Resilient Communities: Restoring People and
Planet Seminars and Trainings
The Women’s Earth and Climate Caucus is now glad to offer a series of seminars and trainings in building Resilient Community. Along with the initiatives and programs we have developed nationally and internationally, there have been many requests to generate more hands-on participation.
We see ourselves standing at a crossroad where we have the choice and opportunity to re-imagine and re-direct how we are living with our Earth, each other and our communities. Exploring and building resilience gives us a pathway to adapt to unprecedented change and to renew a deep understanding of the natural world and the creative power that resides within us.
From United Nation studies to the business community to a wide spectrum of world leaders and Indigenous elders, all are recognizing that empowering women and women’s leadership are key to climate change strategies and essential to changing our current course towards one of thriving, healthy and just communities.
We would love to have you join us. Men are also welcome. Several scholarships may be available and course sizes purposefully will be kept small, so we encourage you to sign up early. For more information, please contact June Timberlake at jtimberlake@worldforum.org
Special Bonus: 2 or 3 weeks before each seminar/training there will be a one-hour free telecourse offered by the instructors. These telecourses will provide an overview of the upcoming seminar/training and will be hosted by the Executive Director of Transition US, Carolyne Stayton, in partnership with Transition US. The link to the telecourses will be posted on our website Women's Earth and Climate Caucus starting in September.
1) Rights of Nature
Part 1: Education from the frontlines locally and globally
Part 2: Creating a new Earth-honoring narrative.
September 30th-October 1st 2011
Register here <http://weccseminars.eventbrite.com/>
Starts Friday evening September 30th. 7:00pm -9:30pm continues October 1st 10:00am-5:00pm
Location: Corte Madera Community Room in Marin County in the office building at
770 Tamalpais Drive, Suite 201.
Course fee: $55.00
Bring lunch on Saturday or there are many near-by restaurants for the mid-day break.
In this dynamic seminar we will learn about the historic 2008 event when Ecuador became the first country to include Rights of Nature in its national constitution and then cover movements since then in Bolivia and here in the U.S. as Rights of Nature takes hold as an idea whose time has come. Rights of Nature laws create a right to legal standing, such that people, communities, Indigenous peoples, non-profit environmental organizations, and others would have standing to protect the environment. Climate activists have long been seeking a tool, which would enable communities affected by climate change to gain recognition for the harms done not just to human interests around the globe, but also to environmental ones. We come together with a common interest to actively advance the creation of human communities that respect the Rights of Nature. We will also explore how Rights of Nature invigorates momentum for a new cultural narrative that honors our living Earth. Join us and step into this historical moment!
This course will include:
What are Rights of Nature?
What is happening in the local/ global movement for Rights of Nature?
How can we change our personal and cultural narrative to create an Earth-honoring society?
How to understand Rights of Nature personally in our everyday lives
Enter into history in the making!
Rights of Nature can express our deep respect and care for our Earth in a human structure of law. It can, in part, help to restore the ancient and life-sustaining concepts that have been damaged in our current times. Rights of Nature defines the relationship of humankind and nature as interdependent, and as such, the need for humankind to live in harmony with Nature is essential.
Register here <http://weccseminars.eventbrite.com/>
Suggested reading :
The Rights of Nature, The Case for a Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth
(essays by many authors)
Wild Law: A Manifesto For Earth Justice, Cormac Cullinan
Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature, Osprey Orielle Lake
Instructors:
Shannon Biggs is the Director of the Community Rights program at Global Exchange. She recently co-authored a book, Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grass Roots (PoliPoint Press). Her current work focuses on assisting communities confronted by corporate harms to enact binding laws that place the rights of communities and nature above the claimed legal "rights" of corporations.
Osprey Orielle Lake is a lifelong advocate of environmental justice and societal transformation. She is the director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Caucus (WECC) and on the Board of Praxis Peace Institute. Her book, Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature,(White Cloud Press) is a 2011 Nautilus Book Award winner. In December 2010, she initiated Rights of Nature into the framework of WECC’s working groups and is a member of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature.
2) Women and Water -- From watersheds to grey-water systems.
October 28th-30th 2011
Register here <http://weccseminars.eventbrite.com/>
October 28th. 7:00pm - 9:30pm
Location: Corte Madera Community Room in Marin County in the office building at
770 Tamalpais Drive, Suite 201.
October 29th meet at 10:00am Corte Madera Community Room, then journey to Bon Tempe Lake, day ends at 5:30pm. Pack a lunch, snacks and water.
October 30th meet at 9:00 am Corte Madera Community Room to carpool to Regenerative Design Institute in Bolinas for water training, day ends at 4:30pm. Lunch will be provided on this day.
Seminar/training fee: $145.00
Explore the beauty and lessons of watersheds as metaphor and model in this seminar and training in the water basin of Marin County. From walking along the edge, mapping and learning the story of Bon Tempe Lake (one of the beautiful lakes that is part of the water ecology of the region) to learning how to be good water stewards with practical skills in learning how to build gray-water systems and harvest rainwater, we will delve into watersheds as a focal point for community building and community resilience. The urgent problem of global water shortage will be examined; including how respecting the very nature of water itself can be a part of the integrated solution. Participants not local to the Marin County area are welcome and can gain valuable watershed knowledge and skills to provide protection for their own water resources by applying the seminar/training to their own local bioregion.
In addition to practical skills, participants will learn about the longtime connections between women and water worldwide from cultural to ecological perspectives. The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) points out: ‘There is a very clear gender division of roles and resources in all areas of water resources management’. In rural developing areas in many countries, women are traditionally the main managers of domestic water resources at the local level. Women alone decide where and how to collect domestic water, what amount and how to use it. Their knowledge about the reliability, location and seasonal variation of local water sources is a precious resource gained through personal experience, and through interpersonal and intergenerational contacts with other women.
This course will include:
Journey to Bon Tempe Lake for a time of deep connection with the local watershed of Marin County. What does it mean to connect with our bioregion?
On site visit to the Regenerative Design Institute in Bolinas
How to build a grey water system in your home for landscaping and garden use
Demonstration of an inexpensive and easy rainwater harvesting system
Learn about women around the world and their long-standing cultural, traditional and practical relationship with water
What is happening with the world’s water locally and globally and action plans
Register here <http://weccseminars.eventbrite.com/>
Suggested reading:
Create an Oasis With Greywater, Art Ludwig
Blue Gold, Maude Barlow, Tony Clarke
Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature, Osprey Orielle Lake
Instructors:
Penny Livingston-Stark is internationally recognized as a prominent permaculture teacher, designer and speaker. She has been teaching internationally and working professionally in the land management, regenerative design and permaculture development field for 25 years and has extensive experience in all phases of ecologically sound design and construction as well as the use of natural non-toxic building materials. She specializes in site planning and the design of resource-rich landscapes integrating, rainwater collection, edible and medicinal planting, spring development, pond and water systems, habitat development and watershed restoration for homes, co-housing communities, businesses and diverse yield perennial farms.
Osprey Orielle Lake is the Founder/Director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Caucus where she is working nationally and internationally with grassroots leaders, policy-makers, business people, and scientists to reduce carbon emissions and foster a post-carbon energy future, while also addressing societal transformation. She is on the Board of Praxis Peace Institute, an advisor to International Eco-Cities Framework and Standards Initiative and has traveled to five continents studying ancient and modern cultures while making presentations at international conferences and universities. Her book, Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature, White Cloud Press), won a 2011 Nautilus Book Award.
3) Women’s Leadership and Building Resilient Communities: A Personal and Practical Seminar and Training. Includes visit to Black Dot Artists Community.
November 18th-29th 2011
Register here <http://weccseminars.eventbrite.com/>
November 18th 7:00pm - 9:00 pm
November 19th 10:00am - 5:30pm Bring lunch or buy lunch at onsite café
November 20th 1:00pm - 4:00pm Onsite visit to Black Dot Artists Community
Location: Strawberry Creek Design Center, 1250 Addison Street in Berkeley. The Center overlooks a park and sits alongside Strawberry Creek, which was unearthed from culverts and restored to its natural state.
Seminar/training fee: $145.00
Before the first Earth Day in 1970, women worldwide worked to protect their communities and the regions where they live. Their love and care to protect water, forest, farms and air is a shared and honored history. Come partake in the legacy of women-led earth movements and your next step in the journey.
This gathering will focus on personal leadership skills for women in a turbulent world; the challenges and successes of women’s experiences as change-makers, giving real tools and exercises to create positive momentum. We will explore what it means for women to lift up their voices for their own empowerment and for the sake of the Earth, our children and future generations.
The seminar will help women unlock new ways to contribute to their home circle, organizations and communities and is designed for women who are 1) already leading and want to deepen their skills and collaborate with others or 2) those who are just finding their way into leadership.
As a learning and teaching model, we will utilize the Ecocity Framework, a current project of Ecocity Builders along with a group of international advisors, to help women better understand how cities typically work, how they are part of larger systems and where the usual networks of power and influence lie in relation to the features that drive cities and make them more healthy or less, including the city's relationship with natural systems. We will use the Framework as a tool to explore where people see their point of influence or potential point of influence. As part of the inquiry, we will explore some of the many pathways to engagement through the Ecocity-Ecocitizen values types. The take-away will be setting both a personal and public/community engagement goals statement based on what each person is passionate about doing, alone or with others. In this way, everyone is validated for their part and can see how we are all working together for the same goal - a better future with thriving communities.
We will also visit the Black Dot Artists West Oakland community to learn about their ongoing projects that include developing an urban farm, a cafe/cultural center, a performance venue, neighborhood museum and more. This is a wonderful opportunity to experience community resilience with a number of projects that are about local economic revitalization, local jobs, local food and cultural ecology.
Register here <http://weccseminars.eventbrite.com/>
Suggested Reading:
Eco-Cities, Richard Register
Instructors:
Kirstin Miller is the Executive Director of Ecocity Builders. She is a frequent speaker locally, nationally and internationally on the Ecocity topic. She works closely with Ecocity Builders’ President Richard Register in the development of the organization’s “toolbox” of strategies, such as car free by contract housing, environmental restoration transfer of development rights, ecological demonstration projects and ecological zoning overlay mapping. She is the also the Lead Facilitator of the International Ecocity Framework and Standards, an international guide to help cities and citizens analyze and evaluate their city in an integrated framework that supports systemic thinking and solutions. Her articles and essays on ecocities, urban ecology and the environment have appeared in a number of publications, including Orion Afield, Ecotecture and Wilderness and Human Communities, The Spirit of the 21st Century.
Osprey Orielle Lake is a lifelong advocate of environmental justice and societal transformation. She is the Director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Caucus, on the Board of Praxis Peace Institute and an advisor to the International Ecocities Framework and Standards initiative. Osprey has traveled to five continents studying ancient and modern cultures while making presentations at international conferences and universities. She is the Founder/Artist of the International Cheemah Monument Project, creating 18 foot bronze sculpture monuments for locations around the world, where people can ponder a better future for the earth and humanity. Osprey’s unique perspectives as a renowned international sculptor and public speaker on environmental issues have been featured on both national and European television. Her book, Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature is a 2011 Nautilus Book Award winner (White Cloud Press).
4) Family Permaculture -- Introduction to applying permaculture in our daily lives.
January 28th 2012, 10:00am - 5:30pm
Register here <http://weccseminars.eventbrite.com/>
Location: Corte Madera Community Room in Marin County in the office building at 770 Tamalpais Drive, Suite 201.
Course fee: $45.00
Bring lunch or there are many nearby restaurants for the mid-day break.
This will be an exciting interactive seminar that delves into daily practices of permaculture, which uses ecology as the basis for designing integrated systems of food production, housing, appropriate technology, and community development. Permaculture is built upon an ethic of caring for the earth and interacting with the environment in mutually beneficial ways.
Suggested reading:
Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, Janine M. Benyus
Earth User's Guide to Permaculture, Rosemary Morrow
Instructors:
Pandora Thomas’ life and work is rooted in creating a world where all people have access to empowering and hands on environmental education experiences. She is passionate about deepening her and others connection to the natural rhythms of our earth in order to heal our communities. She is co-founder of Earthseed Consulting LLC, a holistic consulting firm whose work deepens the impacts of environmental advocacy in the lives of diverse communities. Most recently she directed the Environmental Service Learning Initiative as well as serving as the environmental educator for Grind for the Green. She is a credentialed multiple subjects teacher, a naturalist and outdoor education instructor, as well as a certified green building professional and permaculture teacher who has created and delivered curriculum to pre-k through adult audiences throughout the US around multiple themes including human rights, environmental justice, and outdoor and environmental education.
Osprey Orielle Lake is a lifelong advocate of environmental justice and societal transformation. She is the director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Caucus (WECC) and on the Board of Praxis Peace Institute. Her book, Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature is a 2011 Nautilus Book Award winner (White Cloud Press).
5) Voices of the Coast Miwok-- Learning from Native Americans from Marin County.
February 17th-18th 2012
Course fee $155
Register here <http://weccseminars.eventbrite.com/>
We have the special opportunity to learn about the cultural and bioregional history of the Marin area from the original peoples of this land and to learn from them about their longstanding sustainable way of living with the earth.
More information forthcoming.
6) From the Hearth Fire to Solar Power--Examining our Relationship to Consumption, Sun, Energy and Local Solar Power.
March 9th, 10th, 11th 2012
Register here <http://weccseminars.eventbrite.com/>
March 9th 7:00pm - 9:00pm
March 10th 10:00am - 5:00pm
March 11th 1:00am - 4:00pm
Location: Strawberry Creek Design Center, 1250 Addison Street in Berkeley. The Center overlooks a park and sits alongside Strawberry Creek, which was unearthed from culverts and restored to its natural state.
Seminar/training fee: $145.00
This course invites you into the realm of storytelling and journal writing as a way of
1) Exploring our relationship to the gifts of the sun
2) Mapping out how we can bring solar power to our homes and communities
3) Shifting our relationship with consumption habits. What is truly valuable? What is wealth?
This seminar is designed to catalyze and connect a growing momentum to create measurable carbon reductions, lifestyle changes and market impacts in our daily lives. Drawing from the essential connection we have to our children, families, each other, and the earth, we intend to inspire actions that have a real and measurable effect on carbon levels, while also shifting away from the underlying patterns of consumption, conflicting values, and environmental degradation that have led to many of the crises we now face.
Everyone possesses creative potential; it is our birthright. And all are welcome to share in this soul-fueled exploration of solar energy. Wrote the poet Rimbaud, “The Sun… pours burning love on the delighted earth.” The sun is the magnificent fire that warms our atmosphere and fuels life on this planet. But today, our addiction to ancient sunlight in the form of fossil fuels drives our consumer society and threatens our future. It’s time we revisited our relationship with our home star.
This course includes touring and learning about the important work of local solar power companies *Sungevity, *Solar Mosaic, * Marin Solar. This will be an in depth opportunity to learn about local solar power and how you can start planning to install panels on your home or office space and support solar power in your community. (* In the process of confirming)
Suggested reading:
Real Goods Solar Living Sourcebook: The Complete Guide to Renewable Energy Technologies & Sustainable Living, John Schaeffer (Editor)
Embrace Your Inner Wild: 52 Reflections for an Eco-Centric World, Mary Reynolds Thompson
Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature, Osprey Orielle Lake
Instructors:
Mary Reynolds Thompson is an award-winning writer and certified poetry and journal therapy facilitator. Founder of Reclaiming the Wild Soul, Mary conducts writing workshops throughout the United States. She also serves on the core faculty of the Therapeutic Writing Institute where her focus is the connection between the natural world and our wild souls. To her ecological understanding, Mary adds years of experience in marketing and branding. She provides first-hand insights into how corporations and the media manipulate our innate desires and turn us from citizens into consumers. She is author of Embrace Your Inner Wild: 52 Reflections for an Eco-Centric World. (White Cloud Press) http://www.reclaimingthewildsoul.com
Osprey Orielle Lake is a lifelong advocate of environmental justice and societal transformation. She is the director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Caucus (WECC) and on the Board of Praxis Peace Institute. Her book, Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature is a 2011 Nautilus Book Award winner (White Cloud Press).
More courses to come!… food justice, local foods, supporting local farmers. We will be offering a weekend seminar on food justice, local foods and supporting local farmers. This event will also feature the amazing work of City Slicker Farms that has been partnering with the West Oakland community since 2001 to grow and distribute thousands of pounds of its own fresh produce. Time, date and details TBA for spring of 2012.
Thank you from the Women's Earth and Climate Caucus team!
