News From CALL April 2023

Photo by Beth Hetherington, member of the CALL Digital Photography Group.
She submitted this photo taken at Carburn Park for the photo challenge ‘Abstract’. “As with most reflections, normally the trees would be pointing down. I inverted the picture allowing the movement in the water to replace the sky.”

CALL Memberships

The following in-person CALL events at Varsity Acres Presbyterian Church are open to non-CALL members. Invite your friends to find out more about CALL.

New memberships purchased after May 1, either online or in-person, are valid until August 31st of the following year – four free months of CALL membership!

• April 10 – Walking Made (un)Safe: Identifying Barriers to Pedestrian Safety for Seniors.
• April 19 – Treks and Travels: Via Dinarica – Hiking in Albania
• May 1 – CALL Café: The Calgary Atlas Project.

Lifelong learners are motivated to learn and develop because they want to: it is a deliberate and voluntary act.
from “Lifelong Learning,” skillsyouneed.com

Lifelong Learning: Inspiring Speakers, Intriguing Topics

A CALL membership gives us access to speakers and topics that spark new interests and deepen our understanding of the world around us. Over the last several months we have had the privilege of listening to researchers, authors, activists, performers, filmmakers, biologists, musicians, environmentalists, sociologists, lawyers, political commentators, and others. They introduced us to fields of interest that we didn’t know we wanted to know more about.

Matt Robertshaw, a graduate student in history at York University asked us to think about “Why Haiti Should Be Rich”, giving us some context to news headlines over the last several months.

Karsten Hauer, wildlife biologist, project manager for Parks Canada’s bison reintroduction program and author of Being Caribou: Five Months on Foot with an Arctic Herd, told us the fascinating story of reintroducing bison to Banff National Park.

Pat Armstrong, Distinguished Research professor in Sociology, York University, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and author of The Double Ghetto: Canadian Women and Their Segregated Work asked What Do We Mean When We Say that Aging Is a Women’s Issue?

Cheryle Chagnon-Greyeyes, retired Administrative Coordinator of the Native Centre U of C introduced us to the Sacred Teachings of the Medicine Wheel.

Peter Victor, Professor Emeritus, York University, one of the founders of the discipline of ecological economics and author of the just released Escape from Overshoot: The Economics of a Planet in Peril suggested prospects for managed degrowth as an escape route from the ‘relentless pursuit of economic growth’.

Musician Jeremy Brown gave us a glimpse into the hidden history of jazz patronage and dancer Lisa LaTouche talked about her personal experience Living a Spectrum of the Black Experience: My Ongoing Responses to a History I Did Not Know.

Dr. Karen Beauchemin, 2022’s Woman of Impact in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, talked about greenhouse gases from ruminant livestock. She and her colleagues at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada have established methods to measure these emissions from cattle.

Distinguished author Sharon Butala, explored the topic of Aging and Creativity, the focus of her most recent book This Strange Visible Air: Essays on Aging and the Writing Life.

And check out the upcoming April Events for a CALL Café presentation by Byron Miller on Understanding Diversity of Smart Cities and the April 4th Science and Environment talk by Chris Turner whose book, How to Be a Climate Optimist: Blueprints for a Better World, is on the short list for this year’s Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.

April Events

CALL Café Understanding Diversity of Smart Cities

Rescheduled: Monday April 17, 7:00PM at Varsity Acres Presbyterian Church.

The April CALL Café will feature Byron Miller, Professor of Geography and Coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Urban Studies Program at the University of Calgary. In his presentation, Byron will illustrate just how varied smart cities are by discussing the findings of a three-year comparative research project addressing smart city initiatives in Barcelona, Stockholm, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Calgary, and Toronto. Want to know more about the global phenomenon of smart cities? Register now for Understanding the Diversity of Smart Cities.

You must be a CALL member to register but the registration process will allow you to bring 1 to 4 guests. If you were already registered, you do not need to register again.

For more information and to register, go to the CALL Café page.

Science and Environment: How to be a Climate Optimist

Tuesday April 4, 7:30 – 9:30 online on Zoom
Speaker: Chris Turner, author, essayist, energy transition expert

Chris will be discussing the core themes of his latest book, How to be a Climate Optimist which condenses 20 years of research and reporting on the climate solutions beat into a portrait of a much better world now emerging. His previous books on climate, energy and technology include multiple bestsellers and winners of the National Business Book Award, the City of Calgary's W.O. Mitchell Book Prize, and the Writers' Union of Canada's Freedom to Read Award.

For more information and to register, go to the Science and Environment page.

Treks & Travels: Via Dinarica – Hiking in Albania

Wednesday, April 19 7:30–9:00pm Varsity Acres Presbyterian Church
Speaker: Fred Swaine

Members of the public are welcome to attend for $5.

Fred is a traveller and combines exploring local cultures with physical adventure. Trekking destinations have included Chile, Colombia, Morocco, India and Bhutan. The Via Dinarica is a long-distance hiking trail conceived and developed to promote tourism in the western Balkans. Ultimately there will be three trails, however, currently there is one that runs through Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia.

Albania was sometimes referred to as the “North Korea” of Europe in the latter portion of the 20th century. With the demise of communism, it is now seeking to join the European Union.

The presentation will be an overview of hiking portions of the Via Dinarica in Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro along with highlights of Tirana, the capital of Albania.

Speaker Event Walking Made (un)safe: Identifying Barriers to Pedestrian Safety for Seniors

Monday, April 10, 1:30–3:00pm Sanctuary, Varsity Acres Presbyterian Church
Speaker: Amanda Bishop

Walking is a great form of health promotion linked to improvements in physical and mental health. But for all its benefits, the simple act of walking isn't always straightforward, convenient, or even safe. It can be downright scary! Despite everything that is already known about the risk factors seniors experience, there is little research or data on the specific barriers seniors face while walking and/or rolling.

Join Amanda Bishop for a conversation about her research that is using targeted community engagement and data collection strategies to better understand these barriers and to increase pedestrian safety for everyone.

Members of the public are welcome to attend (at a cost of $5)

For more information go the Speaker Events page.

May Events

CALL Café: The Calgary Atlas Project

Monday, May 1, 2:00–3:30pm Varsity Acres Presbyterian Church
Speakers: Jim Ellis, Shelley Alexander and Rita McKeough

At the May Café, three speakers—an editor, a writer, and an artist—will offer different perspectives on the Calgary Atlas Project. An initiative of the Calgary Institute for the Humanities, the project is producing a series of maps, nine completed so far, that document lesser-known histories of Calgary. In his presentation, Jim Ellis, director of the institute and one of the project editors, will introduce the project, describing its goals and its commitment to local historians and artists. He will be followed by Shelley Alexander and Rita McKeough who will speak about collaborating on the latest map in the series, The Animals Guide to Calgary. Interested in how maps can tell stories about Calgary that we may have overlooked? Register now for The Calgary Atlas Project.

You must be a CALL member to register but the registration process will allow you to bring 1 to 4 guests.

For more information and to register, go to the CALL Café page.

Science and Environment: Why Alberta’s Woodland Caribou Matter – Opportunities and Challenges in 2023

Tuesday, May 2, 7:30-9:30 on Zoom
Speaker: Carolyn Campbell, Conservation Director of the Alberta Wilderness Association

Woodland caribou are amazing and beautiful. They are also indicators of the health of Alberta’s boreal and foothills forests. Carolyn will describe why caribou matter, why they’re threatened here, and how they’re driving changes to land-use decisions related to our vital wetlands, waters and forest. She’ll also outline some key concerns and opportunities ahead for Alberta caribou and their habitat.

For more information and to register, go to the Science and Environment page.

New Interest Groups

CALL of the Uke

Do you enjoy singing and playing in a group setting? Do you have an understanding of the ukulele and basic chord formations? If so, the CALL of the Uke Interest Group is for you!

The group will meet on Saturdays from 10:00am–12:00pm in Room 310 at cSpace from April 15–June 17.

For more information and to register, go to the CALL of the Uke page.

CALL Event Recordings

The following recordings are available on the CALL website:

• Tom Keenan’s presentation on Cyberthugs available until April 3
• The CALL Café Alberta Votes available until April 15.

To access these, log in to your account, click on the Resources tab and scroll down to CALL Event Recordings.

Your CALL Newsletter

The CALL Newsletter is our way to communicate what is going on in our community. It's a way to highlight events of interest, ‘peek behind the curtain of CALL’ and to give some general information about CALL groups and members.

You are invited to send your ideas and suggestions for future issues to newsletter@calgarylifelonglearners.ca. We reserve the right to edit submissions and to determine when submissions will be published.

CALL Newsletter dates for posting:

• April 14, 28
• May 12, 26
• June 16, 30

Meanwhile, be well, stay well in every sense of the word.