Getting It Together: A workshop on organizing collectives for the real world

Name: Getting It Together: A workshop on organizing collectives for the real world
Start: 2025-10-04T12:00:00-04:00
End: 2025-10-04T16:00:00-04:00
Location: Jack Purcell Community Centre

Schedule

Sat Oct 04 2025 at 12:00 pm to 04:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

Jack Purcell Community Centre | Ottawa, ON

Facilitated by the Punch Up Collective, this workshop is for anyone interested in starting a collective, or those keen to discuss how to make a collective they’re already a part of more effective and sustainable.
We live in a frightening and unpredictable period, faced with the growing challenges of climate catastrophe, genocide, ongoing economic austerity and state violence, and emboldened white supremacy. Countering these challenges will take widespread, powerful, and resilient social movements that can sustain themselves over the long haul. But how do we get from here to there, when so many of our organizations and projects seem temporary, ad hoc, and dysfunctional?
We think building vibrant, sustainable collectives in our communities is a good place to start. This workshop hopes to help contribute to that conversation in Ottawa. Some topics the workshop will cover include:
- what exactly is a collective?
- why meaningful anti-oppression analysis and practice is essential for collectives
- tools and features of effective collectives
- how are collectives structured?
- plus plenty of time for discussion and reflection on the experiences of participants
The workshop will last 4 hours (with breaks, of course).
Registration
To register, please fill out this form: forms.gle/U7ut3CZZd5r8pkuT7. Because this workshop has limited attendance (It will be capped at 35 participants), we would like people to register by Tuesday, September 30th, by 9am. If you’ve registered but won’t be able to attend, please also tell us that by emailing [email protected].
Cost
There is no cost to participate in this event; if you have means, donations to help cover the cost of the room rental ($175) are welcome.
Reading
It’s not necessary but, if you’re a keener who wants to do some advance reading, we wrote a short piece about why we think collectives are great, available here: https://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/getting-it-together
Accessibility
- Masks will be required for this workshop and we will have some on hand if you need one.
- The room where the workshop is taking place is on the second floor. There is an elevator.
- The first floor has gender-segregated wheelchair accessible washrooms. On the 2nd floor, there is a washroom that is wheelchair accessible and unisex (gender neutral).
- We request all participants refrain from wearing scents to better allow people with chemical sensitivities to attend.
If you have any accessibility needs not listed here, please get in touch with us.
About Punch Up Collective
Punch Up is a small anarchist collective based in Ottawa, Ontario, on unceded Algonquin land. A more detailed description of the collective is available on our website: punchupcollective.org
Contact Information
The Punch Up Collective can be reached at [email protected] or punchupcollective.org