News from the Council of Canadians South Niagara Chapter
(A free event at the St. Catharines, Ontario campus of Brock niversity that includes workshops, parking, lunch and child-care. REGISTER ON-LINE. Read on for details.)
The tower on the Niagara, Ontario campus of Brock University in St. Catharines
Whatever your reasons for wanting to become an activist, tips from the grassroots for turning passion into action will be the focus of a workshop presented by the Council of Canadians South Niagara Chapter. Just Doing It! is the group’s how-to for “Putting the Act in Activism”, this year’s theme for the 8th Annual Niagara Social Justice Forum on Saturday, Jan. 31, at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario.
Workshop participants will be invited to join with local activists from the South Niagara Chapter to review several of their social justice and environmental campaigns as they have tried to impact and influence local government and other decision-makers. Participants will then have the opportunity to try their own hand at planning and mapping out the action steps to conduct a local social/environmental justice campaign.
“Just Doing It” is one of several inter-active workshops planned during the full day of information sharing at the Forum, hosted by Brock’s Social Justice and Equity Studies Program.
The event is an open forum for individuals and groups working for social change in Niagara to connect. The event is free, accessible, and open to everyone. Participants are asked to register in advance online. Registration includes workshop signup, free parking, lunch and childcare.
This year’s event includes an Information Fair over the lunch hour featuring more than 20 community groups. Programming for the day begins at 9:30 a.m. in Isaac’s at Brock University with an opening plenary session, after which participants will choose from 12 interactive workshops taking place over three concurrent sessions from 10:00-11:20 a.m., 1:00-2:20 p.m. and 2:30-3:50 p.m.
Workshops will also include: Getting Your Message Out: How to Effectively Engage with Media; Poverty in Niagara – A Call to Action; Addressing Mental Health Issues through an Applied Theatre Performance/Workshop; S.O.S. Supporting Our Sisters: Three Native Women Trying to Make a Difference; Activist Photography 101; Palestine: It’s Not Complicated; Ending Sexual Violence at Brock and Beyond; Students Organizing in the Migrant Worker Community; Creating and Sustaining Revolutionary Youth Work.
The afternoon’s Open Mic from 4-6 p.m. will feature slam poets, musicians and discussion.
Saturday evening features a screening of the documentary Made in Bangladesh, which won a 2014 International Emmy and was produced and directed by Brock alumna, Lysanne Louter. The film will be screened at 7 p.m. at the Niagara Artists’ Centre, 354 St. Paul St., downtown St. Catharines and will be followed by a talk by Ms. Louter.
Register online at: www.brocku.ca/niagara-social-justice-forum
And check us out on Facebook (8th Annual Niagara Social Justice Forum) and Twitter #NSJF2015
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