WINNIPEG, MB – The University of Winnipeg Students’ Association (UWSA), Local 8 of the Canadian Federation of Students, is launching the school year with its first Sustainability Festival. This week-long series of speakers, films, workshops, and a local market, provide a range of tools for everyday green living as well as an introduction to ecological issues facing the university, city and nation.
“We wanted to address environmental issues at the individual level, but also emphasize how personal change can build and become a large scale movement. The workshops offer a creative, solutions-based approach, and the speakers and films get a dialogue started on what we can do collectively,” said Vinay Iyer, President of the UWSA.
The keynote speaker for the festival, Clayton Thomas-Muller, of the Indigenous Environmental Network, based out of Ottawa, Ontario, is currently the Tar Sands Campaigner with the Indigenous Environmental Network, and has been recognized by Utne Magazine as one of the Top 30 under-30 young activists in the United States. Clayton is also a gifted poet and spoken-word performer, and will be speaking on youth activism and his experience with the Alberta Tar Sands project. His presentation is scheduled for 12:30–1:30 p.m., Wednesday, September 17, outdoors in front of Wesley Hall on the University front lawn (Rain location – Bulman Students’ Centre Multi-Purpose Room). Clayton is originally from the Mathais Colomb Cree Nation (Pukatawagan), in Northern Manitoba. Clayton’s presentation is co-sponsored by The Uniter, the University of Winnipeg student newspaper.
Other events include workshops on canning and preserving food, “green” home renovations, as well as homemade beauty and cleaning products. All events are free of charge, and a complete schedule can be found at www.theuwsa.ca.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Kate Dykman, Sustainability Festival Coordinator, UWSA
P: 789-1435, E: katedykman@yahoo.ca
