CUP has been an active partner with EndPovertyEdmonton since it began as the Mayor's Taskforce for the Elimination of Poverty. Using stories that were collected while caseworkers worked with the Families First Edmonton project, CUP researchers developed a suite of family stories that help illustrate the range of experiences of low-income families. These stories helped ground the work of the Task Force. The EPE Strategy created a Road Map with five goals and 30 actions that will fulfill the vision of ending poverty within a generation.
One of those actions, the Edmonton Shift Lab was launched by the Edmonton Community Foundation and Skills Society Action Lab in August 2016. This initiative relates directly to action #9 in the EndPovertyEdmonton 5 year road map: "Implement a social lab project to generate ideas and test prototypes to end racism." Last week, the Centre for Race and Culture facilitated a day-long series of exercises where concepts were examined like colonialism, prejudice, race, whiteness and discrimination. To learn more about the Shift Lab or to join the Shift Lab community voice collective visit the Shift Lab website.