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2019 Listening Campaign

In 2019, The Green Room set out to listen to Muslim youth between the ages of 16–24 from across Edmonton.

Our goal was to to renew our mandate, make our programs even better, ensure we stay relevant & reach more youth.

The listening campaign included a team of 10 listeners, who volunteered to have meaningful open-structured conversations with youth.


What is a Listening Campaign?

  • A focused effort to build community and identify concerns and priorities in a neighbourhood/community
  • Intends to identify the issues for members of the group, strengthen the connections between participants, and find and develop new leaders
  • Leads to the development of initiatives/campaigns/programs that arise out of common concerns
  • Helps a group more clearly shape its vision to find out where it is now and where it is going in the future
  • Accomplished through “one-on-one” or small group meetings facilitated by listeners. These meetings are face-to-face conversations in which people share their own stories with each other, helping them better understand their ideas and concerns
  • New relationships are formed in which a group of people feel linked to each other and have identified common experiences and concerns


What we asked...

We listened to youth from across the city.

Below is a map showing where the youth we connected to live based on their postal code. The Green Room's youth are not isolated to any one part of the city.


Of the 40 youth we interviewed, approx. 61% were between the ages of 19-21, 21% were between the ages of 16-18, and 18% were between the ages of 22-24.


Below is a collage of online content that the youth we connected with have curated. Self-expression is integral to the wellbeing of many youth.


What we heard…

Youth are seeking to promote understanding across, between, and within communities.

Key Themes

  • Preventing discrimination of all forms
  • Preventing unfair judgement from within and outside of their community
  • Addressing the lack of understanding between communities:
    • Amongst Muslims
    • Different faith groups
    • Youth and adults
    • Straight and LGBTQ2+ youth
    • Mainstream and youth subcultures
I think that although they mean incredibly well, some parents try to give us halaqas [religious lectures] which end up out of touch simply because they don’t have the same experiences and there is a language barrier as well. With young people who’ve grown up here, they know what we’re going through as well as it’s less embarrassing to talk about ‘taboo’ issues.

Sample Offerings

  • Outspoken, a monthly storytelling panel that explores social issues through the personal narratives of local community members
  • Playlist, a monthly discussion series aimed at analyzing and dissecting media and pop culture relevant to Canadian Muslim identity
    • Screened Black Panther (2018) in collaboration with Boys & Girls Club Big Brothers Big Sisters of Edmonton & Area to deconstruct anti-black racism and explore film representations of marginalized groups
    • Screened Salaam B'y (2017), New Muslim Cool (2009), and Wadjda (2012) in collaboration with Metro Cinema to explore the experiences of Canadian Muslims in Newfoundland, hispanic and black Muslims in the United States, and women in Saudi Arabia









Youth are seeking healthy, dynamic, and empowering community spaces across the city

Key Themes

  • Creating spaces across the city wherever youth are at
  • Exploring multiple identities:
    • Race
    • Gender
    • Sexuality
    • Physical ability
    • Mental and emotional wellbeing
    • Spirituality or religiosity
    • Age
    • Citizenship status
    • Family type
  • Empowering youth to be at the forefront of their community, or help them be fulfilled participants in their community
Go to the places where the youth are at. A lot of youth don't have a connection to a spiritual place.

Sample Offerings

  • Cityscapes, monthly neighbourhood walks and outdoor activities focused on connecting youth with Edmonton's landscape, culture, and history
  • Leadership Team, youth cohort that meets weekly to strengthen community building skills and prosocial behaviour
    • Learned about consent in a workshop delivered by Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton (SACE)
    • Led the planning and delivery of Breaking Bread, a community event to celebrate Ramadan by sharing a sunset meal at Boyle Street Plaza






















Youth are seeking opportunities to improve and develop themselves.

Key Themes

  • Building a strong spiritual connection to their faith
  • Learning emotional and spiritual self-care
  • Having access to mental health support
  • Learning professional and careerbuilding skills
What excites me in the future is being graduated, having a career where I am self-sufficient. What doesn’t excite me is not knowing what I’m going to do.

Sample Offerings

  • Big Questions, a series of interactive sessions during Ramadan exploring challenging questions of faith and identity, in collaboration with Tarjuma Foundation
    • Four sessions focused on the themes of "is there more to life than this?" "how do I resist evil?" "why and how do I talk to God?" and "how do I make the most of the rest of my life?"



Youth are seeking to cultivate healthy relationships

Key Themes

  • Enriching relationships at home
  • Building greater understanding between themselves and their parents and family
  • Increasing social support network
  • Seeking fulfilling long term relationships through marriage
Some people you can't go to them for advice without them chiding you, like 'why’d you do that?' ... You have to have full confidence that this person is not going to judge you.

Sample Offerings

  • Icebreakers, monthly socials dedicated to giving youth the opportunity to cultivate meaningful expression and play
    • Games nights and art nights are primary ways The Green Room's attendees make new friends and begin to build longlasting relationships

Now What? 

Meaningful Expression

We will persist in providing spaces for meaningful expression

Values that must persist…

  • We will continue to be a place where vital community conversations happen
  • We will continue to provide a space where multiple identities are explored
  • We will continue to build bridges between youth and diverse groups and individuals

How we plan to grow our program…

  • Stories from the (OTHER)side
    • We will launch a yearlong program that teaches young artists storytelling capacity and the opportunity to create art and multimedia in The Green Room's makerspace
    • Art and multimedia will focus on the impacts of racism in communities across Alberta
    • Participants will identify shared values with diverse groups in Edmonton, including Indigenous and immigrant communities
    • Program will culminate in an art exhibit showcasing the work that was produced over the course of the year
    • Funding from the Government of Alberta's Anti-Racism Community Grant program is secured for this program

Reach

We will increase our reach across the city to meet youth where they are

Values that must persist…

  • We will continue to collaborate with youth groups across the City of Edmonton
  • We will continue to share the ingredients of our success to youth groups
  • We will continue to build a strong online presence and communications strategy

How we plan to grow our program…

  • Pop-Up
    • We will launch a new program that will replicate The Green Room's programming in spaces frequented by youth
    • We plan to host consistent pop-up spaces 3-4 times a month in campuses and community centres across the city
    • Structured programming that is drop-in oriented (examples: community conversations, film screenings, and icebreakers) will be scheduled and delivered by The Green Room staff
    • We plan to deliver this in collaboration with the Muslim Students' Associations at the University of Alberta, MacEwan University, and NAIT

Equip

We will equip youth by nurturing healthy self-identity

Values that must persist…

  • We will continue to deliver programming that trains youth to be leaders and community builders
  • We will continue to centre emotional, spiritual, and social wellbeing as a focus
  • We will continue to provide opportunities for youth to build meaningful connections, grow, and serve the community

How we plan to grow our program…

  • Mirrors Mentorship
    • We will launch a youth mentorship program at the end of summer 2019 that connects Muslim youth from diverse cultures and experiences to mentors who want to nurture healthy self-identity and expression
    • As a collaboration across multiple departments of IFSSA, we will address the cultural and systemic barriers preventing food insecure families from sending their children to youth mentorship programs
    • We plan to connect refugee youth and the youth using IFSSA's food bank with the youth we engage through The Green Room and the larger community
    • We are working with Boys and Girls Club/Big Brothers & Big Sisters (BGCBBBS) & Alberta Mentorship Partnership to embrace best practices and expand options.
    • IFSSA has 30+ mentors and ~40 mentees signed up, and mentor training is set to start in August to coincide with the school year


  • Healthy Relationships Toolkit
    • We will create a toolkit for educators, and complementary toolbox for parents
      • Work with subject matter experts (social workers/educators/health professionals) to create a culturally and spiritually sensitive toolkit for community educaters to teach healthy relationships to youth ages 13-18
      • Develop a complementary toolbox for parents that makes approaching this subject easier. This toolbox will provide parents with conversation points, reading material, and activities to use at home
    • IFSSA will run multiple sessions with Muslim youth to test the toolkit and revise content. IFSSA will also run parent specific sessions to measure the impact and performance of the Parent Toolbox
    • IFSSA will provide capacity building and training on the toolkit for educators, leaders and parents. The goal is to further equip toolkit users with resources and techniques to effectively implement modules. These trainings will be offered multiple times a year by IFSSA, and are open to the public
    • In addition to trainings, IFSSA will also create an online portal for additional resources, readings, research, and new activities to implement into the toolkit


[email protected] | IslamicFamily.ca