What is the Vancouver Dialogues Project?

The Dialogues Project is a project convened by the City of Vancouver, in collaboration with 27 diverse community partners. The goal of the project is to build increased understanding and strengthened relations between Indigenous, Aboriginal and immigrant/non-Aboriginal communities.

The first phase of the project (January 2010 - July 2011) included five main initiatives, including dialogue circles, community research, cultural exchange visits, youth & elders program and legacy projects.

In its second phase, the Dialogues Project has engaged two Youth Program Assisants to strengthen youth representation in moving the dialogue forward.  “Vancouver Youth Dialogues” will be developed as a City-supported, self-sustaining process, which aims to engage youth in forming long lasting relationships based on mutual understanding and respect, through the use of youth-defined, accessible, and relevant mediums and spaces.

Our Vision and Mission

Our vision for Vancouver is a city in which the youth of all communities relate each other with mutual respect and understanding, bringing traditional values to modern relationships while establishing equitable access to, and self-determination over, strategic resources.

Our mission is to create spaces for youth from immigrant, Aboriginal and Indigenous backgrounds to forge connections, share experiences, and develop strategies to engage and overcome systemic barriers.

“Vancouver Youth Dialogues” will promote sustained dialogue among immigrant, Aboriginal and Indigenous youth.

Our Values

We value community, accessibility, self-determination, representation, and equity. We also value dialogue for challenging discrimination, systemic oppression, and colonialism--as well as sharing strengths and celebrating our cultures. Through dialogue, we believe that youth can influence history. Tell your stories, be heard, listen, and take action.

Our Goals

We aim to build alliances among Indigenous, Aboriginal and immigrant youth within Vancouver. We aim to learn your goals. What is your vision for an inclusive Vancouver? How do you define inclusiveness and accessibility? What does self-determination look like to you? How would you like to be represented by your leaders? When will you feel equity in your city?

Through supporting engagement activities, gathering information and developing a series of youth community engagement initiatives, we hope to enable youth to present their perspectives and vision for the future at a conference in spring/summer 2012.

Starting Points

Youth engagement will inform the project's content and process. Using a social media campaign and cross-media communication strategies, we hope to build a transparent, participatory process which evolves to suit the expectations of the youth community.

Social Media platforms will be launched soon.

Our Team

Eugene Boulanger is a Dene community organizer and event producer from Sombah K'e, Denendeh (also known as Yellowknife, Northwest Territories), who has been living in East Vancouver since the fall of 2008. Eugene's background in anti-oppression, cross-cultural dialogue and social inclusion goes back to his work as a volunteer youth worker in the North, and most recently with his time spent working with W2 Community Media Arts Society in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside neighborhood.

Eugene acknowledges that he is a guest on unceded Coast Salish territory, and is thankful for the opportunity to contribute to the Dialogues project on Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, and Skwxwú7mesh lands.

Ejemen Iyayi is a Nigerian-Canadian who lived in South Africa and England before immigrating to Canada in 2004. Since then, she has worked in different capacities, including a peer workshop facilitator, crisis support volunteer, and currently, an immigrant and refugee youth advocate as part of Action Team, a youth group formed from the Multicultural Youth Circle (MY Circle) program of ISS of BC (Immigrant Services Society of BC). She is also representing Action Team as a youth community leader participant in the citizenU action-research project. She has a BA in Sociology and enjoys working for initiatives which aim to build and strengthen bridges of understanding between diverse communities. She is currently completing a mediation certificate at the Justice Institute of BC.

Our Partners

The Dialogues project is guided by a Project Steering Group, comprised of members of community organizations:

Affiliation of Multicultural Societies and Service Agencies of BC (AMSSA)
Hastings Institute
City of Vancouver, Mayor’s Task Force on Immigration
Civic Education Society
Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre
Immigrant Services Society of BC
Institute for Canadian Citizenship
Kiwassa Neighbourhood House
Laurier Institution
MOSAIC
Musqueam First Nation
Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House
Native Education College
Squamish First Nation
S.U.C.C.E.S.S.
Tsleil-Waututh First Nation
UBC Department of History
UBC First Nations House of Learning
UBC Irving K. Barber Learning Centre
UBC Museum of Anthropology
UBC School of Social Work and Family Studies
Urban Native Youth Association
Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre
Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society
Vancouver Community College
Vancouver Métis Community Association
Vancouver Public Library

Key funding is provided by the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia, through the BC Welcoming and Inclusive Communities and Workplaces Program.

For more information about the project, please see vancouver.ca/dialoguesproject.