permaculture

[Cory Brennan <cory8570@yahoo.com>]

This is a Transition Towns tour in a number of cities, they'd like 
permaculturists to speak and share at their events. Please contact the names 
below directly, I am not working on this but just passing it along. 

The tour begins in San Diego on September 7th and moves on to Tucson, 
Phoenix, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Little Rock, Memphis, 
Nashville, and Chattanooga, ending in Greenville/Spartanburg.
 

 
Stone Soup Listening Tour September 7-23, 2010
 
Help connect the green dots…
 
In the 1990’s, author Paul Ray’s research on changing values and lifestyles 
concluded that in the U.S. alone, there are over 50 million “Cultural 
Creatives”—adults participating in the social and consciousness movements, 
which have emerged since World War II. Cultural Creatives care about the 
planet, relationships and steward leadership, supporting a more organic, 
systemic view of how we live together.
 
More recently, in Blessed Unrest, author Paul Hawken’s writes that there are 
more than two million organizations making a meaningful difference around 
green and social justice issues. 
 
So why aren’t we hearing about, collecting and connecting all the green and 
sustainable stories being told by the 50 million Cultural Creatives, who are 
undoubtedly involved in some of the two million organizations? Are their 
stories hanging “out there” somewhere like “dangling participles” 
disconnected and unable to effectively transform, modify or enhance the 
momentum of the grassroots movement already taking place? 

The Stone Soup Listening Tour: Connecting people, places and projects

What “green stories” are happening everywhere? Who’s telling them? 
Linda Sechrist, a writer and editor for Natural Awakenings Magazine 
(www.NaturalAwakeningsMag.com) and co-founder of Upstate Green Central 
Station, and Sharon Joy Kleitsch, founder of The Connection Partners, want to 
hear the latest in the emerging green story.
 
On their Stone Soup Listening Tour in 11 cities across the southern U.S., 
Sechrist and Kleitsch plan to meet hundreds of innovative folks, listen to 
stories about their projects and learn what they’re doing to create 
sustainable communities intended to ensure a future for all. Adding 
sustenance to make a healthy and savory “stone soup,” the women will collect 
the bounty of conversations and stories from each community as they travel 
along and contribute them to the next “pot.” The much anticipated result: a 
truly savory and soulfully good soup story that sustains all.  

The prologue to the Stone Soup Listening Tour began when Sechrist’s brother 
in California gifted her with a car. A resident of Spartanburg South 
Carolina, she decided to fly to California and drive back, stopping to visit 
with 11 of the 82 Natural Awakenings publishers as she traveled east. Upon 
sharing plans with her friend on July 4, the spark ignited in Kleitsch a 
knowing that she was supposed to join her. 
 
The tour begins in San Diego on September 7th and moves on to Tucson, 
Phoenix, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Little Rock, Memphis, 
Nashville, and Chattanooga, ending in Greenville/Spartanburg.
 
While education is essential, the ways we listen together to discover paths 
to wise actions are critical. Partnering with the World Café, Open Space and 
Art of Hosting networks, Kleitsch and Sechrist anticipate co-hosting evening, 
weekend or afternoon gatherings in each city. While daytime hours include 
visiting with individuals, organizations, and regional leaders to hear about 
what is working in their communities, evenings are set aside for stories and 
conversations that matter. This gives everyone an opportunity to hear about 
community happenings around slow food, slow money, permaculture, Transition 
Towns, Awakening the Dreamer, Four Years Go, 10.10. 10, Circle Connections, 
Social Artistry, Bioneers, transportation, clean energy, green building, 
sustainable cities, and everything it takes to build and strengthen 
sustainable communities.
 
Through their various networks the women are connecting with regional 
non-profit, business, government and media leaders to support what they and 
others are already doing in the tour cities. “This adds to an even more 
satisfying Stone Soup of true sustenance,” says Sechrist. “Many are already 
hosting conversations to address current issues, offering experiences to 
recognize the value of listening for what we don’t know. We’re just 
connecting a few more green dots, stirring the Stone Soup pot and will watch 
what happens,” adds Kleitsch.
 
Ray points out, “All the technical and social innovations needed to solve our 
problems have already been developed and are staring us in the face. Cultural 
Creatives, who are over 33% of U.S. adults, represent a new emerging 
consciousness that if made aware and mobilized, could provide critical mass 
of influence and pressure in the economic, cultural and political domains to 
shift the balance.” 

From Separation to Collaboration

“When Cultural Creatives finally connect and delight in what they share in 
common, amazing things are going to occur,” say Kleitsch and Sechrist. Among 
others who are sensing the growing need to connect and move from separate 
projects to collaboration, Sechrist and Kleitsch are excited about answering 
the call with their Stone Soup Listening Tour, intended to help others 
connect, align, synergize and leverage what is showing up faster by paying 
attention. 

Join us for a chance to share what you are noticing, to connect and to be 
pleasantly surprised. Be part of the Stone Soup Listening Tour. Contact 
Sharon Joy Kleitsch, The Connection Partners, with ideas, contacts and venue 
possibilities in any of the 11 cities. 

To explore how independent media can support and magnify the new emerging 
story, video interviews will be posted on Facebook, 
blog.naturalawakeningsmag.com and Creative Loafing’s Green Communities sites 
http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/green as well as YouTube and 
UpstateGreenDirectory.com.

The tour begins in San Diego on September 7th and moves on to Tucson (9/9), 
Phoenix (9/10), Albuquerque (9/12), Santa Fe (9/13-14), Oklahoma City 
(9/16-17), Tulsa (9/18), Little Rock (9/20), Memphis (9/21), Nashville (9/22) 
and Chattanooga (9/23, ending in Greenville/Spartanburg (9/23).

Sharon Joy Kleitsch, kleitsch@verizon.net. Linda Sechrist, lysechrist@aol.com 
.