Eco Fair Pt Two: Workshops And Speakers

Living Machines, Organizing, Greening, Fundraising, Food Forests, Trail Building, Natural Capitalism

The Living Machine:

Marc Companion: 2-day workshop on how to make a living machine (a biological water filtration system, including a presentation on the concept behind this innovative machine and the revolutionary changes it's making in the environmental field of treating waste while building ecosystems.

Student Organizing 101

Mike Ewall: How to get and keep members, break down apathy, win effective environmental campaigns, build student power and more.

Greening the Campus

Mike Ewall: Schools are institutions, which create major environmental and social impacts when they buy everything from energy to paper to clothing. This purchasing power can be redirected to supporting products and practices which are more socially and environmentally responsible. Learn about effective campaigns at other schools and how you can apply them to your campus.

Activist Fund Raising

Tad Hargrave: Fundraising for activists. Mostly based on the works of Lynne Twist and Terry Axelrod. Very simple and powerful strategies for raising money. No need to ask money from foundations, government or corporations freeing activists from any sense of begging, struggling or suffering.

Workshop for Young Leaders

Tad Hargrave: Rejuvenate hope, build skill and create connections while finding answers to those questions:

• How do we balance work and personal life when our work is a cause that burns in our hearts?
• How do we reach the people that just don't get it?
• How do we get enough money for our work?
• How do we fight the incredible injustices we see without becoming hardened, cynical and bitter?
• Does non-violence really work?
• Are we going to make it?
• Is it worth the pain, stress and defeats?
• How can I avoid burnout?

Planting a Food Forest

Charles Knowles: Planting an edible and medicinal plant landscape on Maharishi University of Management campus here in Fairfield, IA. (Did you know that Iowa has the highest number of native fruit and nut producing species of trees and shrubs in the world?) Preparing the ground for fall planting of a medicinal and edible prairie. The design is based on permaculture principles as well as the "forest gardening" style that was championed by Robert Hart.

Trail Building Workshop - Heavy Hand-Tool Action /Low-Impact Nature Appreciation

Matthew Lindberg-Work: Basic trail design, getting down and dirty cutting brush and digging rocks. This workshop is part of a continuing project to open to the public a scenic architectural ruin beside Crow Creek near campus. We will create a new system of trails that is long lasting and respectful of the natural environment.

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Tad Hargrave

Tad, a tall skinny kilt-wearing Canuck, runs around the world training successful socially responsible entrepreneurs. Brilliant, amusing, passionate, and energetic, he's been a change maker since he was 19, when he founded The School Revolution, which empowers students with resources to transform their schools.

Most recently, Tad Hargrave started a consulting practice, called The Leverage Crew that helps social entrepreneurs, locally owned and small business to attract avalanches of perfect customers, with the same, or often, much less effort. Tad talked about the twelve most common business blunders. I had learned all this stuff, from hard personal experience over too many years to count. But hearing it all bundled in one great presentation focused it clearly in my mind, and cancelled all denial. Best $10 I ever spent!

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Keynote speaker, Hunter S. Lovins

Ms. Lovins was the co-founder, and until recently, CEO of Strategy, of Rocky Mountain Institute, world famous think tank for energy and resource issues. She co-authored the book, Natural Capitalism. Her speech was inspiring, and the audience loved her - I think she was amazed by the standing ovation. When she took off her cowboy hat and bowed, we all clapped harder.

She talked about the first industrial revolution, characterized by abundant natural resources and scarcity of labor, contrasted with the next industrial revolution, already underway, in which natural resources are scarce and people are abundant. I believe most of what she covered is in the book, Natural Capitalism. Check out the website where you can download chapters.

From advance publicity for Natural Capitalism: "Natural Capitalism is a whole-systems approach to doing business that enables companies to increase profitability and competitive advantage by behaving responsibly towards both nature and people."

The Natural Capitalism approach consists of four primary principles:

1. Radically increase resource efficiency
2. Shift to biologically inspired production models
3. Invest in restorative practices
4. No net loss of natural or social capital

Eco-Fair Part One: Introduction Eco-Fair Part Three: Sustainable Agriculture Speakers.

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Articles and Reviews on Related Topics:

Ecological Organic Agriculture Got Local Organic Milk? Congress Weakens Organic Standards What is Organic Food and Why Should We Eat It? Site Review: Organic Consumers Association Ode to Spring: Confessions of an Obsessive Organic Gardener

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