[permaculture] US itinerary May-Aug 09, Robyn Francis

Robyn Francis erda at nor.com.au
Tue May 12 05:50:19 EDT 2009


Robyn Francis Teaching Tour USA Summer 2009

Hi Folk
I'm looking forward to my US visit and appreciate the opportunity to share
and to catch up on pc friends and projects in the North West. I'm
particularly looking forward to sharing some of my advanced training in
professional design skills, community development and tools for transition
planning. 
Starting May 30 I'll be co-teaching a PDC with Penny Livingston and Darren
Doherty in Bolinas, north of San Francisco, then two weeks in Cuba following
up on the 2008 CAPE visit, to assess the the post hurricane recovery
progress and update my on-going study of Cuba and living within our
Ecofootprint.

The July program will commence with an Advanced Design Skills course at RDI
in Bolinas, then a month at Quail Springs teaching a PDC with Kat Steele and
Warren Bush followed by the advanced training in Sustainable Aid for
permaculture activists working in areas of need. For my last 2 weeks I'll be
giving a limited number of presentations and workshops in the North West
from Aug 8-23. 

North America Tour 2009 Itinerary

€May 30-June 14: PDC (with Penny Livingston, Darren Doherty & guests
Starhawk, Jon Young and James Stark)
Regenerative Design Institute, Bolinas, CA, USA
http://www.regenerativedesign.org/permaculture-design-certification-course-i
ntensive-2008

€June 17-Jul 3 Cuba CAPE Meetings with Foundation for Nature & Humanity,
appraisal of post-hurricane recovery, needs and ongoing support.

€Jul 5-8 Advanced Design Skills ­ Beyond the PDC
Regenerative Design Institute, Bolinas, CA, USA
http://www.regenerativedesign.org/courses-events/advanced-permaculture-desig
n-skills-%E2%80%93-beyond-the-pdc

€Jul 11-24 PDC (with Kat Steele & Warren Brush)
Quail Springs, CA, USA http://www.quailsprings.org

€Jul 27 - Aug 6 Cultural Diversity/Sustainable Aid Course
Facilitating Resilient Community Development in Areas of Need, Permaculture
for 2/3rds World, Indigenous and Culturally Diverse Communities
Quail Springs, CA, USA http://www.quailsprings.org

€Aug 8 Presentation: One-Earth Footprint ­ Learning from Cuba¹s Experience
Discover the key factors enabling Cuba to survive collapse, live within its
ecological footprint, and how this relates to Permaculture & Transition
design.
Santa Barbara Permaculture Network, Santa Barbara CA, USA
lakinroe at silcom.com

€Aug 8-22 Tour North-west USA contact: biotribecascadia at yahoo.com
Presentations & workshops on offer:

Presentations    
Duration: 1 hr presentation + Q&A/discussion.

My Eco-Neighbourhood
Robyn Francis presents an inspiring case study of her village of Nimbin in
Northern NSW Australia as an example of Permaculture working at a community
level.  The local bioregion boasts over 40 intentional communities and the
village has been at the cutting edge of social experimentation and
environmental innovation for over 30 years. Learn how she has worked with
her community as a Permaculture consultant for eco-developments and local
government, influencing state planning laws, facilitating participatory
design, and establishing a Permaculture training centre and bioregional
campus.

One-Earth Footprint­ Learning from Cuba¹s Experience
Discover the key factors enabling Cuba to survive collapse, live within its
ecological footprint, and how this relates to Permaculture & Transition
design. 
Inspired by the 2007 State of the Planet Report, Robyn visited Cuba in 2008
to investigate the only society on earth living within its ecological
footprint and achieving a Œfirst-world¹ standard in the UN Human Development
Index for literacy, life expectancy and health. While Cuba isn¹t the perfect
model of a sustainable nation, it presents valuable lessons, inspiration and
food for thought as we embrace the challenges of the transition to a low
carbon culture and learn to live within our planetary resource allocation.
Key themes explored include decentralisation and localisation, urban food
production and permaculture, simple living and the power of community.
 
FULL-DAY WORKSHOPS:

Eco-Social Matrix (ESM)
Strategic Framework for Transition Planning
Eco-Social Matrix (ESM) involves creative tools and processes to identify
patterns of human settlements, their relationship to water-sheds, land use,
service networks, and socio-economic demographics of a region or community.
ESM informs the process of neighbourhood to regional-scale strategic
planning and eco-cultural mapping, sustainable settlement design and
initiatives for re-localisation to build resilient, self-reliant
communities. Robyn Francis developed the Eco-Social Matrix (ESM) as an
eco-social catchment planning tool for bioregional analysis in 1989
following 12 years involvement in intentional community movement and advisor
to NSW Planning. This approach formed the basis of Rural Settlement
Guidelines by the NSW State Planning Department in 1993, which received
state and national awards for Excellence in Planning for Ecologically
Sustainable Development. The workshop presents working case studies and
engages participatory processes to develop an ESM framework for your local
community or bioregion.
 
Cultural Ecology Inside Out:
Personal to Planetary Transition
Navigating the great transition presents new opportunities and challenges on
a deeply personal as well as societal level.  We are effectively redefining
and reinventing our culture from the inside out. As unsustainable systems
collapse we have a unique opportunity to shape the new emerging culture.
This workshop explores tools and perspectives to facilitate this process
drawing from ancestral wisdoms, deep ecology, permaculture, eco-literacy and
socio-cultural ecology.  Holistic change involves practical earth
stewardship and personal development, integrating simple living,
self-reliance and creative responses to build resilience into our lives and
communities. The workshop engages ritual, theatre, music, individual and
group work, council of beings and creative processes as tools for personal
and collective empowerment.
Duration: full day and early evening

Multi-media performance
EarthSong ­ Robyn Francis
This multimedia performance by Robyn Francis merges visual imagery, song,
spoken word and music. This inspiring and healing journey moves beyond
despair and fear into hope and empowerment through a deeper connection with
the earth. An exceptionally gifted composer, singer-songwriter, poet and
artist, Robyn enriches the cultural side of Permaculture with her
creativity. Robyn Francis has produced 4 music CD¹s, and received multiple
Dolphin Music Award nominations, 1993-2007. This performance introduces some
the new works from her new CD ŒEarthSong¹.
See examples of music at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ky3TSaK1uo
www.myspace.com/earthsongrobynfrancis
<http://www.myspace.com/earthsongrobynfrancis>   and
www.myspace.com/robynfrancisearthsong
<http://www.myspace.com/robynfrancisearthsong>
Performance Duration:  30 minute set or 55 minute production

 
Robyn Francis
International Permaculture pioneer, consultant, educator and presenter,
shares over 25 years experience at the cutting edge of sustainable design.
>From government and corporate sectors to grassroots communities and
individual clients, Robyn continues to break new ground in education and
design for facilitating the transition to a post-carbon world. The founder
of Permaculture International, Erda Institute, Permaculture Education, and
creator of the Bioregional Campus and Eco-Social Matrix concepts, she was a
key player developing the nationally Accredited Permaculture Training
qualifications in Australia. Francis Œwalks the talk¹ at Djanbung Gardens,
world-class Permaculture training centre, and her local community in NSW
Australia. Robyn is also an exceptional musician, composer and
singer-songwriter, artist and inspiring communicator. Further info
www.permaculture.com.au <http://www.permaculture.com.au>





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