Bill Busse

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since Jun 30, 2012
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You have got the dates of the Conference and the Convergence transposed.


September 8th - 9th 2015: IPC UK conference, Euston, London.
A 2-day conference bringing together permaculture, sustainability, transition, resilience, and regeneration networks. Presentations, workshops, stall, exhibitions, academic papers and posters.

September 10th - 16th 2015: IPC UK convergence, Gilwell Park, Essex
A 5-day convergence for Design Course graduates. 100s of workshops, activities, open space, international organising, strategy, networking and dancing.


Cheers!
While creeping around the dark corners of Permies today I found Paul's reply to this old NAPC announcement. I wish I had seen it sooner as I would have loved to reply while his response was still fresh. I will respond now because I need to say a few things.

First, let me say that I really appreciate all that Paul does for permaculture. I find his down-to-earth take on permaculture refreshing and much needed.

I apologize in advance for the crazy red/
black way that I responded to Paul's comments but it seemed to be the most logical, straight-forward way to do this.

Paul's words in black
My words in red

Paul: I elected to not attend this event. I felt that we already had an excellent event to bring people together on this scale: permaculture voices.

Permaculture Voices looks like an excellent event. An event that I would love to attend but do not because the cost is prohibitive. (Tickets, travel, lodging)

Paul: Plus, as pointed out in my voices keynote, there were people that refused to attend voices because they claimed that voices was sexist - having only one female keynote speaker. And those people seemed to universally support the NAPC - which had zero female keynote speakers. I think that the false accusation of sexism was a flimsy excuse.

I don't know who has been running abound talking shit about Permaculture Voices. I sat in on much of the organizing for the NAPC and really never witnessed any negative discussion about PV. I would be curious to see if any of the people that refused to attend PV actually had anything to do with the NAPC whatsoever. Did they even attend?

Paul: I feel that the real reason was that voices was a conference about permaculture that did not include holding hands and singing songs. And there are people that think that having a permaculture event without holding hands and singing songs is "not permaculture".

Many of us were sorry to see that Paul did not attend the NAPC. We had hoped to see his style of healthy permaculture attitudes better represented. Maybe the emcee who took it upon himself to inject the huge dose of "holding hands and singing songs" would not have felt that was so important if more people like Paul attended and promoted the event.

Just so that you know the "holding hands and singing songs" was primarily the work of one person who did so continually against the wishes of the organizers.


Paul: I think that false accusations of sexism are just as awful as actual acts of sexism. But setting that aside: I think it is fair to have a permaculture event loaded with holding hands and singing songs *AND* have another event that is about permaculture without holding hands and singing songs. If people don't want to go to permaculture voices, I think it is fair to say that they prefer an event with holding hands and singing songs, like NAPC. False accusations just reflects poorly on the accuser.

I would rather that we just left the "holding hands and singing songs" out of every permaculture event. I think that hippie-dippie hand holding and pseudoscience are chasing many great doers away.

Paul: I have to confess that I have been personally divided about this event. On the one hand, I wish to encourage lots and lots of events about permaculture to infect more brains. Including the events where folks hold hands and sing songs. I even think that NAPC could be an excellent compliment to voices. On the other hand I supported voices and I feel NAPC was founded on the idea of having an event that was NOT voices.

Paul's feeling in this regard is not correct. The folks who initiated the idea of the NAPC were hoping to create an event which mimicked the event we attended in Cuba in December of 2013, the International Permaculture Convergence. An event with a focus on building the global networks to continue to move permaculture forward. More of an event created by the community rather than for the community.

Paul: Which seems, to me, at the very least, rather nasty. And I think that "nasty" is not one of the permaculture ethics. Rather than respond in kind, I elected to remain quiet about the event. I allowed posts (like the above) on permies. I did not point out the comedy with their own sexism (by their standards).

The NAPC could have really used Paul's and Permies' enthusiastic support. I was really hoping that he would step up and help us make the event more open and welcoming to down-to-earth permies. I accept some of the responsibility for that not happening. I don't know you but I should have picked up the phone and asked for Paul's help.

Paul: There have been several people that shared bits of information with me, and I wish to convey them here.

My understanding is that permaculture voices was attended by over 600 people and NAPC was "about 300".

Paul: NAPC did include a lot of holding hands and singing songs. Voices did not. The "holding hands and singing songs" was mainly the work of one man. He took this upon himself to the dismay of most of the organizers.

Paul: I was told that a lot of people were enjoying pot outside the classrooms at NAPC. Which is great for folks that enjoy pot. But some feedback I had was that some folks that would rather avoid pot smoke were thinking it would be nice if they could have had a little more fresh air. I was onsite for the entire event. I can honestly say that I didn't find the event smokey at all. (It should be said that I am VERY aware of cannabis use around me. I am a non-smoker who has a vested interest in there being no use of elicit substances at the site of the NAPC). Granted I was working my ass of and did not find the opportunity to attend workshops. I regret that no one stepped up and called out the disrespectful behavior. One would think that on a 50 acre outdoor site it would be easy to find a more discreet place to meet one's recreational needs.

Paul: I heard there were some really excellent speakers there. And .... I heard about some of the people that I would think of as "haters" -- their presentations were poorly attended and people called them out on their shit. Sounds like healthy progress to me.

Here is another video from the NAPC:




More video is forthcoming. In order to keep ticket prices low, video was done by volunteers (Thanks Wil!)and work traders. If we had paid for professional video I bet we would have it by now.

Paul: I also heard that YOUTH stole the show for the whole conference. Over and over again, younger folks stood up and carried the group forward. My impression is that the youth of permaculture have a powerful intellect matched with passion and joy. The ick of the past will be drowned by an ocean of good work. (I think that it is great that so many young folks were able to step in and make this event a success when very few of the permaculture elders would get involved and help out.)
10 years ago
Don't miss this opportunity. Best-Selling permaculture author, Toby Hemenway will teach a rare course, Patterns & Permaculture: Nature's Forms for Dynamic Design, in Minneapolis.

August 27-28, just prior to the north American Permaculture Convergence.


Pattern is design, and design is the subject of permaculture, Mollison tells us in the Designers Manual. Patterns are nature’s ways of storing information, resolving conflicts, efficiently using resources, moving materials smoothly, recycling waste, and recognizing and ordering connections and relationships. They are also one of the hardest-to-grasp (and teach) elements of permaculture design. This two-day workshop will cover:

• A vocabulary of basic patterns and how they function in both nature and design;

• how patterns are formed and how they regulate and shape energy, material, social, and economic flows;

• how patterns are used in indigenous, Western, and other cultures;

• Fibonacci and the golden ratio, sacred geometry, and the science and mystery of pattern dynamics;

• identifying and choosing the patterns that best suit specific design challenges;

• using patterns and creating pattern languages to design physical and social landscapes and technologies.

We’ll use a combination of hands-on, discussion, lecture, images, small group work, and the other varied tools of good permaculture learning. You’ll come away with a practical grasp of how to see patterns in nature, how they work, and how to use them in design.



Instructed by Toby Hemenway

Hemenway_headshotToby Hemenway is the author of Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, which was awarded the Nautilus Gold Medal in 2011, was named by the Washington Post as one of the ten best gardening books of 2010, and for the last eight years has been the best-selling permaculture book in the world. Toby has been an adjunct professor at Portland State University, Scholar-in-Residence at Pacific University, and has taught over sixty 72-hour permaculture design courses. He has presented lectures and workshops at major sustainability conferences such as Bioneers, SolFest, and EcoFarm, and at Duke University, Tufts University, University of Minnesota, University of Delaware and many other educational venues. His writing has appeared in magazines such as Natural Home, Whole Earth Review, and American Gardener. He has contributed book chapters for WorldWatch Institute and to several publications on ecological design.

Tuition:

The course tuition fee is $225. Space in this course is limited.
Bring a Buddy Rate: Sign up with a buddy and you each save $20.

Tuition Includes:

The 2 Day – Patterns & Permaculture: Nature’s Forms for Dynamic Designs Course with Toby Hemenway
Lunch both days

To Register or for Questions Email: Patterns2014@CenterForDeepEcology.org
10 years ago
We need to fill the bus.

2 Days

3 States

4 Awesome Sites

Visit:

Badgersett Research Farm - Phil Rutter has been growing and improving hybrid hazelnuts, chestnuts for more than twenty years, bringing Woody Agriculture into the mainstream. We will have a boxed lunch at this site. Plants will be for sale.

Kinstone Academy for Applied Permaculture - Natural building, permaculture master plan, stone megaliths, and dinner courtesy of our host.

Mark Shepard's New Forest Farm - Mark Shepard’s broad acre permaculture farm modeled on the native oak savannah ecosystem. Stroll through 106 acres of chestnuts, hazelnuts, apples, pears, cherries, and much more.

Sead Savers Exchange - Highlights include the preservation gardens, heritage orchard, and a herd of Ancient White Park Cattle. You’ll find over 600 seed varieties for sale in the gift shop.

To register or for more info goto: CenterForDeepEcology.org
10 years ago
The deadline for early-bird registration rates is July 1st.

There are still spaces available.

Don't miss this exciting opportunity.

Restoration Agriculture with Mark Shepard - August 26-28, 2014 - Clarks Grove, MN
10 years ago
Join us after the North American Permaculture Convergence (NAPC) for a tour of some of the best of what the upper Midwest has to offer!

Our tour will take us to 3 states as we visit Badgersett Research Farm , Kinstone Academy of Applied Permaculture, Mark Shepard's New Forest Farm, and Seed Saver’s Exchange.

The bus will leave the site of the NAPC at 8 am on September 1st and return at 8 pm on September 2nd.

For more information or to register to take the tour goto:

Post NAPC Permaculture Tour of the Driftless Region

10 years ago
We are happy to announce that we will be hosting best-selling permaculture author Toby Hemenway for a 2-day workshop, Patterns & Permaculture: Nature's Forms for Dynamic Design. August 27-28, 2014 (Just prior to the North American Permaculture Convergence)




- More Info Here -
10 years ago