Hi Everyone-


    We just returned from our trip to the annual Bioneers Conference (www.bioneers.org ) in San Rafael, Calif, where we had a exhibit booth promoting the International Permaculture Conference (IPC9) in Africa in 2009 to a receptive audience of over 3000 attendees. It was wonderful sharing the vision of the African organizers for this event with it's theme "Plan Africa ~-Food and Empowerment" (www.ipc9.org), and we come home ready to go to work helping them achieve some of their goals as part of the IPC9 support committee.

     Always inspiring, especially in times of great change, this Bioneers conference especially meaningful as we try and figure out if we really are ready for a paradigm shift.  Yikes, sounds great in theory, but a little scary as it unfolds in reality.  Climate Change for all the Bioneers presenters seemed to be the underlying theme and as David Orr expressed, "the greatest challenge of our times"  with only a small window of time to solve, all hands on deck!  And with a federal government that currently doesn't even have an energy plan, how could this be? Other countries do and are moving towards a future without using carbon as an energy source.  Sweden for instance, has a plan to phase out all fossil fuels and nuclear power by 2020.  These are dirty and dangerous ways to derive energy, we can do better.

   Bill McKibben, David Orr, Janine Beynus, Naomi Klein all expressed the need to rally around this issue, or we don't have a future, and suggest forming a strong constituency to influence the next president spending his first 100 days in office with a focus on this issue.  We only have about 7 years to reduce emissions by 20%, and then continue to reduce by 80% over the next 20 years.  This will mean massive change for all of us, but is entirely possible, and as true with most paradigm shifts, could be the best thing to happen to us, hmn, a green collar economy?  Just needs some focus, and creative, innovative thinking, what permaculture is all about.

It's hard to hear all of this and come home to daily routine and business as usual, always the dilemma.  So we share a few resources learned from the Bioneers presenters, hope you will inform yourselves, find ways to act:

www.1sky.org, One Sky Campaign, Climate Leadership NOW movement, encouraging initiatives on municipal, state and national levels.


 www.biomimicryinstitute .org Biomimicry's Climate-Change solutions: "How Would Nature Do It". San Diego and it's Clean Tech Initiative to be a Biomimicry hub.


Presidential Climate Action Project - PCAP What should the next President do about Global Warming?  A national initiative to develop bold and decisive climate action plan for the next President.   www.climateactionproject.com


"The Green Collar Economy", by Van Jones, currently on the NY Times best seller list. 
        We hope you will join us as we continue to learn about permaculture and sustainable solutions from other parts of the world, with our next in the ongoing series "Permaculture Around the World", this time with architect Michal Vital of the BUSTAN permaculture Center in the Negev Desert of Israel, please see below for more information.  David Eisenberg is here as a part of  a week long Natural Building Colloquium, he has an evening lecture Green Building and Beyond the public is welcome to attend in Ventura, details also below.  And check out what permaculturist Devin Slavin is up to in Ventura with his Grow Food Party Crew and Growing Gardens of Gratitude - A Village Building Convergence in November on You Tube ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwwHWln08Z4) Transform neighborhoods in a weekend? Well maybe another world is possible.

This is a very limited sampling of all the things that occur in our community, we suggest subscribing to the South Coast Permaculture Guild listserve to be to be alerted to all the permaculture events happening in our region, all groups and organizations represented, so much going on  www.arashi.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/scpg.
. We truly are a community, have many "barn raising" happening all the time.

Hope to see you at an event soon-
Margie Bushman
SB Permaculture Network



Upcoming Events:

Saturday, Oct 28, 7-9pm
 Santa Barbara Permaculture Network "Permaculture Around the World Series"
 Talk with Michal Vital, "Bustan Sustainable Community Action for Land & People,
 Working at the Nexus of Social and Environmental Justice in the Negev Region of Israel
 SB Public Library, Faulkner Gallery, 40 E. Anapamu St, Santa Barbara
 No reservations needed, Fundraiser donation for BUSTAN, $10
 More info, (805) 962-2571, margie@sbpermaculture.org,  www.sbpermaculture.org



Wednesday, Oct 29th, 6:30 p.m., Free
 Green Building and Beyond - With David Eisenberg
 Transitioning to Sustainability
 Today, many changes are taking place in how buildings and developments are designed and built as well as how they are regulated. Green building, Smart Growth, and Sustainable Development are becoming commonplace terms and many new programs, codes and standards are emerging to accommodate these changes. Yet there is still a disconnect between the level of the changes in codes and standards and the programs being put into place, and the level needed to adequately respond to what the scientific community tells us is needed today.
 Poinsettia Pavilion, 3451 Foothill Road, Ventura, CA


Nov 21-Nov 23, 2008
 Grow Food Party Crew
 Growing Gardens of Gratitude - A Village Building Convergence
 Ventura, CA
 Is it possible to transform a town into an edible oasis in one weekend?
 Imagine cruising around town with friends and neighbors in a garden planting celebration like no
 other! Imagine hundreds of people doing this all over Ventura, CA on the same weekend – as one
 giant party of gratitude!
 Join us in making our town an abundant, edible paradise of fruits, berries, nuts, veggies and flowers
 (more info below)
 AbundanceInBalance.com



December Preview, Save the Date:
 Sat, Dec 6, All Day
 Annual Roadtrip to Cal-Earth (The California Institute of Earth Art & Architecture)
  in Hesperia, to visit demonstration site of structures built by visionary architect, Nader Kahlili.
 This is an amazing adventure see what can be done with earth
 with truly low cost beautiful housing that does not tax the earth's biological
 resources. We will leave Santa Barbara at 6:30am and be back by 6 pm. Potluck Lunch.
 For more info call Wes Roe at
 964-1555 or email wes@sbpermaculture.
 More info and wonderful photos at: www.Calearth.org
  
In Depth, More Details:

Santa Barbara Permaculture Network ~Permaculture Around the World Series~
Bustan Sustainable Community Action for Land & People
Working at the Nexus of Social and Environmental Justice in the Negev Region of Israel
 with Michal Vital

Tuesday, October 28, 7-9pm 2008
Fundraiser Donation for BUSTAN, $10
Santa Barbara Central Library, Faulkner Gallery


        Santa Barbara Permaculture Network hosts the second in the series “Permaculture Around the World” on Tuesday, October 28 with Michal Vital, Israeli Architect and Eco-builder, speaking about her involvement with the non-profit BUSTAN, in the Negev Desert of Israel. 

The word "bustan" refers to a fruit-yielding orchard in both Hebrew and Arabic and symbolizes the work of Bustan (www.bustan.org). It is a partnership of Jewish and Arab eco-builders, architects, academics, and farmers promoting social and environmental justice in Israel/Palestine with a focus on the Bedouin villages of the Negev Desert.  BUSTAN utilizes the principles of permaculture and non-violent direct action across ethnic divides. 
 
      Founded in 1999, Bustan's first project was a two day festival in the "unrecognized" village of Dreijatt, bringing together hundreds of Bedouin and Jewish Israelis, celebrating cultural diversity, mutual education on history and environmental issues, and collecting signatures for a petition to recognize the village with legal status.  Two months later the village was formerly recognized.  In 2003 Bustan organized five hundred Jewish and Bedouin volunteers to build an entirely sustainable medical clinic in the village of Wadi el Na'am.  This strawbale solar powered structure is featured in the book, "Build Like You Give A Damn", and was nominated for the Aga Khan Award, one of the most prestigious architecture prizes in the world.  At another village a school dump was transformed into a water conserving orchard, while teaching children about local ecology  In 2007 Bustan moved to Beersheva and opened the Green Center and began teaching ongoing permaculture workshops and trainings. Bustan views sustainability in both political and environmental terms and works for common Jewish and Bedouin interests.

        The Negev is a rocky desert region with dusty mountain ranges, dry riverbeds (wadis) and unique deep craters imprinted on the landscape.  It is the  largest, yet most peripheral region of the country, located in southern Israel, and makes up 60% of Israel's land, but only 8% of Israel's population live there.  A fragile environment, it hosts Israel's largest toxic waste dump Romat Hovav, a nuclear power plant, petro-chemical factories, a waste incinerator and other environmental hazards. Local populations already marginalized are particularly vulnerable to these health hazards. Romat Hovav is located near Beersheva, the main city of Negev, and since its opening has had a history of leakages, overflows, and failures.

   Michal Vital is a nationally renowned planner and green building consultant and volunteer with BUSTAN since its inception.  Michal was one of the team leaders that built BUSTAN's strawbale medical clinic, and has planned numerous ecologically friendly buildings throughout the country.  She was the lead teacher of BUSTAN'S first permaculture course. She will be speaking in Santa Monica, Santa Barbara and San Francisco area as part of her Bustan Speaking Tour titled "Permaculture for Justice".

The event takes place at the Santa Barbara Public Library, Faulkner Gallery, 40 East Anapamu St, in downtown Santa Barbara, on Tuesday, October 28, 7-9pm, 2008.  No reservations are required, fundraiser donation for BUSTAN $10. For more information please call (805) 962-2571, or email margie@sbpermaculture.org;  www.sbpermaculture.org. Sponsored by the Santa Barbara Permaculture Network and Sustainable Habitats.


Bustan Speaking Tour "Permaculture for Justice". Santa Monica, Santa Barbara  and Walnut Creek  Oct 27-Oct 29 2008

Oct 27, 7pm Santa Monica Public Library, 601 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica , on Monday, October 27, 7-9pm, 2008.  No reservations are required, fundraiser donation for BUSTAN $10. For more information please call (323) 667-1330, or email  David Kahn <info@sustainablehabitats.org> Sponsored by Sustainable Habitats.  www.sustainablehabitats.org and the Santa Barbara Permaculture Network  www.sbpermaculture.org



Oct 28 , 7pm Santa Barbara Public Library, Faulkner Gallery, 40 East Anapamu St, in downtown Santa Barbara, on Tuesday, October 28, 7-9pm, 2008.  No reservations are required, fundraiser donation for BUSTAN $10. For more information please call (805) 962-2571, or email margie@sbpermaculture.org;  www.sbpermaculture.org. Sponsored by the Santa Barbara Permaculture Network and Sustainable Habitats.


 October 29th, 6 PM , Walnut Creek.  CA (near San Francisco)  The home of Sergio Lub,  Please email Sergio (sergio@sergiolub.com ) to RSVP and for specific directions$20 and an item for a potluck meal, all proceeds benefit BUSTAN.
<<<<<<<

Green Building and Beyond - With David Eisenberg
Transitioning to Sustainability
Wednesday, October 29th
6:30 p.m.
Poinsettia Pavilion
3451 Foothill Road, Ventura, CA
(A Free Event)
Today, many changes are taking place in how buildings and developments are designed and built as well as how they are regulated. Green building, Smart Growth, and Sustainable Development are becoming commonplace terms and many new programs, codes and standards are emerging to accommodate these changes. Yet there is still a disconnect between the level of the changes in codes and standards and the programs being put into place, and the level needed to adequately respond to what the scientific community tells us is needed today.
 
Faced with the realities of a lower-carbon future, along with growing concerns about the supply and cost of energy, water and other critical resources, we need to look beyond old assumptions about how we address these emerging crises, and no sector contributes more to the problems or presents greater opportunities going forward than the built environment. A new dialog is needed to open the doors to truly sustainable practices. This dialog must be able to cut across the artificially constructed boundaries between disciplines and areas of regulatory responsibility-to create a regulatory system that is as deeply integrated and comprehensive in balancing risk and innovation as the leading edge projects that are being planned and designed to surpass the current minimum standards.
 
If you have something to contribute to this dialog, please join us in this process.


Don't miss this fantastic line-up of speakers. The topic will be Green Building, Natural Building, and the disconnect between building codes, standards, programs, and true sustainability.

Key Note Speaker: David Eisenberg

Panel Speakers:

<<<

Grow Food Party Crew Presents:
Growing Gardens of Gratitude - A Village Building Convergence

November Twenty-First through Twenty-Third, 2008, Ventura, CA

Is it possible to transform a town into an edible oasis in one weekend?

Imagine cruising around town with friends and neighbors in a garden planting celebration like no
other! Imagine hundreds of people doing this all over Ventura, CA on the same weekend – as one
giant party of gratitude!

Join us in making our town an abundant, edible paradise of fruits, berries, nuts, veggies and flowers!

Register with one or more of the following options:
1. APPLY to be a Party Crew Facilitator – leading the design and project implementation of multiple
gardens.
2. Become a Party Crew Member – plant gardens, play music, cook food, promote the party,
whatever else we can think of!
3. Request a garden at a site in your neighborhood - IE house, community area, business or school
4. Make a donation - of materials, money, or help advertising.

Visit http://groups.google.com and search for "Grow Food Party Crew"
•Check the Discussions on Growing Gardens of Gratitude for updates and more information.
•In the files section, download the Gratitude Gardens Registration Form and email it to
growfoodpartycrew@gmail.com
"The only limitation is the imagination of the designer." -Bill Mollison
--
Devin Slavin
Regenerative Design & Education
AbundanceInBalance.com

-end-
Santa Barbara Permaculture Network
   an educational non-profit since 2000
(805) 962-2571
P.O. Box 92156, Santa Barbara, CA 93190
margie@sbpermaculture.org
 www.sbpermaculture.org

"We are like trees, we must create new leaves, in new directions, in order to grow." - Anonymous
First Annual Southern California Permaculture Convergence August 2008
 http://socalifornia.permacultureconvergence.org