[Scpg] Continental Bioregional Congress On The Prairie Oct. 7 - 13, 2002

[Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson]

Continental Bioregional Congress On The Prairie
                           Oct. 7 - 13, 2002
                   Camp Wood, Flint Hills of Kansas

                                Project
Now more than ever, our local and global cultures can benefit from
new wisdom to address the challenges of ecological restoration,
stewardship, and social justice in the 21st century.  The bioregional
movement is an important source and testing ground for
transformative ideas and practices that foster more sustainable
communities and a more secure world.  To renew the energy of the
movement and expand its influence, an innovative bioregional
congress is called for in 2002.

The Continental Bioregional Congress On The Prairie will be a
landmark event.  The congress, to be held in Kansas, Oct. 7-13,
2002,  will be the 8th continental gathering of bioregionalists and
bioregional organizations in North America.  The purpose of this
congress, which will bring together 350 diverse individuals from
throughout Mexico, Canada, the U.S. and Central America is to
catalyze social and ecological change. The congress also models
bioregionalism on the human scale by bringing together people of
diverse ages, backgrounds, heritages and places to create a learning
village that demonstrates consensus-building, diversity, ecological
innovation, sense of place, and sustainability.

The week will include a wide range of potent learning
opportunities for participants:
         * Bioregional elders and talented young people, as well as a
wide range of people who both self-identify as bioregionalism and
have just been exposed to bioregionalism, will exchange their ideas
and expertise through workshops.
         * In full group plenary sessions, participants (in both
Spanish and English) will discuss and decide upon continental
action projects.
         * Small group meetings  will help to provide support and in-
depth peer education on bioregionalism.
         *  At council and/or committee meetings, participants will
detail their ideas and activities for the future.
         * Cultural-sharing presentations each evening will allow
each attending bioregional group to present a dramatic, poetic,
musical and/or artistic rendering of their home communities.

The congress will be held at Camp Wood in the heart of the Flint
Hills of Kansas, the largest region of tallgrass prairie in North
America. The camp is also accessible for persons of different
abilities.  Food for the congress is being grown or produced by
Kansas organic farmers, which, in turn supports the local farming
community and food providers.  All waste produced recycled
locally to minimalize negative ecological impact.  A work day at
the congress will educate participants on ecological restoration
through local restoration projects.  Through the Village School for
the Young At Heart, children will participate in a student-centered,
interdisciplinary, ecologically-based curriculum that combines
music, storytelling, the arts, drama, poetry, all kinds of cooperative
play, and prairie folklore. Youth ages 12-18 will participate in a
youth congress that will interlink with the main plenary sessions.
Childcare will be provided for the very young.
A pre-congress conference will feature panel discussions,
workshops, hands-on restoration projects, ranch and prairie tours,
and local history of the region – putting bioregionalists in contact
with area ranchers, business owners, activists, artists and others
concerned with stewardship of the land.  The Chase County
Chamber of Commerce, the local school system, and
representatives from the U.S.D.A. are working with KAW Council
to administer this conference.

This congress is being organized by the Kansas Area Watershed
Council, a 501 (c) (3) bioregional organization founded in 1982
whose purpose is to foster sustainability and sense of place in the
prairie bioregion.  Input for all major decisions surrounding the
congress comes from a very active bioregional listserv, featuring
over 100 participants from throughout the continent, and from a
meeting of almost 100 bioregionalists from Mexico, Canada and
America in April, 2001.  Overall coordinator for the congress is
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg.

To get a copy of the registration brochure online (both English &
Spanish versions), please go to
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bioregional/>http<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bioregional/>://groups.yahoo.com/group/bioregional/ 

Registration fees are on a sliding scale ($200-300 for early
registration) for the 7 day event, plus lodging fees ($60/tent up to
$270 for heated cabins).  After sending in your registration (and
don’t delay, since early registration is Sept. 7, and registration
deadline for the event is September 15!) you will receive a 13 page
packet summarizing transportation details, pre-congress activities,
choices of accommodations, childcare, and other congress details.
This is an exciting event not to miss, so please check this out and
spread the word!

Questions? Email 
<mailto:seasonsandcycles at yahoo.com>seasonsandcycles<mailto:seasonsandcycles at yahoo.com>@yahoo.com 
or call 785-843-
0253/785-842-5772
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