New: View the WAM Final Report (December 2008) here

what's your impact?

We Are Many (WAM) was founded in the summer of 2007 in order to coordinate and implement the We Are Many Festival, an arts and environmental festival aimed at emphasizing visible, practical, and permanent environmental outcomes. Organised by a group of concerned and eager youth in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, it was a pilot project model for mid-sized cities to become dramatically more environmentally sustainable within a short time span.

With overwhelming support from the community, the WAM Festival united over 10 000 people in a quest to take small steps together to make a measurable change in Saskatoon. Over a period of 3 days, participants were able to take in a full line-up of performances by local and international artists, as well as a multitude of hands-on workshops, symposia, and displays on the whys, whats, and hows of environmental sustainability.    Participants were also given the opportunity to sign the WAM Pact, a list of 20 attainable commitments to drastically reduce their impact on the environment.

 WAM organisers have been energised by the tremendous success of the Festival and the questions of "what's next" from the community since it wrapped up in August 2008. WAM continues to stay committed to working with the community to make Saskatoon a greener city, and is currently planning new projects that will maintain and advance the movement created by the WAM Festival.

As an organisation, WAM strives to:

  • organise events that celebrate environmental action, build community, and provide environmental education
  • provide a framework for all members of the community to engage in environmental action
  • facilitate change in our community by working with other organisations to develop solutions to the current environmental crisis


WAM's strategy — Education and Co-operation.
WAM's Impact — Changing the world, One community at a time.
WAM —We Are Many.

 

 

 

* Update, May 18th, 2009!*

 

Hi everyone!

It's been a busy few weeks!

-- We passed three out of four of our green resolutions at the Co-op AGM, which translates into more organic, local, and fair trade food -- all with a new labeling system -- and LEED standard buildings!

-- Tomorrow is the first WAM Action Summit! We have the Mayor and several City Councillors, a Minister, an MLA, and an MP confirmed -- and that's in addition to 400 students from 13 high schools, 3 elementary schools, and the University of Saskatchewan! This will be a huge opportunity to learn about water issues and to work with young people to make sustainable transportation a priority in Saskatoon. We'll be pushing the universal high school bus pass big-time! So come join us for music, refreshments, fun, and, of course, action -- 1-4 p.m. (12:30 p.m. reception) at TCU Place tomorrow, May 19th!

-- WAM is working with the Core Neighbourhood Youth Co-op to distribute containers full of edible plants to core neighbourhood residents. We will also be selling containers at the Farmers' Market in order to finance the rest of the initiative. Stay tuned for a June planting bee -- we'd love to see you there!

-- WAM is also in the process of confirming partnerships with the Parks department of the City of Saskatoon (we will likely be planting fruit trees and berry bushes in Leif Erickson Park) and the Meewasin Valley Authority (Saskatoon berry bushes at River Landing!). Let us know if you're interested in planting trees and bushes with us!

-- Stay tuned for a new WAM website in the near future! It will have all the bells and whistles.

-- Please consider writing to City Council to ask them to open up the debate about St. Mary's School again. St. Mary's is the oldest functioning Catholic school in the city and it will be torn down if the current plans are approved. Environmentally speaking, it is much better to retrofit old buildings than to tear them down and construct something new. Besides which, this is a beautiful historical building that could be put to good use! Write a letter to Council if you are concerned about this too: http://www.saskatoon.ca/org/clerks_office/council/council_write_a_letter.asp

Thanks everyone! See you at the Summit tomorrow!

-- The WAM Team

 

* Update, April 24th, 2009 *


Hi there,


WAM was on CTV News with Jeff Rogstad tonight discussing the EcoPass, a proposed bus pass for businesses and organizations around the city.  We Are Many has written an open letter to the federal government to suggest an increase in transit funding.  This increase would allow for a greater supply of buses to provide for larger ridership numbers.


If you or your business is interested in viewing and signing the open letter, please email info@wearemanyfestival.com.  We will soon be moving to another website in which you will be able to view and sign the letter online.  In the mean time, if you're interested in helping out at all, you should email us and we'll let you know when our next meeting is!

 

Hope you had a great Earth Day!

 

-- the WAM team

 

* Update, March 25th, 2009 *

 

Hi everyone,

WAM is receiving an award from the Saskatchewan Eco Network, the province's environmental umbrella organisation, this Friday (March 27th)! The Public Service Announcement for the event -- part awards ceremony, part environmental film festival -- is pasted below; it starts at 7 p.m. at the Timlin Neatby Theatre at the U of S campus (that's the old Place Riel theatre -- room 241 in the Arts Building). Come celebrate with us and SEN!

Second, WAM and Saskatoon Transit Services are launching Saskatoon's new EcoPass on April 20th from 3-5 p.m. at City Hall. The price of the EcoPass, an annual transit pass, will fall as more people buy in; it promotes collective action by encouraging people to sign up friends, neighbours, and co-workers to lower the cost for everyone. Since the event at City Hall will be the first of dozens of office parties throughout downtown (and eventually SIAST, the Saskatoon Health Region, etc.), WAM will have signed up thousands of people by the end of the summer! Please contact us if your office would like to invite WAM to host an EcoPass party.

The very next day, April 21st, WAM will be putting forth environmentally friendly resolutions at Saskatoon Co-op's AGM. We'll be voting on LEED standard building for all new Co-op edifices, independent energy audits of all existing buildings, and local food procurement (specific focus as of yet undecided). If you're a Co-op member (if you're not, sign up at any Co-op store), come vote for these changes -- it will have a dramatic impact on our city as Co-op is one of our biggest companies.

Remember WAM's plan to work with the Saskatoon Food Coalition to plant fruit trees in public spaces all over the city? We'll be hearing back from the Parks Branch of the City of Saskatoon in two weeks regarding their involvement in terms of pruning and watering the trees. Stay tuned for more info!

Finally, WAM is hosting a WAM Action Summit on May 19th (1-4 p.m., with a reception at 12:30 p.m. to accommodate disparate bus schedules) at TCU Place in downtown Saskatoon (thanks to TCU Place for generously donating space for the event!). We've scheduled the event so that it coincides with gaps in the parliamentary and legislative schedules; we'll be inviting Members of Parliament, Members of the Legislative Assembly, the Mayor, City Councillors, school board officials, community groups, members of the public, university students and professors, etc. We're also inviting high school teachers to bring students after having discussed the two WAM Action Plans (on transportation and bottled water, respectively) prior to the event. Students will share feedback in an interactive forum and agree upon a plan of action/timeline for the spring and summer of 2009, on both a school-wide and civic level -- and, of course, we'll decide which topics we'd like to cover at our fall summit. RSVP to this e-mail address if you would like a copy of the Action Plans (to be released mid-April) ahead of time. We hope to see you there!

It is wonderful to work with you all, and thanks as always for the support!

-- the WAM team


Public Service Announcement


“See the Change, Be the Change" is a Saskatoon Environmental Film Festival to be held on the evening of Friday, March 27 7:00 P.M. and Saturday, March 28 from 10:00 A.M. in the Timlin Neatby Theatre (room 241 Arts Building ) U. of S. Campus.

We will be featuring " Blue Gold" on Friday night along with the Environmental Activist Awards and on Saturday, we will be showing films and shorts from local filmmakers as well as award-winning films from international environmental film festivals such as Planet in Focus.

We will conclude " See the Change, Be the Change" with a celebration of Earth Hour. We are suggesting a donation of $5 for students and low income, $10 for waged.

The event is sponsored by SEN in conjunction with the University. of Saskatchewan Students Union ( USSU), the Office of Sustainability U. of S., and Educational Media and Productions ( EMAP) Saskatchewan Council International Co-operation (SCIC), Turning the Tide Books, the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour ( SFL), Craik Sustainable Living Project, Environmental Studies Students Association, ( ESSA) the Biology Students Association, Royal Environmental Action Leaders ( REAL) Maestar Productions and MpetitProductions, SIAST, Stantec, and Escape Clothing.

Contact Lynn at 652-1275 for more detail or look on the website at www.econet.sk.ca
http://econet.sk.ca/filmfest09

 

* Update, February 6th, 2009 *

 

Hi everyone! WAM folk have been putting together an exciting timeline for the next few months, and we look forward to hearing what you think about it. The first thing on our plate is a massive transit initiative; Saskatoon Transit Services sat down with us last week and we had a great time putting together a plan to increase ridership dramatically. We'll begin by signing up civic employees at a launch at City Hall in the next few weeks, and we'll continue to expand the program (a massive discounted bus pass program -- for Saskatonians: it's like the UPass) to all downtown office buildings within a walkable distance from the bus terminal. We'll be hosting fair trade coffee taste-testing parties (thank you to Councillor Tiffany Paulsen and her office for developing that idea!) at which we will talk to people about signing up for the bus pass program. This initiative will involve thousands of people and could result in a dramatic decrease in -- or elimination of -- traffic jams downtown!

In the spring we'll be working with the Saskatoon Food Coalition and others to coordinate a mass planting bee that will involve some combination of establishing fruit trees and Saskatoon Berry bushes in public places, rooftop gardening, planting thousands of trees at Wanuskewin, and other ideas.


Finally, for those of you who haven't heard, we've pushed back the February 6th event (so don't go to TCU Place this evening!) to early or mid-April and have greatly expanded the concept. The gathering will now be an idea factory/youth caucus with a parallel forum for community leaders of any age (endless thanks to TCU Place for donating space for our events). If you'd like to know more, please get in touch with us!

Thanks again for your support -- WAM's work would be impossible without your help, messages of encouragement, etc. Environmentally yours,

The WAM Team