permaculture

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

International Seed Library Forum 
Tuscon, Arizona, USA
May 3-6, 2015
Come join us for four days of conversation around seed access, growing 
community and seed libraries. Register here.

Overview
The goal of the four-day event is to bring together experts from public 
libraries, nonprofits, universities, and food banks across the United States 
and in other countries to further improve access and management of local seed 
resources. The forum highlights the increasingly important role that seed 
libraries play in creating best practices for seed saving and seed 
sharing at the community level. Panel discussions will cover a wide range of 
topics including: increasing the quality, and diversity of community seed 
resources, establishing seed library protocols, documenting the seed library 
movement, increasing access for low income households, and nurturing the next 
generation of seed savers in school gardens. The forum also addresses recent 
regulatory challenges to seed library operations in five states.

The event kicks off with a field trip to the Mission Garden, a living 
agricultural museum of Sonoran Desert-adapted heritage fruit trees, local 
heirloom crops, and edible native plants. Other events include a community 
seed swap and a screening of the documentary, “Seeds of Time,” followed by a 
Q & A session with agricultural policy expert and inspiration of the Svalbard 
("Doomsday") Seed Vault in Norway, Cary Fowler. The closing event features a 
celebration to benefit the Jardin Botanico de Oaxaca and the Friends of 
Tucson’s Birthplace with tamales, local music, and the pre-release of the 
May/June 2015 issue of Edible Baja Arizona magazine. Coming soon: full 
schedule will be posted at the Pima County Public Library website.


Registration & Fees
The forum is free, and the online pre-registration deadline is April 17. 
Registration is limited to 120 participants, and some events will be open to 
the public.

Seed Swap, May 3 (Free)
“Seeds of Time” Screening, May 3  (Free for registered participants and 
General Admission price for the public)
Celebration of Seeds Literary Reading, May 4 (Free and open to the public)
Closing Event Celebration, May 5 ($25 for registered participants and the 
public)

Speakers
Confirmed speakers include: Gary P. Nabhan (Author of Enduring Seeds, W.K. 
Kellogg Sustainable Food Systems Endowed Chair, Southwest Center at the 
University of Arizona); Scott Chaskey (Author, Seedtime: On the History, 
Husbandry, Politics and Promise of Seeds); Cindy Conner (Author, Seed 
Libraries and Other Means of 
Keeping Seeds in the Hands of the People); Cary Fowler (Author of Shattering, 
Agriculture 
Policy Expert/Senior Advisor, Global Crop Diversity Trust); Ken Greene 
(Founder, Hudson Valley 
Seed Library, NY); Justine Hernandez (Seed Librarian, Pima County Public 
Library, AZ); Rebecca Newburn (Richmond Grows Seed Lending Library); and John 
Torgrimson (Executive Director, Seed Savers Exchange).



Visit The Seed Library Social Network at: 
http://seedlibraries.org/?xg_source=msg_mes_network