Strategic Community Economic Development and Small Business: Cooperation for Sustainability

This thesis aims to increase the knowledge and capacity of Canadian communities and their small businesses in order to enable their transition towards sustainability. This was accomplished through interviews with Canadian Community Economic Development (CED) experts, and surveys from Small Business (SB) operators in Canmore, Alberta, Canada. We suggest the potential roles for CED proponents and SB operators include: (1) Shared development of community vision; (2) Local business networks for sustainability; (3) Community capacity building through dialogue.

Contents

1 Introduction
1.1 Overview
1.2 Rationale
1.3 Purpose
1.4 Research Questions
2 Methodology
2.1 Research Design
2.1.1 General
2.1.2 Community Economic Development
2.1.3 Small Business
3 Literature Review
3.1 Community Economic Development
3.1.1 CED System
3.1.2 CED Success
3.1.3 CED Strategy
3.1.4 CED Actions
3.1.5 CED Tools
3.2 Small Business and Sustainability
3.2.1 Small Business in the Canadian Economy
3.2.2 Sustainable Development Issues
3.2.3 Local and Global Economies
4 Results
4.1 Community Economic Development Interviews
4.1.1 System
4.1.2 Success
4.1.3 Strategy
4.1.4 Actions
4.1.5 Tools
4.2 Small Business Survey
5 Discussion
5.1 Strategic Community Economic Development
5.1.1 System
5.1.2 Success
5.1.3 Strategy
5.1.4 Actions
5.1.5 Tools
5.2 The Role of Small Business
5.3 Cooperation for Sustainability
5.3.1 Shared Development of a Community Vision
5.3.2 Local Business Networks for Sustainability
5.3.3 Community Capacity-Building through Dialogue
6 Conclusion
References
Appendix A
CED Interview Questions
Appendix B
Small Business Survey Questions

Author: Karl A. Fulson, Amy Seabrooke

Source: Blekinge Institute of Technology

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