posted 16 years ago
About half a dozen people found ourselves sitting at a table last weekend at the Washington Permaculture Convergence, in a regional break-out session for SW Washington and Oregon.
Heidi broke the ice by asking,
"Do we have a permeculture convergence in Oregon? If not, do we want one?"
(a permaculture convergence being a gathering of up to 150 people actively practicing permaculture, to swap info, books, techniques, ask for help or offer advice, and generally network for mutual benefit.)
Some events that are similar in Oregon:
- there's a Eugene permaculture convergence, or something like it - the Eugene Eco Fest?
- there's City Repair in Portland, which puts on the Village Building Convergence in may/june, and then a fall plant-care event called City Riparian (coming up October 13? this year; see www.cityrepair.org for details)
- there are some resources out there for meeting like-minded people, like the Oregon Country Fair, Portland Permaculture Guild, and the like;
- there are good folks on the ground, some of whom leave home more than others: Try-On Life Community Farm (www.tryonfarm.org), Cedar Grove Farm in Port Orford, Lost Valley, Approvecho, Breitenbush, Cob Cottage Co, Portland State University, Portland Permaculture Guild, Tabor Tilth Farm, .... and many other established, or new and nameless, intentional communities and pocket homesteads scattered around our hills and valleys.
By the end of the weekend, Heidi had attended the planning meeting for 2010, and reported this to our group:
"...the most popular option for next year seemed to be to try and have one regional conference for next year that draws both Washington and Oregon people. The planning committee will see if it could be at The Evergreen State campus near Olympia (a more southern option to accommodate Oregonions--and because more people from Olympia attended than from anywhere else) and it would be called the Pacific Northwest Permaculture Conference. The planning committee would then like to have some representatives from Oregon as well as Washington on board. "
So Oregonians are invited to attend next year's Permaculture Convergence for sure. A few volunteers to help with planning would be much appreciated.
If anyone has other great resources, or knows other local events worth attending, please post them to this thread!
This is primarily for people looking to connect with Oregon / Columbia / Willamette / 'Jeffersonia' / Cascadia permaculture resources.
(We don't want to be exclusive or artificial in setting our territory, but we're also trying to be realistic about connecting people within a day's travel of each other... montane, drylands, coastal / forest, and valley areas inclusive.
One idea if we started an Oregon event, would be to rotate between regions, and include a 'swap meet' component for folks interested in bartering tools, timber, or produce. )
Where's the best place to ask your burning questions about whether biochar is good for your John Day local soils, or which kind of solar works reliably in overcast maritime climates?
Where do you go to get ideas, and to rekindle your commitment to an attentive, full-circle life?
Where's the best place to find spontaneous pot-lucks feeding a hundred people juicy organic produce, with swarms of volunteers clearing away the leftovers and transmuting them into future soil and food?
Where do you go to find temporary concentrations of great books, hands-on demonstrations, and to eavesdrop on knowledgeable people's conversations?
Where do you go to swap your thinned-out bamboo or cedar poles for someone else's leftover beeswax?
Where and when do your mentors emerge from their niches, to hang out with each other and enlighten new generations?
Spill.
Thanks,
Erica Wisner
http://www.ErnieAndErica.info
(the links to "allies" on our front page, while not all permie, might be of interest.)
