permaculture

["Cliff Figallo" <cfig@socialchemy.com>]

Hello, list members

I've been monitoring the list for a couple of weeks. The current ferment has
obviously drawn some of us out of "observer mode."

I've been involved with online communities for about 20 years and my
experience is that ferment is an overall good. It feels crummy sometimes,
but you can embrace it as evidence of commitment and a precursor to good
consequences. I imagine our ancestors' first experiences with fermentation
must have been unpleasant until the value of its byproducts were realized.

I've never taken a permaculture course though I've lived within a
permaculture-like ethos for many years. I don't consider myself to be
qualified to comment on the particulars of the current discussion, but I'm
involved with a project that has led me here, and which I hope will be
relevant.

My project concerns leadership learning, especially in the developing world.
I'm working with the Berkana Institute (www.berkana.org) to form an online
"community of practice" among pioneering leaders in the field of
permaculture. We hope to learn from the leaders we attract to this
multi-threaded, extended online discussion about how new and original
approaches to leadership can be of use in other realms of development such
as education and health. I'm currently looking for candidates for a core
group of initial participants to get some opening conversations off the
ground in preparation for more widespread invitations.

The mission of Berkana and its online community venue, the Berkana Exchange
(http://exchange.newworkspaces.net/) is to "develop leadership initiatives
that support the emergence of self-reliant and interdependent communities.

"The participants in these initiatives create new possibilities for change
by:
    * Working locally to identify and support leaders, social entrepreneurs
and community organizers
    * Sharing their experience and learning with a global community of
pioneering leaders
    * Bringing knowledge and experience from learning centers around the
world back to their local communities
    * Learning collaboratively with one another through gatherings and
NewWorkSpaces, Berkana's online platform for communities of practice"

If this interests anyone on the list - if you've discovered, experienced,
observed or promoted leadership practices (or actual leaders) that are
unorthodox, emergent, from-the-heart as opposed to from-the-book - I'd love
to hear from you. Or if this topic seems appropriate for the list, please
respond with questions or comments here.

Thanks,

Cliff Figallo
www.socialchemy.com
www.berkana.org