Category Archives: Notices from Community Partners

Workshop on Participatory Action Research, Planning and Evaluation

[…notice from Daniel Buckles of SAS2 Dialogue]

October 18-20 (Thursday-Saturday), 2018

Centre des practique creatives / Creative Practices Centre

Université d’Ottawa / University of Ottawa

451 Smyth Rd, Ottawa

The creation of knowledge “with” people and not “on” or “for” people is a critical challenge in today’s democracies. This applies to settings involving vulnerable or marginalized communities, the general public and the workplace where meaningful engagement is needed to identify priorities and develop policies, services, programmes and projects.

The three-day workshop is organized into modules that help you learn practical tools that can be adapted to design research projects that are action-oriented. We will also explore tools for participatory assessment of project impacts, and the use of digital tools. Learning is practiced in the context of participant projects and knowledge, making it possible to do real work while learning new skills.

REGISTRATION

The workshop is open to students enrolled in university or college (full and part-time), and to university and college faculty.

COST

Students: $350.00 plus HST

Faculty: $420 plus HST

Provides a total of 21 hours of instruction towards the SAS2 Dialogue certification program.

THE INSTRUCTOR

Dr. Daniel Buckles is an Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, and co-author with Jacques Chevalier of Participatory Action Research: Theory and Methods for Engaged Inquiry, published by Routledge (second edition in progress).

For more information and to register see: Workshop Description

Connecting with the Land: Wellness through the Boreal Forest

Our Social and Informal Economies of Food partner Willow Springs has an announcement that will have you booking tickets for Thunder Bay!

Willow Springs Creative Centre is thrilled to be hosting the upcoming Annual Conference of the Canadian Horticultural Therapy Association entitled

‘Connecting with the Land: Wellness through the Boreal Forest’

Please help us spread the word about this gathering of people who recognize the importance of people reconnecting with nature, using gardening and the land to help facilitate healing and wellbeing in everyone. Please consider attending the conference or supporting one of your staff members to attend!

Please post and share this brochure widely, with your colleagues and contacts.

CHTA Conference Brochure

If you have any questions or require additional information please do not hesitate to contact Judi Vinni, Coordinator, Willow Springs Creative Centre.

Hidden Harvest Ottawa has big dreams for a greener Ottawa. What are yours?

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Imagine if every time you purchased $100 worth of groceries, your grocery store donated $25—or 1/4 of their ‘harvest’—to their local food bank. This is the scale of charitable benefits that Hidden Harvest supports in Ottawa.
Hidden Harvest‘s impactful new video describes the benefits of gleaning to the uninitiated, and follows with a series of recommendations challenging municipal political leaders to make their community’s future “the most sustainable future it can be”. The video captures the essence of the Nourishing Communities Hidden Harvest Case Study by Chloé Poitevin DesRivières, released earlier this year. The case study found that, along with benefits to local food access agencies and processors,
the services Hidden Harvest offers to the community and the city by creating alternate means to feed people, manage renewable resources, developing green infrastructure and diverting waste from landfills, speak to the aims of different city offices, including community and social services, energy planning, and forestry services.

This new video makes the case that the exceptional value in the public services produced through largely voluntary labour deserves the support of public officials.

2018 Vote on Food and Farming

From Sustain Ontario

Vote ON Food & Farming 2018

Good food has the power to make positive change. Food and farming policies and programs can grow Ontario’s economy, reduce our health care costs, improve our environmental impact, build stronger communities, reduce poverty, and improve educational outcomes. These issues are vital to Ontarians, as recent IPSOS polling has demonstrated. With this in mind, Sustain Ontario has surveyed experts working in food and farming sectors to bring important policy issues to the forefront of the conversation.

We encourage you to visit the Vote ON Food and Farming website (http://sustainontario.com/vote-on-food) to access resources that equip both MPP candidates and the public with information about the importance of Ontario’s food systems. As part of the campaign, we have provided background information and evidence, as well as a question card for citizens to use during public debates. We also invite you to share your commitment to healthy food and farming by tweeting with the hashtag #voteONfood.

Yep, we do poetry: Faris Ahmed’s Fractured Food Systems Blues

Last year our research team released the book Nourishing Communities: From Fractured Food Systems to Transformative Pathways (Springer), which documents more than a decade of collaborative work by our network of scholars, community-based partners, and practitioners interested in constructing more sustainable and just food systems.

In November, Carleton University’s Faculty of Public Affairs hosted a discussion of the book at Irene’s Pub in Ottawa. Moe Garahan (Just Food Ottawa), Jay Garlough (Hidden Harvest Ottawa), and Faris Ahmed (USC Canada) commented on the book and discussed their own work in transforming food systems. One of the highlights of this engaging evening was Faris’ response to the book in the form of spoken word. It was so good, we went back to record it!

Below you will find Faris’ performance. You can also find the entire audio on YouTube.

Tommy Wall is an incoming graduate student in Carleton University’s Communication Studies program. He interviewed Faris, and produced and edited this piece.

Bring Food Home 2017 in Ottawa!

Impact Ontario’s Food System!

Bring Food Home 2017, brought to you by Sustain Ontario and local host Just Food, in conjunction with the Eastern Ontario Local Food Conference, offers a four day extravaganza showcasing the region for the first time at this biennial network gathering.BFHlogo2017-square

Experience the landscape of the region on the pre-conference tour day, then prepare to join our diverse discussions of issues, policies and challenges, from food justice to food waste. This year’s theme ‘upstream collaboration‘ will be reflected across many plenaries and panels, including the opening plenary—Decolonizing Land and Food.

With a special focus on providing a platform for diverse voices to shape policy strategies for Sustain Ontario network members, this year’s conference offers multiple policy sessions that will inform our collective strategy over the next four years—based on policy position papers prepared by some of Ontario’s leading young researchers.

Join us at Ottawa U on October 26-29, register now!!

Greenbelt Offers Canada’s First Food Hub Management Training

…from the Greenbelt Fund website

Training for Tomorrow’s Food Hub Leaders

The first of its kind in North America, now in its third year and first time being offered in Canada, this program is an innovative blend of hands-on, community-based online and on-campus learning to prepare you for managing food hubs. The program provides the tools you need to advance your career in food systems.

Highlights

  • Taught online with in-person sessions held in Southwestern Ontario – with a plethora of businesses leading the local food movement
  • Syllabus includes: Business Formation, Food Hub Fundamentals, Business Planning, Marketing, Sales, Finance HR & Staffing, Risk Management, Food Safety, Product Development and Knowledge, Supply Chain Management, Storage and Warehouse Management, Distribution, Processing, Technology, Value Chain Facilitation

Who Should Apply?

  • Individuals exploring the feasibility of starting or expanding a food hub
  • Emerging leaders in organizations advancing the feasibility of regional food systems
  • Food Hub practitioners focused on ‘the next ten years’
  • Professionals seeking to develop their career in the local and regional food market

For more details, see the Greenbelt Fund site

AMI Food & Beverage Convention: Niagara 2017

The Agri-Food Management Institute and Innovate Niagara are partnering with a number of public and private agencies to bring together 400 food and beverage industry members looking to scale up and grow their businesses.

The Food and Beverage Convention: Niagara 2017 will take place at Scotiabank Convention Centre in Niagara Falls on March 3rd

Read more

What’s the Best Way to Grow Ontario Organic?

…from OCO:

The Organic Council of Ontario (OCO) needs your input!

Ontario boasts over $1 billion in sales of organic foods and yet only 2% of all agriculture in the province is organic. Why is the organic sector in Ontario growing so slowly in relation to demand?  How can government and the industry help Ontario businesses capture this growth opportunity?

Help guide the future of organics in Ontario.  

Take OCO’s survey by January 28th for the chance to win prizes!

Read more

Huron Food Action Network Seeking Board Members Urgently

from Nathan Schwartz, HFAN

Huron Food Action Network requires four (4) more board members who are willing to commit to attending monthly board meetings, as well as working on projects. Without this, the existing board will be forced to dissolve HFAN [read more]…

2016 was a very productive year with two completed projects (2016 Food Report and the Food Hub Assessment), continued participation in a Huron County tourism initiative focusing on culinary tourism, and the development of several grant proposals. HFAN partnered and/or discussed future partnerships with Huron Business Development Corporation, Huron County, Huron Manufacturing Association, Huron County Chef’s League, Huron County Library, Huron County Museum/Gaol, The town of Goderich and many more. HFAN even organized a very successful and widely acclaimed festival that has improved tourism in Goderich’s ‘shoulder’ season and proved HFAN’s ability to become self-sustaining.

If you have an interest in serving on the board, are willing to commit to a monthly meeting as well as taking on at least one other project, contact Nathan Swartz, HFAN Chair at
huronfoodactionnetwork@gmail.com before December 30th, 2016.