Today’s launch of www.womensworlds.ca – a trilingual website devoted to a
2011 global feminist event – signals the start of a countdown to what will
likely be the largest women’s conference in Canada’s history: Women’s
Worlds 2011 (WW 2011).
“Inclusions, Exclusions, and Seclusions: Living in a Globalized World” is
the theme of the international and interdisciplinary gathering of and
about women to be held in Ottawa-Gatineau, Canada from July 3-7, 2011.
The event will convene a diversity of minds and experiences to delve into
some of the most pressing issues of our time. Outreach is underway to draw
a rich cross-section of people from around the world into the conversation
– from academics to activists and researchers to policy-makers.
In the lead-up to the gathering, the website will serve as a hub where
people from around the world can connect and converse on issues related to
globalization and women’s equality, and more. To stoke that conversation,
organizers will roll out a range of interactive components and unveil
content and registration information as it becomes available. Site
visitors are encouraged to sign up for e-bulletins to receive
up-to-the-minute information about website content and the conference.
This online portal is part of a broader new media strategy that organizers
hope will attract unlikely participants to the conference and related
discussions, a key conference objective being to encourage
intergenerational exchange.
WW 2011 organizers also plan on using social media like facebook, flickr,
youtube, and twitter to stimulate connections and conversations.
Ottawa-Gatineau plays host to this 11th edition of Women’s Worlds – a
triennial global women’s conference most recently held in Madrid in 2008
and Seoul in 2005 – with the University of Ottawa and Carleton University
partnering as lead coordinators.