The new date is Saturday 23rd June 2012 during International Year of Co-operatives and the event will now be the opening event of Co-operatives Fortnight which runs from 23rd June to 7th July.

The event will be run at Sheffield Hallam University in partnership with Sheffield Business School.

The conference will feature speakers, panel debates, workshops, open space debates and an exhibition area.
Speakers include Helen Milner CEO, UK Online Centres; Ed Mayo, Secretary General, Co-operatives UK; Barbara Hawkins, Co-operative Group North Region Board; Professor Adrian Hopgood Pro Vice Chancellor, Sheffield Business School; Ian Adderley, Fairtrade London
The booking site is here: http://futuresnorth12.eventbrite.com/

Polly Toynbee, celebrated Guardian Journalist, is speaking on a range of topical issues as part of Sheffield’s Literary Festival Off the Shelf on the 2nd November.

Futures North is proud to announce that the first 10 full-price tickets bought by delegates will be offered a free ticket (RRP £10) to see Polly Toynbee the same evening at 7pm in Sheffield Hallam University’s Pennine Theatre as part of Sheffield’s Literary Festival Off the Shelf. Full details available here .

For more information please email">alex@cooperatives-yh.coop"> alex@cooperatives-yh.coop

Community shares workshop with Chris Hill, Shine. This workshop explores the technicalities of a community share issues, its pros and cons exploring recent case studies from a veteran of community share issues nationally. (This Workshop is part of the Communities Theme)

How to shrink your Carbon Footprint workshop with Matthew Hill, Leeds Environmental Design Associates. This workshop explores how your co-op can reduce Carbon emissions from its premises , processes and transportation. Specific  areas covered will include:

• How to monitor energy use and improve energy management in the workplace

• Short term and long term investments in energy efficiency

• Opportunities for use of renewable energy

• How to calculate your Carbon footprint

(This workshop is part of the communities theme)

Co-operative University Workshop with Rory Ridley-Duff, Society for Co-operative Studies. The aim of the workshop is to solicit input into the institutional arrangements and curriculum for Co-operative Studies in higher education. (This Workshop is part of the capital theme)

Alternative Finance Workshop with Adrian Ashton. “you know what you want to do, who you need to get involved, and what needs to happen – but then the awkward question of how to finance it gets raised…” This workshop explores models of investment (of both a cash and non-cash nature), drawing on participants’ own experiences and ideas, as well as citing others from around the wider movement – including barriers to accessing them, and ways to overcome these. (This workshop is part of the investment theme)

Break Free From our Systems Prisons – liberate the power of cooperative business management with Bob Cannell FCIPD Suma Workers Cooperative

Bob will introduce his revolutionary take on business management. What happens when you delete management from the equation? How do you effectively coordinate a cooperative enterprise?

Using the ideas of Prof. Ralph Stacey, it is possible to think about organisations. In a radically different way.  One which does not rely on the concept of businesses being systems with controllers (management) and controlled (workers).

Co-operative Sourcing with Jon Knight SUMA Workers Co-operative

A workshop looking at co-operative supply chains and how SUMA the UK’s largest workers co-operative source their products.

We have confirmed 2 new keynote speakers.

Will Straw who is Associate Director for Strategic Development of the Institute of Public Policy Research and will be speaking on on Globalisation and Economic Growth. More information on Will can be found here.

Professor Adrian Hopgood Pro Vice Chancellor, Sheffield Business School will be welcoming delegates to the conference and speaking on Sheffield Business School’s contribution to the Co-operative Movement. More information on Adrian can be found here

We had already confirmed Rob Hopkins of the Transition Network and Dr Rory Ridley-Duff of Sheffield Business School and the Society for Co-operative Studies.

We are now accepting workshop proposals please download a Workshop Application if you wish to run a workshop at Future North 2011.

We are pleased to announce the next Futures North is going to take place on Wednesday 2nd November at Sheffield Hallam Student Union.

The theme of this years Futures North is ‘Communites, Trading, Capital, Investment’

We have already confirmed 2 of our Keynote Speakers Rob Hopkins from the Transition Network and Dr Rory Ridley-Duff of Sheffield Business School. More will be announced soon.

If you are  interested in running a workshop for the event under one of our theme headings  please email alex@cooperatives-yh.coop.

You can download an Exhibitor-Application and delegate bookings will open in September.

100% of those who responded to the question “Would you like to see this event run again next year?” said yes.

We’re keen to hear your ideas, comments, suggestions etc. Where should it be held? What should it be about?

We’ve created a discussion group on LinkedIn so people can contribute ideas there. Alternatively, you can contact ian@cooperatives-yh.coop with your suggestions.

Thank you to everyone who completed feedback sheets from Futures North 2010. The feedback is incredibly useful and much appreciated!

Click on the image below to download the summary graphs of the feedback we received.

Information on the speakers, exhibitors, and workshop facilitators has now been collated, along with weblinks for each organisation.

Download the post event information here.

Peter Couchman on the Big Society & Co-ops and Social Enterprises at Futures North 2010 from John Popham on Vimeo.