Dr. Shirley Calgary Keynote Address

The Inspiring Future of Public Interest Organizing

Renowned speaker, educator, author and organizer, Dr. Dennis Shirley, will address how the old ways for effecting social and educational change are no longer suited to the fast, flexible and vulnerable new world of the 21st century.

This coincides with Public Interest Alberta's 5th Annual Advocacy Conference, Mobilizing for a Better Alberta: Strong Communities, Public Solutions, taking place in Edmonton from March 31 - April 1, 2011, where Shirley will also deliver a keynote address.

In many jurisdictions around the globe the economic recession of recent years has led to curtailed public services as a result of cut-backs. In other contexts, however, activists and leaders have responded imaginatively with strategies to promote transparency, to conserve the environment, to uplift democracy and to promote the public good. In this provocative presentation Dennis Shirley will draw upon his many years as an activist and scholar working with civic groups around the world to describe new openings in civic engagement. He will outline ways in which ordinary people are using new technologies to advance their struggles for social justice with special relevance for the future of the public interest in Alberta.

Dennis Shirley is an internationally renowned speaker, author of numerous books and professor at the Lynch School of Education at Boston College. His research on organizing has involved establishing multi-issue, multi-class, and multi-racial coalitions around social justice issues. His latest book, The Fourth Way, illustrates how the old ways for effecting social and educational change are no longer suited to the fast, flexible, and vulnerable new world of the 21st century.

Tickets: $10, available at the door

Facebook Event Page: confirm your attendance and invite your friends

PIA's 5th Annual Advocacy Conference

Mobilizing for a Better Alberta: Strong Communities, Public Solutions

Alberta’s families and communities continue to be threatened by a government that is determined to continue on a path of pushing privatization and underfunding public services that are fundamental to our social and economic well-being.

This conference is an essential opportunity to work with other individuals and organizations in developing public solutions that will strengthen our communities and provide us with the tools to mobilize us into action to build a better Alberta for all.

We are honoured to have as our keynote speaker Dr. Dennis Shirley, Professor, Lynch School of Education, Boston College as well as first-rate plenary speakers on key topics including Rob Hopkins (via live video feed), Co-Founder, Transition Town Movement, Dr. Ritika Goel, Co-Founder, Students for Medicare, Dr. Trevor Harrison, Professor of Sociology, University of Lethbridge and Walter Davis, Executive Director, National Organizers Alliance.