What NOW?

On September 30 and October 1, 2009 I attended the NOW Conference, hosted by the University of Calgary. Most of the sessions took place at the Telus Convention Centre in Calgary.

The conference had three streams: Youth, Academic, and Non-profit. Some sessions were open to all streams, while others were exclusively for one specific stream. I was in the Academic stream. At first, this was confusing because the materials which I received before the conference did not make this arrangement at all clear.

The conference began with a keynote address by F.W. de Klerk. De Klerk is a former President of South Africa and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. He led South Africa out of apartheid and into its present democratic government structure. The theme of his talk was leading change. It was both analytical and inspiring. He spoke from actual experience of leading a country through monumental change that, if done improperly, could have caused massive bloodshed. Among the points he made was the importance of a guiding vision, the necessity of working with all parties, and (most interesting of all to me) the need to be able to tell when to be cautious and when to gamble. He cited two examples of the latter: his decision to put the end of apartheid to a vote among the white electorate and his decision to destroy South Africa's nuclear arsenal. Remarkably, white voters elected to end apartheid and hand power over to the black majority. And South Africa is the only country that has disarmed itself of nuclear weapons. De Klerk's keynote was an excellent beginning to the conference.

The next session I attended was called "Service-Learning Course Design in Higher Education." For me, this was the weakest that I attended. I came to it very interested in the possibility of introducing service learning into the college where I work, but came away with very little that I could use to do so. Partly, I was put off by the presenter's style. Although there were only about 10 people in the session, he shouted at us as if we were a crowd of hundreds. The session was supposed to be a workshop, but it was difficult to get into a workshop mood after being railed at. In fact, the presenter went on at such length that there was actually little time left for the workshop to happen and we were left with handouts and the promise that we could use them productively on our own.

Next came the highlight of the conference, a public talk by the Dalai Lama before 17,000 people at the Pengrowth Saddledome. After a 45 minute presentation of music and song from various performers, hosted by Olympic medalist Mark Tewksbury and actress Sandra Oh, the Dalai Lama appeared on the stage. Clad in saffron monk's robes and sitting on a chair on a raised stage with a translator/assistant nearby, he spoke for nearly an hour. He began by addressing the youth in the audience, urging them to work for reform in a nonviolent and nonsectarian way. He then broadened his message to speak of the dangers of religious conflict, materialism, and an education system that trains the head and not the heart. His speech was filled with compassion and humour. At the end of his speech he entertained questions from the audience, which he answered with seriousness and wit.

The second day of the conference was to begin with a keynote by Jan Egeland, former Undersecretary of the United Nations. Unfortunately, security at the venue was so tight--because the Dalai Lama was in attendance--that about half of the delegates, including me, were unable to get through the screening process in time to hear him. Poor planning on the part of the conference organizers. To compensate for the missed opportunity, I purchased a copy of a book by Egeland.

Once through security, I proceeded to the large lecture hall where many of the seats were already filled by people waiting to hear the Dalai Lama speak. This was to be a more "private" speech for conference delegates only. Since there were between 300 and 400 delegates, the setting was hardly an intimate one.

The Dalai Lama's speech was focussed on education and picked up on the previous day's theme that education was for the heart and not just for the mind. He urged educators to strive for a balance between factual knowledge and right feeling. He also spoke at some length about the importance of developing one's analytical powers and advised everyone to think long and carefully before making important decisions and to consider both the heart and the head in making the decision. He then took questions from the audience.

After a short break, I attended a session titled "Mother Earth: Creating a Natural Harmony--An Aboriginal Perspective." The session was moderated by Leroy Littlebear, a First Nations elder and professor at Lethbridge University. The panel consisted of four presenters: one a University of Toronto Professor of Forestry of First Nations descent, and three First Nations elders. Unfortunately, the program brochure did not provide their names. The session addressed three topics: traditional perspectives on the concept of human stewardship, sacred connections to the land and nature, and the concept of Balance and Harmony in relation to the ecological systems, the environment, nature, and economic development. A fourth key theme that emerged was the importance of language preservation to the survival of Aboriginal peoples. This was an excellent session that raised many thought provoking questions.

After lunch, I attended my final session of the conference: "Four Realms: Balancing Humanity--An Aboriginal Perspective". Dr. Cora Voyageur of the University of Calgary was the moderator and the panel consisted of four First Nations educators, three PhD's and an MD. All of the presenters spoke of their struggles to maintain a sense of balance between their Aboriginal identity and culture and the Eurocentric world of the academy. They spoke with passion and humour. Once again, the preservation of Aboriginal language emerged as a theme, as did the importance of elders in assisting young Aboriginals in maintaining a balanced perspective.

The conference concluded with a Chancellor's reception hosted by the University of Calgary. The event provided me with an opportunity to share my impressions with other delegates.

The NOW Conference was an excellent experience and I came away from it with some useful knowledge and a lot of good memories.