Imagine a community where government and citizens work collaboratively, in new ways, to make change happen and to better address the real-world issues surrounding our community.

This is ChangeCamp. It is an event format, an open community and a set of tools and ideas designed to bridge gaps in communication among citizens and constituencies to work towards building a progressive community of change. It is designed as a participatory and web-enabled face-to-face event that brings together citizens, policy-makers, technologists, design-thinkers, change agents and media creators to answer questions and design a future based on transparency, civic engagement and democratic empowerment.

The ChangeCamp community is focused on two goals:

1. helping governments become more open, transparent, participatory
2. helping citizens become more connected to each other around their civic passions in the place they call home

ChangeCamp events began in Toronto and have expanded to include communities across Canada. Ottawa, Vancouver, Edmonton and Halifax have recently held ChangeCamp events with more planned in additional areas, large and small, across the country.

Becoming a part of ChangeCamp puts you at the forefront to become a part of change in our community.

On Saturday, June 26th at Sault College, Sault Ste. Marie will see our first ChangeCamp event. Organized by a group of dedicated, volunteer change agents, this first event will focus on one question - “How can we work together to create our desired future?” A simple question that nearly everyone has a very strong opinion as to its answer.

There is no right answer. There is no wrong answer. The question and the event are designed to bring together individuals in our community with the same or similar answers, in an effort to bridge gaps and unite change agents to work collaboratively and progressively.

Real change happens at this grassroots level. The unconference format of ChangeCamp encourages open participation. The people coming set the agenda, not the organizers. At ChangeCamp Sault, all you need to bring are the issues you and/or your organization are most passionate about and be prepared to discuss them openly and listen to the ideas and passions of others.

The ChangeCamp event on June 26 is just the beginning. Through this first event, we intend to help people and organizations create change in the community by introducing new tools and methods they can use to carry on, together, as change agents in our city.