Permaculture Design Course and Winter Concert 2016
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Penny
Jan 20, 2016, 9:58:03 AM1/20/16
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Personally, because I'm in love with my home-place and I've had the opportunity and exposure, I wish to increase Permaculture education in Michigan. I believe we need it, for many reasons. One reason is to give a creative voice and positive empowerment to those of us that have long been working in environmental justice and activism.We expect to serve at least 30 permaculture students and also host public workshops and presentations (April and May for sure), and believe we will reach hundreds of TC area community members through our efforts in 2016 and beyond.I'm working up a more formal info share on the reason we are having a fundraiser to support the permaculture design course, which includes a little more background on permaculture and what the benefits to our community are if MORE folks have learned the language and begun to practice this type of science based design planning of human habitats....I always include a "definition" of permaculture: Permaculture is the art of creating living ecosystems that imitate Nature to provide food, fuel and shelter for humans. With permaculture, it is possible for people to regenerate and enhance the places where they live and work.For now, I'll repeat what we've put on the poster: funds raised will contribute to bringing a team of professional, national and Great Lakes regional educators together for this 6 month course and help to provide funding for those who are in need and wish to attend.
I'm especially advocating for a permaculture education for young people (and additional or re-education for us older folks)to offer an intelligent opportunity blending environmentalism into and alongside of their education, and to change up the conversation from, "who do you want to work for" to "what problem do you want to solve".
After holding a successful 6--month, Modular Permaculture Design Course in 2010 and 2011, I've been working throughout the State of Michigan, not just in the Northern Michigan/Traverse City area. In the past five years, dozens of the 2010 folks who attended a design course have developed businesses (O'k CSA is one! ); I've been weaving a network for practitioners and designers through the Michigan Permaculture Convergence held in 2013; And, beginning in 2014 I've joined the board of directors of the Great Rivers and Lakes Permaculture Institute which is a professional development organization that is comprised of national and internationally known leaders in permaculture design, education, and related fields.
To continue to fuel this movement through our Northern Michigan region, there is still much work to do. Late last Spring, with Little Artshram's board, I began organizing and designing another full 6-month permaculture design course (PDC), set to begin in March 2016. The design of this PDC is focused on: How to do permaculture in Traverse City, Food-Security & Sovereignty, Soil & Plant Health/Bio-nutrient Food and Biological Farming Practices.Little Artshram, O'k CSA, and family members like my son Zachary and our friend Seth Bernard are working with me in these next two months to help raise the $20,000 needed to create this 6-month long "permaculture pop-up school". The Greenspire School and Cherry Capital Food Hub will be our hosts of the course, and we look forward to sharing more and celebrating with all who are interested and want to learn more, and those who are already involved in our upcoming fundraiser on February 13th.We hope you will consider joining us in making this happen!Thanks for your consideration,
Sincerely,
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