Tuesday, March 17, 2009

A Farm for the Future

Wildlife film maker Rebecca Hosking investigates how to transform her family's farm in Devon into a low energy farm for the future, and discovers that nature holds the key. With her father close to retirement, Rebecca returns to her family's wildlife-friendly farm in Devon, to become the next generation to farm the land.

But last year's high fuel prices were a wake-up call for Rebecca. Realising that all food production in the UK is completely dependent on abundant cheap fossil fuel, particularly oil, she sets out to discover just how secure this
oil supply is. Alarmed by the answers, she explores ways of farming without using fossil fuel. With the help of pioneering farmers and growers, Rebecca learns that it is actually nature that holds the key to farming in a low-energy future.

The following from Tree Hugger:

Film Maker Explores Post-Oil Farming
Last week I wrote about a BBC documentary which I hadn't seen, but the green scene in the UK was all a flutter over. A Farm for the Future explores nature film maker Rebecca Hosking's return to her small family farm and her search for a post-fossil fuel agriculture. I've since seen the film, and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in food and farming - come to think of it, I'd recommend it to anyone who eats. But for those without the time or means to watch it, Rebecca has also written an excellent article in the Daily Mail newspaper about her quest for truly sustainable agriculture.

Rebecca's work (who incidentally is also responsible for a plastic bag ban in her home town!) is not just remarkable for the content she is covering - but the venues in which it is being aired too. To have a half-hour documentary devoted to peak oil, agriculture and alternatives like forest gardening and permaculture appear on prime time BBC is a telling sign of the times. But to also have an article in the Daily Mail - hardly the bastion of environmental radicalism - is dynamite.

There is no doubt in my mind that Rebecca is opening a lot of eyes to the unsustainability of our present food system. Take this excerpt from Rebecca's conversation with permaculture guru Patrick Whitefield [Disclaimer: Patrick is a former teacher and friend of mine]:

But it will work only if we have a lot more growers. Some reports estimate it's going to take as many as 12 million, although currently we have 11million gardeners. A food-growing system based on natural ecology appeals to my naturalist side. But the farmer's daughter in me needed a bit more convincing. Could permaculture feed Britain? I asked Patrick Whitefield, Britain's leading expert in permaculture.

'Good question,' he said. 'A better question would be, "Can present methods go on feeding Britain?" In the long term, it is certain that present methods can't because they are so entirely dependent on fossil-fuel energy. So we haven't got any choice other than to find something different.'

The more permaculture people I met, the more hopeful I became that we can find a way out of this mess if we start preparing for peak oil now.

Along the way, Rebecca also meets Ben and Charlotte Hollins - the brother and sister team who now run the innovative Fordhall Farm in Shropshire - and talks about their nature-based no-till pasture system; she talks with peak oil experts Richard Heinberg and Colin Campbell; visits Martin Crawford of the Agroforestry Research Trust and explores the small holding of Chris and Lynn Dixon - who have pioneered their low input, biodiverse permaculture-based land management techniques in the hills of Wales for years.

For folks like me who have long followed permaculture and other sustainable, but often marginalized, food movements, it's really incredible to see voices like this getting a wide and receptive audience. Now we just have to see how many folks are willing to roll up their sleeves, get their hands dirty, and start planting.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Turn off the High Definition for better viewing

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Find the Ecovillage where you are...

Good news from friend and colleague (once long-term editor of Communities Magazine and author of Creating A Life Together and Finding Community) Diana Christian (and previously fellow ecovillager at Earthaven) who writes (at her excellent new website, Ecovillage News):

I’m publishing Ecovillages as a free, bimonthly newsletter in order to encourage and inspire ecovillage projects with news about what ecovillages are doing worldwide. People seem to love photos and stories about how others are succeeding in good work. Ecovillages will bring you stories about successful projects in every issue, and practical, how-to information, too.

From six to eight articles will appear in each issue, in a variety of topics. Here are the kinds of articles and ongoing columns you'll find:

  1. The ecovillage movement
  2. News about individual ecovillages worldwide
  3. Practical ecovillage tools:
  4. “Ecovillagers Write” (letters to the editor)
  5. “Book & Video Reviews”

I’m especially keen on stimulating more interest in ecovillages in North America, ideally with news of what people are doing elsewhere. You’ll find stories about ecovillage projects in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Russia, South America, Australia and New Zealand, southern Asia, China, and Japan. (We’re everywhere!)

Monday, February 23, 2009

Our GANG in Bloomington, IN

After weeks of thinking up stranger and stranger names for our communal garden, Kimberly Wagner, psychologist, wordsmith, and Kevin Polk’s wife, offered up the obvious, both simple and subversive: GANG, or Green Acres Neighborhood Garden. We loved it immediately. Besides its capacity to reverse the sinister association of urban gangs we can say, hey, “Come join the GANG!” or, “Let’s GANG-up!” and so on — one way to add levity to the heightened sense of community.

The executive committee that, throughout this long winter, has been charged with figuring out the mechanics of how to get this garden going, consists of Kevin Polk, Dave Parkhurst and Georgia Schaich, a long-term Green Acres resident, activist and networker. To these must be added teacher and project director Keith Johnson (again see February 3 post) and myself, as project manager. Keith decided that the way to start the process of educating neighbors and the public through this garden as to the benefits of permaculture would be to offer monthly workshops.

Yesterday, he and I decided that we will hold eight workshops, from the end of month of March through the end of the growing season. This means that if you attend all the workshops, you will know how to grow a permaculture garden in Bloomington, Indiana. And of course, for me, the benefits of this garden are equally that it builds community spirit in the neighborhood and empowers us to go further, hopefully creating other public gardens on private land, creating pathways throughout, turning some streets into pedestrian walkways with kiosks, tiny sidewalk lending libraries, tea houses; turning intersections into piazzas through painted mandalas or labyrinths — all as inspired by the template established in Portland’s City Repair project. As Kevin said, grinning, ultimately it will be known as GANGSTA or, Green Acres Neighborhood Gardens Training Association!

We think big.

Meanwhile, “back at the ranch,” ranch house, that is. . . I’ve already been the stranger in this little suburban enclave, saving my leaves, cutting my lawn just barely enough to get by . . . But this? Once a month swarms of people doing weird things in and around the muddy hole in the ground? What will people think?

Well, what will people think if we don’t built such community gardens? It’s time to return to what we used to know and is still written in our bones: how to feed ourselves, to share with one another, to trade skills and re-skill ourselves, and now, for the first time in human history, to remember who we are as one people on a suffering planet wired into a single neural matrix. Though we can link up instantly via the internet, real connections among living breathing humans and animals and plant life forms are slow building and become both vital and invigorating during this time of lurching collective civilizational descent that will prove more and more drastic as time goes on.

We can react in fear or we can respond in love. Coherence or chaos. In this stark time of elemental choice, there is no middle ground.

Guild Meeting Minutes Feb 21

This month’s meeting, held at the home of Christine Carver and David Gay from 2pm to 9pm, focused on “Re-Skilling”. We provided opportunities for 15-20 people to learn about hand and machine sewing and sharpening tools. Both were very popular though there was not enough time to do as much of either as we would have liked. We look forward to have more meetings like these during the winter months.


Announcements

Cuttings and Seeds Giveaway

Ann Kreilkamp sent some Reliance grapevine cuttings and persimmon seeds to share.


Indiana Forest Alliance Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Fest

When: Saturday, February 28, 7 pm

Where: Buskirk-Chumley Theater

What: fundraiser and enjoyable evening being dazzled by the earth’s natural beauty. Only $10.


Community Currency Group

When: March 1, 2 to 3:30 pm

Where: Monroe County Public Library, Room 207

What: There were about 10 people who attended the first meeting recently on the subject of a local exchange system. This started with a review of past attempts here in Bloomington. Aaron and several of his friends from IU are also discussing development of “Oasis Hours” equal to an hour’s work in the Oasis Community Garden. There are several existing long-term systems in the US and abroad.


Bloomington Permaculture Growers Cooperative Meeting

When: March 1, 3:30 to 5:00 pm

Where: Monroe County Public Library, Room 207


Introduction to Beekeeping

When: March 3, 6:30 to 8 pm

Where: at Ingrid Skoog’s home at 5779 E. Kings Road

Who: by local beekeeper George Hageman


Partnering with Native Bees Talk

When: Thursday, March 12 at 4:30 pm.

Where: Monroe County Public Library Meeting Room 1B.

What: A presentation entitled, "Partnering with Native Bees: Ways to cultivate & conserve native crop pollinators"

Who: Alex Smith, a masters student in ecology at Indiana University. He is working with Dr. Heather Reynolds, studying the effects of landscape factors on pollination of cucumbers by native bees.

More Details:

Concern is growing about declines among honeybees, and some researchers are warning that our bee-pollinated crops may be in peril. Fortunately, honeybees are not the only pollinators of vegetable and fruit crops! This presentation will focus on how native bees (species other than honeybees) can be managed as crop pollinators. We will cover ways to provide forage and nesting habitat for native bees on the farm, and introduce some common native bee species. We will also discuss research on how factors such as land use and plant diversity affect crop pollination by native bees, and point out areas where work still needs to be done. Questions and answer time at the end.


B-TOP’s Livable Cities Speakers Series

When: Monday, March 23, 7 to 8:30 pm

Where: 211 South Indiana Ave. IU School of Law, Room 125

Who: Bloomington Transportation Options for People is sponsoring a talk by Dr. Vukan Vuchic , a Professor of both Transportation Engineering and of City and Regional Planning at University of Pennsylvania. His expertise is on planning balance, intermodal urban transit systems for livable cities. (http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~vuchic/)

Community Gardens Fundraiser

When: Monday, March 23

Where: Max’s Place

What: Out-of-Time


“Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash” Viewing

When: Tuesday, March 24, 7 pm

Where: Monroe County Public Library Auditorium



Bloomington Community Wellness Challenge

When: June 1 through August 22

What: Sponsored by Bloomington Parks and Recreation and Bloomington Hospital Community Health, this is an opportunity to make the whole area aware of ways to live more healthfully. Individuals and teams of people will register in April and compete to earn the most wellness points by participating in planned activities. BPG could participate by creating/designating activities that would award points. It would be free marketing for us.


GANA (Green Acres Neighborhood Association) Workshops

When: This spring and summer, various dates.

March 28 10 am to 4 pm Getting Grounded in the Earth: Planting and Transplanting Useful Trees and Shrubs

April 25-26 10 am to 5 pm “Carpet sandwich, please. Hold the water!” Small Pond Construction

May 23 10 am to 5 pm Mulch Ado About Something Delicious: No Dig Garden Beds

June 27 to 29 9:30 am to 5 pm Ferrocement Fences

July 25- Planning, Prepping and Planting for the Fall Garden

August 22, Drought- and Stress-proofing Your Garden

September 26, Preserving the Harvest: Canning, Drying, and
Fermentation for Food Security

October 17, Extending the Growing Season


Date TBA Planning and Preparing for a Fall Garden

Date TBA Drought- and Stress-Proofing Your Garden

Date TBA Preserving the Harvest: Canning, Drying, and Fermenting

Date TBA Season Extension

Where: Ann Kreilkamp’s home on Overhill and at 2601 Dekist St, Bloomington IN, site of the new Green Acres Permaculture Demonstration Garden.

What: These workshops will feature slideshows and lecture in the morning with hands-on activity in the afternoon. Registration details have not been worked out yet. They are initially meant for GANA members with additional openings for others as space allows.


Peak Moments TV Series

This is free viewing on CATS and on local cable. Most are also available online for free. Refer to the BPG blog posting of January 25 for more information.

Discussion

“Training for Transition” Update

Zach Mermel and Keith Johnson are organizing a leadership training workshop for Bloomington, which they expect to draw local as well as out-of-town, out-of-state, and even international attenders. It will be held April 18 and 19 in the Bloomington City Council Chambers (capacity 220). Registration is $225.

“Transitions” refers to a relocalization process of adapting to peak oil, climate change, and economic collapse. It was started in Great Britain by Rob Hopkins, author of The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience. Only a couple of trainings have been held in the US. The first was last September in Boulder CO. Michael Brownlee and Lynette Marie Hanthorn, who will be the trainers here in April, are co-founders of Transition Boulder County the first official Transition Initiative in North America.

The goal is for communities around the world (including Bloomington and Monroe County) to pass resolutions committing us to becoming Transition Towns, which may involve:

· The percentage of local trade carried out in local currency

· The percentage of food consumed locally that was produced within a given radius

· The ratio of car parking space to productive land use

· Degree of engagement in practical transition work by the local community

· Amount of traffic on local roads

· Number of businesses owned by local people

· Proportion of the community employed locally

· Percentage of essential goods manufactured within a given radius

· Percentage of local building materials used in new housing development

· Percentage of energy consumed in the town

· Amount of sixteen year-olds able to grow 10 different varieties of vegetables to a given degree of competency

· Percentage of medicines prescribed locally that have been produced within a given radius.

Dave Rollo was instrumental in securing the Showers facility for us. Several other names were brought forward as potential allies in county positions: Warren Henegar, Mark Stoops, Geoff McKim and Vic Kelson.

Volunteers are needed in every capacity. Lucille Bertucchio has volunteered to organize a fundraising event. People who can offer hospitality on April 17 and 18 to out-of-town attenders are also needed.

Publicity efforts will call for us to update the BPG brochure that Rhonda has done. Jami volunteered to do this. We discussed tabling at the Winter and Spring Farmer’s Markets.

Action: We voted unanimously to sponsor the transition training workshop.

Community Gardens

Aaron reported on the Oasis and IU Campus community gardens, expressing appreciation for past support. They are setting up a bank account in the coming week and could use donations of time, garden tools, soil amendments, plants, seeds as well as money. See information above on their fundraiser. They are also planning a workday at the Oasis on S. Washington. They had one scheduled today, but were snowed out. They have removed 2 couches which were dumped there, but have other jobs as well.

Templeton School Gardens

Jami Reed reported on the status of gardening projects at Templeton. The school is in turmoil over the resignation of the principal. Many decisions will be on hold until the new Superintendent takes over in July. She has made progress with the Playground Committee and Lee Huff, the City Forester ahs advised them on planting trees, such as white oaks and serviceberries, and evergreens to screen the playground from traffic pollution. They are also planning to plant fruit trees on the grounds. There are 3-4 teachers who want to get their classes out in the gardens regularly. Volunteers are needed.

Next Meetings

March 14: John Galuska's
April 25: Green Acres Neighborhood Workshop (Small Ponds)
May 30: Rhonda Baird's
June 27: Green Acres Neighborhood Workshop (Ferrocement Fences)

In addition to the BPG listserv, blogspot and Website, Rhonda has created a social networking site at:

bloomingtonpermacultureguild.ning.com

You must be invited to join.

March 21: Sewing Day at Christine Carver’s. More information later!!!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Rebates for Energy Efficient Hoosiers

INDIANAPOLIS — A new state program offers Hoosier homeowners incentives to install energy-efficient heating.

Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman announced the availability of rebates that will help Hoosiers offset the cost of heating their homes, washing clothes or even taking a shower.

The Indiana Residential Energy Efficiency Rebate program will provide cash rebates for the purchase and installation of energy efficient furnaces, boilers and water heaters in existing Indiana homes.

"This rebate program is all about Hoosiers making a difference at home," Skillman said. "Installing a more energy efficient furnace or water heater means homeowners can reduce the amount of energy they use to stay warm or have hot water, and save money on their utility bill
at the same time."

A total of $250,000 is available for the rebate program, administered by the Indiana Office of Energy Development.

The rebates, which range from $75 to $400, are available for existing single family homes that are the primary residence of the applicants. Applicants must have a household income of $75,000 or less to be eligible. The rebate application must be approved before any work is done. Applications must be received by April 30. Guidelines for the rebate program are available at www.energy.IN.gov.

The OED is an extension of the Indiana energy office. Under the leadership of Skillman, OED is responsible for the state's energy policy.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Transition Handbook Review

The Transition Town Movement: Embracing Reality and Resilience, By Carolyn Baker

For several months I have been meaning to write a review of Rob Hopkins' The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience, but other things got in the way-like a planetary economic meltdown and out of control climate change that exceeds some of the most dire predictions by climate scientists. I should have spoken out earlier in support of this movement, but I didn't. Now, as we commence this new year, I am.

I will begin this book "review" by telling you that I find nothing-absolutely nothing wrong with The Transition Handbook. If that then makes this article into a commercial for the book instead of a review, so be it.

For nearly a year I have been emphasizing in my writing that a positive vision must be held in consciousness alongside all of the abysmal events unfolding around us. Even as I have been insistent on staring down the collapse of civilization, I have embraced at the same time, what could be and have held in my mind and heart the threads of the new paradigm that so many of us are working to create.

Thus it has been with great pleasure and relief that I have looked deeply into the Transition Town movement and found it to exemplify everything that I believe comprises effective relocalization and the shaping of alternative economies and vibrant communities. Not only am I in awe of what the people of Totnes, the first Transition Town in the U.K., have accomplished, but more so, that the Transition Town model has become contagious and is spreading to a variety of places throughout the world, in the United States, and closer to my own local community here in Vermont. I'm additionally pleased that the Transition Handbook is now being distributed here in the U.S. by a Vermont publisher, Chelsea Green.

The Transition Town movement is all about preparing for energy descent and climate change and addressing the relationship between the two by essentially viewing them as two different aspects of the same problem. James Howard of Powerswitch in the U.K. states:

Peak Oil and Climate Change are a bigger threat together than either are alone. Our biggest hope is to similarly converge our understanding of them, and how to deal with the problems they present. Peak Oil and Climate Change must be fused as issues - an approach is needed to deal with them as a package. If we are looking for answers, the environmental movement has pushed suitable ones for a long time. Peak Oil presents a tremendous chance to push those solutions ahead; failure to incorporate a full understanding of Peak Oil into the solutions argument for Climate Change would be an abject failure.

Fundamental to the Transition Town movement is the notion of resilience. It is defined in the Transition Handbook as "the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and reorganize while undergoing change, so as to still retain essentially the same function, structure, identity, and feedbacks." In other words, resilience does not mean putting a fence around one's community, refusing to allow anything in or out. It means "being more prepared for a leaner future, more self-reliant, and prioritizing the local over the imported."

Three requirements for a resilient system are: Diversity, Modularity, and Tightness of Feedbacks. Diversity simply refers to the number of elements in the system-people, species, businesses, institutions, and sources of food. What matters is not so much the number of any of these entities but the connections between them and the diversity of responses to challenges, the diversity of land use, and the diversity between systems. Not only does an analysis of the diversity of the place make top-down approaches redundant, but it reinforces the wisdom of "working on small changes to lots of niches in the place, making lots of small interventions rather than a few large ones."

Modularity of a structure refers to the parts of the system that can re-organize in the event of a shock. It is a key facet of designing an energy-descent plan because the more modularity, the less vulnerability to disruptions in wider networks. As the Transition Handbook states: Local food systems, local investment models, and so on, all add to this modularity, meaning that we engage with the wider world but from an ethic of networking and information sharing rather than of mutual dependence."

Tightness of feedbacks analyzes how quickly and strongly one part of the system can respond to changes in another part. Globalization and national systems can weaken feedbacks, whereas in localized systems, the results of our actions are more obvious and allow the community to bring the consequences of its actions closer to home.

In summary, it is possible that a future with less oil could be more positive than the current addiction to fossil fuels, but only, says the Transition Handbook, "if we engage in designing this transition with sufficient creativity and imagination" which is indeed what the handbook is all about.

The format of this mini-workbook sized manual is extremely appealing. It is printed on heavy recycled paper, designed with simple, natural color tones, and is chock-full of exceedingly practical group exercises for clarifying and practicing its principles.

To its credit, this book does not sugar-coat the daunting reality of Peak Oil and Climate Change, but rather, offers a positive vision of preparation and myriad practical steps for manifesting it. An entire chapter is devoted to the somewhat paralyzing terror of everyone's "End of Suburbia" moment and the resulting "post-petroleum stress disorder", but also emphasizes that alongside that epiphany, we must cherish not only a positive vision, but one that we can realistically and pragmatically implement.

A fabulous chapter in the middle of the book on the "Psychology of Change" underscores how change happens and how we tend to proceed through it emotionally, emphasizing that "change doesn't happen all at once. Rather it occurs in increments or stages." The various stages of change are explored, with emphasis on their characteristics and what may be helpful to move people on to the next stage of the process. Some aspects of addiction diagnosis and treatment are utilized in order to address the depths to which most people in the developed world are addicted to the fossil fuel/consumption-based lifestyle. Fundamental to this addiction, as with all others, is the belief that change isn't really possible. With remarkable skill, the Transition Town movement utilizes a number of effective strategies for assisting people who are stuck in abject pessimism by helping them envision the possibility of change and the certainty that it can be made.

At the core of the Transition Town movement is the Transition Initiative which is an "emerging and evolving approach to community-level sustainability", and many of these initiatives are appearing not only in the U.K. but in the U.S. They are based on four key assumptions:

•1. That life with dramatically lower energy consumption is inevitable, and that it's better to plan for it than to be taken by surprise.

•2. That our settlements and communities presently lack the resilience to enable them to weather the severe energy shocks that will accompany Peak Oil

•3. That we have to act collectively, and we have to act now

•4. That by unleashing the collective genius of those around us to creatively and proactively design our energy descent, we can build ways of living that are more connected, more enriching and that recognize the biological limits of our planet.

At the core of the Transition concept is permaculture, which while difficult to explain in one sentence, is essentially a design template for assembling the various components of any community-social, economic, cultural, and technical in the most efficient way possible. The 12 Principles of Permaculture, established by its founder David Holmgren, are explained, and examples are given regarding how they have become the foundation of Transition Towns throughout the world. How the principles will be implemented-in fact how any aspect of the Transition concept will be implemented anywhere, depends on the unique people and conditions of that place, which is one of the jewels of this movement. It does not offer cookie-cutter prescriptions but rather, possible strategies that can be uniquely applied to one's community and region.

An entire chapter is devoted to how to start a Transition initiative, and although not directly related to the addiction to a fossil fuel lifestyle, Twelve Steps of Transition are offered. The most impressive of these for me is the first one: "Set up a steering group and design its demise from the outset." What a relief! No chance of this group becoming an entrenched, hierarchical, power-driven monster; no chance of success unless the entire community is engaged and becomes more effective in bringing about transition than is the steering group; no need for one or two individuals alone to try to save the world.

The last half of the book is primarily devoted to an analysis of the first year of transition in Totnes and some of the practical manifestations of transition there. And finally, the book concludes with the "viral spread" of the Transition Town concept throughout the world. An extensive appendix includes a generous offering of further exercises, forms, questionnaires, and an energy descent action plan.

How does a Transition Town know if it has become resilient? What is the measure of viable transition? Here are a few resilience indicators:

  • The percentage of local trade carried out in local currency
  • The percentage of food consumed locally that was produced within a given radius
  • The ratio of car parking space to productive land use
  • Degree of engagement in practical transition work by the local community
  • Amount of traffic on local roads
  • Number of businesses owned by local people
  • Proportion of the community employed locally
  • Percentage of essential goods manufactured within a given radius
  • Percentage of local building materials used in new housing development
  • Percentage of energy consumed in the town
  • Amount of sixteen year-olds able to grow 10 different varieties of vegetables to a given degree of competency
  • Percentage of medicines prescribed locally that have been produced within a given radius.

Are these not the most axiomatic of preparations for Peak Oil and Climate Change? The Transition Handbook offers both stunning inspiration and an assortment of ingenious, yet commonsensical tools, for actualizing the concept of relocalization.

The Handbook concludes with these remarkably uplifting words:

While Peak Oil and Climate Change are understandably profoundly challenging, also inherent within them is the potential for an economic, cultural, and social renaissance the likes of which we have never seen. We will see a flourishing of local businesses, local skills and solutions, and a flowering of ingenuity and creativity. It is a Transition in which we will inevitably grow, and in which our evolution is a precondition for progress. Emerging at the other end, we will not be the same as we were: we will have become more humble, more connected to the natural world, fitter, leaner, more skilled, and ultimately, wiser.

With all my heart, I want to support Transition Towns in my community and around the world with the hope that their implementations are not too little, too late. Yet, even if they are, I cannot think of a better place to direct one's energy, time, and passion--regardless of outcome, as we navigate with realism and resilience, the collapse of civilization.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

February 21st Guild Meeting

Christine Carver will be hosting the February 21st meeting of the Bloomington Permaculture Guild. This will be another indoor activity, but still very helpful to most everyone.
Between 2:00 and about 5:00 we will have two "workshops" that will go more or less simultaneously as I am envisioning them right now. People can take as much time or as little with each one and float back and forth.

#1 Sewing. This will include hand sewing with a variety of basic stitches, machine sewing (I have one machine but it would be great if we had a couple others), and mending skills like patching and darning. So bring stuff to mend.
I have a lot of thread, needles, pins, fabric and buttons. If you have sharp scissors they might be useful to bring. Bring dull scissors, too, and we will try to sharpen them.
#2 Tool care. This will include how to maintain/preserve your outdoor tools and how to sharpen stuff. So bring your equipment.

If you feel like you already know how to do these things, then please plan to come and help others learn these important survival skills. In good Permie tradition both learners and teachers at all levels are welcome.

Directions: To get to my home: I live at 3606 E. Park Lane on Bloomington's east side in the Park Ridge neighborhood.
From the west: get on Third Street and go east past College Mall. Turn left at the first street (Morningside Drive) past Bloomingfoods East. Then turn right at the next street, which is Park Lane. We are on the south (right) side of the street about half way down the block.
From the east: get on Third Street and go west past the light at Smith Road. Take the second right (Meadowbrook) after Smith, then turn left onto Park Lane. We are on the south (left) side about halfway down the block.

The house number (3606) is on the mailbox. We have a cobalt blue front door and a pile of rubble and a stack of straw bales in the front yard.

Let me know if you plan to attend. You can call at 339-4996. We will have a potluck at the usual time starting around 5:00-5:30 pm. The business meeting will be around 7:00 pm.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

10th Continental Bioregional Congress

JOIN US!

Oct 4-11, 2009 for the 10th Continental Congress at The Farm

The Farm logoBioregionalism embraces the struggle to preserve, restore and enhance the life of the places that constitute the planet. Since 1984 bioregionalists have been gathering in congresses to envision and develop a realistic, restorative way of life in the bioregions of the Americas. We set our own agendas, operate by consensus and build a common commitment. Grand times and good friendships are only the first fruits. At bioregional congresses, we live in community, concern ourselves with the things that matter, and return home informed and inspired. We earnestly invite the participation of all, especially those actively employing ecological precepts in the many movements and endeavors necessary for the human species to reinhabit the bioregions of the Americas and of the whole Earth.

Click here for more info

Summary

The
Congress Site

Continental Congress gatheringProposed Program

Workday

Pre- and Post- Congress Offerings

Children

Planning for the Congress

Registration, Costs, and Contact Info

Donations

More Information?

Going Local with Peak Moment TV

A Renaissance of Local

The 2007 “A Renaissance of Local” was the first annual Boulder county-wide community festival, conference and expo. This uplifting celebration of local food, local energy, local economy, local culture, and local community was an energizing focus for Boulder County Going Local! in their campaign to build community self-sufficiency and strengthen the local economy through partnership, collaboration, and engagement. Presented by Boulder County Going Local, co-sponsored by Post Carbon Institute.

The 6-DVD set includes the following presentations. Each DVD can be ordered separately. [Add the online link for each presentation on Google video]. Reduced price: individual DVDs $15, or six-DVD set or $70

Disc 1: Local Business and Economy

1 Local Living Economies: Green, Fair and Fun, Judy Wicks, White Dog Café (Philadelphia, PA)
2 Independent Business Alliances: A Movement Born in Boulder, Jeff Milchen, American Independent Business Alliance (Boseman, MT)
3 Earth, Economy, Equity: Integrating Green Principles in Small Business, Michael Johnson, ReDirect Guide (Portland, OR)
4 Local Sustainability: Economics from the Inside Out, Mark Wilding, Marpa Center for Business and Economics, Naropa University (Boulder, CO)
5 Going Green: Good for Business, Dan King, Ambassador of Cool, Boulder Outlook Hotel & Suites (Boulder, CO)
6 Challenges of a Locally-Owned Independent Business, David Hight, McGuckin Hardware (Boulder, CO)

Disc 2: Peak Energy

7 Peak Oil: When and Then What? Steve Andrews, Association for the Study of Peak Oil-USA (Denver)
8 Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century of Declines, Richard Heinberg, Post Carbon Institute (Santa Rosa, CA)
9 The Truth About Everything, Richard Brenne (Boulder, CO)

Disc 3: Communities Preparing for Peak Oil

10 Preparing Our Communities for Climate and Energy Change, Julian Darley, Post Carbon Institute (Sebastopol, CA)
11 Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty -- Guidelines for Local Governments, Daniel Lerch, Post Carbon Institute (Portland, OR)
12 Envisioning the Post Fossil Fuel World, Leslie Glustrom, Clean Energy Action (Boulder, CO)

Disc 4: Energy and Resources

13 Colorado’s New Energy Economy, Tom Plant, Governor’s Energy Office, State of Colorado
14 Sustainable Energy: Going Local and Regional to Power the New Energy Economy, Aaron Perry, Rocky Mountain Sustainable Enterprises (Boulder, CO)
15 The Technical and Human Dimensions of Going Local, Mark Sardella, Local Energy (Santa Fe, NM)
16 The Nexus of Food, Energy and Water, Michael Bowman, (Wray, CO)

Disc 5: Living Locally

17 Relocalization: Making Friends with an Unthinkable Future, Michael Brownlee, Boulder Valley Relocalization, Boulder County Going Local!
18 Resources, Religion and War—Ethical Living in a World in Decline, Marshall Vian Summers, The Society for the Greater Community Way of Knowledge (Boulder, CO)
19 Waking Up to Humanity’s Greatest Challenge, John Feeney, Growth is Madness! (Boulder, CO)
20 A Permaculture Perspective: Living in Authenticity During Energy Descent, Bill Wilson, Midwest Permaculture (Stelle, IL)

Disc 6: Local Media

21 Whole Systems Sensing: Defibrillating Possibility, Brook Le Van, Sustainable Settings (Carbondale, CO)
22 Blending Local Art with Local Agriculture in Placer County, Joanne Neft, Placer County Agricultural Marketing Program (Auburn, CA)
23 A Video Buffet of Local, Janaia Donaldson, Peak Moment Television (Nevada City, CA)
24 The LOCAL as Transformative Tool, Bob Banner, HopeDance Magazine (San Luis Obispo, CA)

24 presentations: 25 to 70 minutes each.

6-DVD Set: $100.00 Sale price $70.00
Single DVD: $20.00 Sale price $15.00


Communities Preparing for Energy and Climate Change

These five presentations from "A Renaissance of Local" provide a conceptual framework for responding to climate change and declining energy resources, with examples of communities working toward self-reliance and strengthening their local economies.

  • Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century of Declines, Richard Heinberg, Post Carbon Institute
  • Preparing Our Communities for Climate and Energy Change, Julian Darley, Post Carbon Institute
  • Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty -- Guidelines for Local Governments, Daniel Lerch, Post Carbon Institute
  • Relocalization: Making Friends with an Unthinkable Future, Michael Brownlee, Boulder Valley Relocalization, Boulder County Going Local!
  • A Video Buffet of Local, Janaia Donaldson, Peak Moment Television

5 presentations: 30 to 70 minutes each.

2-DVD set: Introductory price $25.00