Associative Life at the Heart of Leisure: The role of the Conseil Québécois du Loisir in strengthening community and well-being

This article was written for Uncover magazine – From Global to Ground (10th edition). You can read the full magazine here. 

Authors: Sonia Vaillancourt (MBA) is Chief Executive, Conseil Québécois du Loisir (CQL). Annie Camus (Ph.D) is Professor at ESG-UQAM and President at Conseil Québécois du Loisir (CQL).

These organizations constitute one of the most important associative networks in Québec. They have adopted principles of associative and democratic life, as well as collective entrepreneurship as a solution to ensure their development. They strive to balance social profitability with economic viability. They aim to maintain and develop their capacity to act for the benefit of the population’s quality of life while acting in favor of sustainable development.

Québec Declaration
The contribution of leisure, when it adopts certain characteristics as identified in the Québec Declaration (which was proclaimed during the 10th World Leisure Congress in 2008 in Quebec), plays a preventive role in individual and collective health. Leisure associations make it possible for individuals to be less vulnerable through the creation and strengthening of the social fabric, the development of their potential and their capacity to exercise citizenship, and a more active participation in social life. The empowerment and the benefits generated by participation in leisure associations, whether through amateur practice or citizen volunteer engagement, deserve to be valued, especially in the current sociopolitical context.

The pressure experienced by organizations affects volunteer engagement, including onboarding and supervision, the recruitment and retention of human resources, as well as access to activities and services. The project ‘Collective and Human, Associative Life at the Heart of Leisure’ is being developed in this context to revalorize associative life and the favorable conditions that support volunteer civic engagement in leisure. This project will make it possible to update, develop and share a common understanding of the complex issues at hand, uncover blind spots, and collaboratively develop adapted, innovative and sustainable solutions. Knowledge generated through research will be disseminated using a knowledge transfer approach that supports participant engagement and appropriation. To achieve this ambition of valorizing associative life at the heart of leisure, a medium- and long-term vision is adopted, taking into account the lessons learned throughout this process. Associative life in leisure is sustained through participation in activities or by taking on responsibilities within organizations. It enables the leisure sector to be organized and dynamic. It is also a space where people learn how to live together in society and contribute to the emergence of a society that places the well-being of the population at the center of collective decision-making.

The CQL fulfills its mission through the exercise of the right to leisure. It has an expertise and a comprehensive approach to leisure, its accessibility, and its development, integrating cultural, economic, physical and temporal dimensions while placing individuals and groups at the center of its actions. The Reference framework for accessibility and inclusion in leisure reflects this comprehensive approach. The CQL is a member of, collaborates with, and actively participates in the democratic bodies of organizations whose missions and values are aligned with its own. 

For the CQL, membership in the World Leisure Organization, of which it is the Quebec chapter, demonstrates its commitment and solidarity in promoting a comprehensive approach to leisure, for the benefit of individual and collective quality of life.

Associative life is
… active participation, involvement, engagement of individuals… who have come together, associated around a goal, a cause, a common project, shared values.

… a collective work that is meaningful, a social action aimed at impact, social transformation, and that contributes to the dynamism of the organization.

… human relationships, a group living.

… also a place of power, that of determining orientations, a place of democracy, of decision-making… rules, obligations, formal mechanisms that frame this work, the exercise of this power.

… the heart of the organization!

Sources
www.loisirquebec.com
www.loisirquebec2008.com