It comes from knowing that the world we want to create will require us to lead from our hearts, and to be able to captivate the hearts of others. The work we do can wear us down, and the culture we live in can be cruel and disappointing. But we care too much to give in to the temptations of disengagement. There are reminders everywhere that a better world is possible, and we endeavour to be living amplifications of those reminders.

In an increasingly secular culture, at a time of widespread economic and environmental crisis, we long to consider the big questions: For what are we hear? What matters most? How shall we live? How can we sit with pain and respond to injustice? How can we realize our biggest dreams for one another?

Can you relate?

WHAT:

Feeding Hearts & Minds is a monthly meal and dialogue exploring the intersection of ‘spirituality’ and social change. It’s a chance to reconnect with people, to remember what feeds your work, and to re-engage in strategic and fulfilling ways.

Read some feedback highlights from the January Dinner here and the February Dinner here.

WHO:

It’s for activists, organizers, artists, nurturers, students, leaders, and those who are still trying to figure it all out. It’s for people trying to find purpose and meaning beyond the limits of consumerism and self-interest. People longing to live out their values in more impactful and effective ways. People deeply engaged in social change work, and tired as heck from it. People who sometimes experience despair at the state of the world, yet keep getting out of bed each morning to make it better.

And, it’s for people of all ages. For now we won’t be able to provide separate childcare, but we endeavour for the space to be welcoming to children, so if you’ve got them, feel free to bring them along.

Find out more about our Monthly Community Dinners, and join us in making it happen.

Visit: www.spiritedsocialchange.org or email christine@spiritedsocialchange.org

The next Spirited Social Change dinner is Sunday, May 29^th, 5:30-7:30pm, hosted by NUppers Steph Gatto and Deanna Rogers, with guest speaker Dr. Bruce Alexander. RSVP here.

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This project wouldn’t have started without the thoughtful organizing of Christine Boyle (NUBC4). Thanks Chris!

In Saskatoon, Max FineDay ran another successful campaign rejoining the University of Saskatchewan’s Student Council. Max and NUBC1 Alum Tria Donaldson teamed up to write a piece for Rabble.ca about working on NDP Leadership candidate Romeo Saganash’s campaign inspired a generation of young Indigenous people.

Andrea Cessna (NUSask2) has been working on a project called Voice Avenue. “From breakfast to bridges, we give you a glimpse of some of Saskatoon’s well known areas, plus some of its secrets. The intention behind Voice Ave is to provide media technology training for those who don’t have access to equipment/space etc. Every week at the Saskatoon Food Bank and Learning Centre, Voice Ave offers a sort of Media boot camp. I’m so proud to be part of the awesome Voice Ave Team and working with fellow Next Uppers and the Saskatoon Anti-Poverty Coalition – all of whom are very passionate individuals focused on positive change within our community.” Here’s a sample of their work:

Julia Dalman (NU Edmonton alum) has been coordinating a Global Cafe to connect Edmonton high school students. They have been working towards making the Global Cafe into a physical hub and about 60 volunteers have signed up to participate from groups including the Parkland Institute, Make Poverty History and the Council of Canadians. Read the article from the Edmonton Journal for more info and stay tuned!

Three NU alumni were featured in Alberta Council for Global Cooperation’s latest issue of their top 30 under 30 magazine! The magazine, “highlights the Top 30 youth from Alberta and the Global South who are actively making positive change in their communities, locally and globally.” Check it out here. Congrats to Erin McFarlane (NUCal1), Chris Chan Yeng Philips (NUEdm3), and Laura Collison (NUEdm2)!

In BC, Anna McClean (NUBC5) has been working with Leadnow.ca as their Local Organizing Coordinator. She and 3 other NUBC5 participants are were busy organizing actions in each of the provincial and territorial capitals to highlight the real costs, both financial and social, of the Omnibus Crime Bill. Following this, they plan to continue creating and supporting Local Action Teams across the country that will be ready to take action and speak up for a more just, democratic Canada. Check out the video they put together here.

Jenni Mathers (NUBC5) writes, “Thanks to Next up I have been able to connect with some people from the community to do some work on the Min Age Campaign. In BC it is legal for Children to work as young as 12 years old. There are very loose regulations for employers around child workers. Employers only need to obtain a permission slip from one parent and have the child supervised by an adult who is over 18 in the workplace. As part of the CAW, we have managed to get together a working group in hopes of changing these laws. Next up has provided us with reports and has got us in contact with First Call, a child advocacy group, and the employment standards coalition. Our working group will be having their second meeting shortly and we are making progress.”

…and that’s just scratching the surface!

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Write for the Next Up Blog

Have stories to share about the projects that you’re working on? Notetakers, photographers and instagram-ers, we’re calling on you to help on this mission to collectively document, celebrate and learn from each other’s work. Some pretty amazing things are happening and the more people know about it, the more opportunities we have to collaborate, adapt and implement creative responses to the challenges that we face.

If you’ve got something that you’d like to report on, get in touch!

Learn more: http://leadnow.ca/keep-canada-safe

On February 1^st, students from hundreds of colleges and universities from across Canada, united to send a clear message to the federal government: make education a priority.

Along with a number of other Saskatoon NextUp participants I was fortunate to be able to participate in the National Day of Action at the University of Saskatchewan. Although the undergraduate student union at the university does not belong to the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) – the national advocacy group coordinating the campaign, we were mobilized to participate by Alanna Makinson, a Saskatoon NextUp participant and former CFS prairies coordinator.

Justin and Jae, NU Sask

Not a great deal of urging was required – the majority of Saskatoon NextUp participants are current or former students, cognizant of the burden of high tuition fees and heavy student debt. It was no surprise, given the group’s overall enthusiasm and passion, that many of us volunteered to help put together the campaign at the University of Saskatchewan.

In the weeks preceding February 1, a rotating group of NextUp participants could be found in the tunnels on campus each Tuesday speaking to students and staff about the importance of this event.  A small group of NextUp participants also created a fun and humorous holiday themed youtube video in support of the campaign, which can be seen here.

We had hoped to raise enough interest in the campaign to plan a large rally on campus on February 1st. Likely as a result of the CFS’ low profile on campus, and despite our best efforts, we were unable to gather enough support for a rally. Undeterred, we proceeded with a highly effective letter campaign in support of the national movement. We were able to send 175 signed letters to the Prime Minister attesting to University of Saskatchewan student and staff support for greater federal investment in post-secondary education!

Climate Justice Saskatoon was first born four years ago, in the lead-up to the United Nations 15th Conference of Parties in Copenhagen. Citizens of Saskatoon, mostly youth, rallied around the climate negotiations as a chance to make their voices heard and support the member of their community who was attending the conference.

Following COP 15, Climate Justice Saskatoon wilted – members have moved away, moved on to other projects or merely stopped being involved in the group. It is the story of too many now defunct community groups – a lack of action tends to slow a movement down and eventually its importance fades in the minds of those who were once active members.

Photos: flickr/UNclimatechange

Recently returned from the UN’s COP 17 in Durban, South Africa, Karen Rooney was seeking to create a community similar to the one she had worked with while in Durban with the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition. A few chance conversations with friends led her to start the work of re-invigorating Climate Justice Saskatoon.

Current core group members bring a great deal of experience to the table – from years of organizing non-violent civil disobedience, media skills and political savvy to youth connections, research knowledge and creative activism. We plan to seek out and advocate for solutions to the climate crisis which recognize that those who are the least responsible for creating the climate crisis are the ones who are suffering the impacts the most. Climate Justice Saskatoon operates within an anti-oppressive, consensus-based model and we recognize that everyone in the group, regardless of age, experience or knowledge base has something to offer. We believe that it is this model and this passion that will make our actions-based group a force to be reckoned with.

Check out our blog online at: http://climatejusticesaskatoon.wordpress.com

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Karen and other Canadian Youth Delegates were featured in this story on Democracy Now:

Canadian Activists Barred from Durban Summit for Protesting Environment Minister
December 17, 2011

Canada’s Minister of Environment Peter Kent addressed the United Nations Climate Change Conference today and defended his country’s environmental record despite Canada’s support of continued tar sands oil extraction and its threat to pull out of the Kyoto Protocol. Soon after Kent began speaking, six members of the Canadian Youth Delegation stood up and turned their backs on the minister. They were taken out of the room and later stripped of their credentials to the climate change conference. “Today, six of us stood up and turned our backs on the government of Canada, in the same way the government of Canada has turned its back on us,” says activist Karen Rooney. “We are calling on the government of Canada to start putting the interests of people over the interests of polluters.”

In October, a group of Calgary Next Up Alumni started What’s Next? a monthly skill and knowledge share series.  The idea grew from our intention to engage those people who did not make it into the Next Up Program and expanded to include a much larger community.  Held in the Old Y building, a historical community building located in central Calgary where Next Up sessions are held, What’s Next? has been bringing people together on the third Monday of each month since October and continues to build momentum.

What’s Next? has so far been a huge success.  Sessions, which all start off with communal cooking and sharing of a meal, have included diverse topics such as learning about popular education & skill-sharing models, learning to blog from a group of brave young jr. high school women, and debriefing the Occupy movement. Our last session of 2011, just before the Winter Solstice, was a great way to start off the winter. We sang with the Raging Grannies, knit with the Revolutionary Knitters and baked cookies together – we all know the best discussions happen in the kitchen!  Future sessions will include a DIY candle and soap making skill-share, talking to media, film making, eco-feminism…  well, you get the idea.  The possibilities are endless!  We are excited to see what topics lay ahead as more community members and Next Uppers continue to come forward with ideas to share their skills, passions and knowledge.

It has been extremely rewarding (and tonnes of fun!) for our cohort to work on this project together and to continue to build our relationships, to strengthen our networks and to build a stronger and larger community together.  If you are ever visiting Calgary on the third Monday of the month we hope you will join us at What’s Next?.  In the meantime you can check us out on:

Facebook  www.facebook.com/WhatsNextCalgary

Blog   whatsnextcalgary.tumblr.com

At this years gathering we also had good discussions about diversity, safety, inclusion, anti-oppression and more. Many thoughtful ideas on how to bolster the program were suggested. In August, the NU staff team came together to look at each individual program and the program as a whole. The team landed on a few key things to integrate across all programs in relation to anti-oppression work and building allies. They also looked for important pieces that have been developed in different programs that they thought could be applied to all programs.

The team is pleased to share the key pieces that have been put in place this year;

• Participants sign an agreement at the start of the program that outlines expectations with regards to program participation and includes the programs commitment to participants around building the best experience for them that we can;
• A written policy on harassment that is introduced at the start of each program;
• Each orientation session now includes a discussion about how we can better take care of ourselves and each other;
• Each orientation session now has anti-oppression introduced;
• A full day of anti-o training is included in all programs;
• All cohorts will have opportunities to learn more about and become more engaged in Aboriginal issues, with a specific focus on issues specific to their city/region.

Without a doubt, the program will continue to grow and evolve as we learn hands-on how to build a broad and inclusive network.

We look at some of the most pressing Canadian foreign and domestic policy issues, and where “progressive” thinking is at on how to solve them. We look at how change is made in society. And we meet some of the most innovative change-makers — from the non-profit, business and public sectors — who are working for a better world.

Applications for 2012/2013 will open in July - check back for details or join our mailing list to be notified.