Uptown Climate Futures: Local Changemaking

Local Changemaking -- come unpack and reimagine this theme over a warm meal with new friends. Are you worried about Climate Change? Curious about getting involved in sustainability locally? Join us for Uptown Climate Futures, a friendly, conversational workshop series designed to convene community, create a cohort feel, and amplify the voices of people in Uptown Toronto, with a focus on BIPOC youth (ages 15-35) . Through deep discussions, storytelling, creative exploration, and interactive activities, we’ll explore themes of social and environmental sustainability—culminating in a published anthology featuring participants' writing and artwork. 2026-2027 Series Session 1: Local Change-making 📅 Date: September 24th ⏰ Time: 6:00–8:30 PM (Doors open at 5:30, with food ready) 📍 Location: Food Hall TO (5210 Yonge Street) 🌱 How do we make a difference in our city? In this session, we’re focusing on what we want for the future of our city and pathways to consider for getting there. Whether through storytelling, activism, community projects, or policy advocacy, we’ll explore different ways to drive change locally. Through gamification and visioning, we’ll explore personal and collective climate action roadmaps—that can help you get involved in the future of your local community today. ________________________________________________________________________ Each session will focus on a different aspect of climate justice, creating space for personal reflection, collective visioning, and action. Expect rich conversations, a fully catered, warm meal, hands-on activities, and, cozy salon vibes in a local coffee shop or other small business in Uptown Toronto. Whether you attend one or all, you’ll be part of a growing community of changemakers shaping the future. OTHER PROGRAM SESSIONS: October 22 - (Gamifying) Crisis Readiness November 19 - Environmental Justice at Home ✨ Your Voice in Print: At the end of the series, participants will be invited to contribute writing or artwork to the Uptown Climate Futures Anthology, set for publication in 2027. Come be part of this transformative community of changemakers, storytellers, and visionaries. Space is limited—secure your spot today! Note: We highly encourage interested participants to sign up at least a week before each workshop (So for the September 24th workshop, that would be Sept 17th!) so we can make sure your dietary needs are reflected in the catering. If you sign up less than a week before the workshop, we cannot guarantee there will be food that meets your dietary needs. ________________________________________________________________ About Uptown Climate Conversations: Hi, our names are Maggie, Victoria, and MJ, and we are the leaders of Uptown Climate Conversations. It’s lovely to meet you! We are three BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) twenty-something post-secondary graduates who are passionate about social and environmental sustainability. Once we left our school campuses, we noticed that it was difficult to get involved with causes we cared about. We found very little opportunity for us to talk about our experiences and find our community. Additionally, the groups that did exist were often heavily concentrated in the downtown core, which was less accessible to people like us, who were living in the uptown area of Toronto. These downtown groups didn’t always represent the experiences of people living uptown, either, and it was something we craved. So, we built Uptown Climate Conversations (UCC), a BIPOC-forward sustainability oriented community centered in North York to better serve the community in “Uptown” Toronto. If this resonates with you, please take a seat at the table, we’d love for you to join us!