A Transition Initiative is a place where there’s a community-led process that helps that own/village/city/neighbourhood become stronger and happier …
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MIX AND MATCH: A look into the world of interracial relationships
An attitude of inclusion has been developing amongst young Canadian adults, as race no longer plays a large role when choosing a significant other…
FIND YOUR HIDDEN PASSION: How to discover what’s right for you
Many believe that your work should reflect what you love to do so much that you’d want to do it for free. But many of us wander through life clueless as to what…
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Nourishing body and spirit
The food we eat, for the most part, is driven by internal desires that have disastrous consequences, particularly for our connection to all living beings. Awareness about changing our consciousness around food consumption has yet to filter through to the North American mainstream, and the vast consumption of meat and alcohol constitutes an excessive ecological footprint, which is costly and damaging. Furthermore, it is not good for our health
PARKS CANADA AT 100: The Successes and the Threats
PARKS CANADA AT 100 The Successes and the Threats Parks Canada is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Established as the Dominion Parks Branch in 1911, it is the oldest and one of the largest national park services in the world. It’s extensive network of 167 national historic sites, 42 national parks and 4 national [...]
How to Design a Neighbourhood for Happiness
Biology is destiny, declared Sigmund Freud.
But if Freud were around today, he might say “design is destiny”—especially after taking a stroll through most American cities.
The way we design our communities plays a huge role in how we experience our lives. Neighbourhoods built without sidewalks, for instance, mean that people walk less and therefore experience fewer spontaneous encounters, which is what instills a spirit of community to a place.
Time to Grow Our Souls
The world’s eyes are on the escalating struggle to defend the collective bargaining rights of Wisconsin public workers. Some people have even called the growing mobilization a transformational movement.
But transformational organizing takes more than growing numbers.
Online censorship blocks creative expression
Artists have lots of problems. We get plagiarized, ripped off by publishers, savaged by critics, counterfeited—and we even get our works copied by “pirates” who give our stuff away for free online. But no matter how bad these problems get, they’re a distant second to the gravest, most terrifying problem an artist can face: censorship.
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CHANGECAMP: A network dedicated to community transformation
I believe that much of what causes us to gather around the word “Change” from such diverse walks of life comes from the reality of the world in which we find ourselves. Our problems are outstripping our capabilities to solve them.
OPEN SOURCE JOURNALISM: Jay Rosen profile
OPEN SOURCE JOURNALISM Profile of press critic, writer, and New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen Jay Rosen was born in Buffalo, NY, in 1956. Both sides of his family were Jewish immigrants from Poland: one grandfather arrived in North America via New York, the other via Toronto. Rosen's branch of the family subsequently settled [...]
Citizens use social media to build better communities
GRASSROUTES Engaged citizens take the information highway to build better communities The transformative power of the Internet is more than access to information; it is increasingly about contributing, collaborating, and participating. Metaphors based on information highways, are giving way to community visions that capture the remarkable enthusiasm for user-generated content and social media. At the [...]
SHARING ECONOMIES by Lawrence Lessig
SHARING ECONOMIES How exchanging prices for gifts is changing the economy Sitting next to me on a cross- country flight was a representative of America’s youth. He was about seventeen, dressed in a complicated mix of black and silver (the metal, not the colour). He had a computer far cooler than mine. And when the [...]
Cyclists reclaim the streets through critical mass rides
IN SOLIDARITY, WE RIDE Cyclists reclaim the streets through critical mass rides I was the first to arrive at the usual meeting place across from City Hall. I saw other cyclists quietly pass through the square, looking around to see if a discernible group had formed. Eventually a cyclist approached me and asked, “Are you [...]
Beautifying public space through knitting
YARNBOMB! Beautifying public space through knitting Over, under, through, we settle into a rhythm. Our click-click-clicking becomes a trancelike song. For perhaps half an hour we set about marking our territory, focused on one goal. As a police cruiser skulks past on the empty midnight street, we hurriedly stuff our tools into over-filled backpacks and [...]
How easy access to information can equalize the economy
WHEN MORE IS BETTER How easy access to information can equalize the economy Since the 1970s, pundits have predicted a transition to an "information economy." The vision of an economy based on information seized the imaginations of the world's governments. For decades now, they have been creating policies to "protect" information—stronger copyright laws, international treaties [...]
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- RETHINKING CHILD LABOUR: Abolishing child labour leads to slavery
- THIKSEY MONASTERY: Ladakh offers respite from India’s busyness
- THE FACTS ON FOOD ADDITIVES: Reading nutrition facts food labels
- THE CAT’S MEOW: Cruelty to animals and animal revenge
