Committee working on the community control of land, housing and economy
From the Ground Up is an organization mobilized around issues of community control of land, housing and the economy, that seeks solutions in a process of participatory democracy, while renewing aspirations and expanding collective ambitions.
The organization is composed of citizen activists and solidarity economy pioneers coming from Milton-Parc and the Greater Montreal. In 2019, From the Ground Up organized a conference of the same name on all of these themes at the Canadian Center for Architecture, as well as a series of activities aimed at promoting participatory democracy in Montreal.
Our History
Motivated by the example of the Milton Parc Community and by the idea of taking action against the frenzied gentrification trend that is affecting Montreal’s neighborhoods head on, young and old Montrealers had the idea of coming together in the collective.
We initiated a movement on November 3rd, 2019 when as a group of young volunteers conscient of the housing challenges Montreal is facing, decided to organize a very successful one day “From the Ground Up” conference, that focused on the community control of land, housing, and economy. The conference lit a spark among the approximately 150 participants who came from all over Montreal.
We then organized a series of 5 preparatory popular education workshops on the same topics, in the lead up to a broader conference that would take place at the Canadian Center of Architecture on April 12-13-14, 2019. The conference was a great success and aroused the enthusiasm of its participants.
See the videos of its panels on the right to housing and on social economy.
Building on this unprecedented success, From the Ground Up now wishes to carry the torch further and establish an organization that will allow it to continue advancing the cause of community control of housing, land and economy.
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Our Partners
These organizations have supported us in our various initiatives.
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