13th Annual Community Movements Conference

Homes, Housing, and Human Rights

January 31 - February 1, 2020

Peterborough, Ontario

On behalf of Trent Students affiliated with the International Development Studies program and the Student Association for International Development (SAID), we would like to invite you to participate in our 13th annual Community Movements Conference. This two-day, student organized event will take place in Peterborough, Ontario, on Friday, January 31st and Saturday, February 1st, 2020.

Primary Objectives

As members of both Trent University and the greater Peterborough public, the student organizers chose the theme and title of this year’s conference, “Homes, Housing, and Human Rights”, in order to acknowledge and address the hidden, as well as the visible dimensions of the housing crisis. Although the above topics are familiar to most, when put in association with each other, these relationships prove less simple than they seem. As such, we aim to explore the different ways in which housing has been treated in public discourse, policy, and perception. Each year, the Community Movements Conference strives to provide opportunities for networking, skill sharing, and fostering linkages between international, national, and local movements. Further, this Conference operates as an inclusive space, and we encourage participants to actively and respectfully engage with each other.

Primary Areas of Focus

As mentioned above, this year’s Community Movements Conference sets out to address the multitudinous dimensions of contemporary housing crises. This document includes an outline of the major themes and topics that this conference aims to focus on. It is meant to provide direction for presenters, workshop holders, or panel participants. We welcome proposals that focus on a variety of approaches!

These topics include, but are not limited to:

Housing Rights and Human Rights

  • Local (Peterborough)
  • National (Canada)
  • International (Global)

Temporary and Precarious Housing

  • Youth and adult shelters
  • Halfway housing
  • Emergency housing

Alternative, Accessible, and Affordable Housing

  • Government-subsidized housing
  • Privatized vs non-profit housing
  • Priority housing
  • Natural building materials

Spatial Segregation and Slums

  • Division of public and private spaces
  • Regeneration and urban revanchist projects
  • Deconstructing and de-essentializing informal housing

The Role of Addiction and Mental Illness in Securing Safe Housing

  • Exploring links between addiction and homelessness
  • Using compassion to fight stigma
  • Access to adequate social services

Homeless vs Unhoused

  • Reimagining homelessness in discourse and practice
  • Confronting the social implications surrounding homelessness
  • Understanding systemic and surface level factors


Please submit your proposals, using the accompanying proposal submission form, to us electronically as a Word or PDF Document by December 14, 2019 at:

cmc@trentu.ca

Warmly,

The Student Organizers of the 13th Annual Community Movements Conference

Themes
• Housing cooperatives
• Housing crisis
• Housing rights
• Tenants