Opening Address - By Professor Rob Lynch, Dean of The Faculty of Business

The Faculty of Business is not just about providing educational resources to large corporate businesses. Our courses are designed to cater for the all sectors of the community, including the social economy. The social economy is vast; it includes all non-profits such as charities, community organisations and churches and also co-operatives, associations, mutuals, friendly societies and other member-based organisations.

These organisations are important, in the way that they contribute to our rich and varied society, and in building social capital. They also make an important economic contribution. According to a recent ABS report, the social economy makes a larger contribution to the national economy than the mining or agricultural industries.

The Faculty demonstrates its commitment to the social economy through its postgraduate courses in non-profit and community management, by sponsoring the Centre for Australian Community Organisation Management (CACOM) and through its financial support of ACCORD, the Australian Centre for Co-operative Research and Development.

A collaborative venture between the business Faculty of UTS and Charles Sturt Universities, ACCORD is dedicated to research and development of co-operatives, mutuals, and the broader social economy. ACCORD receives financial support from both universities and the New South Wales Office of Fair Trading. It operates independently and undertakes a wide range of research and development projects in partnership with government, the private sector, and the community.

UTS and ACCORD have formed a partnership to host this seminar today on Ethnic Communities Building Better Australian Cities and Towns. Australia is one of the most multicultural nations in the world today, and Sydney is its largest, most cosmopolitan, city.

The Faculty of Business at UTS recognises the importance of ethnic diversity: we have a large number of overseas students in our undergraduate and postgraduate courses, while the local students come from a great diversity of ethnic background. Indeed, the Faculty of Business is itself located in the heart of Chinatown. We at UTS recognise the importance of cultural diversity to business and social life, and this seminar is one manifestation of the commitment of UTS, particularly the Faculty of Business, to engage with our culturally diverse Sydney community in a variety of ways.

The seminar today investigates a vital yet little understood topic: the way that ethnic communities have, through their voluntary efforts and initiatives, attempted to improve the social and physical landscape of our city. Our panel of experts will present their insights and expertise on the topic. This seminar will make an important contribution to our understanding of these very important issues.

Moreover, we at UTS are committed to developing research partnerships with industry and the community. Convener of the seminar, Jock Collins, Professor of Economics at UTS will use it as a platform to secure new partners for research into this important area of social capital development. We encourage you to join in this exciting research initiative and to keep the Faculty of Business at UTS in mind when thinking about your research interests.