How can Alberta shift gears to the future economy?

Parkland Institute’s 20th annual fall conference will bring together leading academics, activists, and thinkers from across Canada and internationally to discuss how Alberta and Canada can best make the transition to the new economy.

The conference, Shifting Gears: Transitioning to the Future Economy, takes place on the University of Alberta campus from November 18-20, 2016.

“Recent changes in government in both Alberta and federally opened up new possibilities for progressive change in the way our economy could look in the coming decades,” says Parkland Institute director Trevor Harrison. “At the same time, last week’s election of Donald Trump has thrown some of the key focuses of the conference – a global shift away from fossil fuels and resource extraction, Indigenous rights, gender equality, the role of the media, and labour rights – into a deep level of uncertainty and anxiety. Indeed, uncertainty seems the only certainty, leaving much room to discuss where we are headed.”

More than 20 speakers will address a broad range of policy issues starting with the opening keynote on Friday evening and continuing through Sunday afternoon. A Saturday evening panel will look back at the 20-year history of Parkland Institute. The full conference schedule and list of speakers is available at parklandconference.ca.

Conference highlights include:

Opening Keynote Marilyn Waring (via Skype from New Zealand)
Friday, November 18, 7:00 pm
Room 1-001 Engineering Teaching & Learning Complex, University of Alberta

Closing Keynote John Ralston Saul
Sunday, November 20, 12:00 pm
Room 1-001 Engineering Teaching & Learning Complex, University of Alberta

Eriel Deranger (Indigenous activist, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation)
Saturday, November 19, 9:00 am
Room 1-001 Engineering Teaching & Learning Complex, University of Alberta

Marjorie Cohen (feminist economist, professor emeritus at Simon Fraser University)
Saturday, November 19, 1:00 pm
Room 1-001 Engineering Teaching & Learning Complex, University of Alberta

Dr. Ryan Meili (family physician, founder of Upstream)
Saturday, November 19, 4:00 pm
Room 1-001 Engineering Teaching & Learning Complex, University of Alberta

Full conference and tickets to individual sessions are available online at parklandconference.ca or at the door. Media passes can be arranged by request.

Parkland Institute is a non-partisan public policy research institute in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta.