permaculture

[Wesley Roe and Santa Barbara Permaculture Network <lakinroe@silcom.com>]

For Immediate Release

Contact: Kolmi Majumdar, Co-director
Sustainable Vocations at Quail Springs
<mailto:kolmi@sustainablevocations.org>kolmi@sustainablevocations.org
Phone 805-886-7239, Fax 866-321-1102


Green Jobs and Sustainable Living Training for Southern California 
Youth provides Permaculture Design Certification, Introductions to 
Renewable Energy and Green Building

Quail Springs, Growing Green Energy, Ojai Solar Electric, 
Ecostructures, Inc., and local foundations and green businesses 
partner to provide training, with scholarships for low income youth

Santa Barbara and Ventura County, CA (April 15, 2009) - While the 
green jobs movement gains momentum at the state and federal level, a 
partnership of local organizations has developed a sustainable living 
and green jobs preparation training for Southern California youth. 
Sustainable Vocations is an innovative program that prepares youth 
ages 15 to 24 for diverse leadership roles that integrate 
sustainability into their communities and provides a hands-on 
introduction to the growing green jobs market. Developed and hosted 
by Quail Springs Permaculture Farm, a nonprofit sustainability 
demonstration and education center in the mountains near Santa 
Barbara and Ventura, the program is accepting applications for its 
first intensive session this August, and provides scholarships for 
low-income youth.

At the heart of Sustainable Vocations is the power of the up and 
coming generations to positively impact their communities and society 
at large. In the words of students in introductory sessions earlier 
this year: "I plan on spreading what I know and making my future 
career one that can help the green cause. We have the power to change 
the future!"
Sustainable Vocations' students will earn a Permaculture Design 
Certification, receive introductions to renewable energy and green 
building, with the developing option of gaining college credits. 
According to Warren Brush, program co-director and lead permaculture 
instructor, "Permaculture is an integrated design system being 
utilized in over 135 countries, in hundreds of thousands of projects, 
and increasingly being taught in colleges and universities because of 
its successful approach to creating productive human habitats while 
reducing our ecological footprint."

Each session of Sustainable Vocations is a three-week intensive 
residential training at Quail Springs' site, with field trips to area 
green industries and businesses. Transportation is provided from 
Santa Barbara. Information for families is provided in Spanish and 
English. Upcoming intensives are August 4-24, 2009, March 7-27, 2010, 
and June 20-July 10, 2010.

"People are our greatest resource and the earth is our greatest 
teacher," says Selim Sandoval of Growing Green Energy, a 
Ventura-based renewable energy installation and green workforce 
development company, and one of Sustainable Vocation's educational 
partners. Educational partners also include: Christopher Blunt of 
Ojai Solar Electric, a NABCEP certified renewable energy installer; 
Mike Lillis of Ecostructures, Inc., a LEED Accredited Professional; 
and local colleges who are assisting in developing accreditation of 
the program.

Scholarships are provided for low-income youth through the generosity 
of the Hutton Foundation and Towbes Foundation, and green business 
sponsors including Island Seed and Feed, Mike Lillis of 
Ecostructures, Inc., Ojai Solar Electric, and Growing Green Energy. 
Sustainable Vocations is growing a community network of referral, 
educational and sponsoring partners.

Kolmi Majumdar, program co-director, says "Sustainable Vocations 
aligns with the deepest purpose of the green jobs movement by 
investing in training young people with the critical thinking skills, 
stewardship ethics, and practical know how that will empower them to 
implement solutions and create new approaches to the social and 
ecological problems and opportunities we face as a society."

For more about Sustainable Vocations, visit: 
<http://ent.groundspring.org/EmailNow/pub.php?module=URLTracker&cmd=track&j=271680523&u=2935885>www.quailsprings.org/SustainableVocations/brochure.pdf









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