Nature Labs is thrilled to announce an exciting partnership with Section1.ca’s Students in Democracy Education (S.I.D.E.) – a dynamic and forward-thinking resource that invites students to explore the foundations, principles, and future of liberal constitutional democracy.
S.I.D.E. is a new initiative that engages young people around the country and supports them in forming their own Section 1 democracy groups and in leading their own conversations focused on learning together – and teaching their friends and neighbours – what Heroic Citizenship really means and how they can actualize it in their own lives and communities.
Section 1 was founded by Peter L. Biro in 2018 at a moment when it was becoming clear to democratic scholars, activists, civil libertarians, civil society organizations and political observers everywhere, that democratic backsliding was occurring at a fast and furious pace throughout the West and that liberal democracy itself was in danger of withering away.
Section 1 is dedicated to studying and helping citizens recognize, combat and reverse democratic backsliding wherever and however it is occuring in our society, and to elucidating and promoting the essential principles – the “fundamentals” – of a liberal constitutional democracy or, as Section 1 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms calls it, a “free and democratic society”.
We’ll be sharing samples of the S.I.D.E. initiative in the coming weeks on social media – be sure to check it out for your classroom: section1.ca!