permaculture

["rafter t. sass" <liberationecology@gmail.com>]

Here is a general invitation to a gathering this summer that I am  
helping to organize. Hope to see you there!

rafter t. sass
The Liberation Ecology Project
liberationecology.org
518-567-7407
skype: raughter


You are Invited to the Northeast Climate Confluence
The Northeast Climate Confluence will be a four-day gathering for  
people from all over this region to share stories about work that's  
being done to build a better world and discuss how climate change  
will affect that work and the place we call home. We live at a  
critical point in history, and this is an opportunity to strengthen  
our ties, strategize for action, identify the current gaps in our  
organizing, and find solutions close to home. We want to hear from  
you during the planning process, and we'd love it if you could be  
part of the event.

Our Vision:
A “confluence” is a place where rivers or storm fronts meet and  
become more powerful. The idea for the Northeast Climate Confluence  
is that it will be a place for people from a wide array of movements  
to encounter one another, share knowledge and skills, and develop  
strategies for building a better world. There will be a strong focus  
on environmental and economic justice, direct action, and the  
development of skills and plans to respond to the challenges ahead.
	There will be several “tracks” of workshops and presentations during  
the Confluence, including a track designed especially for Youth.  
Throughout the event, we will have workshops on a diverse range of  
subjects, from Understanding Climate Science, to the Prison  
Industrial Complex, to Radical Sustainability for Autonomous  
Communities, and much more. The Confluence will of course include  
workshops, panels, speakers and discussions, but it's also a  
celebration, so expect lots of performances, music, and art, too.

The Most Important Part: You!
The people who have been organizing the Confluence are committed to  
creating a space for movements, organizations, and individuals in the  
Northeast to meet one another, and begin creating a future that works  
for all of us. We see our role largely as providing infrastructure to  
do this. We're working to get together supplies, funds, space, food,  
and invitations to organizations. We want to invite you to come to  
the Confluence, but we also want to know if you might be able to  
present a workshop about what you're working on, perform, create art,  
or be involved in coordinating any other aspect of the week or local  
organizing in the time between now and then.
	We're looking for people who are resisting prisons, defending  
indigenous sovereignty and sacred sites, healing polluted land,  
fighting gentrification, dismantling white supremacy, growing food in  
the city, practicing permaculture, organizing communities, asserting  
immigrants' rights, monitoring police, opposing patriarchy,  
reclaiming land, organizing against poverty, defending wild places,  
creating their own media, teaching true histories, stopping corporate  
and colonial expansion, making music and art that says what we need  
to see and hear... you get the idea, right?

Location:
The Confluence will be happening at the Epworth Camp and Retreat  
Center in High Falls, NY. It is a beautiful space to relax and to  
focus. Most people will be camping, but there will also be a limited  
number of beds and cots. We don't expect everyone to have their own  
camping equipment, so we'll have some tents and sleeping bags to  
spare. Food will be provided at no charge. We are hoping to  
coordinate some amount of transportation from major cities and  
transportation centers in the area.

Goals:
The Northeast Climate Confluence aims to kick-start a regional  
disaster response network. We mean ‘disaster’ in a very broad sense;  
we want to be better able to respond to both ‘natural’ disasters and  
the unnatural disasters that people face in their communities every  
day. The main elements of this disaster response network might  
include local food networks, accessible health care projects,  
autonomous energy, first-responder trainings, access to land and  
housing, and networks of defense from violent authorities (such as  
police, prisons, and immigration enforcement). We're going to need to  
figure out what to do if a major storm hits the Northeast and causes  
flooding and displacement. We need to be able to feed ourselves as  
oil becomes scarce and gas prices rise. We need to do everything we  
can to reverse global warming. We need to link struggles, get off the  
grid, stop being dependent on systems that threaten our lives and  
hurt our communities, and create a world based on respect and justice.
	The Confluence is a response to global warming - the disruption of  
the planet's climate caused by industrial pollution that threatens  
all life on Earth. Global warming/global climate change is a central  
focus, as one of the major emergencies we need to address during our  
lifetimes. However, we realize that we can't simply talk about the  
issue of climate change and ignore the hundreds of other issues that  
it is deeply connected to. We are trying to address the political and  
social “climate” as well as the Earth's changing climate. It is the  
combination of both that is already bringing us highly visible  
disasters like Hurricane Katrina, along with hidden disasters in our  
neighborhoods and worldwide
	At the same time, there is so much amazing grassroots work being  
done all over our region and all over the world to celebrate, share,  
and learn from. People are creating and preserving positive  
alternatives and resisting oppression everywhere. Finding and growing  
those alternatives and that resistance are what this gathering is  
about and that's why we're contacting you to be a part of it.