October 2005
Beaming With Pride: Great Lakes Bioneers | Travers City, MI
Obviously living in the midst of 1/5 of the world's freshwater reserves makes a dramatic impact on our landscapes, our ecology and our focus, here in Travers City.
"Blue gold" is destined to be one of the leading [and unfortunately contentious] issues in global politics and we are dealing with the ramifications and implications of this every day - from invasive species to water diversion. Our work happens within this context.
Bob Russell and Sally Van Vleck, co-directors of the Neahtawanta Research and Education Center, had attended several Bioneers Conferences in California, and reported back enthusiastically to the local community about the relevance and positive approach of the conference.
A meeting to explore becoming a satellite site in January of 2002 attracted over 20 people who were eager to help with the conference, including two of the founders of the young nonprofit, SEEDS. This group continued to meet and hosted the first Great Lakes Bioneers Conference for 250 people.
There was no question whether we should to do it again in 2003, or in any year since. Each year we have expanded and refined our programming, packing as much as we can into one small weekend in October.
Participants have told us that the satellite conference is every bit as satisfying as the national experience. The connection to the thousands of other Bioneers during the plenary sessions is palpable and moving.
Some have said that they liked Great Lakes Bioneers better than the national conference because of its smaller size and more personal scale. One participant wrote on her evaluation: “The conference came only four days after I rolled into town, with my moving van full, from Colorado. I’ve lived in the Rockies for 23 years and have returned home to family, forests, water, and now even a beautifully progressive community. Having Bioneers ‘waiting for me’ was like the Universe’s way of handing me over to my new community. Thanks!” Part of what I really appreciate about Bioneers is that it gives our community a common language to communicate with – the word itself is made up – and it’s a language steeped in strengthening hope and lessening despair. This makes it easier to recognize other like-minded souls and also to articulate rather complex concepts. We are inventing new paradigms, and that is the revolution.
Local keynote speakers that will be presenting at this year’s Travers City, MI Beaming Bioneers:
J. Carl Ganter
Ganter is journalist and photojournalist who has been published in most major international magazines. He serves on the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars water working group, "Navigating Peace" in Washington. He will address the challenges of engaging the public on critical global freshwater issues.
Bena Burda
Burda is the founding president of Maggie's Organics, a 13 year old ecologically and socially responsible organic cloting business based in Ypsilanti, MI. In 1999 she helped organize and partnered with a Nicaraguan women-owned sewing cooperative, Maquiladora Mujeres which now employs over 150 people.
Lee Botts
Botts has been an activist for over three decades focusing mainly on Great Lakes issues. She is a founding member of the Quality of Life Council, the Lake Michigan Federation, and the Indiana Dunes Environmental Learning Center.
The First Bioneers by the Bay: Connecting for Change” Conference
We are now a month away from our “Bioneers by the Bay: Connecting for Change” Conference, October 14th -16th, being held at UMASS Dartmouth, and a deep heartbeat of preparation and excitement beats through the Marion Institute. We are connecting with grassroots environmentalists, youth leaders, social justice activists and Sustainability departments at colleges across the entire region. And the resounding response we are getting is: “We’re coming!”
“Bioneers by the Bay” promises to be a stunning three-day gathering of visionary yet practical solutions to help heal the Earth. Paul Hawken [see below] has joined our spectacular array of presenters. What’s more, our Youth Initiative and afternoon workshop program are taking form beautifully and we’re ready to unveil details about our Bioneers Moving Image Film Festival.
For more details or to register for the “Bioneers by the Bay: Connecting for Change” Conference, please visit connectingforchange.org or call 508.743.0511.
Paul Hawken
Hawken is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist, and best-selling author. At the age of 20, he became fascinated with the relationship between human and living systems. His concerns extended from health to farming, from commerce to social justice.
He started several ecological businesses, writes and teaches about the impact of commerce upon the environment, and consults with governments and corporations on economic development, industrial ecology, and environmental policy.
He is author and co-author of dozens of articles, op-eds, and papers, as well as six books including The Next Economy [1983], Growing a Business [1987], and The Ecology of Commerce [1993].
Click here to learn more about Paul Hawken and his work.
What is a "Beaming Bioneer?"
Beaming Bioneers is the Bioneers' Satellite Program, which was successfully launched with five host sites around North America in 2002. This year, there will be seventeen sites across North America hosting regional Bioneers Conferences. The "Bioneers by the Bay: Connecting for Change" Conference is the northeastern regional Beaming Bioneers site for the United States.
Bioneers
The main Bioneers Conference taking place in San Rafael, CA, provides the plenaries, live via satellite, and host partners will help to produce our, as well as several other, regional, 3-day gatherings. For more information and to find out where regional Bioneers conferences are taking place, please click here. Speakers who will be "beamed" into "Bioneers by the Bay: Connecting for Change" from the main Bioneers Conference, via satellite, include Bill McKibben, Jeremy Narby, Thom Hartmann, Janine Benyus, Rha Goddess and David Orr.
Beaming With Pride: Great Lakes Bioneers | Travers City, MI
In the upcoming issues of Random Gleanings, we will profile a few of the Beaming Bioneers satellite sites. Beaming Bioneers is the Bioneers’ Satellite Program, which was successfully launched with five host sites around North America in 2002. In addition to “Bioneers by the Bay,” there will be fourteen other sites across North America hosting regional Bioneers Conferences. Bioneers provides the plenaries, live via satellite, and host partners produce local 3-day gatherings. Travers City, MI has been a Beamer for the last four years and last year drew 500 participants. With all of this success, Pete Munoz – event organizer and founder of the non-profit SEEDS – a non-profit research, design and educational institution whose mission is to seek the development of socially and ecologically sustainable environment – is beaming with real pride. [read more]
Get registered.
Registration for "Bioneers by the Bay" is now in full swing. You may register online or by calling 508.743.0511. Scholarships for each day of the weekend are also available. A PDF scholarship application is available online. You may also call Chris Duren ofthe Marion Institute at 508.748.0816 for more details.
Embolden Design
Embolden Design – the official web-master for the “Bioneers by the Bay” Conference – is an award-winning Web development and consulting firm, which enables clients such as Brown University, Rhode Island Foundation and PBS to harness the power of the Web. As one of the area's hi-tech leaders, Embolden offers high-quality marketing and communications solutions, custom web applications and evaluation services to optimize businesses and nonprofits online.
In the House PR
In the House PR specializes in growing clean-tech and hi-tech companies through creative communications. In the House is the official public relations sponsor of “Bioneers by the Bay.”
“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
- the Buddha
