The Commons is a documentary film about communities all over the world re-asserting sustainable, responsible futures using ancient Commons principles. The Commons are the shared resources of the world, owned by all, not just a few. The Commons are an ancient-new open-source code around the sharing of resources.

Five years in the making, we listened as 49 communities in the Americas, Europe and south Asia told us what has made their Commons work over the centuries. In the face of commodification and privatization, when everything seems to have a dollar value, Commoners are now saying, we’re taking a new path forward… http://commonsfilm.com/

Presented By: Bunker Seyfert

Thursday, September 15th | 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM | Yurt

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Permaculture is “site specific”. Are the important characteristics of “a permaculture garden” circular lines, or things that might be more difficult to express in sound bites? We’ll take a participatory look at what are likely to be common characteristics for most permaculture gardens, no matter what the climate or resource base may be. We hope to help participants achieve clarity in how to take their garden to the next level, whether they are already gardening or planning their first.

A 20 minute intro: wild gardening defined, including ethnobotany and crop diversity, native allies, staple crops, hand tools, nitrogen and micronutrients, and compost, then ten minutes for feedback and questions, then the group will physically layout a small intensive garden using a proven fast, foolproof method. Then we’ll process the whole thing, taking the permaculture principles as a guide to review.

Presented By: Rick Valley

The GROW BIOINTENSIVE method works to stabilize both current and future food systems by producing a complete diet and growing soil fertility 60x faster than nature with 90% fewer inputs, organic methodology, and appropriate technology. In doing so, we are able to inspire and empower communities to regain their food security; managing a strategy to grow more food in their Zone 1. This workshop will provide participants with the eight principles which guide immediate garden planning and implementation, as well as long-term sustainable food raising techniques. Through the use of our eight principles as presented in both a presentation and a hands-on activity, we hope to empower participants with the tools to create abundant, low-cost, low-tech, self-sustaining farm designs which feed both people and soil.

Presented By: Matt Drewno

Learn More About Matt Drewno

John will explain how to choose from thousands of possible plant selections for use in our regenerative landscapes, and where to find them. Learn how to source from back yard plant swaps to commercial nurseries and international germplasm repositories, including legalities, precautions, ethics, and building local community resilience.

Presented By: John Valenzuela

Friday, September 16th | 10:00 – 11:00 AM | Zocalo

Each choice we make is a vote for the kind of world we want to live in. The mission of ‘Adapt – A Permaculture Game’ is to educate individuals and groups how to design in the ethics and principles of Permaculture to each aspect of our lives. We will play through the creating of a world to thrive in by applying principles, patterns, and collective knowledge pools to cultivate caring choices for our communities and our own self-care needs.  This playshop will provide you with the inside scoop on the evolutionary teaching tool – ‘Adapt’ – while participating in a few rounds of game play. Explore with us the many ways in which this game and its pieces can be used through out a multitude of educational environments and community development.

Presented By: Bridget O’Brien

Sunday September 18th | 12:30 – 1:30 PM | Bioregional Hub

Come learn how to use appropriate cooking technologies such as solar cookers and fuel-efficient rocket stoves to cook a completely fossil-fuel-free meal!

Everyday enough sunlight hits the earth to exceed world annual energy demand several times over! Solar thermal energy is a readily available and renewable way to cook our food; dehydrate our fruits and vegetables; and pasteurize water. Come check out a variety of appropriate cooking technologies and discover the multitude of benefits of solar cooking and fuel-efficient rocket stoves – both for our health and the health of our planet. We will discuss the design and construction of these technologies and enjoy a delicious and completely fossil-fuel-free meal! We will also discuss the vision for SolutionCraft – a permaculture food truck!

Brennan is purchasing the world’s largest mobile solar oven, the Villager Sun Oven. This oven can cook 100s of loaves of bread / over 1000 meals a day with no fuel costs, using energy directly from the sun. Being able to offer an ecological kitchen that doesn’t depend on fossil fuels is critical to Building Resilient Communities! And helps build bridges under our common SOLution, the source of all our energy, the sun!

Presented By: Brennan Bird

Beyond the Culture of Separation uses an innovative approach and interactive learning modalities to expand white-identified participants’ capacities to work toward a racially equitable society. Because shame and isolation are integral aspects of white socialization, our approach is grounded in encouragement and community building. We will explore levels of racism and introduce practical tools for shifting our personal and collective relationship to whiteness.

This workshop is for White-identified people *

*As white-identified people, we have a responsibility to educate ourselves about racism. In addition, coming together in a white-only space enables us to express feelings and share experiences without causing harm to people of color. Honest dialogues about race among white-identified people disrupts the white social norm that inhibits these conversations, while building our capacities to work effectively for racial equity.

Beyond the Culture of Separation is an 8-week class developed and led by me and my co-facilitators (4 cohorts of 15 plus participants over 2 years). we use an innovative approach and interactive learning modalities to expand white-identified participants’ capacities to contribute collectively to the creation of a society with greater freedom and dignity for everyone.

Presented By: Angela Sevin

One of the most important skills of a trained Permaculture designer is observation. Over the last 11 years, Weaving Earth has been focusing heavily on the practice of Bird Language – listening and watching what the birds are telling us about the eco-system. To truly understand what the birds are telling us requires an acute level of observation, which has ultimately served us well as designers. This experiential workshop will be an introduction to Bird Language basics, and a conversation about how it has served us as Permaculture designers. And possibly most important, Bird Language is also a lot of fun!

Presented By: David Hage and the Weaving Earth Team

Food insecurity is a reality faced by many low-income urban families, however the food access movement goes beyond developing local gardens, farmers markets, grocery stores, etc. This workshop is for those who are seeking methods on how to engage community members in altering the food system. Come join this interactive hour long workshop and learn about resident- led projects, in food swamps like Oakland and Bayview Hunters Point, CA, which integrated community engagement for local and governmental level change.

Presented By: Jasmine Vassar

It’s possible, we can reverse climate change through permaculture/ regenerative agriculture. And the “we” is everyone on the planet. There is a movement building globally and we need your participation. This workshop will give you skills to add your voice and talents to building the global movement. We’ll go over messaging, social media, storytelling, and how your unique skills, no matter what they are, can help spread the word.

Presented By: Lauren Tucker

Sunday, September 18th | 11:40 AM – 12:00 PM | Solar Panel: El Sol

Permaculture addresses some of the most effective solutions to some of the world’s most urgent problems. Yet the movement has not gone mainstream yet. This panel looks at some innovative approaches to building bridges with other sectors and audiences, from governments to the LBGT community to emergency preparedness.

Presented By: Penny Livingston,  Bayo Akomolafe, Ana-Marie Jones, Brandi Mack, Vanessa Raditz, Shawn Berry. Moderator: Jasmine Fuego

Friday September 16th | 8:15 PM – 9:15 PM | Main Stage

The Integral Center in Boulder Colorado is a forerunner in developing social technologies that build community, increase relational intelligence, and develop leadership skills. Their immersive courses such as the Authentic Relating Comprehensive, Authentic Leadership and Facilitation Training, and Authentic Man Program transform peoples relationships with themselves and others. One of the tools they’ve used to build community is Authentic Relating Game Nights. In this workshop you’ll experience how Authentic Relating Games can make our communities stronger and more resilient.

Presented By: Jaclyn Saorsail

How do we increase our own resilience and strengthen our communities in the midst of instability? How do we support local community projects, leaders and organizations, strengthening collaboration across differences? What do we do when our own lives are busy and full, yet our community is not responding fast enough? Come share and learn ways of catalyzing community-building and greater action – how to be an effective part of growing local resilience. We’ll share ways of engaging people in a wide range of projects, and ways to bring people together for positive, creative action.

Presented by: Tina Clarke

Saturday September 17th | 11:00 – 11:20 AM | Solar Panel: El Sol

Transition Streets is a neighbor-led project to reduce household energy and water use, build resilient local food systems, and build community resilience and increase social cohesion on your street. It takes the systemic thinking of Transition & Permaculture and breaks it down into a simple curriculum with actionable steps that add up to real change. If you’ve been looking for ways to engage your neighbors and launch resilience-building on your street, you will want to take in this workshop!

Transition Streets is a relatively new and very successful project of Transition US which has been used in dozens of communities across the country. It combines a number of strategies: saving money on household bills; getting to know your neighbors; leadership and facilitation development; community dialogue; as well as reducing energy/water/waste. It is definitely a “building bridges” project, particularly between near neighbors. The workshop will provide participants with a taste of the curriculum as well as tips on how to implement it (for example, outreach to neighbors & local media, running a successful meeting) and other takeaways/lessons learned from the project. Presenters will include TUS staff (Carolyne Stayton and Joshua Shepherd) as well as local Transition leaders who have implemented Transition Streets in their own neighborhoods. This workshop will be primarily informational although there will be a number of participatory exercises to really relay the flavor of the project and its potential for greater systemic change.

Presented By: Tina Clark

We’ll start with an interactive exercise: a well-intentioned group of like-minded people unable to get anything done, because everyone wants to have a say in everything, and everyone has to agree on everything.

Once we’re all nice and frustrated, Mud Hut will lead a presentation about the importance of governance — dealing with authority in a clear and explicit way, because if you don’t, you get stuck. The presentation will cover Holacracy and self-management, ranging from the big-picture elements, like trust, emotional maturity and alignment with purpose, to the nuts/bolts: the rules and jargon and what functions they serve. Then he will facilitate a Holacratic-style governance meeting to experience an alternative to dealing with the same issues we started with.

Presented By: Mud Hut

Sunday, September 18th | 9:30 – 10:30 AM | Solar Panel: El Sol

Cannabis farming has not embraced sustainable practices, but with the evolving regulations, sustainable farming is becoming more common place.

In the past, cannabis farmers have not been considered to be sustainable, let alone farmers. Due to legal and enforcement issues, Cannabis farmers have struggled in the past to plan and develop beyond 12 to 18 months. As the State passing new legislation and develops licensing requirements and local jurisdictions do the same, the farming environment for the cannabis cultivator begins to stabilize. Sustainable and regenerative practices are being embraced by the farmer. The investment horizon for the cannabis farmer is beginning to extend to multiple years. Cannabis farmers can now realize returns on investments in terms of years instead of months.

As State legislation produces new regulations and licenses, cannabis cultivation has now become a commodity crop under the State Department of Food and Agriculture.  Sustainable practices are being embraced. This workshop brings cannabis farmers and sustainable practice service providers together to discuss this transition.

Presented By: Arthur Deicke, Larry Shaeffer, Asa Shaeffer, Naaman Hagman, Daisy Ozim

If we believe that permaculture can save the world, then it is social permaculture that can implement this on a grander scale. It is social permaculture that can go beyond the linear process of paradigm transitioning, to truly address the core issues we face, not just addressing them at surface/current manifestations. In culture design we anchor in the highest vision first, then bridge with the descending paradigm process. Everything we need to create this highest vision is available, it is just still dispersed and embedded in the descending paradigm, thus unable to be fully realized. To put new culture elements together in more comprehensive ways, in more enlightened context creates the quantum leap we are looking for, to the scale and power needed to face our greatest challenges. The development of these tactics, strategies, organizational structures and venues are our collaborative design templates.

Learn More About Alexa Bernard

Pachamama Alliance works in partnership with the Achuar, an indigenous tribe in the Amazon rainforest, to protect and preserve their ancestral lands. Part of that work is “changing the dream of the modern world” to one that honors and sustains life. The Co-Active Leadership Model from the Coaches Training Institute offers a new framing of leadership and collaboration that supports a new way of organizing grassroots efforts that engages everybody’s insights and creativity.

Developing new ways of collaborating within and between organizations is at the forefront of this work. The Co-Active Leadership Model is based in relationship to one another and relationship to Life, key themes of Building Resilient Communities and permaculture. This framework empowers everybody to contribute their fullest selves, and generates creative approaches and powerful solutions.

Presented by: Pachamama Alliance: Rogér Knoren and Jason Bayless

Wednesday September 14th | 11:15 – 12:15 AM | Mainstage

Come play with clay! Get your hands dirty and learn one of the coolest ways to build with natural material.  For children of all ages, come explore the messy and enchanting world of cob. Less see what we can build!

Presented by: Nico Morris

Check in at the Cob Building Station. Events will happen spontaneously throughout the event.

The Cogarden platform enables a ‘Do It Together’ food gardening experience. Connecting food growers that share fence, or are miles from each other. Cogardeners help in creating a Community to Consumer food supply chain, that makes neighborhoods resilient, and culturally diverse. Sunil, Founder, Cogarden will introduce the Cogardening framework, its socio-cultural impact, and eco-commerce potential. Join us. Let’s Cogarden.

Presented by: Sunil R Nair and Rob Bennaton

Sunday September 18th | 3:30 – 4:30 PM | Bioregional Hub