This article draws on data from a larger project that is founded on four narrative case studies that examine the ways in which Black activists in Toronto mobilize their cultural production--namely, spoken word poetry and rapping--in support of their activism, community education, and community organizing work. This particular article is founded on…

Social movements are at the forefront of fighting for another world as conceptualised through Arundhati Roy's portal. COVID-19 and state measures imposed to contend with it have severely impacted not only the activism of movements, but also their capacity to learn. Translocal social movement learning offers one way in which such learning can…

Grassroots organizations have a critical role in supporting learning within many urban communities (Sobeck, Agius, & Mayers, 2007). Unfortunately, many informal organizations are short-lived as funding disappears and volunteer participation wanes. The Unspun Heroes, an informal fibre arts group committed to learning and developing skills…

Grounded in critical policy theories and democratic conceptions of research, case studies of three community-based organizations, one in Canada and two in the U.S., were analyzed to determine if and how the groups engaged with research in their efforts to influence education policy. The findings demonstrate that the community-based organizations…

The Learning Partnership (TLP) initiated a Family and Community Engagement Strategy (FACES) initiative in three Ontario communities to foster active and responsive relationships among community partners and enhanced family engagement in transitions to school. A case study research design, grounded in participatory action research, was used to…

Canada's boreal forests are second only to the Amazon in producing life-giving oxygen and providing a habitat for thousands of species, from the large woodland caribou to the smallest organisms. The boreal forests are the lifeblood of many Aboriginal communities and the thousands of workers, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, who harvest and process…

In the wake of the most recent refugee crisis the private sponsorship programme re-emerged in Canada as a just and novel solution to precarious migration. The private sponsorship programme expands the role of civil society in humanitarian resettlement, while simultaneously depicting the programme as a grassroots movement of engaged and active…

The outdoors can offer children a rich space for learning and inspires authentic mathematical opportunities. The author describes the experiences her kindergarten students have when when they spend many hours each day, exploring their vast play yard and engaging in play-based activities typically done inside a classroom. She also chronicles the…

In fall 2010, after several incidents of student suspensions and expulsions at a nearby provincial high school, members of Potlotek First Nation in Nova Scotia talked about having a school of their own. Discussions came to a head several weeks later for the Mi'kmaw community on Cape Breton Island when two more students were suspended on the same…

Purpose: Large-scale collective action is necessary when managing agricultural natural resources such as biodiversity and water quality. This paper determines the key factors to the success of such action. Design/Methodology/Approach: This paper analyses four large-scale collective actions used to manage agri-environmental resources in Canada and…

Since its inception, the Community-University Institute for Social Research (CUISR) has been involved in a participatory process aimed at understanding the quality of life in Saskatoon. Informed by the results of Quality of Life (QoL) survey in 2001 and by a list of QoL action priorities from a community forum, the CUISR QoL module set out to…

Written in English and French, this report presents views of Canadian Aboriginal community members about developing healthy communities. In-depth interviews were conducted with elders, youth, parents, political leaders, victims, offenders, and government employees in five Aboriginal communities, and telephone and mail surveys were conducted in…

This book describes the mindshift that is the key to successful community capacity building and to the development of social and economic structures that nurture local sustainability. Its focus is how the development of community, through community capacity building, connects, animates, and informs citizens. Chapter I introduces community building…

This document explains the use of a model for mapping community capacity and resources that was developed by the community development office of a health group in Edmonton, Alberta, and applied in a collaborative pilot project in preparation for development of a community health plan. A brief discussion of the factors leading to development of the…

This document presents a step-by-step approach to a community development process for addressing child care needs in rural Canada. Part 1 of the document introduces the need for child care in rural areas in Canada and describes challenges to meetings those needs. This section also presents the principles underlying community development and…