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SHIFT Centre for Social Transformation
October 2025
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We congregate on this island and beyond, and to work together in any capacity, we must listen. But Zapatista Commandante Tacho said, “listening is not just to hear the other, but to be ready to be transformed by the other.” And it must go both ways, or else we are transformed according to the very powerbrokers we oppose. Through messy democracy, care, slowness, and contemplativeness, we are striving to be human with each other. Where transactional relationships are brittle, full humaneness is flexible and powerful—the basis of a strong community and a strong society. Find your community where and when you can, ready to be transformed by you.
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Shaping Our City:
What can communities and urban planners learn from each other?
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Thursday, October 9 @ 12-2 p.m., LB 145 (SHIFT Centre)
The way we are able to live, work, and gather in Montreal all depends on the way it was designed. Often, the failure to address community needs occurs well before shovels hit the ground. What could a more community-based form of city planning look like? How can higher education better prepare urban planners and geographers to serve our communities? Join Dr. Sunjay Mathuria and speakers from Quartiers inclusifs et résilients (QIR) Saint-Pierre, Concert'Action Lachine, and the JIA Foundation as they interrogate the decision-making processes behind city planning to better bridge the gap between urban planner priorities and communities needs.
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Other events at our space
Pedagogical strategies to integrate modules on history of resiliency and continuance of Rotinonhsión:ni confederacy
Friday, October 3 @ 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.
The aim of the workshop is to introduce faculty to four Primer Modules on Moodle that explores the history of the Rotinonhnsión:ni Confederacy from a historical and contemporary context and explore approaches of how faculty can integrate these modules in their curriculum and pedagogical practices. Topics explored in the Modules include but not limited to: Cosmology and Epistemology of the Rotinonhnsión:ni; resistance to colonial policies and practices; food systems; treaties; residential and boarding schools; language resurgence and decolonizing methodologies.
Insurgent Ecologies - Book Launch with Fernwood Publishing
Monday, October 20 @ 4 - 6 p.m.
Insurgent Ecologies takes readers on an inspiring journey across key sites of ecological crisis and contestation, showing how revolutionary politics can emerge from the convergences between place-based, often disconnected struggles. These essays speak to longstanding debates in political ecology and radical thought around how to advance transformations in, against and beyond capitalism.
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Pathways to Democratic Institutions:
Challenges and opportunities in representative decision-making
Tuesday, October 21 @ 12 - 2 p.m.
Institutions are often slow-moving, bureaucratic, and resistant to major changes. But there are other institutions out there, both trying to bring new voices into their decision-making and navigating representative structures. This panel features philanthropic, public, and academic institutional organizations all working to better integrate community ownership into their processes. What are the challenges that come from bringing together a diversity of voices from across professional, personal, and even political backgrounds?
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University of the Streets Café
Indigenous and Black activism: What are the legacies of Black and Red Power?
Thursday, October 30 @ 7 - 9 p.m.
This public conversation aims to understand what were the echoes of Red and Black power in Quebec in the 1970’s and what are the legacies of those movements today? What were the connections between the two movements? How did they inform self-determination, identity, political and community organizing, education, and more?
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Watch: testimonial on the SHIFT Centre
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"I think universities are often scary. And so I think SHIFT is this like sweet safe space that we want to bring mentees to so that they can see that there's different spaces within universities that are lovely and safe and welcoming, and to kind of shift a little bit young folks' experience in universities."
—Michelle Duscheneau
Press Start Coop
Watch the entire testimonial >
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The Decolonial Toolbox - Educational Pathway is a multi-year collaboration between Concordia University’s Office of Community Engagement, Mikana, and the Montreal Indigenous Community NETWORK. It provides resources and stimulates reflection to understand the impacts of colonization and offer guidance to challenge colonialism in everyday life.
We invite you to read the third and final level of the Decolonial Toolbox Educational Pathway where we discuss Indigenous sovereignty, the inherent right of to self-determination and self-governance over traditional territories, cultures, and resources.
These stepping stones will guide you as you embark on a personal journey toward decolonization and meaningful allyship.
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Submit your content to the SHIFT Newsletter
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We send out a newsletter every 4-6 weeks, and are happy to promote our wider community's activities & opportunities that are aligned with SHIFT's values, and benefit students, Concordians, and/or SHIFT's wider community members.
Send your requests through this form.
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Façonner notre ville :
Que peuvent apprendre les communautés et les urbanistes les uns des autres ?
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jeudi le 9 octobre @ 12-14h, LB 145 (SHIFT Centre)
La façon dont nous pouvons vivre, travailler et nous réunir à Montréal dépend entièrement de la façon dont la ville a été conçue. Souvent, l'incapacité à répondre aux besoins de la communauté se manifeste bien avant que les travaux ne commencent. À quoi pourrait ressembler une forme d'urbanisme plus axée sur la communauté ? Comment l'enseignement supérieur peut-il mieux préparer les urbanistes et les géographes à servir nos communautés ? Joignez-vous au Dr Sunjay Mathuria et aux conférenciers de Quartiers inclusifs et résilients (QIR) Saint-Pierre, Concert'Action Lachine et la Fondation JIA pour examiner les processus décisionnels qui sous-tendent l'urbanisme afin de mieux combler le fossé entre les priorités des urbanistes et les besoins des communautés.
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Les voies vers les institutions démocratiques:
Défis et opportunités dans la prise de décision représentative
mardi le 21 octobre @ 12 - 14h
Les institutions sont souvent lentes, bureaucratiques et réfractaires aux changements majeurs. Mais il existe d'autres institutions qui s'efforcent d'intégrer de nouvelles voix dans leur processus décisionnel et de naviguer dans des structures représentatives. Ce panel réunit des organisations philanthropiques, publiques et universitaires qui s'efforcent toutes de mieux intégrer l'appropriation communautaire dans leurs processus. Quels sont les défis liés au rassemblement d'une diversité de voix issues de milieux professionnels, personnels et même politiques ?
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À voir : Qu'est ce que ça signifie faire partie de SHIFT?
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"C'est vraiment de contribuer à un écosystème qui supporte des organisations, des jeunes organisations souvent militantes, qui souhaitent transformer la société."
—Marc Lachapelle
membre du pôle de gouvernance de SHIFT
Regardez la vidéo >
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La Boîte à outils décoloniale - Parcours éducatif est le fruit d'une collaboration pluriannuelle entre le Bureau de l'engagement communautaire de l'Université Concordia, Mikana et le Réseau communautaire autochtone de Montréal. Elle fournit des ressources et stimule la réflexion afin de comprendre les impacts de la colonisation et d'offrir des conseils pour lutter contre le colonialisme dans la vie quotidienne.
Nous vous invitons à lire le troisième et dernier niveau du parcours éducatif de la boîte à outils décoloniale, où nous abordons la souveraineté autochtone, le droit inhérent à l'autodétermination et à l'autonomie gouvernementale sur les territoires, les cultures et les ressources traditionnels.
Ces étapes vous guideront dans votre cheminement personnel vers la décolonisation et un partenariat significatif.
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Soumettez votre contenu à la newsletter SHIFT
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Nous envoyons une lettre d'information toutes les 4 à 6 semaines et sommes heureux de promouvoir les activités et les opportunités de notre communauté élargie qui sont en accord avec les valeurs de SHIFT et qui profitent aux étudiants, aux Concordiens et/ou aux membres de la communauté élargie de SHIFT.
Envoyez vos demandes par le biais de ce formulaire.
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