Calling Our Communities to Action 2030 Agenda

The 2030 Agenda focuses on building capacity, education and action across the Prairie provinces in order to address the Sustainable Development Goals from the grassroots up. It is an effort to foster connections between individuals, initiatives, agencies and networks doing food security, anti-poverty, anti-racism and gender equity work across the Prairies.

In the summer of 2020, the West Hub of Righting Relations (constituted by partner agencies and individuals from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba) conducted outreach across the country through the Righting Relations National Network to gather thoughts and perspectives on food security across the country to provide inspiration for education and advocacy on how we can collectively innovate to shift our food systems.

Seventy two people responded to the survey which was sent out by email through the Righting Relations national network and shared over social media channels. Most of the people who responded to the survey live in Manitoba, with 29 respondents, and Alberta, with 15 respondents. In Saskatchewan 10 people responded, 8 respondents were from the Atlantic provinces, and in Ontario there were 7 respondents. A smaller proportion of respondents were from British Columbia, with 2 respondents, and 1 respondent was from Nunavut.

The following is a narrative created from the submissions. Our approach is to use the respondents language and narrative as much as possible while translating the larger trends. This report provides insight into practical strategies and solutions that need to be at the centre of our efforts to strengthen food sovereignty, respond to climate change and achieve the SDGs. A dialogue framework and resource listing are also provided to support community based connection and community building through a rights based lens.

The West Hub of Righting Relations is facilitated by the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights, which is a nonprofit organization based out of Edmonton (Alberta) that works to advance dignity, freedom, justice, and security through collaborative relationships and transformative education on peace and human rights. Righting Relations Canada (RRC) is a heart-centred, national network of adult educators, community organizers and Indigenous Peoples of the world working for radical social change through decolonization and popular education to bring about political and economic literacy for a just society in Canada.