This year, Winnipeg hosted the" 2023 Winter Cities – Shake Up" on February 15th,2023, at The Fort Garry Hotel in Downtown Winnipeg. It brought together people from many professions to talk about how to enhance the winter experience in their communities and how municipalities can communicate to their constituencies and potential tourists that winter is fun.

Participants were invited to join a program at The Forks put on by the Scandinavian Cultural Centre and the Winnipeg Trails Association to try out some winter activities including foot sledding, cross country skiing and more. Our U-Multicultural journalist Zuher Musre went with them to see what it was all about.

This "Civic Platform" episode features Anders Swanson, Executive Director of Winnipeg Trails Association. Swanson explained the winter activities and how they could be enjoyed. Anders, who has been introducing people to winter sports over many years, is keen to help communities in Winnipeg learn winter sports because it is the way to enjoy winter. As he explained, sitting at home will make winter not fun and devoid of any happy adventures. Andres expressed his happiness in teaching newcomers winter activities, and he said that many of these activities are easy to learn.

Several of the Scandinavian - Canadians involved in putting on the event spoke about how they love winter and the many things that are possible to do for fun.  

Stay tuned for more Civic discussions on Civic Platform: https://u-channel.ca/civic-journalism/ 

Contact Zuher Almusre, our civic journalist, to share your story and explore civic issues at zuheralmusre@u-channel.ca. 

The project is funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage and administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS).