Empowering Diverse Communities in the Circular Economy
A Two-Part Event: Paid Workshop + Free Webinar
- Date: Monday, September 29, 2025
- Location: Online via Zoom
- The events are designed to be complimentary, and participants may choose to attend just the workshop, webinar, or preferably, both! Separate registration for each is required.
Registration
- Workshop + Webinar: $50 for RCA Members*, $65 for non-members (includes access to both)
- Webinar only: Free
Participants may choose to attend just the webinar, just the workshop, or both. There is no requirement to attend both.
*Every employee of an RCA Member Organization qualifies for the member rate. To find out whether your organization is a current RCA Member, check whether it is listed on our A-Z Enviro Businesses (membership directory) list or contact us at info@recycle.ab.ca. For more information on how to sign up for an RCA membership, click here.
How to register: Click the “Select Options” button next to the registration type you’d like to purchase, and enter the delegate name and contact info in the form that appears. Select which of the session/s you’d like to attend (price will adjust accordingly), then click the “Add to Cart” button. If you want to register more than one person, you can enter their contact details into the same form and click “Add to Cart” again. You now have two registrations in your cart. Once you have entered the registration details for everyone, go to your cart, review, and select “Checkout” (important: this step is required even if the total is $0). You can now enter your billing information and select a payment option to finalize your registration(s). If you have any questions about the registration process, please contact info@recycle.ab.ca
Part One – Workshop (Paid)
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- Time: 9:30 – 11:30 AM (MT)
- Cost: $50 per RCA Member* registrant, $65 per non-member registrant
This interactive workshop equips municipalities and organizations with practical strategies for engaging linguistically and culturally diverse communities in circular economy (CE) initiatives, extending beyond recycling into reuse, repair, and other CE activities.
Led by Alexander Diaz, an Environmental Engineer with international experience in waste management, sustainability, and community engagement, the session provides a framework to design inclusive programs that strengthen equity, participation, and impact across Alberta’s circular systems.
Part Two – Webinar (Free)
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- Time: 11:45 AM – 1:00 PM (MT)
- Cost: Free
Immediately following the workshop, the free webinar will feature case studies from across Alberta and beyond, showcasing successful programs that empower culturally diverse communities to act in the circular economy.
The webinar will be moderated by Komal Fatima who works at the intersection of strategy, communications, and behavior change to mobilize community action. Through her consultancy, she helps EPR organizations design campaigns that nudge and empower diverse communities toward the desired behaviour.
Moderator: Komal Fatima
Case Studies Presented By:
- Empower Me
- The Arusha Centre
- Ridge Meadows Recycling Society
- City of Edmonton
Webinar Objectives
- Show workshop tactics applied in real-world contexts.
- Provide examples of diverse communities leading in circular practices.
- Inspire attendees to design inclusive, community-powered waste reduction programs.
Who Should Attend
- Municipal staff and RCA members in public engagement, CE strategy, or waste programming.
- Organizations looking to improve inclusion, accessibility, and equity in their CE initiatives.
- Curious individuals or organizations wanting to learn more about empowering culturally diverse communities in circular initiatives.
Speaker Bios
Yasmin Alsarraj is the Program Manager of the Empower Me Program at Kambo Energy Group, a free program that delivers inclusive energy education workshops across Alberta. With a background in chemical engineering, Yasmin combines technical knowledge with a strong passion for community engagement.
Empower Me helps Albertan families understand how to save energy, read utility bills, and make their homes safer and more energy efficient. We help people improve the comfort, safety, and affordability of their homes through multilingual education workshops, and in-language coaching delivered by our Energy Mentors who play a vital role in bridging language and cultural barriers, ensuring that diverse communities have access to practical tools and resources to reduce energy use, lower costs, and improve home comfort and safety.
Natalie Calles is passionate about social justice, community building, and sustainability. She enjoys being able to help others in ways that she can. She graduated with a Social Work Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Calgary in 2024. She’s been working with the Arusha Centre for the past six years. She’s worked with a variety of populations and places emphasis on strength based approaches. In her free time she enjoys looking for the best new movies to watch and hanging out with her partner and cat.
Komal Fatima works at the intersection of strategy, communications, and behavior change to mobilize community action. Through her consultancy, she helps EPR organisations design campaigns that nudge and empower diverse communities toward the desired behaviour. Her approach combines systems thinking with on-the-ground insights, using stakeholder interviews and community dialogues to identify where small, strategic nudges can create big participation leaps. Outside of work, you’ll find her experimenting with Pakistani fusion recipes or diving into nonfiction with a cup of chai in hand.
Akewak (Ake) Gobosho is an educator and community builder who serves as the Diverse Communities Education Coordinator at the City of Edmonton. He works to inform and empower diverse communities to fully participate in the city’s waste management system. Drawing on his broad background in water management, public administration, and immigration, he is passionate about developing inclusive educational programs that foster a more sustainable future for all Edmontonians.
Leanne Koehn is responsible for Community Engagement at Ridge Meadows Recycling Society (RMRS), a social profit organization that works in partnership with the City of Maple Ridge, operating the Maple Ridge Recycling Depot and providing a variety of services to residents. Since the 1980s, RMRS has hosted inclusive work opportunities for people with diverse abilities and promotes community awareness, inclusion, and action through circular-economy-focused education, programs, & events. Leanne is the lead coordinator of the annual Celebrate Earth Day festival and launched Maple Ridge Repair Cafes in 2018. Over the years, the Repair Café initiative has inspired several organizations to start their own repair events. RMRS also offers school education programs for all ages on waste reduction, recycling, composting, and nature & water conservation. RMRS programs have evolved over the years into truly inclusive events where people of all ages, backgrounds, genders, income levels, and abilities come together to be the change they wish to see in the world.