The Parkland Institute

Social media redefines community activism

Networking sites like Facebook and MySpace break down barriers for activists— but good strategizing is still the key to success

Whether you are sixteen or sixty, a professional who knows the ins and outs of the political system or someone who shakes her head in confusion at the process of making things happen, social networking sites give you a place to learn about advocacy. If you don't know what to do next, there's probably someone who does—you just have to connect with them. And Facebook is the place to do that.

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Accessibility isn’t a luxury

Alberta's saturated housing market isn't meeting the needs of Albertans with mobility disabilities

People with disabilities are often caught in a position of having to choose the lesser of two evils: an affordable home with less attention to accessibility or an accessible home that costs well more than the 30 per cent of the income figure often used in defining affordable housing. This is an unacceptable choice when searching for a place to call home in a rental market as tight as the one we're now experiencing here in Alberta due to the so-called "boom." I learned about this difficulty the hard way back in the late winter/early spring.

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