2011) and will provide data to other BALTA research projects for analytical purposes. This work will also contribute to the national social economy portraiture objectives coordinated by the Canadian Social Economy Research Hub.

Looking for social economy organizations?

The Canadian Social Enterprise Marketplace is an online directory administered by the Vancouver-based Enterprising Non-Profits Program that allows you to search for Canadian social economy organizations.  You can also add your organization's profile to the database.

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