(SAULT STE. MARIE, ON – September 22, 2022): A group of twelve Algoma University students from a variety of programs, organized by the Community Economic and Social Development (CESD) program, are headed to Turin, Italy to the Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2022 to learn about the Slow Food Movement in a series of lectures and workshops from September 20th to the 28th, 2022. 

Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2022 is an international event dedicated to food politics, sustainable agriculture and the environment. The event will see over 600 exhibitors at the market, host a series of workshops, conferences and tastings that show the benefits of food regeneration. 

Participating Algoma University students will earn credit for a third-year CESD course in Sustainable Indigenous, Rural, and Urban Community Development, as well as a Global Learning Leadership Skills Development Certificate. Programming was designed to increase participation for students for whom international experiences have been less accessible. 

Slow Food is a global, grassroots organization, founded in 1989 to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions, as well as to counteract the rise of fast life and food. It also focuses on inspiring people to pay attention to the food they eat, where it comes from and how food choices affect the world around us. Slow Food has since grown into the global movement that it is today, with millions of people in over 160 countries, all working to ensure that everyone has access to good, clean and fair food.

“As the Chair of the Department of Community Economic and Social Development and the CESD 3406 course instructor for this trip, I feel extremely privileged to have worked with a team of people here at AU to be able to provide students with this faculty-led short-term GSO mobility experience,” shared Dr. Laura Wyper. “This mobility experience is aligned with CESD principles and program learning outcomes. It follows in the footsteps of CESD faculty like Dr. Sheila Gruner who has taken students to Colombia and other places, as we look at local/global development issues and solutions from various worldviews and experiences.”

Algoma University’s Community Economic and Social Development program offers students a critical, experiential and inter-disciplinary (economic, social, environmental, political and cultural) understanding of the contexts and issues facing communities, fostering skills to promote a just, inclusive and sustainable society. CESD places emphasis on smaller urban, rural, Northern, Anishinaabe/ First Nation/Indigenous communities in Northern Ontario, although it remains relevant to general communities.

“I’m deeply grateful for this opportunity to participate in this amazing opportunity to travel to Terra Madre and witness other Indigenous cultures,” shared Nadine Roach, a student in the Community Economic and Social Development program. “This will be an extraordinary educational experience.” 

“The importance of this trip for me is to help build self-confidence and gain valuable life experiences that will make me a better social worker in the future,” shared Willow Houston, a student in the Bachelor of Social Work program.

This trip is funded through Global Skills Opportunity (GSO), the Government of Canada’s national outbound student mobility pilot program, which aims to empower post-secondary institutions to increase the participation of Canadians in international learning opportunities — especially students with disabilities, Indigenous students and those from low socio-economic backgrounds who have traditionally faced barriers to participation Global Skills Opportunity is an integral component of the Government of Canada’s International Education Strategy and is administered jointly by Universities Canada and Colleges and Institutes Canada. 

For more information about CESD, please visit the Algoma University website. 

For more information about Global Skills Opportunity, please visit GSO website.

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