This article is an offshoot of our Montreal community action page
Networks and sustainability initiatives[edit | edit source]
- Solon Collective, Acting together for the socio-ecological transition, added 14:57, 21 July 2022 (UTC)
Community resources[edit | edit source]
- Fabcity Montreal, a regenerative economy project that contributes to ecological transition, social inclusion, sustainable mobility and land use planning. added 15:39, 29 March 2021 (UTC)
- Helios Makerspace, non-profit workshop
- LE SALON 1861
Concordia University community greenhouse[edit | edit source]
Montreal winters may be long and cold, but it's always a balmy 30+ degrees Celsius inside the greenhouse on the top floor of the Henry F. Hall Building at Concordia University. This former lab is now a greenhouse run by a student co-op, growing tropical fruits, medicinal plants, nutritious sprouts, microgreens and a panoply of other plants in an organic environment. The greenhouse is also a popular place for students to curl up with a textbook and a cup of tea from the pay-what-you-can garden-grown tea bar. There are also regular workshops on how to grow and care for your own plants and prepare plant products, and periodic plant sales — volunteers recommend arriving at opening time, otherwise the plants may be snapped up. The greenhouse and all of its activities are open to the public, although volunteers do get first priority when the time comes to harvest the tropical fruit trees, which include figs, bananas, and grapefruits. Concordia University community greenhouse[1]
La Remise[edit | edit source]
"Why buy when you can share?" That's the motto of Montreal's cooperative-run tool library, where anyone can borrow cooking, gardening, carpentry, and mechanical equipment. Members can take the equipment home or use it in the onsite workspace. Members pay $60 a year for borrowing privileges and $5 per session for workshop use, and specialized volunteers have occasional "office hours" where users can learn to get the most out of their tools. "I love the whole sharing concept, and you meet some amazing people," says Jonathan, a volunteer on duty on Saturday morning. "Of course, you could go to Ikea and get furniture, but it's more fun to make it yourself."
"It's not efficient to have a bunch of tools laying around your house without being used," adds his colleague Alan, a recent arrival from Brazil who joined the tool workshop to improve his carpentry and his French. "Why not share them?"[2]
Les Jardineries[edit | edit source]
This co-op-run performance space is possibly Montreal's most innovative night spot. It was launched in 2016 by a social enterprise specializing in urban design, La Pépinière&Co, in an abandoned corner of the vast concrete Olympic Stadium complex. Abandoned for more than 30 years, the space is now open from May to mid-late October, hosting a beer garden, food stalls, a community garden with a chicken coop, and an outdoor game room (think croquet and mini golf) as well as a succession of thematic concerts, circus shows, and DJ nights. One recent Friday night was devoted to the joys of tacos, paletas (Mexican fruit popsicles), and multilingual hip-hop.[3] Les Jardineries
Funding[edit | edit source]
La Ruche[edit | edit source]
La Ruche — "The Hive" — is a Quebec-only crowdfunding platform run by a nonprofit. All projects are reviewed by a selection committee and only allowed to solicit funds if they will have a "positive social, economic, or cultural" impact on their community. At regional meetings, known as "cellules," participants get a chance to pitch their project to public figures who are well-known and well-connected in the fields of social justice, business, and the performing arts. Workshops, part of the La Ruche Académie program, help promoters refine their pitches. La Ruche stands out for its nonprofit structure, one-on-one assistance for participants, and regional outlook. Some current projects that are being funded by La Ruche Montréal include the production of choral music in Braille, subsidized self-defense courses for children, and an independent, zero-waste organic grocery startup.[4]