The World Social Forum

Supported by more than 150 organizations of civil society in Quebec, Canada and the world (Appendix 1), the candidacy of Montreal for receiving the WSF 2016 was formally accepted by the WSF International Council, at the last world Forum, held in Tunisia in March 2015.

 

The objective of the WSF 2016 faciltiation collective is to bring together between 50 and 80 thousand people in Downtown Montreal from August 9 to 14, 2016, including 5,000 representatives of local organizations and global civil society to propose and participate in more than 1,500 self-organized activities, about exchange of experience, debates initiatives towards another possible world, with opening and closing marches, an agora of initiatives a youth camp and a wide cultural program. It is estimated that 80% of participants in the WSF 2016 will come from Quebec, 10% of neighboring regions (rest of Canada, US) and 10% of the rest of the world.

 

Another objective is to welcome WSF2016 activities outside Montreal organized around the world, and remote participation via internet in WSF activities held in Montreal and outside Montreal

 

The WSF 2016 will make history as the first event of this kind to be held in a country of so called North. Since its inception in Porto Alegre, the WSF has taken place in the so called South (Latin America, Asia, Africa). There are countless alternatives that flourish locally around the world to build communities more cohesive and respectful of the human being and the limits of the planet. The challenge is to bring these agents of change across the North-South divide, enabling them to exchange, their messages and actions and fuel positive momentum for change. Think global and act local.

 

WSF-Montreal in 2016 as an event and a process , included in the wider process of WSF, is a tool for promoting convergences of people energies and solutions for building another world.