Featuring Al Etmanski & Vickie Cammack

October 28, 2008 | 12 Noon - 1:00 pm ET

Learn the secrets of successful social innovations with two of Canada's leading social innovators!

Al Etmanski has been a leading advocate for people with disabilities and their families in Canada for more than two decades. He is widely recognized as a visionary thinker in areas of social policy, community development and individualizing services for people with disabilities.
Al is an author, advocacy consultant and social inventor who specializes in finding innovative, non-governmental solutions to social problems. He was the Executive Director of the BC Association for the Mentally Retarded (now BCACL - the BC Association for Community Living) for eight years before joining with Jack Collins and Vickie Cammack to found PLAN.

Vickie Cammack is the Executive Director of the PLAN Institute and is also a co-founder of PLAN and co-author of Safe and Secure - Six Steps to Creating a Personal Future Plan for People with Disabilities. She is a recognized Canadian source of inspiration, innovative ideas and demonstrable solutions related to community, citizenship and disability. Her innovative approaches to leadership development, social network facilitation and social accounting are key ingredients in her work of taking social inventions to scale.

Join us at noon on Tuesday, October 28th, for this practical and inspiring conversation as Al and Vickie share the six elements of successful innovation. It's a conversation you won't want to miss!

For more information and to register for this seminar, please visit us
at:
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?Tamarack/fdd3dec8b2/10d5ffab2f/1f2e50a6f7.

Canadian Social Forum 

The Canadian Council on Social Development is creating the space for 750 people from across the country to meet face-to-face and participate in a program that meets poverty head-on.

You'll hear about how poverty reduction is being accomplished in ways that are innovative, inspiring and workable. You'll have the opportunity to create new connections with people from every part of the country, help build momentum for real action, and collaborate for effective social change.

This event will connect the new wave of leaders who know that reducing poverty is the only strategy for real prosperity.

More information about the Canadian Social Forum, including the preliminary program, is available on the Forum website (http://www.ccsd.ca/).

Holiday Inn, King Street, Toronto, ON

CONFERENCE PROGRAM NOW ON-LINE>>

Miloon Kothari, Former Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing for the UN Human Rights Council and acclaimed advocate for the homeless/disadvantaged will be there.
Leaders and front-line staff from youth-serving agencies across Canada will be there.
Canada's most respected researchers on at-risk and homeless youth will be there.
Corporate executives from some of Canada's leading companies will be there.
Canada's youth will be there.

Will you be there too?

This groundbreaking national event will be a powerful catalyst for knowledge-sharing and collective action on youth homelessness in Canada AND a remarkable opportunity to lend your ideas and your voice to Raising the Roof's National Strategy to Solve Youth Homelessness.

Space is limited, so register soon to avoid disappointment. Special hotel rates apply until October 18.

The biennial National Assembly will be held in Ottawa, November 7th to 10th, co-hosted by FoodNet Ontario. The theme is Reclaiming Our Food System: A Call to Action. 

See http://www.foodsecurecanada.org/ for details.

• Do you love food?
• Are you concerned about things like the global food crisis, indigenous food sovereignty, corporate power, farmers' rights, urban agriculture and trade policy?
• Do you believe that global and local food issues are connected?
• Do you believe that it's possible for us to do things differently locally and globally to ensure that food producers are respected, our food is produced sustainably, and that everyone has access to good food?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, join us at the retreat!

The Dig In! Workshop Retreat is a gathering of 10 people from across Canada to begin to develop a workshop on food sovereignty that will be used in communities across the country. We will meet for two days and share our experiences and questions, learn from each other, experiment with popular education activities to use in our workshop, and develop an outline for the workshop that we can test with others.

Who should apply?

Youth up to the age of 35 with experience or interest in food or farming issues.

Do you already work in your community on food or farming issues? Do you want to learn how to run a participatory workshop? Do you want to run workshops in your community on food and justice issues?

What do we mean by "food sovereignty"?

Food sovereignty is an important tool that can change the world. Food Sovereignty was defined by the strong international movement of small farmers La Via Campesina (www.viacampesina.org). Food Sovereignty is more than just an idea or slogan - it is a vision for the future that helps us understand our reality, diagnose the problems and get to the solutions.

Who is the Dig In! team and why are we doing this project?:

Dig In! is a collaborative project started by the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, Check Your Head, and the National Farmers Union Youth.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) is a national organization of farmers for farmers and includes every agricultural region and their varying commodities. Members of the NFU Youth are 14 to 29 years old and we form a community of people who support, encourage and help one another. We have our own structure within the Union that provides an environment to gain experience in a forum of our peers and we are influential, recognized and respected in the NFU at large. www.nfu.ca/youth>>

The Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN) is the national campaign collaboration of 17 organizations across the country including grassroots groups, farmers unions, and international development and environmental groups (includes Check Your Head and the NFU). We work on the environmental and social justice issues raised by genetic engineering. www.cban.ca>>

Check Your Head (CYH) is a youth-driven, non-profit organization that educates youth for global hope and local action. We encourage and support youth to understand and take action for social, economic and environmental justice. We are motivated by the understanding that a healthy, democratic and sustainable future depends on a generation of informed, empowered and active young people. www.checkyourhead.org>>

What will I get out of the retreat?

We're hoping the retreat will offer you a lot of opportunities. You'll get a chance to share your ideas and experiences, learn from other people about food sovereignty, become familiar with some great popular education activities and facilitation skills, meet other cool people like you, and leave with new insights and educational tools to use in your lives/communities/work.

There is also an opportunity to stay in Ottawa for the Food Secure Canada Assembly (November 8-9) (www.foodsecurecanada.org) where you will get a chance to meet food security activists from across Canada and participate in great workshops on all kinds of topics - including trying out our great new workshop on Food Sovereignty!

What level of commitment is required from me, and when?

We ask participants to be ready to participate in Ottawa on Thursday Nov 6 at 8am (for breakfast together!) and spend 2 full days working in the group to develop the workshop.
You are invited to stay for the weekend Food Secure Canada Assembly (the project will cover your accommodation and registration fees) where we will test the new workshop! If you're interested, you can help facilitate this workshop and help us evaluate how it went.

You are also invited to run the workshop at home in your community and help us refine the workshop and track its progress.

How much does it cost?

It's free! The cost of the retreat, including travel, meals, and accommodation will be covered for participants. Also, if you're going to stay for the Food Secure Canada Conference (November 8-9), registration, meals, and accommodation can also be covered.

Please let us know if you require childcare and/or honoraria in order to come (either notify us in your application or give us a call).
Also, please also let us know if there are local groups that might help cover your costs.

When is the final application deadline?

Applications are due on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008. The application form (just a few questions) is below or you can go to www.cban.ca/digin

How many people can take part in the retreat?

There is space for 10 participants.
What is the language of learning for the retreat?

Participants need to be comfortable working and learning in English as sessions will take place in English. (But let us know if you are interested in using the workshop in other languages, we would love to work with you!)

Where does the funding come from?

Funding for Dig In! is provided by the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation as well as the NFU Youth, CBAN and Check Your Head.

I have a different question; who can I ask?

Send an email to Lucy Sharratt at CBAN coordinator@cban.ca or call her in Ottawa at 613 241 2267

Courtyard Marriott Toronto Downtown

Register now for an exciting three-day conference that will look at how energy efficiency can help relieve the burden of rising energy costs for Canada's low-income households. Registration limited to 250 delegates.

Conference fees:
Government and Private Sector Rate: $724.50 CAD ($690 + $34.50 GST)
Non-Profit Organization Rate: $483 CAD ($460 + $23 GST)
Full-Time Student Rate: $241.50 CAD ($230 + $11.50 GST)

This three day conference presented by Green Communities Canada will bring together delegates from across Canada to identify effective and innovative ways to improve energy efficiency in low-income housing, and develop a roadmap for a national low-income energy efficiency partnership.

For more information, click here>>