A central aspect of permaculture is designing so that needs can be met in healthy, regenerative ways. Human needs and wants, and our ways of trying to get them met, are extremely complex and powerful ecologies, and affect almost all of our permaculture design work. Developing awareness and skill in emotional literacy, and being able to read human needs and patterns in the ‘Zone 00’ of others and ourselves, supports us in being more response-able permaculturalists. This interactive workshop will give powerful insight into human ecologies and help us lift up emotional intelligence, which is much-needed as we transition into the next age of consciousness and we grow a more wholistic understanding of permaculture landscapes & practices.

Presented By: Jillian Hovey

A sacred men’s council to co-create deeper connection and embodiment through vulnerability, accountability, courage, and listening.
Men will be given the opportunity to share, to be challenged, and to support one another in finding a deeper groove in authentic connection and witnessing/acknowledging the impact of our choices to the Life around us.
Technologies that will be woven into the council will include breathwork, authentic relating, shadow work, and conflict resolution.

Presented By: Jason McKenzie

Bloom and Anahata have travelled globally with their organization, the Blooming Biodiversity Permaculture network, living at and visiting a rich diversity of Eco-villages, intentional communities, indigenous farms, and Permaculture projects. Through their slideshow presentation, you will have the opportunity to dive into their journey and experience vibrant photos and videos of the Permaculture gems they have been to. They will share best practices, innovative inventions, inspiring models, and paradigm shifting lessons they have learned from the multitudes of positive impact centers, followed by an open solutionary discussion counsel and action plans.

Presented By: Robin Liepman & Anna Simone Combi

Community and personal resilience begins with you. Be prepared for when the lights go out and the grid goes down. Practical, educational and attitude skills to survive and actually help your family or neighbor in the event of major disasters, when the usual industrial infrastructure is off-line, for shorter or longer times. Basic tactics and tools for owning your own light and electric, no matter what the circumstance. Applicable for individuals and small community groups, no matter the disaster situation or social breakdown.

Presented By: Chaz Peling

What is blockchain? Is it a key driver for rapid, scaled change? Why? What can we learn from luminaries in the space about how to better structure and engage regenerative community, culture, economy and governance? Where is it going?

Presented By: Samantha Sweetwater

·      A local indigenous perspective on these fires

·      Creating a coalition to galvanize community voice and place equity at the center of recovery

·      Launching a decentralized and community-powered emergency response system

·      Creating a grassroots justice and resilience fund to raise and distribute funds

·      Mobilizing across government, business and community for watershed protection

·      Addressing the mental health challenges that come with crisis

·      Re-landscaping the rebuild with a permaculture lens and community-powered approach

Speakers include:

·      Ana Lugo, co-founder of Soco Rises and Director of Communications for Community Action Partnership

·      Alegria De La Cruz – Chief Deputy Counsel for Sonoma County

·      Edward Willie – Pomo tribe, permaculturist and fire ecologist

·      Chris Grabill – Board of Directors at Sonoma County Conservation Action and Santa Rosa Board of Public Utilities

·      Kerry Fugett – Manager of Leadership Institute and Resilient Hubs Program at Daily Acts and member of the Sonoma county Climate Action Advisory Committee

·      Trathen Heckman – Executive Director at Daily Acts and Board member of Transition U.S. and California Water Efficiency Partnership

Join us for an interactive discussion and demonstration of multiple regenerative technologies. We will see how alcohol distilled from waste or low cost local sources, can burn clean and provide locally produced and consumed affordable clean fuels. We will learn about how to harvest, store and efficiently transform thermal energy into electricity and locomotive power through new high efficiency turbines, motors and generators. The team will share their experience taking Eco-resorts 100% off-grid as well as what can be done to improve your community, country or corporation’s energy, water, waste food and shelter systems.

Presented By: Rolland Gregg

This panel assumes that water rights equate to the most basic human right to life. We will be looking at concepts that have lead to a global water crisis, where 1 in 4 people lack access to safe drinking water to be able to live.

“Right to Life” is defined not just for humans but for all life, including plants, animals, ecosystems, and microorganisms. Viewing policy reform not as a political entity but as an essential component to creating change.

A social, ecological and human rights perspective exploring themes such as environmental racism, social and environmental justice, landscape resiliency, and environmental, ecological, social, political, and structural repair of the water cycle in the modern day.

This panel intends to explore the frontlines of environmental consciousness: cultivating mindfulness in our relationship to water and discuss action steps that could lead toward a revolution where all beings have an absolute right to clean water.

Presented By: Water Now

2018 Convergence Panelists: Cheryl Angel, Cleve Steward, & Karuna Warren

Staple crops can be an important, fun, and easy part of a regenerative system. This is a hands-on workshop where you will learn about growing and processing different grain crops by hand. There will be a discussion on planting and harvesting, then practice threshing, winnowing, and grinding different grains. There will be wheat, amaranth, and grinding corn to practice on, and you can take seeds home if you want!

Presented By: Shane Brown

Fiber systems are an often-forgotten, but essential part of wholistic systems of living. This is a hands-on workshop about growing and processing plant and animal fibers, from seed or animal to finished cloth. There will be wool, nettle, and flax that you will have the opportunity to practice processing, spinning, and weaving on simple looms. Bring a spindle if you have one!

Presented By: Shane Brown

New energy technologies which are pushing the boundaries of physics, chemistry, biology, electrical and mechanical engineering will transform the way that we live so much that the next 20 years will make the industrial revolution pale in comparison. This panel will explore several innovative technologies from thermal energy production, quantum power cells, bio-refineries, off grid eco-resorts power systems, zero waste systems and waste to energy production, closed loop technology-run aquaponics systems, and much more!

This robust panel is facilitated by SymbioNet and Delphi Village’s Chief Technology Officer, Rolland Gregg, who is also the founder of Imagin.com, a clean technology incubator in Seattle, WA.

Presented By: Chris Patton, David Blume, Kevin Fretz, & Rolland Gregg

Intro to permaculture course taught by Bay Area urban gardener and urban ecologist, seedsman and seed librarian, community gardener and community organizer Christopher Shein. He brings 17 years of teaching a PDC at Merritt College, many more years of teaching in community gardens and public schools, and knows he doesn’t know everything about permaculture or teaching or …
Christopher brings the most diverse students together (race, class, gender, etc…) to build the most plant and species diverse public gardens in the commons in urban SF East Bay. www.wildheartgardens.com, www.merrittlandhort.com

Presented By: Christopher Shein

“How I became a contractor to save the world, the lessons I learned from all my mistakes, and how we are still growing and not giving up.”

Marco Barrantes of La Loma Development Company will share stories from the trenches, instructions on ways to start a design-build company as a successful Permaculture contractor, and photos of La Loma’s diverse projects in Los Angeles. Topics will also include his experiences with urbanite, natural pools, public works, and school campus greening.

Learn how to become a contractor (or work with a contractor) to implement Permaculture design, and influence the trillion dollar landscape construction industry.

Presented By: Marco Barrantes

For this workshop, Ridhi D-Cruz and I will start by giving an overview of The City Repair Project. We will explain what the organization represents, how the Village Building Convergence (VBC) works, and why this event is part of the permaculture movement. Then, we will specifically describe how the VBC has helped marginalized communities stand up for social justice and equality. We will give examples of how we are building bridges of diversity and what communities can do to share power through co-collaborative placemaking.

Presented By: Ridhi & Ashley Bonn

Transform flammable fire-hazard brush into fire-resistant, water saving food forests with this easy technology – “Hugel-Swales”. Samyol will teach from his personal experience of creating jobs and improving local ecosystems with Hugel-Swales in Northern California. This workshop will teach you how to make Hugel-Swales for your own land projects or create jobs for your community by offering this essential service to other land stewards. Tips will be shared for boosting valuable vegetable, fruit, cannabis, mushroom, water catching yields, as well as discussions about benefiting surrounding ecosystems and economies with strategic planting, placement and marketing.

Presented By: Samyol Soulfyre

Yoga is a practice that was traditionally taught one-on-one, yet today we find close to 20 people in a typical one-hour class. How can you expect to make gains in your practice with such little attention given to each individual? In this workshop we’ll discuss and practice the fundamental techniques and tools necessary for continuing growth in your yoga practice. We’ll work on alignment, breathing, flow, and more to help you advance in each pose, in each class, and in your overall practice, whether at home, or in a studio. Come with a mat, flexible clothes, and an open mind!

Presented By: Adam Vaughn

The Internet has radically transformed our world. We are now more connected and exposed to more information than we’ve ever been before. This reality has rendered many of the world’s traditional institutions of power ripe for disruption. The Internet itself, however, is built upon and accessed through centralized infrastructure susceptible to government and institutional oversight and manipulation. In order to maximally leverage the disruptive and regenerative potential that technology affords us, decentralized technologies and infrastructure must be built and properly implemented.

Presented By: Rye N Flint

Anchoring The New Dream of Earth
Since 2005

ANCHORING THE NEW DREAM OF EARTH is a large group visionary stewardship process that activates us into our bliss and sense of connection with one another and all of life so that we can create new “blueprints” for earth Life.

From this place of harmony and mutual cooperation. People from all walks of life and religious traditions are invited to participate, with the understanding that we are celebrating our Unity in our Diversity, and connecting with the Universal Power and Presence of Love in non-religious yet intrinsically “spiritual” ways that are non-exclusive.

THE PROCESS FOLLOWS PARTICIPANTS’ PASSIONS ABOUT PARTICULAR EARTH-LIFE TOPICS, FOR EXAMPLE:

• How could our children’s education be the most loving, empowering, confidence building, joy inducing experience possible for them?
• Could politicians be World Servers?
• What do you want the environment to be like?
• How do people get well?
• Can all corporations become Earth Stewards, creating with sustainable technologies?
• Can all our technologies to be sustainable?
• What does it look like? What does it feel like?
• How could government be in its highest aspect based on harmony and love?
• How could international relations be at their highest level of harmony and mutual sustainability?
• And more.

The group discovers their passion for topics of earth life that are most alive for them at that present moment of the workshop.

WHAT’S YOUR VISION FOR THE BEST OF THE BEST POSSIBLE FOR LIFE ON EARTH?

Participates learn to retrieve Source Sanctioned Visions for Life on Earth and/or their Organization or Community in this Visionary Stewardship Playshop. Accolades for the experience have come in since its inception in 2005. Pods co-create a visionary theater piece to express this new vision for earth life, with the most fun ever! Dynamic, synergistic Reality Creation at its best.

Presented By: Chireya Dharma

Trained 1:1 by world renowned soil expert Dr. Elaine Ingham to convey complex ideas to a K-12 audience, Matt Powers is an educator that can make soil understandable. Dive deep with Matt and learn about the world beneath your feet in and out of the garden sourcing Dr. Elaine’s work, Radical Mycologist Peter McCoy’s work, and dozens of experts from around the world as well as his own experience growing in 140F soils in Central Valley California. Join Matt for a fun, inspiring, and informative workshop on how to build soils, how to remediate soils, how to feed soil life, and how it all works micro to macro, and then learn how to apply the information to your own site!

Presented By: Matt Powers

Introduction and exploration of sustainability practices that both repair broken parts of the water cycle, and increase water resilience in communities and villages to be prepared, conscious, and motivated to change the current pattern amidst an unknown future. Systems/Themes to be explored include: Setting up rainwater catchment systems on a micro level and also efforts made in whole villages, the importance of grey water systems, and water filtration systems to eliminate plastic water bottles practices to reduce water consumption. Discussion on the importance of soil health as it pertains to groundwater.

Presented By: Karuna Warren