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The Heart of a Citizen series explores the diverse and provocative ways ordinary citizens become extraordinary participants in democratic life.
The Heart of a Citizen will feature some of our most creative and dynamic Metro Vancouver citizens who are having a positive impact locally, nationally and globally through creating and managing innovative programs and citizen movements. Their transformative stories of engagement invite comment and discussion for the diverse group attending each event.
Each dialogue will focus on a specific theme of interest to citizens and invites dialogue on pro-active ways we can be involved in shaping civic life. This series of public dialogues will explore a range of possibilities and impacts of civic engagement in an age that has been primarily dominated by bureaucracy, experts and specialists.
Location and Dates:
Celebrating Citizen Engagement: How Do Community Festivals and the Arts Engage Citizens and Create Social Change?
Wednesday June 3, 2009, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Listen to the dialogue in MP3 format
Working for Change in Tough Times
Wednesday, April 8, 2009, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Read about some of the dialogue highlights here
Listen to the dialogue in WAV format
Growing Citizens: Gardening as a Catalyst for Civic Engagement
Wednesday, May 6, 2009, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Listen to the dialogue in MP3 format
Part 1
Part 2
Read the Common Ground article on Growing Citizens
Simon Fraser University’s
Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue,
Asia Pacific Hall
580 West Hastings Street, Vancouver BC
celebrating citizen engagement: how do community festivals and the arts engage citizens and create community change?
This session will explore the ways and means that cultural festivals enrich their communities and cultivate caring and connected citizens. Community cultural leaders from around Metro Vancouver will share stories about the vision and impacts of local community celebrations. Join representatives from Public Dreams, The Dragon Boat Festival, Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival, and many others. Share the stories of how community celebrations creative active and engaged citizens.
Featured Speakers:
Pamela McKeown is the Artistic Director of Public Dreams Society, which produces Illuminaria and the Parade of Lost Souls.
Matt Hern is the Director of the East Vancouver Celebration Society, which produces many unique pedestrian based public Vancouver events including Car- Free Vancouver Day.
Linda Poole is the Executive Director of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival.
Anita Webster is the Communications Manager of the Vancouver Dragon Boat Festival.
Working for change in tough times
How do we keep on working for change in tough political and economic times? Paul Loeb, author of the bestsellers Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time and The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear, will explore what keeps us going despite all the obstacles. Paul Rogat Loeb has spent over thirty years researching and writing about citizen responsibility and empowerment—asking what makes some people choose lives of social commitment, while others abstain.
According to Sierra Club magazine, “Loeb tells the stories of ordinary people who became activists, and examines the stumbling blocks—perceived powerlessness, cynicism, burnout—that keep most from participating in the public sphere, as well as the rewards of following a different path.
Paul Loeb has written five widely praised books, lectured to enthusiastic responses at colleges and universities around North America. Paul’s newest book is The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear (Basic Books, 2004), named by The History Channel and The American Book Association as their #3 political book of 2004 and won the Nautilus Award for the best social change book. Find out more by visiting www.paulloeb.org.
Growing citizens: gardening as a catalyst for civic engagement
I believe in changing the world through small, local positive actions. Creating life
where there is decay is just one of the ways we can accomplish this.
Aaron — Guerrilla Gardener Vancouver Meet Up Group
Guerrilla Gardening, Plant a Row, City Farm Boy, Greenways, Community Gardens, Share a Yard, Festival of the Fields are just a few of the programs and projects that are currently impacting the Metro Vancouver area. These activities reflect a worldwide gardening movement that attracts horticulturists, urban farmers, agrologists, back yard gardeners and activists who are proactive in elevating the notion of the private urban garden into the cultivation of productive public places.
Whether planting and harvesting vegetable gardens as a means to address food security, cultivating community gardens to enhance neighborhood pride and wellness or Guerrilla Gardening to lay claim to and beautify neglected public spaces, these green advocates are proactive in there determination to engage with their communities and make a difference.
The dialogue will focus on the various gardening initiatives in Metro Vancouver and explore how this work contributes to unique forms of citizen engagement.
Featured Speakers:
David Tracey is the author of Guerrilla Gardening: a Manualfesto, a guide to greening cities. Tracey is a working journalist and environmental designer who operates EcoUrbanist in Vancouver and is the Executive Director of Tree City Canada, a non-profit ecological engagement group.
Ward Teulon is a professional agrologist and the owner/operator of City Farm Boy, a local Vancouver business whose mission is to promote urban agriculture, farming and gardening as a viable and environmentally positive way to enhance landscapes and lifestyles.
Sylvia Holland is a planner, community leader and dedicated advocate of greening the urban environment through community gardening initiatives.
With a special performance by Vanessa Richards
Vanessa Richards is a singer songwriter. Among her many activities, Vanessa is the Chair of the Working Arts Society, involved in producing cultural events and festivals including the Sistahood Festival and formerly with the Public Dreams Society.
For more information contact:
778-782-7925 or dialogue-info@sfu.ca