Bioneers Conference is essential to me. MUST go tomorrow. Fri- Sun. 10/18-20, Marin Civic Center.
So as I said on Yelp! (where son, Jon, says, when he builds an app, 40 million people use it) “Bioneers is the one conference I never miss – or I’d feel like I missed spending time with my family. It’s terrifying, electrifying and deeply satisfying to be among 3,000 or so people who believe in saving the planet and each other from our various methods of self-extinction. Much is gracious and loving – like conversations over lunch, music and dance, drumming – but most of all brilliant people who care deeply about the fate of our earth and have real, useful plans to overcome our bad acting.” I need the support.
Very much looking forward to hearing and talking w. author and activist (same two words I use for myself!) Anna Lappe, wonderful daughter of Frances Moore Lappe, Frankie, an early adopter of fantastic possible concepts such as we actually CAN FEED all the world’s people if we do the work (her book Diet for a Small Planet is key to the whole environmental scene). Anna Lappé, “a renowned sustainable food advocate, founding principal of the Small Planet Institute and the Small Planet Fund and currently leading the Real Food Media Project, is the co-author or author of three books and the contributing author to nine others.” Her most recent book is: Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It. www.smallplanet.org Much right in line with goals of the Grange, of which I am now Petaluma Grange Lecturer, responsible for speakers and booking films, etc.
Anna Lappe is a powerhouse all on her own. Love her comments on Facebook and she’s on her 3rd book – first two w. Mom, Frankie Lappe. For Bioneers this year, she’s hosting a dialogue, WOMEN AS DEMOCRACY BUILDERS: RECLAIMING OUR COMMONS FROM CORPORATE POWER with: Leila Salazar-Lopez, Program Director at Amazon Watch; Kelle Louaillier, Executive Director of Corporate Accountability International; Lynne Twist, Pachamama Alliance co-founder, Soul of Money Institute founder. 2:45 Friday.
Opening remarks Friday by Kenny Ansubel and Nina Simons, inspiring dear friends of my former mentor, Henry Dakin, so think of him (passed 3 year ago but somehow with us still!) at Bioneers.
Fri. will be sure to attend YOUTH LEADERSHIP FOCUS WITH BROWER YOUTH AWARD WINNER, MAYA SALSEDO | THE YOUTH FOOD BILL OF RIGHTS, intro. by Hai Vo, Real Food Challenge. David Brower was a great influence, frequent visitor to 3220 Sacramento St., SF, where I worked w. visionaries espousing pretty much what Bioneers does – and now, if our Petaluma Grange and California Grange are to be role models for resilience, we’re gonna have to start up youth programs. A model for us: Young Farmers Guild to be presented to us soon by Evan Wiig (met at CA State Grange Convention last week- guilds all over the state and it’s national!)
Back to Bioneers – Friday treats include always great food and info. I always go to Lydia’s Organics for lunch (as I often do in Petaluma!) And just sitting in the cafe area means you are surrounded by like-minded people who want to talk with you about their projects and challenges and just be supportive of our shared work. The books and music are keepers; must buy something from each area.
Some highlights Friday:
8:45 am
Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium
Drumming by Deb Lane and Afia Walking Tree
Opening: R. Carlos Nakai, the world’s premiere performer of the Native American flute
09:30 AM
Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium
Jason McLennan | Living Buildings and a Regenerative World
Introduction by: Paul Hawken
The visionary founder of the Living Building Challenge illuminates the game-changing impacts of the world’s most advanced and provocative green building certification program. He chronicles its core principles, its global influence on designers, builders, communities and educational systems, and its manifest progress transforming the interface between human habitats and the natural world into a virtuous cycle.
9:45 AM
Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium
Gender Awareness with Will Keepin, Ph.D. and Rev. Cynthia Brix, Co-Directors of Gender Reconciliation International
10:00 AM
Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium
Nalini Nadkarni | Between Earth and Sky: Trees as Silent Teachers
By: Nalini Nadkarni
Introduction by: Nina Simons
The “Queen of the Forest Canopy” has conducted unique scientific studies of trees for three decades on four continents, revealing what the complex, diverse biology of rainforests can teach us about human connections and dynamics. She believes we can learn from arboreal example to begin to hear and heal across our differences, and in turn conserve these invaluable planetary ecosystems and their life-giving functions. Nalini Nadkarni, Professor of Biology and Director of the Center for Science and Mathematics Education at the University of Utah, is a passionate communicator about nature and science to people in all walks of life.
10:20 AM
Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium
Film Short: Nature’s Wonders by Louie Schwartzberg
10:45 AM
Youth Leadership Focus with Brower Youth Award winner, Maya Salsedo | The Youth Food Bill of Rights
Introduction by Hai Vo, Real Food Challenge.
11:15 AM
David McConville | Cosmomimicry: Why the Universe Matters
Heeding Buckminster Fulller’s counsel to “Start with the Universe,” the visionary Board President of the Buckminster Fuller Institute explores the surprisingly practical ways that patterns and structures in the universe can inform design strategies for addressing today’s “wicked” problems. We are not alone… McConville is the Co-Founder and Director of Noospheric Research of The Elumenati (www.elumenati.com), a full-service design and engineering firm specializing in the development and deployment of immersive visualization environments and experiences inspired by Fuller’s Geoscope, whose clients include NASA, NOAA, Disney, NVIDIA, JPL, Burning Man, Cirque du Soleil, and 350.org. He collaborates with numerous community initiatives to develop systems-oriented solutions to energy, environmental, and educational challenges.
11:45 AM
JAY HARMAN – The Nature of Innovation
As a boy in Australia, Jay Harman noticed that nature’s favorite form is the spiral. From the shape of galaxies and hurricanes to how blood flows through your veins to how water goes down a drain, this ancient sacred form – the Golden Mean – has preoccupied a lineage from indigenous peoples to Plato, Pythagoras, Descartes and Da Vinci. Harman had the genius to apply nature’s favorite form to industrial design. Through starting numerous biomimicry firms and research conducted for his acclaimed new book, The Shark’s Paintbrush: Biomimicry and How Nature Is Inspiring Innovation, he has illustrated key ways that biomimetic business differs from business as usual. He’ll share inspiring examples of companies and governments that are adopting biomimicry, including radical approaches to mitigating the harms of fracking and climate change. He will illustrate ways we can all be biomimics in our homes and businesses. Modern biomimicry does more than gratify human industrial ambition; it teaches us how to live in harmony with nature and opens breakthrough opportunities for a new business model of partnership with nature.
12:45 PM
Performance by “Slam Poet Harvester” TIM MERRY: Holding Up a Mirror to the Moment. This gifted spoken-word improviser revives the ancient art of sacred bards and jesters as he generates instant poetic commentary on and analysis of what he sees and hears, on the spot, helping us live more consciously in the moment.
2:45 PM
The Leading Edges of Design for a Sustainable World
Co-sponsored by the Buckminster Fuller Institute (BFI). Hosted by Elizabeth Thompson, BFI Executive Director. With: David McConville, immersive media artist, BFI Board President; Jason McLennan, Living Building Challenge founder, winner of the 2012 Buckminster Fuller Challenge; Jay Harman, inventor, entrepreneur, founder of PAX Scientific, author of The Shark’s Paintbrush.
2:45 PM
Showcase Theater
Creativity and Improvisation in Leadership, Education and Sustainability
An emergent conversation hosted by author and activist Anneke Campbell. With: Nalini Nadkarni, “the Queen of the Forest Canopy;” Matthew Fox, priest and theologian, leading exponent of Creation Spirituality; Alfonso Montuori, Director of Masters program in Transformative Leadership, California Institute of Integral Studies; Rose von Thater Braan (Tuscorora/Cherokee), co-founder of the Native American Academy.
2:45 PM
Larkspur Room
Entrepreneurship: Mission-Driven Companies
Hosted by Christy Foley, founder of The Foley Connection. With: Matthew Engelhart, co-founder of Café Gratitude and Gracias Madre, co-author of Sacred Commerce; John Roulac, founder and CEO of Nutiva; Mary Waldner and Dale Rodrigues, founders of Mary’s Gone Crackers.
2:45 PM
Manzanita Room
Women as Democracy Builders: Reclaiming Our Commons from Corporate Power
Hosted by author and activist Anna Lappé. With: Leila Salazar-Lopez, Program Director at Amazon Watch; Kelle Louaillier, Executive Director of Corporate Accountability International; Lynne Twist, Pachamama Alliance co-founder, Soul of Money Institute founder.
2:45 PM
Sausalito Room
Tools for Transforming Education: Whole Child, Whole Person, Whole World
Hosted by Cleary Vaughan-Lee, Education Coordinator for the Global Oneness Project. With: Mark Collin and Chuck Fisher of Dovetail Learning.
Interactive/Experiential
2:45 PM
Santa Rosa Room
2:45 PM
World Café Space
Wiser Together World Café: Intergenerational Dialogue and Mentoring
Join participant-driven conversations about how we can collaborate to shape the future by synergizing the unique gifts of all generations. The Cafe provides a hospitable space for integration and reflection on what is emerging at the conference and for building personal and professional partnerships. With: David Shaw, Common Ground Center, UC Santa Cruz; Dana Pearlman, The Lotus: Authentic Leadership Development and the Global Leadership Lab; Tim Merry, Myrgan Inc, Art of Hosting; Giselle Chow, Graphic Facilitator and Recorder, Giselle Chow Consulting.
2:45 PM
Networking Hub in Expo Hall
Facilitated Dialogue at the Networking Center – Creating Resilient Food Systems
What have we learned about how to feed ourselves sustainably? What needs to be amplified? What obstacles need to be overcome? Come connect, network, and share your insights.
4:30 PM
World Café Space
Conversation Café
TBA
4:30 PM
Sausalito Room
Connecting Across Difference Through Indigenous Learning Practices
An emergent conversation hosted by Melissa Nelson (Turtle Mountain Anishinaabe), President of the Cultural Conservancy/professor at SFSU; with Rose von Thater Braan (Tuscorora/Cherokee), co-founder/Director of the Native American Academy; Jeannette Armstrong (Okanagan), Executive Director of the En’Owkin Centre.
4:30 PM
Showcase Theater
Narrative Medicine: Building Peace Through Understanding How Others Perceive Their Worlds
With path finding psychotherapist and Narrative Medicine facilitator Shari Foos, who creates workshops to heal organizations, businesses and at-risk youth.
Interactional/Experiential. Showcase Theater
4:30 PM
Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium
The Art and Tradition of Fermentation: Community, Culture and Evolution
With: Sandor Katz, author of The Art of Fermentation and other cutting-edge books on cultured foods.
4:30 PM
Manzanita Room
The Commons of Healthcare: Resilience as the Anchor for Health
Hosted by Molly Roberts, M.D., M.S., President of the American Holistic Medical Association. With: Jamie Harvie, Executive Director, Institute for a Sustainable Future, co-founder, Commons Health Care Network; Nancy Sudak, M.D. ABIHM, Executive Director American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine; David Zuckerman, Research Associate, The Democracy Collaborative.
4:30 PM
Santa Rosa Room
Resist, Restore, Re-imagine: Greening Detroit with Resilience
Hosted by Nikki Henderson, Executive Director, People’s Grocery. With: Gloria Rivera, Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit Coordinator; Malik Yakini, Executive Director of The Detroit Black Community Food Security Network; Lottie Spady, Detroit activist.
4:30 PM
Indigenous Forum
Mother Earth – Father Sky: Voices from the Spirit!
Indigenous Forum
Hosted by: Tom B.K. Goldtooth (Dine’/Dakota), Executive Director, Indigenous Environmental Network. With: Eddie Benton-Benai, (Anishinabe Fish Clan), Grand Chief of the Three Fires Midewiwin Lodge; Mona Polacca (Hopi, Havasupai and Tewa), indigenous elder stateswoman, International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers.
To view the entire Indigenous Schedule click here
4:30 PM
Lagoon Park
Walking Your Talk in the World: Exploring Embodied Transformation
Come to begin at the heart and soul of what matters; discover the patterns that ‘walk us,’ harvest your natural knowing, glide with effortless ease, connect vibrantly to your world, and embody your goals for global renewal. With author and educator Suki Munsell, Ph.D., Interactive/Experiential
Interactive/Experiential
4:30 PM
Youth Unity Center
Youth Leadership: Poetry Slam | Hosted by poet Josh Healy
Youth Leadership: Poetry Slam. Hosted by poet Josh Healy.
4:30 PM
Council Circle
Council: Restoring and Honoring the Sacred Feminine and Sacred Masculine
Interactive, experiential
(Double session, continued from 2:45pm)
4:30 PM
Networking Hub in Expo Hall
Facilitated Dialogue at the Networking Center—Reimagining Education
How do we re-imagine and redesign systems of learning to respond to our escalating challenges and real needs? Come connect, network, and share your insights.
4:30 PM
Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium
The Role of “Heroic” Learning Communities in the Postmodern Era
Join author and educator Richard Tarnas and elder change-maker, Buddhist scholar and Deep Ecology progenitor Joanna Macy for this radical exploration of Heroic Learning Communities and their unique role at this critical moment in the evolution of human civilization and our relationship to nature, each other and ourselves.
7:00 pm
Showcase Theater
Symphony of Soil
Introduced by director Deborah Koons Garcia
Garcia’s follow-up to The Future of Food examines the human relationship with soil, the use and abuse of soil in agriculture, deforestation and development, and the latest scientific research on soil’s potential to help address climate change. Filmed on four continents, Symphony of the Soil reveals that if we want healthy plants that result in healthy humans living on a healthy planet, we have to start at the roots, with healthy soil.
9:00 pm
Showcase Theater
Elemental
Directed by Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee and Gayatri Roshan
Introduced by Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee
Elemental tells the remarkable story of three individuals on three separate continents working in radically different contexts but united by their deep connection with nature and driven to confront some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. It highlights: water activist Rajendra Singh’s struggle to resuscitate the desperately polluted Ganges river; young Denè mother Eriel Deranger’s “David and Goliath” struggle against the world’s largest industrial development, Canada’s Tar Sands; and biomimicry inventor and entrepreneur Jay Harman’s search for investors willing to risk millions to back his conviction that nature’s own systems hold the key to our world’s ecological problems.
Google Bioneers Conference for Sat. and Sun.FULL SCHEDULE. More highlights I pulled: Sat. includes Pachamama Alliance, Danny Glover, Mother Jones on Media Mojo and Social Change, Janine Baynes on Biomimicry, Caroline Casey, Change the Metaphor, Change the Culture w. Richard Tarnas, Guardians of the Water with Native American Youth, 4:30 PM, Manzanita Room The Healing Potential of Cannabidiol, MDMA, and Entheogens Hosted by J.P. Harpignies, Bioneers associate producer. With: Martin Lee, Director of Project CBD, a cannabis science information service, author of Smoke Signals: A Social History of Marijuana – Medical, Recreational and Scientific; Amy Emerson, Director of Clinical Research at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS); Ralph Metzner, legendary psychedelic research pioneer.
4:30 PM
Larkspur Room
Biodynamic Farming: Way Beyond Organic
With: Gena Nonini, 3rd-generation farmer, owner/operator of Marian Farms, a premiere Biodynamic farm and distillery in Fresno, CA. A Dance party at 10:30pm! w. DJ Dragonfly.
Sun? Mixers and networking, Joanna Macy on choosing life, Wiser Together (must be Paul Hawken’s baby?), 1:30 PM
Indigenous Forum
Technology to Transform: Building a Youth Driven Climate Justice Movement
Lunchtime event: 1:30-2:30 p.m. (bring your lunch and listen…)
Professor Antwi Akom discusses what the modern world can learn from the indigenous world to combat climate change and describes his work building a youth-driven climate justice movement that uses technological innovations at the grassroots level to cultivate community, heal divisions and develop joint movement building strategies.
2:45 PM
Meet at the Sun Stage
Herbwalk
With renowned herbalists Autumn Summers and Kevin Spelman, PhD, MCPP, scientist, clinician, educator, herbalist and writer.
Way more on the Bioneers Conference site! Or just GO THERE…face to face – still the way to know a person – and a movement.