Gearing up for the next Financial Permaculture Summit

The Financial Permaculture Institute is gearing up for the next Financial Permaculture Summit to be held in Hohenwald, TN September 22-26, 2009. Registration for the event is now up and running on www.financialpermaculture.com.

Just like last year, we're making our preparation a participatory community process. For the past four months the Sonnenschein Green Initiative has held bi-monthly meetings with 20-60 minutes at each meeting devoted to break out groups on local economic development. We've been harvesting these conversations and those from our monthly Green Evening Cafes to determine the focus of the next Summit.

On Tuesday May 26 the Financial Permaculture Institute Team met for our monthly design day. We've decided that we'll likely have the following threads throughout the September Summit: food and farming, building and housing, energy and fuel, solid waste and recycling, green business, community development and mapping financial ecosystems.

Later that day, we had a Green Evening Cafe on Green Business. At the Cafe we did a short breakout on topics for the September Summit. We asked people what instructors they would most likely want to have attend and what conversations they would like to have - click here to read a full report.

Our goal is to continue this conversation with local residents and have our content instructors confirmed and proposed itinerary released on www.financialpermaculture.com by the end of June. We'll spend the rest of the summer preparing content and organizing the Financial Permaculture Certificate and Green Business Degree Pathway.

Reflecting on the 2008 Summit:
The two greatest success of the 2008 Summit were that it: 1. Ignited the interest of our local residents, thus catalyzing our transition efforts, and 2. Brought together an interdisciplinary coalition of individuals from the government, business, non-profit and education sectors.

Local catalysts: Firstly, we had about 14 local residents, aside from the organizers, attend the Summit and that we secondly, did well in our documentation of the event and post event process. This was like a mycelium effect. As these 14 people went back into the community, just two months later the word Permaculture and Transition Towns had permeated the culture and my friend heard people using the words as she got her hair cut at the local beauty salon. Overhearing conversations like these are a telltale sign of cross-pollination. On documentation, we had about 12 people live blogging the Summit, Byron Palmer graciously volunteered to make a 30 minute documentary about the event and after the Summit I and others have been blogging about our local Transition efforts. This documentation toolbox has really helped catalyze our local transition efforts. We’ve given about 200 copies of the documentary to local residents and have shown it several times at public events. The documentary which can be viewed on www.financialpermaculture.com has been like a huge business card or portfolio that locals are using to gauge our worth. The results are in and folks who see the documentary generally want to either get involved or find out more.

Interdisciplinary Coalition: We know that many people have different opinions on core issues like politics, religion, climate change and the economy. To us, diversity of opinion is very welcome and encouraged. We appreciate working with diverse demographics of age, gender, level of education and income – plus a wide dissimilarity in our shades of green. Our aim is to collaborate with as many types of people as possible. We also seek to bring as many conversations to the table as needed to move forward with our own unique transition efforts, while looking for key crosscutting patterns applicable to other communities. We are very humbled by the diversity in the people who attended our last Summit and who are involved with our local initiative. I always tell people that this is one of the most rewarding aspects to our work - bringing diverse people together who may not usually share conversations. I love the dynamics when green meets business and business meets green! I'm certain that we will continue to bring together an interdisciplinary coalition of individuals from the government, business, non-profit and education sectors and people from the full spectrum - representing the different shades of green.

It continues to be a very exciting participatory process and we hope that you'll get involved!

Financial Permaculture from Greg Landua on Vimeo.

4th Green Evening Cafe

As reported in the Lewis County Herald by Jennifer Dauksha English:

On Tuesday, April 28, 2009, the Sonnenschein Green Initiative hosted the 4th Green Evening Cafe. The public event was held from 6-8:30 p.m. at the Emporium. Transition Town Hohenwald was the theme for the April Green Evening.

To start the evening, former Sonnenschein Chair, Becky Newbold, gave an overview of how Sonnenschein started in 2006 and how the group felt that the green portion of the Sonnenschein festival was the most successful and beneficial to the community. Just after the June 2008 Sonnenschein Festival, the group had organized a Green Chamber Mini Conference. It was at this conference, Newbold pointed out, that the Sonnenschein group decided to move forward with its current green initiative. Newbold expressed that the group had been discussing giving out Green Awards for several years and that she was happy to finally be moving forward on the project. Newbold presented the McDonald Farm with the first Sonnenschein Award. The award was signed by City Mayor Don Jones, Chamber President Mark Graves and Newbold. The McDonald Farm, a free range chicken farm located just outside Honewald, noted in a previous interview that they were implementing many green strategies on their farm.

After the award, Graves gave his support and encouragement for the local Government and Chamber to partner with the Sonnenschein Green initiative in developing a local green economy. Graves, as Chamber President, recently formed a Green Business Development Committee for the Chamber, as a result of a recent Chamber retreat and strategic planning with the state of Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. The goal of this new Development Committee is to educate current businesses to capitalize on green energy and efficiency. Graves stated, “Our current environmental situation can become our greatest economic opportunity, if we seize the moment.” He shared that his definition of Green equaled efficiency, hope, invention, ingenuity, entrepreneurialism, capital markets, commerce and profit. “There is a global investment to reinvent most of the things we do to become more efficient,” Graves said. He ended with words of encouragement: “ My hope is that the Chamber of Commerce become a key force in inspiring Lewis County to embrace a new, exciting and prosperous economic environment and not be afraid of it.”

Vice Mayor Dustin Flowers spoke next. Flowers also shared his excitement to be part of the green initiative. “In the past, green tended to cause fear. Green meant taking away our toys and telling us what to do. “Now,” he said, “Green equals gold.” Flowers shared a number of opportunities for economic development, concluding, “strategies for municipal and ultimately global sustainablity require addressing our current unsustainable forms of energy and industrial processes by technical innovations that shifts us to renewable energy - in short, now environmental sustainability also equals economic sustainability - go green to make green.” Auto-makers, Ben and Jerry’s, GE, McDonalds, Sony, Phillips, Sanyo and Wal-Mart are all benefiting from green opportunities. Flowers stated, “We are not the first to realize the beauty of a marriage of a sustained environment with the boost of opportunities from a green economy. We as a city realize these opportunities and those are a few reasons why the City supports becoming a Transition Town. Our first true step is renaming the industrial park on Swan Avenue the Hohenwald Eco-Industrial Park . . . In a green economy we’re all doing the right thing.”

Next, Debbie Landers gave an update on the Transition Initiative. Landers said that she liked to break things down so they were simple. To her, transitioning meant identifying local business: the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker. Landers explained that the Transition Initiative, a world-wide initiative, started in Ireland and England in 2005. There are hundreds of Transition Initiatives in Europe. It has since spread to the USA, where there are now 24 transition towns: Denver, Los Angeles, Seattle, Santa Cruz, Berea Kentucky, Portland and Ashland Oregon and Sandpoint Idaho, to name some. On June 6, 2009, Hohenwald will become the 25th Transition Town in the USA. The Emporium will host a Transition Celebration from 6-8:30 p.m. Saturday June 6.

Jennifer English, chair of the Sonnenschein Green Initiative, shared in a recent report that transitioning supports local economic and community development. The initiative strives to support the following areas: local business owners, farmers, artisans and service providers; the creation of quality and long-term local employment opportunities; community networking opportunities and social events; creating an economy that has a total and sustainable economic return; and increasing our goods and services exported rather than imported. English states, “We also focus on ‘green’ development, as we see that creating a ‘green’ economy and ‘greening up’ our production and consumption will be the quickest and most effective way to achieve sustainable economic and community development. To us the word ‘green’ equals efficiency and less waste. We appreciate a wide difference in our shades of green among the group and within the community. “The Initiative aims to collaborate with as many types of people as possible. We also seek to bring as many conversations to the table as needed to move forward with our own unique transition efforts. This said, we often look at tools and models used by other successful communities. Our goal is not to mimic other communities, but to learn about working solutions and adapt our findings to our own unique circumstances.”

During the Green Evening Cafe, Connie Sharp also gave a brief overview on the current projects on which the Sonnenschein Initiative is working. She gave a report on the Community Garden, the recently printed Lewis County Green Guide, the Summer Permaculture Series that begins June 13, 2009 and the June 5-7 Sustainability Forum. Sharp explained that the June Forum will consist of tours of sustainable homes and businesses in Lewis County Friday and Sunday, and that Saturday’s event will be held at the Lewis County Middle School. Saturday will contain speakers on food, farming, energy, fuel, green building, green business, solid waste and faith. The day will also have music, arts, crafts, a green business exhibition, auction and kids craft session. John Risner of Buffalo Valley Inc., sponsor of the Green Evening Cafe, gave a presentation to the group on a new green home that Buffalo Valley is building on the corner of Walnut and Second Street. Construction may begin as early as this month. The building will incorporate energy efficient materials, solar hot water, water catchment and a permaculture designed landscape.

At 7:30, there was a showing of the 30-minute Hohenwald Financial Permaculture documentary. English and Landers announced that the next Green Evening Cafe will be held May 26, 2009 from 6-8:30 p.m. at the Emporium Cafe. The topic has been changed from Complimentary Currency to Green Business Development. English stated, “Since the Chamber of Commerce started the Chamber Bucks program in 2007, there are a number of people excited about having conversations on Complimentary Currencies. There are also a few people in the community who feel as though that is not where our group should be placing its attention. As we are so proactive, we want to put our energy where it is most needed and effective. Thus we changed the topic, also because our priority is to gear up for the September Green Business Summit. ‘We hope that the community will help guide us in preparing for the Summit. The next Green Evening Cafe will partially focus on what green businesses Hohenwald and Lewis County could most benefit from.”

The public is encouraged to attend these planned series of free, once-a-month evening events building on Hohenwald’s efforts to make Lewis County greener, safer, and more economically viable. The Green Evening Cafe series will be the last Tuesday of every month. Call 931-796-4874 or e-mail info@holisticecology.org for more details. The community is also welcome to attend the Sonnenschein Green Initiative public meetings, held every other Wednesday. The next public meeting will be May 27, 2009 at the Career Center, located on Smith Street, from 11:30 a.m. -1:30 p.m.

Green Evening Cafe with a Seed and Plant Exchange

The Sonnenschein Green Initiative hosted the third Green Evening Cafe on Tuesday, March 24, 6-8:30 pm at the Emporium Cafe, downtown, Hohenwald. Food and Farming was the theme for the March Green Evening. Fifty seven people attended the evening, which began and ended with a seed and plant exchange. Cassandra and Tom Warner of Cane Creek Nature Works Farm sponsored the event. Cassandra spoke on the benefits of gardening. Matthew English of Ecological Artisans spoke about applying Permaculture to your gardens, orchards and landscapes.

The Sonnenschein Food and Farming working group also gave a presentation on the development of food and farming businesses such as a local farmers market, community kitchen and community gardens. After the presentations Jennifer Dauksha-English led a World Cafe on Food and Farming. She explained that the cafe process was a cross pollination of ideas and that folks needed to remember that there were no right answers. The process is like an invention room - where all ideas are accepted.

Following is a small sampling of ideas that were harvested through the cafe conversations: Hold harvest dinners and potlucks; Host garden and farm tours with fun activities for kids; Contact your local farmers and get them to grow just what you need; Start a Freecycle; Incorporate crafts and art into plans for a new Farmers Market; Educate children through 4-H, Future Farmers of America and other unique activities; Need Market to have perfect location and lot's of participants; Co-op market and surplus taken to Nashville; Need a central person to disseminate information about initiative and tips; Support local farmers and businesses; Buy bulk produce from Amish and then sell at market; Give out awards for growing food at local fair.

Jennifer ended the cafe with a think and listen to give people the opportunity to discuss next steps. Although there were no specific plans to adopt any of these new ideas immediately, the evening was a great success as it is a great building block and networking opportunity. Throughout the event 15 door prizes were handed out, more than half of them were plants. On leaving, several event participants stated that they had a lot of fun and that the evening was wonderful for the community. Please join us for these planned series of free, once-a-month evening events building on Hohenwald's efforts to make Lewis County greener, safer, and more economically viable. The Green Evening Cafe series will be the fourth Tuesday of every month. Call 931-796-4874, 888-878-2434 x 5 or e-mail info@holisticecology.org for more details.

Below is a list of Green Evenings: January 17 - Green Talk and Trade Show Join us for a Green Home Products Trade Show with an evening presentation by Lawrence Brothers Construction.

February 19 - Recession To Sustainability - Getting From Here to There, by Adam Turtle of Earth Advocates Research Farm. Discuss the development of appropriate cooperative local trade.

March 24 - Food and Farming Join us for a Green Evening World Cafe to discuss the development of food and farming enterprises. A seed and plant exchange will take place.

April 28 - Transition Towns Join us for a Green Evening World Cafe with discussions on the making of Transition Town Hohenwald and Lewis County!

May 26 - Complimentary Currency Join us for presentations and discussions on appropriate cooperative trade and regional currencies.

June 23 - Home Grown Fuel We'll hear presentations on fuel efficiency and alternative fuels, and then discuss the development of local alternative fuel and energy enterprises.

July 28 - Green Business Incubation Join us for a Green Evening World Cafe on the development of green enterprises and economic development strategies.

August 25 - The Built Environment Join us for a Green Evening presentation, view a home energy and money saving video called Kilowatt Ours and then discuss the development of green building enterprises.

The series will continue the fourth Tuesday of each month September - December, 2009.

Second Transition Update

A lot has happened in the not so sleepy town of Hohenwald since my last Sonnenschein Green Initiative - Transition Update.

The Sonnenschein Green Initiative had a total of eight important meetings in ten days. Following is a brief summary of each meeting:

Complimentary Currency Working Group met on Monday February 9, with 5 people in attendance. You can read a full report on this meeting by clicking here. I will add that complimentary currency was later brought up during the February 18th Transition Committee meeting. There was so much interest that we'll be focusing our next Transition Committee meeting and an upcoming Green Evening Cafe on complimentary currency.

Sewage Treatment Working Group met on February 12, with 6 people in attendance. The City called for a meeting between their Engineer and our local Permaculture Designers. The meeting focused on designing constructed wetlands out of sewage lagoons and the development of bird habitat and a nature viewing area. The constructed wetlands would be designed to increase transpiration and seepage into the soil. This would decrease the flow rate and demand for electricity on a pumping station that directs water into a spay field.

Bioregional Congress Group met on February 15, with 12 people in attendance. The Farm Community in Lewis County, Tennessee will be host to the 10th Continental Bioregional Congress. The dates of the Congress are October 3-11, 2009. To find out more about the Congress, CBCX click here. Many Lewis County residents who are involved in organizing the Congress are also involved with the Sonnenschein Green Initiative. This group will be meeting every two weeks from now through October.

The Lewis County Chamber of Commerce held a luncheon on February 17, with 36 people in attendance. The Sonnenschein Green Initiative was the primary topic of discussion. The Chamber President invited Connie Sharp and I, Jennifer to talk about Sonnenschein. We were then asked to show the documentary of the Financial Permaculture Summit. View the documentary by clicking here. Several people came up to Connie and I after viewing the documentary saying that they were extremely impressed with the Summit and had not realized the extent of our outreach efforts. At least five new people showed interest in attending our upcoming meetings.

Transition Committee held a meeting Wednesday, February 18, with 19 people in attendance. Here are the highlights:

YOUTH EDUCATION: Debbie Landers introduced four students from the General Assembly Academy. Debbie and the students recently designed an ecological science curriculum. Attending the Sonnenschien Green Initiative's meetings and participating in related projects will be counted as school credit. The students volunteered to write the next article for our Green Living Column.

OUTREACH EDUCATION: I, Jennifer Dauksha-English presented the details for our Summer Permaculture Certification Series. The series will be 11 Saturdays, with 7 hour days, from June 13 through August 29 (minus July 4). The training will cost $150 for resident high school students, $250 for Lewis County residents or Lewis County Chamber Members, and $500 for non-residents. I also presented an overview of our 3-day Regional Sustainability Forum, which will be held June 5-7. Residents throughout Middle Tennessee will be invited to this forum to discuss and design working strategies for productive food, energy, water and resource sheds and for mapping the financial ecosystem of the region. Programs for both of these events are in draft form and will be posted online soon.

GREEN EVENING CAFE': Adam Turtle gave a brief overview of his presentation that he planned to give at the February 19th Green Evening. The group confirmed that logistical action items were completed. Lelia Ortel acquired cloth shopping bags to give away as door prizes.

GREEN PROCLAMATION: Debbie Landers reported on the progress of the Proclamation. She stated that more than five people had given feedback on the first draft and that with the help of the students, the final draft was near. There was discussion about the difference between a Proclamation and a Resolution. Debbie explained that a Proclamation meant that we would proclaim our intentions and that a Resolution meant that we would resolve to act out and implement what we proclaimed. A Resolution is a much more political process that could involve several months of drafting language that the City and County could agree upon. The group decided that the Proclamation would be brought before the City and County in the month of March. We decided that the Resolution could come maybe in six to nine months.

ECO-TOURISM: I, Jennifer Dauksha-English presented my plan for creating a Green Tourism Guide for Lewis County. The first draft is eight pages and incorporates all the green events, projects, business and organizations in Lewis County that our affiliated with the Sonnenschein Green Initiative. There is money left over from the 2008 Sonnenschein Festival, to print the guide. We'll also likely ask businesses and organizations to pledge $20 for printing. Also with tourism, Tony Turnbow asked us to put together a one page article on Sonnenschein to be inserted into the County's official Tourism Guide. Lastly, the Chamber of Commerce reported that several of our green events are now posted in regional tourist guides and are now posted on the Lewis County Chamber website.

Food and Farming Working Group held a meeting Wednesday, February 18, with 10 people in attendance. The group discussed the potential of creating a Farmer's Market in Lewis County. There was a consensus that maybe the best place to start was by creating a community garden. The group is currently in the process of seeking a site for this garden. Bob Ogden shared his intention of starting a worm castings business in Lewis County. The group is also organizing a seed and plant exchange as part of the next Green Evening Cafe'. Food and farming is the focus of the next Cafe' on March 24, 6-8:30 pm at the Emporium in downtown Hohenwald.

Economic Development Working Group held a meeting Wednesday, February 18, with 9 people in attendance. The group discussed their interest in creating a green demonstration building as an office for Sonnenschein. They also discussed the need to contact city officials and county commissioners - to inform them to put money towards local economic development, creating a green business park and for attracting green businesses to our area. The group also talked about incubating new green businesses and potential funding through the federal stimulus package. Lastly, a County Commissioner had asked our group to form a list of potential green businesses. Deben Tobias volunteered to compile this list.

Discovery Center Working Group met on Thursday, February 19, with 3 people in attendance. The group is progressing in its design of a Permaculture Demonstration Area behind the Lewis County Museum. Maps and drawings are being created. A meeting will be held in early March with the historical society to review the proposed design.

The next Sonnenschein Green Initiative meeting will be held Wednesday, March 4 from 11:30-1:30 at the Career Center in Hohenwald. The group meets every other Wednesday. For more details about upcoming meetings and projects contact 931-796-4874 or 888-878-2434.

Transition Update

The Sonnenschein Green Initiative's Transition Committee held a meeting Wednesday, February 4. There were 22 people in attendance.

Highlights:
DOWNTOWN PERMACUTLURE DEMONSTRATION AREA: Connie Sharp gave a report on the Lewis County Museum's Discovery Center project. A group of local Permaculture designers, Tony Turnbow, Sam Davis and others began work this week on a design to turn the Discovery Center into a Permaculture and natural history demonstration area.

SUMMER PERMACULTURE CERTIFICATION PROGRAM: Jennifer Dauksha-English gave a report on the +72 hour summer Permaculture Certification Program being offered in Hohenwald, every Saturday June through August. The Discovery Center will be the site for the summer training. The training will be offered by the Center for Holistic Ecology, the Sonnenschein Green Initiative and Ecological Artisans. Scholarships and deep discounts on the training are available for Lewis County Residents and youth ages 14-18.

GREEN PLANS FOR NEW SEWAGE TREATMENT FACILITY: Patrick Gibbs and Jennifer English reported on a meeting they and others had with the city regarding applying Permaculture to the design of the cities new sewage treatment facility. The new design will stack green filtration on top of creating a natural viewing area and energy production (such as ethanol and biochar) to make the new facility a productive part of the community.

GREEN PROCLAMATION: Debbie Landers read from a drafted resolution and proclamation that will be presented to the people of Hohenwald and Lewis County to ensure our commitment to local sustainability, and doing all in our power to become known as a TRANSITION TOWN by promoting sincere efforts to local food, energy, goods and services production and responsible waste management in our schools, businesses, homes, local government, media, and community groups.

UPCOMING GREEN EVENTS: The group spent time discussing logistics and marketing for the Thursday, February 19 Green Evening Cafe which will be held from 6-8:30 pm at the Emporium Cafe in downtown Hohenwald. The Green Evening Series will be held once each month. Plans for the June 5-7 Sonnenschein Sustainability Forum were also discussed.

NEW GREEN WORKING GROUPS: For the final half hour of the meeting, the participants split into two working groups. The first group, Food and Farming, met about the value of creating a local Farmers Market. The second group, Green Business Development, discussed the need for a green incubator and a green development park, and scheduled a later meeting to discuss complimentary currencies.

The next Sonnenschein Green Initiative meeting will be held Wednesday, February 18 from 11:30-1:30 at the Career Center in Hohenwald. The group meets every other Wednesday. For more details about upcoming meetings and projects contact 931-796-4874 or 888-878-2434.