The Top 30 Under 30s in Edmonton met with Mayor Sohi and Councillors Knack, Rice, Tang, Salvador, Rutherford and Janz. The Top 30s had a chance to participate in important conversations with Edmonton City Council and have their voices heard on key local and global issues.
Celebrating Culture and Connections
ACIC partnered with Youth Art Connection, a Halifax-based non-profit supporting young artists, to host an afternoon celebrating art as a bridge across cultures, communities, and borders. Held at the Halifax Central Library, the event featured photography displays and performances by African Nova Scotian musicians, creating a vibrant space for reflection, creativity, and connection. Bringing together African Heritage Month and International Development Week, the gathering highlighted the power of artistic expression in fostering global citizenship and shared understanding.
Launch of the comic books "Rana Plaza" and "The Hidden Side of Textiles: The True Price of Our Jeans"
A 5-to-7 event at the Antipode restaurant in Montreal for the launch of the graphic novel and meet authors Chloé Germain-Thérien and François Simard. This activity aimed to spark discussion about the production and overconsumption model underlying the clothing and fashion industry in a globalized economy, and its environmental and human consequences. Furthermore, François Simard’s graphic novel tells the story of the Rana Plaza collapse, addressing issues of corporate responsibility and solidarity both in Quebec and Canada and at the global level. This launch proved to be the greatest success since the beginning of this illustration initiative with more than 1,700 copies distributed in Quebec.
Food Tasting and Storytelling Event
BCCIC hosted an in-person food tasting and storytelling event. BCCIC members and the public came together in-person to learn from Angeles and Angelica, two refugee women who lead local food businesses in Vancouver. Through their stories and panel discussion, they used food as a vehicle to explore local and global issues pertaining to food security, gender equality, economic security, cultural traditions, forced migration, and more. Both of the women are involved with Flavours of Hope, an organization that empowers refugee women through food, culture, entrepreneurship, and stories in Vancouver. Guests shared appetizers and desserts prepared by Angeles and Angelica.
A filmmaker that attended the event was so inspired by the event that they produced a spotlight on Flavours of Hope through a CBC BC series.
Social Justice Fair
Each year, Menno Simons College’s Social Justice Fair provides an opportunity for students and community members to connect with organizations engaged with social justice locally and globally. MCIC met with students at their engagement booth, sharing opportunities, information, and engaging emerging student leaders on global issues.
MAXIMA: Documentary Film - FH Collins Social Justice Class
NCGC brought the documentary film Maxima, to the FH Collins Social Justice classes. MAXIMA follows Peruvian indigenous farmer Máxima Acuña in her fight to protect her land as she stands up to the largest gold producer in the world: US-based Newmont Mining Corporation. Throughout Máxima’s fight for justice, the film provides an illustrative case study in the tactics used by transnational corporations to commit human rights violations and environmental crimes, the role played by non-profits and the World Bank, and, ultimately, the resilience of one woman who refuses to back down. Bringing the Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Claudia Sparrow into the classroom via Zoom added a unique learning dimension. It allowed students to hear directly from a Latin American filmmaker whose work explores colonialism, resistance, and environmental justice—topics that help Yukon learners situate their own context within broader global struggles. Her presence reinforced the idea that social justice is interconnected: what happens in rural Peru has echoes in northern Canada, and northern students are part of those global conversations.
Exploring storytelling and creative communication as tools to motivate climate action, this in-person Innovation Lab invited participants to use film, photography, painting, and podcasting as engagement tools to document their stories of climate and engage others in their work. The day opened with a screening of The Sunrise Storyteller, followed by an inspiring conversation with Gen-Z filmmaker Kasha Sequoia Slavner. In the afternoon, hands became busy and ideas took shape as participants worked alongside local artists, leaving with new skills, new connections, and a renewed commitment to public engagement.
Sustainable Development Goals Expo
SCIC hosted two youth-focused SDG events in partnership with the Nonprofit Voluntary Sector Studies Network. The SDG Expo connected University of Regina students with campus groups working on the Sustainable Development Goals. Hosted as part of the expo, the SDG Multiplier Training equipped participants with the knowledge and skills to become SDG facilitators, empowering them to educate and advocate for sustainability in their own communities.
