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Monday, July 21, 2008

Coming up next:

Visit the
August 9-10, 7th Annual Illinois Renewable Energy & Sustainable Lifestyle Fair,
Oregon IL. (20 Min. from Rockford) http://www.illinoisrenew.org/
Ride share postings here

Supportive Invisible Structures
Thursday, Sept. 25 . . . . . . 7-9 pm
Learn about the importance of non-physical structures and relationships in creating a sustainable future. Featuring garden designer, artist, and activist, Nance Klehm, and her growing 'Neighborhood Orchard'. Donation suggested.
At North Park Village Nature Center 5801 N. Pulaski, Chicago.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Coming up in May

Thursday, May 1, 7-9pm
Ecovillage Solutions: Updating Gaviotas
Regrowing Rainforest and Community in Colombia

At North Park Village Nature Center 5801 N. Pulaski, Chicago. Free and open to the public.

Tim Magner reports on his recent trip to Gaviotas, Colombia, where Paolo Lugari is transforming a barren wasteland into a lushly forested ecovillage. Asylee journalist Hector Sepulveda will provide background on Colombia’s environment (including the political).

Lugari motivated university professors and students to produce a stream of inventions including children’s see-saws that pump water, solar kettles that sterilize it, ultra-light windmills that handle gales, plus cheap and efficient solar water-heaters. These became the basis for several businesses. Every family enjoys free housing, community meals, and schooling. There are no weapons, no police, no jail, no mayor.

Their presentation will address the environmental opportunities and challenges in Colombia and the world, using the brilliant example of Las Gaviotas. Questions considered include: How did the Gaviotas experiment succeed when all the 'experts' guaranteed failure? How did systems thinking transform a savanna wasteland into a new forest which creates new jobs? What can we learn from their experiment?

Info:
773-580-7780.

Some Links:
The business view
http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/26/technology/village_saving_planet.biz2/index.htm
The village that could save the planet

On the Inventions
http://backspace.com/notes/2003/08/gaviotas.php has some renderings of the inventions
http://mingo.info-science.uiowa.edu/~winter/engineering.html some details

Social Design Notes
http://www.newint.org/issue357/time.htm New Internationalist 2003
http://www.backspace.com/notes/2003/08/09/x.html - Gaviotas.

Offset your emissions and help in the rebirth of the Tropical Rain Forest.
http://www.gaviotasoffsets.org/


Monday, February 18, 2008

Programs coming up. Info: Rael 773-756-5033 raelearth at yahoo.com

Saturday, March 22, 12-4 pm, Gardening with Mushrooms
Select two species to take home with you. To register, $15 check (with phone number) to Kenneth Otto, must be received by March 20. At North Park Village Nature Center 5801 N. Pulaski, Chicago, 60646

Wednesday, March 26, 7-9pm, Healing the City
The thoughts of Irish architect and permaculture designer, Declan Kennedy, based on his keynote presentation at last November's International Perma-City conference in the Netherlands. More...
At North Park Village Nature Center, 5801 N. Pulaski, Chicago

Last Program (Abridged)
Tuesday, February 19, 7-9pm. Home and Apartment-scale Food Growing
Featuring Bill Shores, a professional organic grower specializing in small-scale intensive food production. He teaches around the city, and is the gardener for celebrity chef Rick Bayless's two-lot Bucktown garden that supplies the Frontera and Topolobampo restaurants. See http://urbanedible.blogspot.com/


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OTHER RELATED SITES
<> Ecovillaging Chicagoland
On the continents first Urban Ecovillage Gathering, and related information.
http://EcovillagingChicagoland.blogspot.com/

<> On Restoration and Sustainability
http://BetterBuckthornUses.blogspot.com/

<> On Science-based Eco-Spiritual Celebrations
http://HelionCelebrating.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Coming up in December...

Saturday, December 8, 1-4 pm

An Introduction to Permaculture: Implications for the City and Suburbs

Presented by Bill Wilson (communitarian, permaculturist, sustainability advocate/educator, His presentation includes a 25 minute video of Australian Bill Mollison (founder of permaculture), examples of practical applications for the city, suburban or rural dweller, and pictures of his recent visit to the Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute. Bill will also share a compelling overview of his 28 years in the Stelle community (located near Kankakee).

At North Park Village Nature Center
5801 North Pulaski, Chicago.
Turn left at 1st T intersection
(312)744-5472

See the website for the
Permaculture Activist magazine for more on North American Permaculture, and a link to Geoff Lawton's Greening the Desert video on the right.

Friday, December 29, 2006

Coming up next....

Urban Permaculture Applications:
Food Production Plus


Wednesday, February 7th, 7-9 pm

Learn how to apply permaculture to urban living.
Even if you have limited indoor growing space, producing more of what you eat, may be increasingly valuable. Learn about home or apartment-scale growing systems for producing your own food and fertilizer, indoors or out. Featuring Bill Shores, a professional organic grower specializing in small-scale intensive food production. Includes a demonstration of indoor salad greens production.

At North Park Village Nature Center, 5801 N. Pulaski; Chicago.
Turn left at the 1st T intersection.
312.744.5472 raelearth (at no-spam) yahoo.com

Monday, October 30, 2006

Coming up in December...

Saturday, December 9, 1-4 pm

An Introduction to Permaculture
-- and the Sustainably Oriented Community of Stelle

Presented by Bill Wilson (communitarian, permaculturist, sustainability advocate/educator, life coach & mentor). His presentation includes a 25 minute video of Australian Bill Mollison (founder of permaculture), examples of practical applications for the city, suburban or rural dweller, and pictures of his recent visit to the Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute. Bill will also share a compelling overview of his 28 years in the Stelle community (located near Kankakee).

At North Park Village Nature Center
5801 North Pulaski, Chicago.
Turn left at 1st T intersection
(312)744-5472


See the website for the
Permaculture Activist magazine for more on North American Permaculture, and a link to Geoff Lawton's Greening the Desert video on the right.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Coming up next...
Exploring whether wholistic integrative design principles apply to reshaping our governance systems...

Consider one approach:


Sustainability through Bioregionalism

Sunday, October 8, 2-4 pm
Environmental sociologist Mark D. Whitaker, from UW-Madison, will present his proposition that sustainability requires changing our democratic institutions -- adding over 60 different novel checks and balances. He wrote the 2005 book Toward a Bioregional State: A Series of Letters About Political Theory and Formal Institutional Design in the Era of Sustainability. He will talk about potentials of growing the "bioregional democratic majority" to achieve these goals.

At: North Park Village Nature Center,
5801 N. Pulaski, Chicago, 312-744-5472

Bring your ideas to contribute to the discussion!

Info:
http://biostate.blogspot.com
http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~mwhitake/

Context:
Recent reports suggest we have perhaps ten years to avoid catastrophic climate change, and that even sooner our economy will be increasingly stressed by the peaking of conventional petroleum production. Many conclude that business as usual is unlikely to be able to respond adequately and that governmental changes are needed. Some wonder whether our current political structure is adequate to marshall the necessary transformations.
Consider whether we can best attain Sustainability through Bioregionalism

And there are developments such as the
Inquiry into a national Sustainability Charter for Australia.
http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/environ/charter/

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