The Gathering was a significant day for our Manitoba community builders to come together to grow our larger movement for change. Over 320 participants, presenters, and volunteers came together at Children of the Earth high school in Winnipeg to learn, connect, and experience Collective Action.
The Gathering Opening explored how communities are harvesting the rewards of collaborative economic transformation. We began with a song and blessing from Elder Mae Louise Campbell and Jamie Goulet from the Clan Mothers Healing Village. Elder Mae encouraged us to LISTEN hard, actively, and critically. We are called to be in the space in-between and we have the power to change ourselves.
Chiyi Tam, from the Toronto Chinatown Land Trust, explored the concept of community land trusts and encouraged us to shake up the status quo. Chiyi called us to IMAGINE economic alternatives rooted in community ownership, wealth, and economic justice. Chiyi offered us transformative solutions that work, and folks are already responding to the call, thinking about how community land trusts could be part of our landscape here.
Demian Lawrenchuk, from Food Matters Manitoba, shared teachings from the muskeg, the moss, and the roaring rivers of the North. These stories taught us our pursuit of social and economic change should be rooted in celebrating the beauty of life and the community that surrounds us. He called us to LOVE and RESPECT.
We continued learning and connecting with three workshop opportunities during the day. 35 workshops on wide-ranging CED topics like organizing and advocacy, cultivating cultural competence, the impact of social enterprises, and collective change were hosted by local community builders. Participants learned from panels and presentations, small group sharing and discussion, and through conversations throughout the day.
At the Gathering, Collective Action grew and propelled us towards our vision for vibrant, sustainable, and inclusive economies. Now we can harvest the growth that The Gathering continues to bring to our communities.
Photos by Travis Ross
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