permaculture

[Toby Hemenway <toby@patternliteracy.com>]

The choice of Regenerative Leadership Institute as a DBA is also confusing. 
Penny Livingston runs the highly regarded Regenerative Design Institute and 
her husband runs a program called the Ecology of Leadership. Several people, 
some of them very knowledgeable, have assumed that RLI is run by Penny. Since 
RDI is not trademarked, there is nothing illegal here, just the usual ethical 
edge-riding that we've seen all along. But it's hard not to think that the 
choice of a similar name was deliberate. 

No one, especially someone like Penny who has worked so hard to develop a 
program with integrity, likes their coat-tails ridden. I know that Penny 
would appreciate getting the word out that RDI has nothing to do with RLI.
 
Toby
http://patternliteracy.com


On Feb 11, 2013, at 3:09 PM, Andrew Millison wrote:

> Regarding Vlad, I've met him. He asked me to teach for him at one point. He
> has organized courses in Eugene, at the site where I now teach a weekend
> PDC. He was a nice enough guy in person.
> 
> There's been a steady stream of conflict and allegations surrounding him. I
> know someone personally who has had a lawsuit alleging libel and slander
> threatened by him, and I was contacted by a very upset student from his
> program who wanted to spread their story in the Permaculture community.
> 
> I know many other successful teachers and organizers who don't have all
> that energy around them, so i've elected to steer clear and not send people
> his way. I'd personally be very hesitant about entering into agreements
> with his organization.
> 
> I don't like to spread rumors or gossip, but I know that I share this
> opinion with many people I work with in the PNW, because issues seem to
> surface again and again. So just be aware that the situation is not very
> "clean" , and there is a lot of preexisting baggage if you choose to work
> with his organization.
> 
> Here's the message I received:
> 
> Hi.  I'm not sure if you're familiar with Vladislav Davidzon and his little
> company Common Circle Education?  He hosts bike tours and permaculture
> design courses, mostly in Oregon, I believe.
> 
> I took a PDC in August 2011 in Eugene.  I wasn't happy with the whole event
> for many reasons.  I exchanged emails with Slav extensively post-course and
> didn't get the results I was hoping for, so I posted a review on Yelp, as
> did many of my classmates.  Most of my classmates were less than satisfied
> with their experiences.
> 
> Last week Slav started legal proceedings against one of my classmates-
> ************.  I and three others have received emails stating that he will
> sue us for libel if we do not take down our reviews and never post
> another.Here's the Yelp link:
> http://www.yelp.com/biz/common-circle-education-beaverton-5
> 
> The email he sent to me is there in my review.
> 
> I also have screenshots of two reviews that my classmates took down already.
> 
> I'm letting you know about this because I think that people in the
> permaculture community should know what is happening here.  Please feel
> free to tell anyone you think should know, ask me anything, or offer advice?
> 
> 
> On Mon, Feb 11, 2013 at 2:38 PM, Lawrence London 
> <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>wrote:
> 
>> On Mon, Feb 11, 2013 at 4:42 PM, loren luyendyk <loren@sborganics.com
>>> wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> It looks like the campaign is going good, despite some obvious concerns
>>> regarding the content/teacher/ethics.
>>> 
>> 
>> There is little content and no ethics.
>> 
>>> 
>>> Maybe there is something to learn from this?  Cooperation not
>>> competition...?
>> 
>> 
>> You make no effort to "cooperate" with people like that.
>> 
>> 
>>> I agree with the concept personally, I think the more people are exposed
>>> to PC the better.
>> 
>> 
>> You are not going to be exposed to PC worth the time of day with that
>> organization..
>> He studied PC under Lawton who taught him the concept and methodology of
>> "getting rich through PC".
>> His offerings will consist of his getting richer and you wasting your time
>> and money.
>> In two words: Buyer Beware.
>> I kicked him out of this list a long time ago.
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> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Andrew Millison
> (541) 752-9118
> www.beaverstatepermaculture.com
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