ARTISTS

RASCALZ have a longstanding policy of exploration and involvement, not just in music. Their involvement with the charity War Child (www.warchild.ca) took Red1 and Fit to Ghana and war-torn Sierra Leone in 2000 to witness first hand the truths of the world. Their eyes were opened to a harsh reality far outside the North American norm. Rascalz are smarter, edgier, harder on target for having opened their eyes to everything around them and it shows in the sharply observant rhymes of Reloaded. "I put what I know in life into my record," adds Fit. "We come together to make music. It covers a lot of ground. It’s not necessarily for everybody, but it has that ability to go for everybody." www.vikrecordings.com/rascalz

MOKA ONLY. One of Canada's busiest B-boys, Moka Only is an incredibly prolific artist. Since he appeared on the hip-hop scene in the in early '90s, the Vancouver-based MC and producer self-released more than a dozen full-length cassettes of his material. Teamed with partner in rhyme Prevail, Moka Only began freestyling at house parties as a teenager, before heading to San Diego in 1994 and hooking up with such like-minded hip-hoppers as Mr. Brady. Returning to Vancouver the next year, Moka and Prevail formed Swollen Members crew with another local MC, Madchild.

SIREN'S ECHO. From the belly of Portland Oregon emerges Siren's Echo, independent women striving to break the stereotypes of women in hip hop through conscious lyrics and spit fire delivery. They've been on the frontline of Seattle and Portland's burgeoning hip hop scenes since 1998, and have shared the stage with such notable artists as Xzibit, Blackalicious, GZA, The Roots, Snoop Dogg, Dilated Peoples, RasCommon Sense and Erykah Badu.

OVER THE INFLUENCE is a street-dance crew, representing Vancouver both locally and internationally with their unique west coast flavour. Formed in 2002, they are known for their outstanding talent and versatility. A crew of six - Jojo 'daflip' Zolina, Stewart 'Stewee' Iguidez, Tal 'Biz-R' Iozef, David 'Footnote' Raymond, Gian 'G-ballz' Villiegas Ty and Eric 'Outtarych' Malapad, each member brings to the group his own unique style and experience. You've seen them performing at sold out shows with Black-Eyed Peas, K-os, Swollen Members, Shades of Soul and Jade, to name a few. Individual and team performances also include: the movie 'Reefer Madness', TV Series 'Urban Rush' and opening for The Roots on 'MTV Select'.

TRIPLE THREE COLLECTIVE. The music of Deanna (vocals), Ndidi Cascade (emcee) and GreenTaRA (vocals, guitar) is embedded in the genres of hip hop and soul music, with a repertoire of socially conscious lyrics and innovative vocal play. As a vocal trio or in collaboration with their live band, this ensemble is a group of musicians, singers and rappers, who give audiences tight beats, catchy melodies and a vocal experience to remember. Performing for appreciative audiences since 2001, Triple 3 continues to attract growing crowds to their 200+ performances each year. The group has opened for Spearhead's Michael Franti, Kelis, Femi Kuti, Arrested Development, Burning Spear, K-OS, Prevail (Swollen Members), Medusa and other artists.

THE BEATS WITHOUT BORDERS COLLECTIVE is made up of 4 established world beat DJs, who spin the best dance music on the planet... From funked out afrobeat to sexy Middle-Eastern bellydance to the best of the asian underground, they'll rock the party guaranteed.

NILS has been connecting with and guiding dance floors in BC and around the world since the early 90's. In that time he has played at hundreds of events and has been on the same bill with such DJ luminaries as Cheb i Sabbah, Toby Marks, Adham Shaikh, Shakatura, and Bluetech. Never predictable, he has an uncanny ability to read the mood of a room and give it just what it needs. He's as happy playing Reggae at Sunset as he is playing Deep Ethno-ambient at Sunrise. Aside from being a DJ he is also an event organizer, with the legendary "Faeries & Fools" Costume Carnival on the Sunshine Coast being his signature event. He is a Sagittarius, a mystic raconteur, and a founding member of the Beats Without Borders Collective.

SOASIS SUKUWEH has been a student of Gabrielle Roth for 10 years and a certified 5Rhythms teacher for seven years. Her respect for the healing nature of the 5Rhythms practice has helped her create sacred space for deep self-exploration and transformation for others. Soasis' joyful and spontaneous teaching style allows for humour and fun. She also works on staff at Hollyhock as a bodywork practitioner.

THE KOREAN PEACE DANCERS. Through building awareness and opposing to war and occupation, we are striving to build an effective global antiwar movement in Vancouver that can unite with the demands of oppressed nations for self-determination. Wherever oppressed people resist, we show solidarity. The people unite, we’ll never be defeated. Solidarity forever, from Iraq to Korea, from Korea to Canada, from Canada to Iraq!

HIPNOTIKA & isM. This duo had started this new form of art in the beginning of 2004. They’ve fused their talents in freestyle dancing and spoken word to create a powerful deliverance of their message. They strive to elevate awareness in self, love, and respect. With inspirationally chosen music and a dynamically striking lightshow, Hipnotika and isM take you an experience like no other.

"RED BLANKET SINGERS". We come from many nations, our teacher and lead Drummer is Darcy Demas a Dakota Sioux, from Manitoba. The next lead-stick is Daniel Parker and other members include Joe Fossella (Sr), Wayne Spence, Joseph Fossella (Jr), Kyle Fossella. The songs we have been learning are mostly cereomial/prayer songs. We have been together for about 4 years. We are all sundancers, some longer than others.

PRESENTERS

DR. KEVIN DANAHER is the Director of Public Education for Global Exchange. Before joining Global Exchange he was a senior analyst at Food First, The Institute for Food & Development Policy, and an associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC. For four years he taught in the School of Government at American University. Dr. Danaher is also an accomplished public speaker and author of many books. His most recent volume is entitled Democratizing the Global Economy: The Battle Against the World Bank and the IMF. He is currently working on a book about the history of the corporate accountability movement. He currently lives in San Francisco with his wife, Medea Benjamin, and his two daughters, Arlen and Maya.

GUY DAUNCEY is an author, activist, and sustainable communities consultant who works to develop a positive vision of a sustainable future, and to translate that vision into action. He is President of the BC Sustainable Energy Association, and Editor of EcoNews, a monthly newsletter that promotes the vision of a sustainable Vancouver Island. He is the author of five books, including Stormy Weather : 101 Solutions to Global Climate Change, which won a Nautilus Award at the New York Book Expo in May 2002. He is currently co-authoring a new book entitled Cancer: 101 Solutions to a Preventable Epidemic. His home page is www.earthfuture.com

WILLIAM REES is a Professor in the School of Community and Regional Planning at the University of British Columbia. Much of his work is in the realm of ecological economics and human ecology. He is best known in this field for his invention of 'ecological footprint analysis', a quantitative tool that estimates humanity's ecological impact on the ecosphere in terms of appropriated ecosystem area. Dr. Rees is currently a co-investigator in the 'Global Integrity Project', oriented toward determining the necessary ecological conditions for biodiversity preservation. Dr. Rees was awarded a UBC Killam Research Prize (1996) in acknowledgement of his research achievements.

CECILE ANDREWS is the author of The Circle of Simplicity: Return to the Good Life and a contributor to Take Back Your Time: Fighting Overwork and Time Poverty in America. She is an adjunct faculty member at Seattle University, developing a program of simplicity studies. She received her doctorate in education from Stanford University where she has also been a visiting scholar. Cecile is a community educator and a founding member of the Phinney EcoVillage, a project to build Sustainability and Community in her North Seattle Neighborhood. The theme is living Simpler, Slower, and Smaller. She lives in Seattle Washington.

ELLIS JONES, Ph.D. is a co-author of The Better World Handbook. He has been teaching students to make a difference in the world for the past 15 years. After receiving his MA in International Peace Studies from Notre Dame, Ellis spent the next 2 years of his life in the Peace Corps teaching environmental education in Panama. Since his return to university life, he has focused all of his energies on bridging the gap between academics, activists and the average citizen. While Ellis empowers college students in his classes to change the world by getting their hands dirty, he also continues to teach and give presentations on making a difference around the country. Ellis is currently an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Director of Service Learning at Sacramento City College.

JULIAN DARLEY is the founder of Global Public Media, an internet audio and video broadcasting station, and the founder and director of Post Carbon Institute, which explores what societies might look like without fossil fuels. Global Public Media is now best known for its interviews with the pioneers of peak oil and gas. Julian is also the author of High Noon for Natural Gas which explores the emerging natural gas crisis in North America, and other industrialized nations. Julian has an eclectic education: an MSc in Environment and Sociology from University of Surrey, UK, an MA in Journalism and Communications from the University of Texas at Austin, culminating in a thesis about the elimination of television; and a BA in Music & Russian, which led to being a classical music critic, followed strangely enough, by working on, and eventually directing, rock videos.

CELINE RICH is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the MetaFoundation which offers organisational and financial support to programs, and projects that promote a 'limits to growth' model. She excels in building relationships amongst organizations and developing projects that increase community capacity through participatory methodologies. Celine has a MA in Design for the Environment from the Chelsea College of Art and Design, UK; a BA in Fine Arts from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design.

CHARLES DOBSON is an Associate Professor at The Emily Carr Institute, advisor to The Media Foundation, veteran community organizer, and author. His publications include The Troublemaker's Teaparty: A Manual for Effective Citizen Action', The Citizen's Handbook, and one of the best on-line organizing manuals available. Charles is also the Director of Popular Education for the New City Institute. He currently lives in Vancouver, BC.

HILARY MASSON brings a teen perspective to the ecological sustainability panel. Already on Adbusters payroll at the tender age of 18 as 'Buy Nothing Day Coordinator' and a facilitator for Earth Arts Workshops, Hilary helped make a documentary about abalone at Bamfield Marine Station for a public stewardship community project. Involved in outdoor leadership programs, Hilary now works in the ecotourism field as a kayak guide. Last summer Hilary volunteered on an organic farm and biological research station on the Galopogos Islands through The Global Volunteer Network. She has also facilitated mulitnational children's groups at UN International Children's Conference on the Environment. Hilary is deeply involved in the Vancouver social activism movement and an Environmental Studies major at Langara College.

ROSS HAENFLER, Ph.D is a co-author of the Better World Handbook. He emerged from the straight edge punk rock scene to study, teach, and participate in social movements. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Mississippi. His courses include U.S. Social Movements, Nonviolence and the Ethics of Social Action, and Self & Consciousness. Each class creates possibilities for students to live more fulfilling lives while making a difference in the world. He has led presentations on powerful teaching, humane teaching, and active learning. As an active member of the Mennonite Church, Ross has committed civil disobedience in the movement to close the U.S. Army School of the Americas and authored a district-wide resolution condemning the school's actions.

MIKE HUDEMA is the co-author of An Action a Day. His book took shape during his involvement with Emergency Access Route Theatre, which aimed at influencing the political process through theatrically based actions. The book is now being used as a text in university courses and is being considered for a new course on citizenship at the University of Alberta. He also co-hosts an alternative news radio show on CJSR called Rise Up Radio Free Edmonton. Having gained his bachelor of education, majoring in drama, he is is currently in law school, specializing in labour and environmental law.

BRETT JOHNSON, Ph.D is co-author of the Better World Handbook. He has been a dedicated member of the environmental and simple living movements for years. He coordinates his apartment complex's composting program, leads voluntary simplicity workshops, and is an Eco-cycle block leader. With courses like Self in Modern Society and Social Conflict & Social Values, Brett enlightens students about economic and racial inequality and the increasing role of advertising in our lives. He is currently researching the voluntary simplicity movement in the U.S. Brett and his wife, Jen, are well known for hosting creative board game parties. They also enjoy just being with their beautiful son, Benjamin. Brett is currently teaching sociology at Luther College in Iowa.

JIM MERKEL ,originally a military engineer and arms trader, changed his life at the time of the Exxon Valdez disaster, quitting his job and devoting himself to environmental service and world peace. He downsized his life and 14 years later continues to volunteer and live on $5,000 a year. Jim founded the Alternative Transportation Task Force in San Luis Obispo, California, and held an elected Sierra Club position while honing urban simple living skills. He lobbied in Washington for wilderness, peace, and Native American rights. In 1994 he received a fellowship to research sustainability in Kerala, India, and walked in the Himalayas. The following year he founded the Global Living Project (GLP) and initiated the GLP Summer Institute to discover what a ‘fair share’ of Earth each individual might be entitled to. He instigated a “Cycling for a Sustainable Future” speaking tour that has logged over 12,000 miles and delivered hundreds workshops on sustainable living. At the top of Jim’s cycling career, he earned three silver medals in the Empire State Games and raced in the Nationals. Cycling continues to be his primary transportation both around town and for adventures.

KIRA KOSHELANYK is Co-Chair and a founding member of Vancouver's anti war, anti occupation coalition, Mobilization Against War and Occupation (MAWO). She has done extensive organizing work against the occupation of Afghanistan, and is also the Co-ordinator of Youth-Third World Alliance, a united youth and third world group organizing with young people on and off campuses across the Lower Mainland against war and for self-determination. Kira is also a University Transfer Representative on Executive Committee of the Langara Students' Union

SUMAYYA KASSAMALI is a second-year International Relations student at UBC who has been involved in various types of political and peace activism for a number of years. She has worked particularly in interfaith dialogue, with international youth organizations such as Children of Abraham, as well as within the Vancouver community. She currently serves on the Board of Creative Peace Network, a locally based non-profit organization which seeks to use creativity to foster conflict resolution and dialogue between Palestinian and Israeli communities, particularly within youth, and recently co-directed the first ever production of The Firefly Project, an innovative and powerful play aimed at raising awareness about the effects of war on children. She is firmly dedicated to the cause of social justice, and both passionate and optimistic about the future of peace.