What began last year in an effort to create a more personal,
collaborative and interconnected workshop experience will
continue in 2009. Our presenters will explore a wide array
of issues—including the environment, social justice,
green business, spirituality, education, activism, green jobs,
renewable energy, green building, food, farming, population,
indigenous traditions, holistic healing and many more. As
last year, selected workshops pair up nationally and internationally
recognized presenters with local leaders to create interactive
experiences. Plus, each workshop will offer attendees rare
insight into the practical, innovative solutions that are
being developed to help solve these challenges—both
in the world at large and here, in our local communities.
All times and events are subject to change. Please check back
in periodically, as we will be updating frequently. The comprehensive
Map will be online shortly.
Friday Workshops
12:45 – 1:30 PM
Basic Bicycle Maintenance
[Gray Harrison]
> Zeiterion Exhibitor Tent
Worcester Earn-a-Bike, a part-time community Bike Shop with
full-time Bicycle Love is proud to present a basic bicycle
maintenance workshop. We will cover the things you need to
know to keep your bike safe, well-adjusted, and on the road.
Need to change a flat? Done. Need to adjust the shifting?
Easy! Want to know how to do a safety check of all your bikes
components? You've got it. Our workshop will help give you
the confidence to maintain your own bike, and inspire you
to share your knowledge with others.
1:30 – 2:15 PM
Vermi-Composting (Worm Composting)
Demo
[Worm Ladies of Charlestown]
> Zeiterion Exhibitor Tent
Join Nancy and Lois to learn more about worm composting (or
vermicomposting), a natural and efficient way to “recycle”
your organic kitchen waste; the worms do all the work. This
is an interactive activity where you can learn more about
vermicomposting and for a small fee you can make your own.
2:15 – 3:00 PM
Environmental Alchemy
[Rhonda Fazio]
> Zeiterion Exhibitor Tent
This workshop will focus on the natural dye materials and
fibers used in antiquity. Each participant is encouraged to
engage in the ancient art of textile design. Experience and
learn about the materials implemented before the industrial
revolution. This hands on lecture will cover topics about
the coveted ancient dyes and fibers of distant lands and their
influence on America's economic history. Learn what it was
like to dye, spin and weave in the days when you had no other
choice but to make it yourself. Discuss and consider how we
can adapt these skills in today's environment. Let's give
it a whorl, shall we?
1:30-3:00 PM
Urban Agriculture – Real
Solutions to Improve Access to Healthy Food (double session)
[Will Allen, Rich Pederson and Serenity Gardens]
> Zeiterion Theatre
Growing Power's innovative vermicompost systems create a foundation
of healthy soils for new urban agriculture in Milwaukee, WI.
Learn about the steps to turn waste products into a source
of locally grown nutrition. Southside Community Land Trust's
City Farm has been in operation for almost 30 years. Learn
how City Farm's urban agricultural practices integrate educational,
environmental, nutritional, and socioeconomic solutions to
ensure community access to healthy food.
This workshop will conclude with a walking tour and presentation
at the Serenity Gardens in the south end of New Bedford.
Peace Making is not for the Timid…Got
Courage?
[Juan Pacheco]
> Whaling Museum
Come dive deeper into the reality of youth violence. This
workshop will be a follow-up discussion of the “From
Gang Member to Pediatrician” keynote, to allow more
intimate questions to be answered about the world of youth
violence. More importantly we will engage around the steps
that you and your community can take to prevent the destructiveness
of street violence in your neighborhoods.
How to Green Your School
[Lehman Alternative Community School and New Bedford Global
Learning Charter School]
> National Park CMLC
Schools are like small cities when you think about how much
energy, water, food and other resources they consume and the
waste they produce. For those of us in school, doing initiatives
on campus is sometimes the easiest way to make significant
positive change. With this workshop, we will explore different
ideas for how to “Green” your school, from starting
recycling programs, to buying energy from renewable sources,
to starting a school farm, garden or buying local healthy
food for school lunches, to purchasing and hiring practices,
to introducing sustainability curriculum and beyond. Students
and teachers will share information and anecdotes about the
process through which their public and private high schools
and colleges have moved toward a sustainability.
Sustainable Women – How
to Care for Ourselves While Changing the World; Lessons from
a Women’s Leadership Group
[Kate Fentress and Robin Chase]
> UMASS Dartmouth Star Store
There is a Tibetan Proverb that states, 'With a Stout Heart
a Mouse Can Lift an Elephant'. A diverse group of women have
met monthly for the last year (started at Bioneers by the
Bay 2008) to discuss how they as a group can best support
the sustainability movement. Whether we are stout hearted
mice or effective activists, how do we keep up the good work?
This will be an inclusive conversation, with lots of participation
from attendees.
Making Organic Farms a Healthy
Building Block of the Green Economy and Edible Forest Gardens
[Richard Wiswall and Eric Toensmeier]
> UMASS Dartmouth 800 Purchase St
Organic farms are vital to the emerging green economy. What
business could be any greener? Organic farms provide healthy
and nutritious food, preserve land for food production, utilize
natural cycles and solar energy as the core of production,
carry essential knowledge from one farming generation to the
next, provide income and meaningful work to community members,
and have a positive environmental impact.
Edible forest gardens mimic the structures and functions of
natural ecosystems while producing food and other products
with an emphasis on low-maintenance perennial crops. Design
and plant selection help provide fertility, control of weeds
and pests, and more. Come for an introduction to this fascinating
and delicious approach to food production.
Richard’s goal is to see more prosperous and less stressed-out
farmers. Richard will explore the concept of true sustainability,
one that addresses economic as well as environmental longevity.
Stumbling blocks to profitable farms abound. Richard highlights
appropriate business concepts and uncovers misperceptions
around our relationship with money, something that fools many
of us.
Population and Global Sustainability:
the Elephant in the Climate Change Living Room
[William N. Ryerson and Abbey Spargo]
> Ocean Explorium
The global population is increasing by the equivalent of a
new Egypt every year. This means greater demand for everything--most
urgently, agricultural land, water and energy. The mounting
climate problem suggests that serious consequences of overconsumption
(namely of coal and other fossil fuels that produce heat-trapping
greenhouse gases) may be inevitable. The panelists will discuss
how population growth relates to the issue of global sustainability
and what is known about how to bring about population levels
in valance with the planet’s natural resources.
Hope For the Flowers - Ag Activism,
What Does Religion have to do with it?
[Trina Paulus and Una McGurk]
> YMCA
My journey started with a religious focus, moved to express
service to God thru social justice, peace efforts, earth issues
and earth spirituality while continuing as a Catholic.
My main passion for this workshop is to share the news about
the IAASTD report www.agassessment.org <http://www.agassessment.org/>
and my bittersweet May UN experience at the Commission on
Sustainable Development, CSD 17. I recommend The Synthesis
report as background. The International Agricultural Assessment
of Knowledge, Science and Technology (IAASTD) – was
developed over 4 years by over 400 world food experts from
61 countries. Originally pushed by biotech corporations and
funded by the World Bank, IAASTD is now suppressed because
its conclusion was that it would be small scale organic agriculture
that will feed the world and genetic engineering and big “Ag”
will have little role. We need to push this report! It is
our template for respectful, sustainable food production to
feed the world.
We can also discuss the US food bills before congress, US
food imperialism in Africa with the “Double Green Revolution”
and the Gates Foundation’s role, non-solutions like
biofuels and carbon sequestration to prolong dependency on
fossil fuels. Then there are hopeful signs like Transition
Towns, Permaculture, local NJ efforts, butterfly raising with
assistant Una McGurk and “Hope For the Flowers”.
Let’s come up with a strategy! Contact at hopefortheflowers.org,
inhopealways@gmail.com.
Talk To Your Body: Dowsing and
Kinesiology as tools to understanding the effect of your surroundings
on your energy body.
[Farrell, Mary]
> BCC
What if you possessed a skill that would allow you to see
the effect that your environment was having on your physical,
emotional, mental and spiritual body? This workshop offers
a simple tool that anyone can use to explore the effects that
our thoughts, the music we listen to, the food we eat, and
the people we interact with, i.e. what we choose to surround
ourselves with, has on the health of our physical and energy
body. A healthy physical body keeps you balanced for the challenges
in daily life and a healthy clear energy body allows you to
move beyond the everyday and enter the world of the mystic.
Explore what is life enhancing and what is toxic to you in
this interactive and informative workshop. Leave with tools
to easily make choices and decisions that impact all areas
of your life
Buzzards Bay Center: Building
Green for New Bedford and the Bay
[Mark Rasmussen and Rick Renner]
> Buzzards Bay Center
Coalition The Coalition for Buzzards Bay will be discussing
the green renovation and historic restoration of the Coagshall
Counting House into the Buzzards Bay Center. The Coalition
will apply proven and replicable techniques to the conversion
of an under-utilized 150 year old building into a Center for
public awareness, enviromental education, advocacy and headquarters
for Buzzards Bay preeminent environmental group.
TOUR: Historic Textile Mills -
Trolley
[Bruce Barnes]
> Custom House Square
Bruce Barnes, a volunteer with the New Bedford Preservation
Society will conduct a trolley tour of many of New Bedford’s
historic textile mill sites. The trolley will leave from Custom
House Square. New Bedford was one of the most important centers
of textile production in the world at its peak in the early
1900s. The industry began in the city in 1846 and lasted until
the 1980s. The legacy of this long and eventful history continues
to affect the city today in profound ways. The tour will highlight
the buildings, people and events that shaped the development
of New Bedford during this important era in the city’s
history.
3:30 – 4:15 PM
Seed Saving
[Kofi Ingersal]
The historic tradition of seed saving in America provides
a model for modern gardeners eager to get the most from their
gardens. Many special garden plants are unavailable commercially
and need to be preserved from year to year. Learn the dynamics
of seed saving with Kofi, a farmer at Bay End Farm in Buzzards
Bay MA.
4:15 – 5:00 PM
Vegetable Fermentation
[Sharon Gensler]
Come do a hands on learning experience about lacto-fermented
vegetables. Be prepared to talk, chop and salt. Sharon has
been homsteading and fermenting since 1980. She's made some
good pickles and some that leave something to be desired.
She lives in Wendell, Ma and grows and preserves all of her
own veggies and fruits for the year.
3:30-5:00 PM
Urban Agriculture – Real
Solutions to Improve Access to Healthy Food (double session)
[Will Allen, Rich Pederson and Serenity Gardens]
> Zeiterion Theatre
Growing Power's innovative vermicompost systems create a foundation
of healthy soils for new urban agriculture in Milwaukee, WI.
Learn about the steps to turn waste products into a source
of locally grown nutrition. Southside Community Land Trust's
City Farm has been in operation for almost 30 years. Learn
how City Farm's urban agricultural practices integrate educational,
environmental, nutritional, and socioeconomic solutions to
ensure community access to healthy food.
This workshop will conclude with a walking tour and presentation
at the Serenity Gardens in the south end of New Bedford.
Word Weapons
[Ben Gilbarg and Mike Cermack]
> Whaling Museum
An interactive workshop-focusing on utilizing rhymes, song,
poetry, and spoken word to express important environmental
messages. Participants will first absorb a presentation of
the environmental justice movement through music, a history
of hip hop, & how music has been used to express environmental
messages. then all participants will interact to create our
own group songs and poetry focused on topics around sustainability.
Energy Choices and the Co-Benefits
of a Complementary Set of Healthy Solutions
[Paul Epstein]
> National Park CMLC
As the pace of climate change quickens, the world is suddenly
faced with food, fuel and financial crises. Climate change
also threatens human health and well-being, natural and managed
ecosystems, economies and global political stability. Systemic
measures, beginning with a comprehensive change in energy
systems, will be needed to address the underlying drivers.
Partly Sunny Workshop
[Charlie Cannon]
> UMASS Dartmouth Star Store
The weather is changing.
If we are to avert the most significant effects of climate
change we can't just talk about the weather, we have to act.
The Partly Sunny exhibition showcases innovative projects
and ideas from around the world that are changing the forecast.
The collection covers six areas -- buildings, food, energy,
greening cities, water and transportation – to demonstrate
what can be done immediately to change the forecast.
It's Partly Sunny – let's change the forecast.
The Partly Sunny Workshop will use projects in the exhibition
at the University of Massachusetts’s Crapo Gallery to
launch conversations about how our individual choices, our
community investments, and our national policies can make
a difference. Participants will leave the workshop with a
greater understanding of their role in changing the forecast
–and in the process improving our lives, building healthier
communities and making our future more secure; and with a
collection of postcards to send to friends, businesses and
representatives.
“Poetry of the Wild”/
Using Art to Connect People to Their Wild Community
[Ana Flores]
> Ocean Explorium
The artist, Ana Flores, will do a twenty minute presentation
of the “Poetry of the Wild” project she has done
with communities across the country. After her presentation,
the workshop members will break down into groups (this will
depend on total # in workshop) and create poetry boxes that
could be put around New Bedford or brought back to their own
communities. The box making will involve selection of poetry
relevant to the sites where they will be installed, or writing
original poetry for the box. The boxes must then be decorated
so they respond to site and poem. A journal and pencils are
then placed in each box for community response.
Graceful Exit: How to Leave Your
Campus Lean and Green When the School Year Ends
[Toni Ciany and Kathleen Christianson]
> UMASS Dartmouth 800 Purchase St.
Every June, in every city of every United State and even beyond
our shores, there is a mass exodus of students from colleges
and boarding schools, who pack up what few belongings fit
in the car and leave the rest behind in dorms and dumpsters.
According to the Digest of Education Statistics, in 2005 there
were 10,797,011 full-time students in 4,216 colleges and universities
nationwide. The result of this annual migration is a massive
waste heap consisting of perfectly usable small appliances,
electronics, chairs, books, clothes, lamps, toiletries, towels,
bedding, sports equipment, shoes, food, and refrigerators
which, in short shrift, make their way via tractor trailers
to landfill upon landfill.
This workshop tells the story of one school’s annual
efforts to turn the above environmental tragedy into a multi-faceted
success story that not only mitigates landfill expansion,
but also provides a wealth of rescued materials to both grateful
community service agencies and local residents, who flock
by the hundreds to an annual sale that raises thousands for
charity.
Come and hear how your school can both benefit your community
and steward the environment by conserving precious resources.
The 5 W’s of Green Roofs
and Walls
[Diane Guidebeck]
> YMCA
Green roofs are multi facetted in use and have many environmental
benefits, as well as many practical advantages over a standard
roof. This ancient but new horticultural technology has opened
onto America’s urban landscape and will be a part of
our future. A look at the reasons green roofs and walls can
benefit mankind and the environment at the same time.
*Why we need them
*What are the components of green roofs
*What benefits are there and who does benefit
Designing and Facilitating Change
in Complex World
[Curtis Ogden]
> BCC
We live in a dynamic, interconnected, and complex world. Increased
awareness of this reality highlights the need for collaborative
approaches to creating change that help to align and mobilize
diverse change agents to work for a shared goal. In the workshop,
staff from the Interaction Institute for Social Change will
facilitate conversation about this challenge/opportunity and
provide tools for participants to use in developing their
muscle as collaborative leaders for social change.
A Look at Environmental Injustices
in New Bedford
[Buddy Andrade, Dr. Mark Mitchell and Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez]
> BCC
This workshop will delve into a discussion around the environmental
problems ailing the City of New Bedford. The City of New Bedford
contains at least a dozen Brownfield sites spanning this City
(population of 91K) which means there are many toxins and
chemicals that bombard citizens on a daily basis. Buddy Andrade
is one of the leading Environmental Justice Activists in New
Bedford and is working to shine a spot light on these issues
and represent the people that suffer from these toxins. Dr.
Mark Mitchell is a Physician specializing in epidemiology
and public health, including environmental health. He also
completed his Preventive Medicine Residency at Johns Hopkins.
He is founder and President of the Connecticut Coalition for
Environmental Justice and is focused on environmental justice,
asthma and air pollution. The Bi-Lingual (English-Spanish)
program, translation from Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez, a New Bedford
Psychiatrist, will provide an in depth awareness of the environmental
and public/personal health risk that environmental pollutants
have upon our youth and elderly. The workshop will specifically
discuss the New Bedford Harbor Superfund, the former Morse
Cutting Tools site, the former Park Street Burn Dump, the
Keith Middle School and New Bedford High School areas. Mark
will help to shed some light on the issues in New Bedford
and in the region and along with Buddy will discuss the next
steps and how to deal with the realities of New Bedford and
where to go to from here.
TOUR Something Fishy - Walking
[Tove Bendiksen]
> Custom House Square
In addition to being the primary economic engine for the city
of New Bedford, commercial fishing is a unique culture with
its own set of occupational skills and generational knowledge.
Although many working waterfronts up and down the east coast
have been losing their infrastructures, New Bedford remains
a stronghold, offering safe harbor and all the amenities fishing
vessels need to operate efficiently. Most fishing vessels
in the port of New Bedford are still family-owned small businesses,
however this way of life is threatened . Come down to the
docks and learn about the history of commercial fishing, the
issues facing fishing families today, as well as industry-based
cooperative solutions.
*All dates and times are subject to change.
Saturday Workshops
12:45 – 1:30 PM
Starting a Community Bike Shop
[Gray Harrison]
> Zeiterion Exhibitor Tent
Worcester Earn-a-Bike, a part-time community Bike Shop with
full-time Bicycle Love wants to share what we have learned
in 10 years of operating a community bike shop and earn-a-bike
program in Worcester, MA. Come learn the basics on how to
market your idea, find grants, set up a space, gather the
proper tools, and start a network for the bicycle donations
you will need to keep your shop going. If you want to help
your community become more bicycle friendly, if you want to
recycle the thousands of bicycles that would otherwise end
up in the landfill, if you envision a world where everyone
can get a bicycle and learn to maintain it, then this workshop
is for you.
1:30 – 3:00 PM
Finding the Joy in Green Cleaning
[Reichert, Leslie]
> Zeiterion Exhibitor Tent
This workshop will teach you how to clean with items usually
found in your pantry. Along with a little history and science
lesson, we will make a sample that everyone can take home
and try.
Our World Vision
[Robin Chase, Woody Tasch and Nipun Mehta]
> Zeiterion
Passion, drive and innovation come together in an effort to
bring change to our world. Three keynote speakers and restorative
leaders present their ideas on how to build the world of our
future. The diverse backgrounds of each speaker will spur
conversation from all sides of the restorative movement and
nonprofit sector. Woody Tasch, chairman and president of Slow
Money seeks to promote sustainable agriculture and the emergence
of a restorative economy. Robin Chase, founder and CEO of
GoLoco (the online ridesharing community) is an innovator
in the environmental and transportation realm while Nipun
Mehta, founder of CharityFocus, provides free web based solutions
for nonprofit organizations worldwide. Each speaker’s
unique vision for our world will help begin a dialogue about
how as individuals we play a role in maintaining that process.
Green Jobs: Where are we and where
are we going?
[Tem Blessed, Marcus Ryan, Gabe Shapiro, Laurie Leyshon, Eduardo
Suarez, Facilitated by Kalia Lydgate]
> Whaling Museum
From President Obama, to Labor Unions, to Social Justice and
Environmental Organizations, many people are working to create
green-collar jobs and build the green economy. But how do
we actually do it and why is it important? In this workshop,
we will share different models and best practices, explore
the importance of addressing climate change and poverty at
the same time, and discuss the most current Green-collar Job
opportunities and challenges. What is the significance in
building cross-sector collaboration? What role will the Stimulus
package play? How do we connect the people who most need work
with the work that most needs to get done? What will a just,
green economy actually look like? How can we implement eco-industrial
parks, cradle to cradle manufacturing, and re-localize economies?
What streams of money should we be paying attention to? Who
needs to be at the table? What role do hip hop and other forms
of self-expression play in messaging and community engagement?
Transition: A Practical Model
for Empowering Our Communities to Directly Tackle Critical
Issues
[Alastair Lough]
> National Park CMLC
The Transition Model can unleash the collective genius of
your community to directly tackle the numerous critical issues
facing us, while rebuilding local resilience and restoring
a sense of community in the process. The model acknowledges
that our inner transition needs to be considered; and that
an engaged, motivated community can co-create a lower-energy
future that is positive, sustainable, and more fulfilling
than at present.
Project Wadi Attir - A Model,
Sustainable Desert Community
[Michael U. Ben-Eli]
> UMASS Dartmouth Star Store
Project Wadi Attir, an initiative of a Bedouin community in
the Negev, seeks to develop and demonstrate a model for sustainable,
community-based organic farming enterprise, adapted to a desert
environment. It is designed to combine Bedouin aspirations,
values and experience, with sustainability principles and
cutting edge approaches to renewable energy production, resource
recycling and arid land stewardship. The project was initiated
in order to showcase a breakthrough, integrated approach to
development, which could impact the Middle East region as
well as other parts of the world.
From Activism to Organizing: Building
Grassroots Power for Environmental & Social Justice
[Viveiros, Camilo]
> UMASS Dartmouth 800 Purchase
Do you want to win more of our grassroots struggles and reach
our goals? Come learn the difference between activism and
organizing. In this workshop, learn how to transition from
an activist to a grassroots organizer, working more effectively
to fulfill our vision for justice.
We will explore different theories of social change and how
they address social and ecological issues. Social change work
may incorporate different approaches (self help, service,
electoral, advocacy, mobilization) but grassroots organizing
is the most effective way to build collective power to shift
power relations. We need to define the difference between
the tactics used by activists and the strategies used by organizers
to avoid paternalistic recruitment efforts and build participation
in our movements.
“From Activism to Organizing” fosters collective
campaign development, increasing organizing capacity to win
short-term goals and achieve our long-term vision.
Come learn from and share your own grassroots organizing lessons.
Teacher Academy Workshop
[Katie Kirk and Mike Cermak]
> Ocean Explorium
Environmental Justice Action Media (EJAM) and the Ocean Explorium
will provide a teacher workshop that melds traditional teaching
practices and cutting edge methods for engaging and motivating
urban youth. Teachers will be given access to lesson plans
and resources that can be used in classrooms and will be shown
how to incorporate the NOAA Science on a Sphere© technology
to allow their students to learn and think globally. Teachers
will also be taught new and dynamic ways of engaging their
students prior to teaching environmental concepts through
the use of Hip Hop and other media. Finally, teachers will
be shown how to help their students design participatory action
research projects. These projects will give the students practice
with standards based skills in a way that allows them to take
ownership of important environmental issues and enable them
to act locally!Taking Action to Protect Our
Health from Toxic Chemicals
[Saunders, Elizabeth]
> YMCA
Scientific evidence is increasingly linking toxic chemicals
in our every day products to to health effects such as asthma,
cancer, learning disabilities, infirtility, Parkinson's disease
and others. Clean Water Action is part of the Alliance for
a Healthy Tomorrow working to put laws and policies in place
here in Massachusetts to replace toxic chemicals with Safer
Alternatives wherever feasible. Participants in this workshop
will learn about potential hazards in their homes and tips
on how to find safer alternatives. However, we cannot shop
our way out of this problem, we need government action to
regulate products so that we don't all have to be toxicologists
to buy safe personal care products, toys, and cleaners. Participants
will also learn how they can get involved in a statewide campaign
to change the rules of the game with respect to toxic chemicals
by passing legislation to set up a systematic program to replace
toxic chemicals with Safer Alternatives whenever feasible.
The Raw Milk Revolution: How the
Struggle Over Food Rights Affects Us All
[David Gumpert]
> BCC
The U.S. government and many states are working aggressively
to deny citizens access to raw milk. The result has been a
tough enforcement campaign over the last four years against
small farms that produce raw dairy products, including raids,
sting operations, and questionable pathogen testing. This
campaign is tied to a larger struggle over food rights and
safety. This workshop reviews a number of incidents, and makes
the connection to current government policy and pending legislative
initiatives that could have serious effects on our food choices.
Cool Solutions for a Hot Age
[Dr. Elisabet Sahtouris]
> BCC
While humanity has cut its teeth on a dozen or more Ice Ages,
it has never before faced a Hot Age. Everything about human
life will change as the climatic disruptions advance. By learning
to see living systems in evolution, we can learn nature's
secrets of successfully coping with climate changes of the
past. This will help us see the Hot Age as an evolutionary
driver toward a cooperative global humanity. We can accept
climate changes as amazing opportunities for pioneering sustainable
living-systems, from the food-secure greening of deserts into
drought-proof ecosystems to the building of truly green cities
based on alternatives to oil. We can see them as opportunities
for creating new living economies measured by quality of life,
sophisticated materials and energy revolutions, distributed-network
global governance and conscious cosmic evolution.
TOUR: Environmental Justice -
Trolley
[Buddy Andrade]
> Custom House Square
3:30 – 4:15 PM
4-Season Harvesting
[Weston Lant]
This workshop will give numerous practical tips for extending
the farming season using practices used by Weston on his produce
farm in Rochester, MA.
4:15 – 5:00 PM
Solar Cooker Demonstration
[Karena Prescott, Emilymari Rodriquez, Mitchell Garner]
Members of the Bioneer by the Bay Youth Committee will be
demonstrating how to create a solar cooker. a device that
takes the heat from the sun traps it and is able to cook meals.
This sytle of cooking is used all over the world as a means
to cook food. Come learn how it's done!
3:30-5:00 PM
Generation, Now is the Time: How
YOU Can Participate in the Climate Change Challenge
[Julian Rodríguez-Drix, Becky Cushing and Tem
Blessed]
> Zeiterion Theatre
This is a chance to see an interactive presentation designed
for teens and young adults that explains global climate change
and its effect on our planet, while offering solutions to
combat it. The program is scientifically based, interactive
and energizing. It features videos, one that was produced
right here in Southeastern MA, a spoken word piece and a discussion
portion. The presentation is brought to Bioneers by the Bay
through a collaboration between the Alliance for Climate Education
(ACE) and the Southeastern Environmental Education Alliance
(SEEAL), who have presented a similar workshop to over fifteen
schools in Southeastern MA this fall.
Hurricane Season: Unearthing Solutions in an Era of Unnatural
Disaster
[Climbing PoeTree]
> Whaling Museum
Alixa and Naima, the soul-sister duo known collectively as
Climbing PoeTree, will share stories and inspiration from
their groundbreaking tour with a multi-media show that obliterates
the boundaries between performance and activism. Hurricane
Season: the hidden messages in water has traveled to 50-cities
across the U.S. with an all women crew in a bus run on recycled
vegetable oil, tackling global warming, environmental injustice,
policing, prisons, militarization, corporate domination and
gentrification. Hurricane Season is a movement that aims to
cross-pollinate solutions to the interconnected problems our
communities face—to spread the good news about how people
everywhere are taking action to resist the man-made catastrophes
that threaten peace, justice and survival. Alixa and Naima
will perform poetic excerpts from the show, share photos and
stories from the journey and report back on the phenomenal
mobilizations, manifestations and movements they connected
with along the way. Be prepared to share struggles and solutions
from your own communities, and to get creative, imaginative,
and inspired!
Drop of Hope: Water for the World
[Christine Ellersick, Roots & Shoots]
> National Park CMLC
The Roots & Shoots New England Youth Leadership Council
will share its campaign to promote water conservation, improve
water quality, support aquatic species and provide access
to clean water locally and globally. Roots & Shoots always
seeks to draw connections among local, regional, national
and international issues. Water is the source of life and
we all have this in common, but it has a different meaning
to everyone and different challenges in different places.
At the Bioneers Conference, we will celebrate our success
by sharing examples of water service projects with attendees.
We will also do a practical hands-on planning exercise so
that participants can plan their own water project based upon
the needs of their own communities.
EcoCycleDesign as a tool for design
and planning
[Anders Nyquist]
> UMASS Dartmouth Star Store
This workshop will be lead by renowned Swedish “Green”
Architect, Anders Nyquist. Anders will focus on a design system
called EcoCycleDesign. This is a system of understanding the
various flows through a building; the flows of energy, water,
air, material and people. Every project goes through a process
of program development that works through and addresses various
ideal visions of social, ecological, technical and economical
concerns. Using a variety of his own projects as examples,
Anders will illustrate and explain his concepts, and share
what he has learned over the last forty years.
Our built environment is responsible for 40% of the release
of climate altering “Greenhouse Gasses” into the
atmosphere. Join this workshop to learn how we can build differently
to reduce and eliminate this discharge, dramatically improve
interior air quality, care for the surrounding ecosystem and
enhance life within and around the buildings.
Introduction to Organic Beekeeping
[Ross Conrad]
> UMASS Dartmouth 800 Purchase St.
Pollinators play a key role in the maintenance of our planet’s
life support systems. The dramatic decline in pollinator populations
in recent years makes the honey bee all the more important.
This workshop will introduce you to the basics of beekeeping
and suggest actions you can take in your own backyard to support
the honey bee and native pollinators.
Green Chemistry: Chemical Solutions
to Global Problems
[Amy Cannon]
> Ocean Explorium
Why do we have hazardous chemicals and pollution in our society?
Green Chemistry is a new field that is addressing this question
by training scientists to design products and processes in
a more environmentally benign manner. These scientists can
have the greatest impact on preventing pollution by avoiding
it before it even begins. Come and learn about Green Chemistry
and perform some hands-on experiments that demonstrate Green
Chemistry in practice.
The 4E's: Equality and Economy
of Early Education: A Sustainable Story
[Susan Leger Ferraro and Meghan McGinley Crowe]
> YMCA
The seeds of change and progress are being planted today,
but must be cultivated by our children in order to truly enjoy
success. Join the Founder and President of Little Sprouts,
an award winning, nationally recognized early education school
of excellence to hear her story of growth and influencing
change multigenerationally.
Equality, is realized through the strong diversity of clientelle,
students, and work force. Share in the Little Sprouts model
of anti-bias and learn the benefits of operating a business
model intentionally offering education to a diverse population
which has allowed Little Sprouts to experience record growth
during this uncertain enconomic market.
Economy, is developed in each Little Sprouts employee. Benefits
beyond salary and wages ensure each member of the Little Sprouts’
family can grow his or her career opportunities and personal
and professional development
Finally, Early Education needs to be on the forefront of all
radar screens. Whether you are in education, are a parent,
or have a child in your life, the window of planting the seeds
of lifelong success is short and we must all do what we can
to ensure the next generation carries the torch we’ve
only recently lit.
A Spiritual Perspective on Decision Making
[Ellen Tadd]
> BCC
Our decisions have a powerful impact on us individually and
collectively. When our decisions are made out of fear or blindly
from the conditioning of our parents, education, or society,
we can stay stuck in old patterns that prevent creative development
and environment sustainability.
One positive out-come from our environmental crisis is our
growing awareness that we are all interconnected. Pollution
from the mid-west impacts the east coast and cutting down
the rain forest in the Amazon Basin directly effects global
oxygen. Our decisions do not impact us alone and have far
reaching ramifications.
Ellen Tadd’s clairvoyant and clairaudient abilities
have brought her in contact with teachers from spiritual realms.
They have emphasized the importance of making decisions from
spiritual attunement. These teachers say, “A decision
that is right for one person is correct for all of life.”
In this lecture and demonstration Ellen will explain what
it means to make decisions from spiritual attunement. She
will give examples of this process and teach a tools to help
participants practice this valuable skill.
Where Business and Activism Intersect
[Eddie Johnson, Mariah Titlow]
> BCC
This workshop will join two very important leaders in this
community. Eddie Johnson, President of Citizens Leading Environmental
Action Network (CLEAN) and Mariah Titlow Tinger, Senior Environmental
Program Coordinator from Genzyme Corporation. These two vibrant
leaders will discuss environmental injustices and solutions
to these injustices.
CLEAN is an Environmental Action Local Community Organization,
which is committed to a Healthy, Clean, Safe, Green and less
Toxic Contaminated Environment for all of the Citizens of
New Bedford and beyond our borders. We are further committed
to the principles, that in order to have a "GREEN"
Environment, there first, must be a "HEALTHY and "CLEAN",
Environment. CLEAN has led the fight on awareness of the ramifications
that brownfields have on community members.
Genzyme Corporation is a global biotech company based in Cambridge,
MA. One of the world’s leading biotechnology companies,
Genzyme is dedicated to making a major positive impact on
the lives of people with serious diseases. Genzyme Center
is located in Kendall Square on the former site of a coal
gasification plant, which had been abandoned after years of
use, leaving a brownfield in the heart of the community. With
a striking all-glass exterior and a soaring internal atrium,
the building is the anchor of an urban revitalization project
in the Kendall Square neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts,
and is one of the most environmentally responsible office
buildings in the United States.
TOUR: Underground Railroad - Walking
[Lee Blake and Carl Cruz]
> Custom House Square
*All dates and times are subject to change.
Sunday Workshops
1:30 – 2:15 PM
Composting Toilets and Biodigestors
[Tim O’hara]
> Zeiterion Exhibitor Tent
Tim O’Hara, founder and owner of the Rancho Mastatal
Sustainable Living Center and Lodge located in the small,
rural community of Mastatal, Costa Rica, will be talking about
his experiences with composting toilets and methane biodigestors.
Rancho Mastatal manages the human waste of their interns,
groups and other guests via five composting toilets and one
methane biodigestor toilet that generates approximately 40%
of the Ranch’s cooking gas. The Ranch responsibly manages
almost all of its human waste by turning an otherwise harmful
output into an abundant amount of nutrient-rich fertilizer
and cooking gas resulting in the addition of valuable organic
material to its agroforestry systems and a reduction on their
dependency on imported propane to cook food for their numerous
visitors. Moreover, the Ranch has facilitated the installation
of four additional methane biodigestors in their community
while three local households have installed their own composting
toilets. Tim will speak directly from the Ranch’s practices
in designing and implementing these two technologies in a
tropical setting.
Rancho Mastatal hosts workshops in natural building, renewable
energy, wilderness medicine (WFR, WEMT), and Permaculture
and hosts college, university and high school programs focusing
on tropical ecology, watershed management, sustainable living,
community development and more. The Ranch works intimately
with the local community on various projects related to education,
poverty reduction, small business development, health and
conservation. For more information about the Ranch and their
work, please see their website at http://www.ranchomastatal.com.
2:15 – 3:00 PM
Kombucha at Home
[Nick and Lexy Obolensky]
> Zeiterion Exhibitor Tent
Learn how to make the popular Kombucha drink in your own home!
Demonstration, instructions, and your own mother culture to
take home and use again and again.
1:30 – 4:30
Awakening the Dreamer Symposium
[Ann Driscoll and Bill Cuff]
> Zeiterion Theatre
The old dream of acquisition for the sake of acquisition and
unbridled consumption is dying. This Awakening the Dreamer
workshop describes the multiple crises of our age and explores
how individuals play a pivotal role in shaping and leading
the largest social movement of all time. This workshop explores
how new models can bring about a new dream of an environmentally
sustainable, socially just and spiritually fulfilling human
presence on our planet. It aims to inspire individuals to
take action in pursuit of a fair, peaceful, and sustainable
future.
1:30 – 3:00
Intergenerational Workshop
[Khepe-ra Maat and the Spiritual Warriors]
> Whaling Museum
It’s a commonly known fact that history repeats itself.
As leaders, innovators and activists we could avoid reinventing
the wheel if we spent more time exchanging information with
people who have lived through history and the struggles that
have been. Yet more and more, there is a startling disconnect
between “elders” and youth in our society. When
knowledge is not exchanged across generations, much is lost.
It is not just the more experienced members of our community
that have something to share, there is also much that adults
and elders can learn from our youth. We believe that all people
have knowledge to share and something valuable to contribute.
By coming together across boundaries of age, race, gender
and class we can better understand ourselves and those around
us. This workshop will begin to restore the connections between
the generations, creating a space for people of all ages to
share their experiences, ask questions and draw on our collective
knowledge. The workshop will be highly interactive.
Cracking Walnut-brain Syndrome;
Gaia Theory and Global Warming
[Martin Ogle]
> National Park CMLC
A 1985 “Farside” cartoon by Gary Larson depicts
a dinosaur at a podium speaking to a crowd, saying: “The
picture’s pretty bleak, gentlemen. The world’s
climate is changing, the mammals are taking over, and we all
have a brain about the size of a walnut.” Decades later,
humanity seemingly finds itself in a state not dissimilar
to that caricature - trying to understand environmental predicaments
and solutions using ideas that are real dinosaurs! Luckily,
more accurate and inspiring ideas have evolved and await our
employ! This workshop (talk and hands-on session) introduces
and explores Gaia Theory and its value for understanding and
practically dealing with modern problems, especially global
warming and energy issues. Gaia Theory asserts that organic
and inorganic components of Earth form a seamless continuum
– a living, self-regulating system – in which
human beings and all of our activities are enmeshed. Participants
in this workshop will discuss these topics and also actively
engaging in educational activities. As a special treat, walnuts
will be cracked and served.
Orchard Health: The Holistic Paradigm
for Growing Good Fruit
[Michael Phillips]
> UMASS Dartmouth Star Store
Our primary role, as orchardists, is to build system health.
Understory management that embraces forest edge ecology is
critical when it comes to getting a leg up on fruit tree diseases.
Equally telling is the nutrient density—and flavor!—of
the apples we then harvest for our families and communities.
Come learn about fungal allies, root relationships and the
biodiversity that makes good fruit possible . Growing a profitable
tree fruit crop is a challenge no matter what the management
philosophy that one follows. Holistic orcharding involves
a wide breadth of knowledge and timeliness, yet one fact stands
clear—we can have beautiful apples grown without chemical
intervention. Sustainable agriculture will work only when
we have fun and get people involved with our farms.
Our Love and/or Our Money?
[Clemens Pietzner]
> UMASS Dartmouth 800 Purchase St.
Does our time present us within a unique opportunity to think,
feel and “do” our money and economy differently?
Are we forced to make choices between our love and our money?
In this workshop, we will explore developing methods and practices
of alignment, from looking closely at and honoring the types
and places of love and spirit to a deeper understanding of
money itself, to investing and philanthropy. We will turn
to the connection between land, agriculture, food and economic
consciousness and systems. We will survey both of the related
new indicators, thought leaders, models and social constructs
that are emerging. And, in all of this, we will identify a
path forward for the curious and young at heart who seek insight
into contemporary questions through appreciative inquiry.
Winterizing the Ultimate Green
Diet ( hands on Workshop with live demo and samples)
[Dorit]
> Ocean Explorium
This workshop will be taught by Dorit, Certified Living Foods
Chef and Author, she will teach you to make foods that leave
the least carbon footprint while keeping you satiated and
energized all winter long without having to touch the stove!
You will learn to make a deeply satisfying and highly nutritious
Green Smoothie, with the under utilized gem of the Ocean,
Kelp Noodles, as well as a raw, vegan Curry Sweet Potato Soup
with Spinach. This workshop was filled to capacity last year
with only standing room left so come early as there will be
lots to sample, learn and prizes to be won
Food in the Age of Peak Oil: The
Future Is Not What It Use To Be
[Jim Corven and Nancy Lee Wood]
> YMCA
American farmers are the most productive in the world, but
most of what they grow is inedible. Industrial agriculture
consumes up to 50 petroleum calories to yield just 1 food
calorie, not including processing and shipping of thousands
of miles. Given the issues of global climate change, peak
oil and declining food quality we need to adopt sustainable
strategies sooner rather than later. This workshop will explore
some of the many options available from a technical, economic
and social perspective with an emphasis on biological-solar
agriculture. Jim and Nancy will discuss why agriculture is
changing and that we have the opportunity to do much better.
Always Looking To The Sea: A trolley
tour of New Bedford's Working Waterfront and adjacent neighborhoods
[Arthur Motta]
> Custom House Square
Narrated trolley tour of New Bedford's storied waterfront,
once trod by Frederick Douglass and Herman Melville, now America's
#1 commercial fishing port. Tour weaves through the central
wharves district, into the south terminal fish processing
area, along the massive hurricane barrier and on to the sweeping
views of Buzzards Bay at Fort Taber Park. Trolley returns
to the downtown by way of the city's neighborhoods and the
County Street Historic District.
*All dates and times are subject to change.
Due to the influx of Bioneers by the Bay: Connecting for Change
workshop proposals we have created a form for 2010 workshops.
Please download the form below, fill it out and email it to
info@connectingforchange.org.
Please keep in mind that Bioneers by the Bay is focused on
visionary and practical solutions for restoring the earth
and its inhabitants. We look forward to your submissions.
2010
Workshop Proposal Form
