Opponents of the P.E.I. government's plan to realign the Trans-Canada Highway at Bonshaw have enlisted an expert to help them decide how to continue their protest.

Wilma van der Veen, a sociologist from St. Mary's University in Halifax, regularly helps community groups seeking social change with protest strategies.

She said the protests and demonstrations that defined the activist movement in the 1960s just don't get the attention they did in the past.

"Those are really losing their effectiveness. I don't think the media is so much interested in them any more," said van der Veen.

"Organizations who are seeking progressive social change need to be incredibly creative, innovative. There's an arsenal of tactics that organizations can use."

Van der Veen said street theatre and die-ins — a more extreme version of a sit-in — are examples of events that can help groups attract attention. She will give a talk Wednesday night at the Cornwall Civic Centre at 7 p.m.