Banking away the waves

Surfer, activist and Gaia University Associate in Green Business Kyle Thierman shows the connections between the world of international finance and pollution, climate change and poverty.


Rock on bro

Carbon Rich Farming Worldwatch

Worldwatch institute, a well known think tank focusing on hard science, meticulous research and solution oriented analysis is pointing towards decentralized, carbon farming oriented agricultural solutions. The systems called for in the 09 Land Use Report follow three main strategies:

1. Enriching soil carbon: Through soil conservation such as no till or appropriate tillage practices, strictly organic agriculture and using biochar as an ammendment.
2. Farming With Perennials: year around ground cover, perennial systems and polyculture systems to enhance yeild and carbon capture.
3. Climate Friendly Livestock Solutions: reduction of markets for livestock, innovation in feed, rotational grazing and re-use of waste play central roles in the worldwatch strategy for livestock in agriculture.

This last point is the only part of the puzzle that does not seem to quite fit.
Using over designed nutrition supliments (with startch) to help cattle stop flattulating seems to miss the point: cattle raised in systems that mimic their natural environment eat foods with high startch (thus their intensive bicamaral digestive system). So using a system like holsitic management integrated into an agro forestry system we can pull the livestock design back into the pattern created by the first two recommendations. This option is illustrated in the graphic above.

The report is remarkably insightful, and points towards the need being addressed by inovative and timely courses and research being implimented by teams of farmers, permaculturalists and other regenerative landuse practicioners in the form Carbon Farming and Economy Courses.

These courses, designed by an integrative working group of landuse professionals from across the globe will be holding three major courses consisting of modules that address all three major strategic points outlined by world watch, and beyond. By integrating systems like Keyline Design, Holistic Management, Soil Food Web, Food Forestry, Permaculture, and economic relocalization, Carbon Farming also delves into the details of maintaing a healhty soil food web, creating localized food systems to that support the kind of business model needed to create resilient multi-crop carbon negative farms, and address water management issues to hep increase the capacity to bulid biomas, build soil and store water on the landscape.


Worldwatch readers seem well aware that this kind of design, moving agriculture to a smaller scale and fundign support for regenerative landuse through credits for systems that capture carbon is reflected by the poll I saw on the worldwatch page July 1st:



Time seems ripe for this kind of new agricultural revolution to sweep the world and provide healhty food while dealing with the key issues of carbon pollution and soil loss by creating resilient local carbon farming systems.

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Transition Hohenwald Unleashing

Sitting in the Emporium Cafe listening to a local blues band the buzz of optimistic conversation is filling the Cafe.

WE are all gathered to celebrate the unleashing of the 25th Transition Town in USA. Hohenwald is unique, being one of the only transition towns that does not have a progressive legend cloaking the community, and is also unique being the only transition town in the South East USA. To top of the list of interesting facts, Hohenwald is, quite possibly, the only Transition Town town with City, County and State proclamations embracing the Transition Movement.

Interesting fact for a rural southern town with a deep christian heart and conservative roots.

Perhaps a telling sign that green is now becoming a part of North American Culture.

And not green as in greenwashed, green as in grassroots community organized, natural build permaculture, connecting with conventional, practical conservative pragmatism to create an interesting synergy between local government and community activists.

Hohenwald in Transition! Grass Roots Southern Green.

Quilt of the Bioregional Congress

The Turtle Island Quilt

Started by two women on the organizing committee of the 1st North American Bioregional Congress that took place in the Ozark Bioregion in 1984. The women, sent fabric out to bioreigons across the continent asking for each region to send back a patch that spoke of the culture and ecology of their home place.

Interestingly, the first squares seemed to be mostly made by women from across the continent. This spoke to an imbalance in gender roles that was noticed even more strongly when the congress met. Men would dominate the conversation by habit, and quickly the Congress decided that some action needed to be taken to help create a space open for all to speak and share. The quilt played a central role in this strategy, as the men, who wanted to heal the rift and create balance as much as the women, sat down to sew the prices of the quilt, brought from the four corners of North America together into one whole. Working together they assembled the turtle island quilt and helped break the isolation patterns passed down by our culture.

In addition to the ceremonial sewing of the quilt several other decisions helped make the Congress Plenary Sessions more open to the feminine energy it seemed to be lacking.

The quilt has played a central role in each congress, and has traveled across the continent and back, being hosted at each of the 9 previous congresses listed below:

• The Ozark Mountains (Arkansas, 1984)
• The Great Lakes Bioregion (Michigan, 1986)
• Cascadia (British Columbia, 1988)
• Gulf of Maine (Maine, 1990)
• Edwards Plateau (Texas, 1992)
• Ohio River Valley (Kentucky, 1994)
• Cuahunahuac (Mexico, 1996; this was also a hemispheric gathering)
• The Prairie (Kansas/Kansas Area Watershed/KAW, 2002)
• Katuah (Southern Appalachians, at Earthaven Ecovillage, 2005.

Each one of these convenings has been put on by a bioregional group from the host region. In a sense, from its beginning in 1984, there has been just one congress, going in and out of session on that average of every 2 years, for nearly 20 years, maintaining its continuity between assemblies through secretariats and coordinating councils. Each convening of the Continental Congress has been a landmark event, widened our vision, and deepened our commitment to bioregionalism.

Now the quilt is hanging in the community center of The Farm, a community with a deep history of mindfulness, connection with the land, and a global network of positive influence.

Welcome Home, to the Tenth Continental Bioregional Congress on The Farm

Ecosystem Investing and Green Ventures

Yesterday, Ethan Roland of Appleseed Permaculture and I presented at the 2009 Green Ventures Conference at Farleigh Dickinson University. Our presentation sparked a lively discussion centering around the entrepreneurial imperative of regenerative business and the next steps towards re-arranging financial relationships to start investing capital projects that

• Build Soil
  
• Store and clean water
  
• Capture Carbon
• Build Community
  

Using the regenerative investment principles developed by Ethan and I in conjunction with our Solari group:

Invest like Ecosystems:

• Invest Locally
• Invest Intimately
• Invest in Diversity

Invest In Ecosystems

• Invest in Ecosocial entrepreneurs (People)
• Invest in Living Equity (Plants and Animals)
• Invest in Natural Capital (Places)

All of these design elements, plus an emphasis on carbon nuetral transportation options like sail trade, are woven together in the business model being implemented by Booyacacao, a sustainable chocolate company being launched by Greg Landua (me) and partners.

Our slide show on this new regenerative design edge can be viewed below.

Financial Permaculture & Ecosystem Investing

View more Microsoft Word documents from ethanappleseed.

Dubai Could be going green

From the Solari Feed
For a couple years now I have dreamed of seeing Dubai take the steps needed to create an oasis in the desert, harvesting sun and water and creating a verdant metropolis ...
It looks like, perhaps, the Shieks have been hearing the same song and are marching in step to the same drummer...

Flash Documentation

Creating rapid documentation of world changing activities, while simultaneously engaging in the process of change is quite a difficult proposition.

That is exactly what Gaian Actionists are doing all over the world.

Here is a quick video I put together to help share best practices for Flash Documentation, the art of rapidly capturing and editing information to share with the global commons.