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[McKenzie Jones-Rounds <grasswriter AT gmail.com>]

Hi everybody. Please come see this film on Wednesday and stay for a community dialogue about building a local, resilient, sustainable economy. My friend Shira Golding and I will be two of the panelists!

Hope to see you there,
McKenzie

 

 

Media Contacts:                                                                                     For Immediate Release:
Gay Nicholson                                                                                        April 19, 2011

607-216-1552

Gay AT SustainableTompkins.org

 

 

Creating an “Economics of Happiness” in Tompkins County

 

Ithaca:  Sustainable Tompkins is hosting a community conversation about local efforts to build a more resilient and fair economy on Wednesday, April 27, 7:00-9:30 pm at Cinemapolis. The evening will feature a panel discussion and the Ithaca premiere of The Economics of Happiness – a film by Helena Norberg-Hodge, Steven Gorelick and John Page, and a project of the International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC).

 

Growing frustration with the failures and injustices of the global economic system has led to popular revolts in many countries and heated debates in the U.S.  As globalization has funneled immense wealth to transnational corporations, while depleting resources and displacing people, a countering force based on the principles of sustainability, social justice, and local economies has emerged.

 

“Relocalization of our economy is essential if we are to buffer ourselves from speculative bubbles and escalating food and energy prices,” notes Gay Nicholson, President of Sustainable Tompkins. “We need to design a local economy that works for everyone and takes advantage of the power of entrepreneurship, sharing, local supply chains, self-provisioning, and local investment.” 

 

The documentary film takes a close look at eight “inconvenient truths” about globalization and its disruptive impacts on billions of people, and contrasts that with the shared well-being and resiliency arising from local economies where people are more accountable to each other.  Kristen Elizabeth Steele, former Ithacan and Lehman Alternative Community School graduate, works for the ISEC in London and will introduce the film and share results from the global conversation it is inspiring.  “The themes of the film were introduced to me while I was growing up in Ithaca,” said Steele, “and I’m looking forward to hearing about the progress my hometown is making in building long-term resilience into its economy.”

 

After the first screening, a panel of local community leaders from Sustainable Tompkins, Southside Community Center, Share Tompkins, Local First Ithaca, Tompkins County Workers Center, Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County, and Tompkins Workforce NY will outline our progress in creating a more sustainable local economy and suggest opportunities to pursue in the next few years.

 

“Ithacans have embraced the idea of sharing resources through our monthly events,” explains panelist Shira Golding of Share Tompkins, “and we are building an online infrastructure that empowers people to share and trade services, products, and knowledge. The result is a higher quality of life for all of us and a really strong sense of mutual-aid and community self-sufficiency.”

 

Audience members are encouraged to join the discussion and bring their ideas and news on other local economy initiatives.  Tickets for the first screening at 7:00 are offered on a sliding scale of $5-$10 at the door, or can be purchased in advance by contacting elizasalon AT yahoo.com.  A second screening at 9:30 pm will be offered through Cinemapolis at standard prices.

 

Sustainable Tompkins is a citizen-based organization whose mission is to promote the long-term well-being of our communities and region by integrating social equity, economic vitality, ecological stewardship, and personal and civic responsibility.  Visit www.sustainabletompkins.org to learn more.

 

Hosted by Sustainable Tompkins with cosponsors: Alternatives Federal Credit Union, Green Resource Hub, Sustainable Enterprise & Entrepreneur Network, Share Tompkins, Local First Ithaca, Tompkins County Workers Center, Social Ventures, Southside Community Center, Tompkins Workforce NY, Tompkins County Climate Protection Initiative, Interfaith Action for Healing Earth, and Ithaca Hours.

 

 

 

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Side Box:

 

The Economics of Happiness describes a world moving simultaneously in two opposing directions.  As governments and big business continue to push for “growth” in the form of increased global trade, we’re seeing an increase in climate chaos, senseless war, fundamentalism, financial volatility, income inequality, and the consolidation of corporate power.  At the same time, people around the world are resisting those policies, demanding a re-regulation of both trade and finance.  And, far from the old institutions of power, communities are coming together to re-build more human-scale, ecological economies based on a new paradigm – an economics of localization.    (International Society for Ecology and Culture)