[Sdpg] The 9th Continental Bioregional Congress July 9th to 17th, 2005. Earthaven Ecovillage, Western North Carolina.

[Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson]

Special Event!: The 9th Continental Bioregional Congress
at Earthaven Ecovillage in the Blue Ridge Mountains
of Western North Carolina, July 9th to 17th, 2005.
For more details and registration, visit the CBC9 webpage at:
www.bioregionalcongress.org

Across the planet, people recognize that we must become guardians of our 
life-places. Human beings have long understood that security is found in 
acting responsibly at home, in our neighborhoods and watersheds - our 
bioregions.

Bioregions are living systems where every being is connected to, and 
interdependent with every other; bioregions are not defined by property 
lines, states, or nations, but by rock, soil, weather, water, terrain, 
plants, animals, human cultures and human settlements. 	
Bioregionalism calls for active citizenship in the whole of life, the 
biotic community. While decentralist, Bioregionalism's key understanding is 
cultural: attention to place, to local history, natural history, and to how 
a community's hopes, wounds, and dreams can inform enduring ways of life 
that will heal and sustain the planet's bioregions and their inhabitants. 	
Bioregionalism cultivates learning the natural history of all our relations 
in order to craft diverse human societies respectful of place and planet. 	

Bioregionalism means working to satisfy basic needs locally, relying on 
renewable energy and sustainable agriculture, developing local enterprises 
based on local skills and strengths.

Bioregionalism challenges and is an alternative to nationalism, corporate 
rule, and top-down globalization of our lives.

  Bioregionalism embraces the struggle to preserve, restore and enhance the 
life of the places that constitute the planet. Since 1984 bioregionalists 
have been gathering in congresses to envision and develop a realistic, 
restorative way of life in the bioregions of the Americas. We set our own 
agendas, operate by consensus and build a common commitment. Grand times 
and good friendships are only the first fruits. At bioregional congresses, 
we live in community, concern ourselves with the things that matter, and 
return home informed and inspired. We earnestly invite the participation of 
all, especially those actively employing ecological precepts in the many 
movements and endeavors necessary for the human species to reinhabit the 
bioregions of the Americas and of the whole Earth.

The survival of humanity and of the planet's bioregions depends on the 
advancement of ecologically designed economics; technology and industry; 
agriculture and forestry; education and philosophy, psychology, and 
metaphysics; politics, law and justice; health and environmental defense; 
politics and land tenure.

Any and all activists and practitioners in these fields are strongly urged 
to attend, to share their passions, lore, successes and learning 
experiences; to find new cohorts while participating in plenary discussions 
and spontaneous conversations.
If we are to avoid total ecological and social collapse followed by a 
brutal global monoculture, we need to begin to live by life, to listen to 
the planet, to learn our places. Home is the ground for honest hope. Only 
in our life-places can we begin anew, in the timeless way of Earth's 
ecologies. 	

The Congress Site

The congress will be held at Earthaven Ecovillage, an off-grid, intentional 
community of about 75 people who are dedicated to learning and teaching 
replicable models of sustainable human culture. A map for those driving to 
the Congress will be included in your registration. We are located in 
Katuah bioregion in culturally rich, biologically diverse western North 
Carolina, an hour southeast of Asheville. Lying between 2000 and 2600 feet 
elevation, our 320 acres of forested mountain land consist of three 
converging creek valleys with springs, bottomland, and steep slopes.

Indoor meeting facilities include the Council Hall, the White Owl 
café/nightclub, the A&A guest house, and Villages Terraces co-housing.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Guest lodging is primarily available at our 3 rustic, forested campgrounds, 
each of which has outdoor showers and composting toilets. For information 
about possible indoor accommodations, call 828-664-0067 or email 
ehpa at direcway.com

WEATHER

Earthaven is located in a temperate rainforest; rainfall can be heavy at 
times. You should be prepared for a variety of temperatures: nights during 
the summer can get down to the 50s and some afternoons can reach the 90s. 
Please bring clothing and camping gear that accommodates the changing weather.

CLANS, CIRCLES, AND COUNCILS, ETC

Over the years, bioregional congresses have evolved various forms of 
meeting and discussion. The primary commitment is to have an open agenda, 
set at agenda planning meetings each day, where anyone wishing to raise an 
issue for whole group discussion (plenary – see below) is welcome to do. 
There will be skilled facilitators at council meetings and plenaries and, 
as much as possible, Spanish-English translation will be provided.

Other functions and business of the Congress are met by various groups. You 
will probably find yourself in several of them:

Circles: Opening, Closing, and Morning Circles will bring us all together 
to make introductions, announcements, and connections.

Clans: You will be assigned to a small group that meets daily for personal 
sharing, and to work on a communal task, such as food prep, kitchen 
cleaning, recycling, or child care.

Councils on large subjects (such as Education, Political Action, Culture, 
Healing, etc.) will be held in the early part of the week, and possibly 
also committees whose focus is more specific than the councils.

Plenaries are full-group meetings in which reports are heard and proposals 
are presented. Decisions are made by consensus process.

Caucuses are special interest groups that spontaneously form to represent 
the concerns of groups such as women, men, youth, other species, etc.

WORKSHOPS AND WORKDAY

Workshop time will be scheduled during the week. If you would like to offer 
a workshop, please include a description and details with your registration 
or email us at biocongress2005 at earthaven.org.

A workday at the congress is being planned to allow participants an 
opportunity to honor the place of our meeting by giving something back. 
Participants may choose between various community and land restoration 
projects.

CULTURAL CELEBRATIONS Every evening at the congress will feature a 
celebration of bioregionalism throughout the Americas: stories, songs, 
dance, drama, masks, costumes, slides, poetry -- whatever short (10 – 30 
minutes) presentation you (and your bioregional neighbors?) invent and 
imagine to represent, evoke and celebrate natural and cultural community in 
your home place.

PRE-CONGRESS

Pre-congress activities, beginning Friday, June 11th, will provide 
opportunities to tour Earthaven, learn about the geographical and 
biological features of the region, or get an introduction to Permaculture 
and/or the Ecovillage Movement. Watch this website for evolving details.

REGISTRATION

You can really help this event flow more smoothly, if you pre-register by 
May 1, 2005 (+ you get a discount for doing so). A confirmation packet will 
be mailed to you. Check-in will begin at 2 PM on Saturday, July  9. The 
first meal will be served at 6:30 PM. The congress will end after lunch on 
Sunday, July 17.

CONTACT US

For copies of the invitation to the 9th Continental Bioregional Congress, 
details on registration and/or travel please contact Kimchi Rylander at 
rodkimry at earthlink.net.

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