SUNDAY OVERVIEW: Great Lakes BIONEERS Program 2011

SUNDAY OCT. 16 • 9:00 am – 10:00 am • Milliken Auditorium

MUSIC AND OPENING REMARKS
Aaron Otto
Native American Flute

Keynote: Bob Russell
TOMORROW’S COMMONS
Bob Russell is co-director of the Neahtawanta Research and Education Center, innkeeper, cook, website developer, grandpa, dad, husband, and generalist. He has been organizing the Great Lakes Bioneers for ten years and has watched our community learn to visualize and understand some of the key concepts of the Bioneers. “It’s all connected.” Sure, but what does that actually mean in terms of the commons, ecology, culture, and resilience? Bob will share his insights on the future through the lens of local events and speak to the generalizable process of creating a more resilient community.

SUNDAY MORNING WORKSHOPS • 10:15 am – 11:45 am

THE ECO-FIELD, OUR SHARED LANDSCAPE: A NEW HUMANITY EMERGES
Scholars Hall, Rm 209
Join Diane Osborne, visionary activist, social healer, and bridge builder, to explore the concept of the eco-field. The eco-field acts like an ecosystem for our consciousness where particles are exchanging information constantly and instantaneously. The time has come for our belief in our separateness to be over. Our power is held and cared for by a legacy of tightly woven community. This workshop will share tools to engage the increasing stress we face as a global community and encourage a sense of our web of interconnectivity as a way of resourcing ourselves for this time when the old paradigm is unraveling.

WAYS TO GET STARTED
Scholars Hall, Rm 102
Come learn Easy Ways to Get Started as an environmentalist! This very basic hands-on workshop will teach simple skills that can make a difference. Skills include: how to fix a flat on your bike, greywater basics, kombucha-making, sprouting, eating weeds, seed-starting basics, and more! No previous experience necessary. Presenter Aliisa Lahti has a degree in Environmental Studies and two major passions: environmentalism and sharing important information with others.

ANCIENT MEDICINE FOR MODERN TIMES
Scholars Hall, Rm 204
In this workshop you will have the opportunity to explore the basic principles of Chinese Medicine. Elon Cameron, who holds a master’s degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine, will lead the discussion about the philosophical foundations of this ancient medicine, as well as how they are practically applicable in your life today. Each participant will be given an introduction as well as specific guidance on how to live in greater harmony with nature.

GETTING AROUND THE GRAND TRAVERSE REGION (WITHOUT OWNING A CAR)
Scholars Hall, Rm 205
Join James Bruckbauer and Jim Lively of the Michigan Land Use Institute (mlui.org) in this informative session on how to use our transit systems and why they are important. Learn how using transit can better your community and the environment. Hear about how easy and convenient it is to ride the bus; find out where the fixed routes are around the region and how to use them. There will also be an opportunity for the audience to offer suggestions on how to make the system better. This workshop will also focus on other tools that are available to help you get around the region without owning a car.

CELTIC WISDOM IN DEFENSE OF THE COMMONS
Scholars Hall, Rm 20/22
Discover native Celtic traditions in defense of the sacred commons. Seamus Norgaard uses slides, discussion, story-telling, and ceremony to unfold the use of cairns, environmental sculptures, and Celtic Spirit wheels for sacred orientation; free passage across the landscape; springs, trees, and summits as markers; and a powerful Celtic Wisdom Tale of the Sacred Commons. Throughout this workshop, participants will be considering and adapting Celtic tools and traditions to environmental activism today. Norgaard is a Peace and Environment activist, professor, and writer, and he facilitates retreats around themes of peace, environment, and community building.

PERMACULTURE AS STRUCTURE: A REVOLUTION OF NECESSITY
Scholars Hall, Rm 202
Permaculture techniques and an ecological design process offer a structure for reclaiming the commons through the understanding that nature starts small with successful arrangements, then repeats and duplicates itself. This workshop will be presented by Penny Krebiehl of Little Artshram, and by other permaculture educators and consultants who have joined together in the Traverse City Permaculture Design Project. They are building a guild of autonomous, independent folks, envisioning and designing a Community Learning Center, expanding throughout northwest Michigan with an Urban Farming Collective, an inventory of people and skill-sets, and a Time-Bank.

LIVING WITH SOLAR ENERGY: STAMPING OUT THE MYTH ABOUT SOLAR PRODUCTION IN MICHIGAN
Scholars Hall, Rm 101
This workshop will provide real-life answers to participants’ questions about reliability and the changes people should anticipate to live in a world with renewable energy. Yes, solar does work in Michigan. Through visual and personal accounts, Paula Gale, Randy Smith, and JD Stratton will detail aspects of renewable energy technologies from their personal and professional experience.

REACHING TOWARD REGENERATIVE DESIGN
Scholars Hall, Rm 32
There is no substitute for smart design when creating and sustaining thriving communities. Water use, integration of buildings systems, and inspirational infrastructure will help determine the health, resiliency, and sustainability of our communities. Participants will explore how using water as a cornerstone of design can produce movement beyond the “demonstration” phase of sustainable infrastructure and design, as well as how existing and planned projects can be complementary with urban agriculture, redevelopment of blighted areas, and reintroduction of habitat into our community fabric. Presenter Pete Muñoz is the co-founder of SEEDS, a licensed Professional Engineer, and a Certified Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator.

SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS: MAPPING CONNECTIONS
Scholars Hall, Rm 104
As Bioneers, we are fond of saying “it’s all connected.” But how it’s connected also matters, especially when it comes to the social organizations that are all around us. In this workshop, Ken Frank explains social network analysis and how it can be used to better understand how social organizations function and evolve. He will also share preliminary results of an ongoing social network analysis of us – Traverse City Great Lakes Bioneers! Dr. Frank is professor of Counseling, Educational Psychology, & Special Education, and Fisheries & Wildlife at Michigan State University.

DEFENDING THE WATER COMMONS
Scholars Hall, Rm 109
Anne Zukowski from Don’t Frack Michigan and activists representing Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation and United Tribes of Michigan will highlight strategies they have used to counter the numerous attempts to privatize, pollute, and steal the waters which are our right. We will explore specific actions to deal with fracking, extractions and water exports, water theft, and ineffective regulation in a conversation with workshop participants.

LUNCH • 11:45am – finishes 1:30 pm

Underwritten by the Michigan Organic Food and Farm Alliance
New location! For the best lunch you’ve ever had, pre-order tickets or buy them at the Registration Desk in Scholars Hall, Rm 106. Lunch will be served at the Grand Traverse County Civic Center (see pg. 7).

BROWN BAG WATER COMMONS PANEL DISCUSSION
Join us in Scholars Hall room 109 for the Water Commons Lunch Panel 12 - 1:15 pm

SUNDAY AFTERNOON WORKSHOPS 2 pm – 3:30 pm

WAYS TO GET STARTED
Scholars Hall, Rm 102, 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm
See Sunday morning workshop

SUNDAY AFTERNOON • 1:30 pm – 5 pm Milliken Auditorium

Announcements and updates.

NATIONAL SPEAKERS Beamed from California

MELISSA NELSON
REVITALIZING INDIGENEITY: ECO-CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE AND RECIPROCITY
Nelson is president of the Cultural Conservancy, a Native American nonprofit dedicated to the preservation and revitalization of indigenous cultures and their ancestral lands. Native peoples are working to maintain and restore their Traditional Ecological Knowledge, the art and science of resilience for the sustainability of future generations, which is critically needed as a partner to Western science to restore the world’s ecosystems and biological and cultural diversity. Nelson, professor of American Indian Studies at San Francisco State University, illuminates how the “re-indigenization” movement is inspiring a commitment to reciprocal relationships with place as well as collaborative partnerships among peoples and landscapes.

DAYNA BAUMEISTER
LIFE’S OPERATING MANUAL
Envision what our world would and could look like if we started reading and following the directions contained in “Life’s Operating Manual.” Co-founder of the Biomimicry Guild and Biomimicry Institute, Baumeister provides an eagle’s-eye view of biomimicry breakthroughs using ecological design and nature-inspired technologies that emulate nature’s profound design sophistication. She has worked in the field of biomimicry with Janine Benyus since 1998 and designed and teaches the world’s first Biomimicry Professional Certification Program.

PAM RAJPUT
VOICES FOR PEACE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: THE FIRST WOMEN’S PARLIAMENT OF INDIA
India’s first Women’s Parliament brought together 500+ democratically-elected women leaders from every part of the country. What began as a “shadow” Parliament addressing the under-representation of women in government is an inspiring innovation and success story. Rajput, among India’s most eminent leaders in the struggle for women’s rights, is an academic turned internationally renowned activist engaged in the women’s movement in India and beyond. She shares her vision of how the empowerment of women globally will transform the world.

MARY EVELYN TUCKER
THE POWER OF STORY
Our lives are guided by stories. Tucker, Yale professor and Forum on Religion and Ecology co-founder, weaves diverse cultural, personal, and cosmological narratives together for the sake of creating a just and sustainable future for all life. She explores cosmic evolution as a profoundly wondrous process based on creativity, connection, and interdependence. Journey of the Universe, created with cosmologist Briane Swimme, tells the epic story of the universe, weaving findings of modern science with enduring wisdom in the traditions of the West, East, and
indigenous peoples.

PHILLIPE COUSTEAU
CONTINUING A LEGACY: BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE WORLD IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Cousteau explores his family’s contributions to global oceanic exploration and conservation. Explorer, social entrepreneur, and environmental advocate, he continues the work of his father through EarthEcho International, engaging and empowering people to take action for a brighter future. He also serves as special correspondent for CNN International and chief environmental education spokesperson for Discovery Education. Cousteau will reveal the discoveries and the challenges in a rapidly changing world, why oceans and water are the most important systems on the planet, and ways all of us can share in the adventure of building a sustainable future.

BREAK
During the afternoon break, refreshments will be provided by The Inland Seas Education Association in the lobby of Milliken Auditorium. As a reminder - food and drink are not allowed in the Auditorium.

Underwritten by White Crane Billing Solutions