News

Communities Building Youth Futures (CBYF), an ambitious initiative of the Tamarack Institute and the Government of Canada, is a 5-year Collective Impact strategy aimed at increasing graduation rates for youth facing barriers.  By prioritizing a robust youth workforce and collaborative community building strategies, the project helps to reimagine collaboration within small to medium Canadian communities in their support of youth.

Many students engage with the programs and values of The Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement on their journey to graduation. The lessons learned and questions asked sit with students who take classes taught by educators in the Centre, catapulting them into high-impact projects and careers.

Yesterday marked the end of the 2019-2020 Map the System journey! As the Global Finals concluded with virtual cheers and applause from hundreds of audience members, the work of 3,500 teams from 52 institutions over the last few months was celebrated. This year’s Map the System competition was the biggest yet, bringing forth a new caliber of systems thinking.

Since launching in 2014, the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement has been catalyzing collaboration between peace partners across multiple sectors – from art to technology to the social sciences. While our partners have varied, one common thread in the collaboration efforts that have thrived is the prioritization of strong relationships of mutual trust. As leadership expert Steven Covey has argued, change grows at the speed of trust.

As the world continues to navigate the ever-changing circumstances of this pandemic, Waterloo’s entrepreneurial community has banded together to support students through the Pandemic Challenge.

Michelle Jackett, Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement Coordinator, reflects on the importance of artistic expressions of healing spaces in the latest edition of Grebel Now.

The University of Waterloo’s Map the System team is taking their local research to the global stage in June, following a winning presentation at the Canadian finals last week.

As the PeaceTech Living Learning Community (LLC) prepares to move online for Spring term, Grebel students are convinced that the need to integrate technology and peacebuilding is more pressing than ever. The PeaceTech LLC, a joint initiative of the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement and the Conrad Grebel University College residence program, allows students from diverse academic backgrounds to consider the impact of technology and how it can be used to advance peace.

Twenty-eight hard-working teams harnessed the power of systems thinking to map out important problems for the University of Waterloo’s second annual Map the System competition. Congratulations to Emma McDougall, Kaitlin Webber, and Sam Petrie, who won first place for their research into the socioeconomic transformation of neighbourhoods along the new light rail corridor in Waterloo Region.

The fourth floor of Conrad Grebel University College may be closed, but the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement continues to provide opportunities for changemakers to advance peace. This past month has proved, more than ever, that the Centre is more than just a space—it is an adaptable hub of innovative thinkers who are now finding creative ways to continue their work amidst a crisis.