ReThink Red Deer Update

"www.rethinkreddeer.ca
Hi All,
Don't forget to mark your calendar for next Monday's presentation...
Recently back from a sabbatical (vacation), Red Deer residents Ray Allan and Patricia Orr will join us to speak about their trip to visit 7 different "ecovillages" in Europe and India. I saw their story in the Sunday Life (Advocate) and had the chance to catch their presentation in early February in City Council Chambers. It was nothing short of inspiring!
And, back at the end of January, I attended the Province's first-ever Food Security conference in Edmonton where I met Rob Avis of Ravis Sustainable Consulting. Among many other things, Rob is hosting a series of workshops in Alberta for citizens to teach them how to take control of their energy future and minimize their impact on the environment through the use of Permaculture, renewable energy, and sustainable technologies. Rob will speak to us about the science of Permaculture, his upcoming "convergence" session in Olds this April, and his highly-acclaimed 2-week permaculture design certification course in Gull Lake this August.
Monday, March 9th - 6:30pm at the Margaret Parsons Theatre (RDC).
Again, the attendance is free but limited to the first 90 seats.
Ecovillage Synopsis (paraphrased from Cameron Kennedy's article in the Advocate's Sunday "Life" newspaper - 02/08/09):
Ray Allan and Patricia Orr's footprint on the environment is smaller than that of most Central Albertans. For the past several years, the Red Deer couple have taken steps to reduce it by improving the energy efficiency of the Woodlea home, walking to work, sharing one car and making a conscious effort to buy eco-friendly goods and services. Allan, a biology instructor at Red Deer College, and Orr, a teacher with the Alternative School Programs of Red Deer Public Schools District, visited seven ecovillages to understand how they worked during a year long sabbatical in 2007-08. Ecovillages are human-scale, full-featured settlements in which human activities are harmlessly integrated into the natural world in a way that is supportive of healthy human development and can be successfully continued into the indefinite future. They're looking forward to sharing their experiences with Central Albertans who may be unfamiliar with the concept of ecovillages.
Ecovillages 101:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a4iXFTZtYM&feature=PlayList&p=B7BF52ABCBCFB0BD&index=0&playnext=1
Permaculture Synopsis:
Permaculture 101 - http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6370279933612522952
Permaculture empowers individuals to take sustainability into their own hands by providing key design principles and ethics that allow individuals to design sustainability into their life. The Permaculture design system is based around holistic philosophies and systems thinking which allow humans to work with nature rather than against it.
For more information on permaculture visit Ravis Sustainable Consulting's website at:
www.ravissustainable.com
and
www.tagari.com OR www.permaculture.com
Cheers,
Rene Michalak
Coordinator
ReThink Red Deer
403-505-4550"