On Civil Society
With a new lineup of in-person and online programs, and new ways to get involved, our On Civil Society series pushes boundaries and explores our differences. Our programs take you deeper into the issues affecting our world today and encourage audiences to take part in conversations where they can expect to challenge their own perspectives and learn from one another through civil discourse.
Conversations this season focus on local, national and international issues and perspectives featuring leading experts and thinkers from all over the world on the most critical topics of our time.
Join us for online On Civil Society programs on the TPL Culture channel on Crowdcast and in-person events at the Bram & Bluma Appel Salon.
What’s at stake when intellectual freedom is threatened?
Our new year-long series invites you to challenge your perspectives, engage with new ideas and join the conversation. Attend upcoming events and engage in our civil forums and installations.
Looking for more of our program series?
How to Get Involved
Built into many of our events are opportunities for you to engage with our guests, topics, each other and organizations around the world.
Learn from some of Toronto's most important organizations who are working to protect our water, air, land and animals. Check out events with linked Field Trips that will give you the opportunity to participate and engage with other Torontonians who want to get involved in issues that matter.
Civil Forum
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TPL's Civil Forums take place before or after select events, providing the audience with a virtual space and voice to participate in the discussion.
Audience members are invited to share opinions and personal stories related to our event topics, to listen and learn, and to provide experience, education or expertise on the topic. Guest moderators field your questions, share your comments and stories, and open up the floor to your insights and opinions in the hopes of sparking further engagement and conversations. All are welcome.
Past Civil Forums
- Civil Forum: MAiD in Canada
- Civil Forum: Drug Use for Grownups
- Civil Forum: A Complex Exile - Homelessness in Canada
- Civil Forum: Basic Income
Reading List
- On Civil Society - 2023 Reading List
- On Civil Society - 2022 Reading List
- On Civil Society - 2021 Reading List
On-Demand
Enjoy conversations that explore democracy, civic engagement and the exchange of ideas.
Videos
Check out Live & Online events from our On Civil Society series and watch replays of past events you may have missed on the TPL Culture channel on Crowdcast, including these featured programs you can enjoy on-demand:
- Tom Nichols: Our Own Worst Enemy
- Revolutionizing the Rural
- Fulfillment and the Future of Work
- Jonathan Manthorpe: Restoring Democracy
- Big Tech, Monopolies and Imagining Alternatives
- Watching, Listening, and Learning: Feeding the Marketing Algorithms
You can also explore our On Civil Society YouTube playlist.
Watch replays of past programs in our Climate series
- Geoff Dembicki - The Petroleum Papers
- George Monbiot - Feeding The World Without Devouring The Planet
- Oliver Milman - The Insect Crisis
- Keith Seifert: The Hidden Kingdom of Fungi
- Consumerism & Consumption with MacKinnon, McKenna and Harris
- Daniel Pauly: The Ocean's Whistleblower
- Amitav Ghosh: The Nutmeg's Curse
- Tree Cities Ontario
- Urban Planning and Environmental Racism
- Tree Cities International
- Indigenous Cities for a Sustainable Future
- Rising Waters, Vanishing Lands
- Giulio Boccaletti: Water: A Biography
- The Plastic Lake: Fighting Plastic Pollution in Lake Ontario
- Invaders of the Great Lakes : A Virtual Workshop
- Jill Heinerth: What I Saw in the Deep
- Frauke Bagusche: Blue, Blue Wonder
- Alexandra Morton: Not On My Watch
- The Changing Arctic: Community, Security, Nature
- Waves of Plastic: Fighting Ocean Pollution
Watch replays of past programs in our Democracy series
- Barnett Rubin: On Afghanistan
- Jayati Ghosh: How To Confront Global Inequalities
- Mark L. Clifford: Today Hong Kong
- Anjana Ahuja: Spike, The Virus vs The People
- Nathan Law: Freedom, How We Lose It and How We Fight Back
- Stephen Marche: The Next Civil War
- Modi's India: How Hindu Nationalism has Eroded the World's Largest Democracy
- Kate Aronoff: Can Democracy Prevent Climate Catastrophe?
- Charles Taylor: How Democracies Degenerate
- Tom Nichols: Our Own Worst Enemy
- Jonathan Manthorpe: Restoring Democracy
- Rashid Khalidi: The Crisis of Arab Democracy and Palestine
- Masha Gessen: Navalny vs Putin
- Edward Luce: The Persistent Crisis of Western Liberalism
Podcasts
Listen to these featured episodes, and discover more captivating conversations and archived recordings on our Live Mic and Writers Off the Page podcast series.