Canada is an experiment in how people can live together. It isn’t only the rest of the world that doesn’t understand our model; Canadians themselves scarcely recognize our unique, and uniquely evolving, space. In September 2016, the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC) will hold its first annual ‘citizen space’ to explore inclusion in the 21st century, and the Canadian model of belonging. The event itself, to be held in downtown Toronto, will consist of 2 days and 3 nights of innovative programming that combines debate, exchange, disruption, and artistic representation. 6 Degrees will be bold and challenging, and will frame Canada is an experimental nation.

Our intention is to examine how the emerging thinking underlying our most progressive social, political, economic, linguistic, and cultural practises can be both better understood by ourselves, and be of help to other societies struggling with the real challenges of our times.

We are delighted to partner with the Globe and Mail to deliver 6 Degrees: Experiments in Pluralism, a connected series of essays that explores “our” collective experiment from various perspectives. The ICC will call upon its core group of thinkers to both explain Canadians to themselves, and express something we feel emotionally about our society but can’t yet put into language. The series will provide the foundational language for expressing that emotion, and for better understanding the extraordinary era that is unfolding around us.

6 Degrees: Experiments in Pluralism is a six-part series. Essays are published monthly in the Globe and Mail.