I had the opportunity to attend Great Lakes Bioneers in Detroit, October 14-15, 2011.  It was a real pleasure to experience Bioneers without having any responsibilities, and especially enjoyable to connect with people we’ve worked with through the Great Lakes Bioneers network.  Cleveland and Detroit share so many similarities; it was great to see how much they care about their city and how proud they are of strides forward.  One highlight was seeing the new “Green Garage,” a beautiful restoration of a Model T showroom that had fallen into disrepair.  The restoration has been done to make it into a zero energy and zero waste building with lots of insulation and some solar water heating.  Wood and brick were reused to great effect, and a formerly derelict alley has been transformed into a garden-like atmosphere.  Even more exciting, the building is being used as a green business incubator using an innovative “One Earth Patterns” concepts, promoting good design that is attuned to our relationship with the earth, minimizing our impact. Check out: http://greengaragedetroit.com.

The other impressive part of the conference was the involvement of 100 middle and high school students in a full day of tours and special workshops.  Their energy and interest was rewarding to see.

Nancy King Smith

Watch the 2011 National Bioneers Speakers at http://www.bioneerslive.org/vod.html

Sue Blouch’s incredible drawing capturing the live presentations of the seven Fast Track Project ideas presented the opening morning of the Bioneers Cleveland 2010 Conference.

While this is not Jane Goodall’s plenary address from the 2010 National Bioneers Conference, it is inspirational.

Elizabeth K. Lindsey & john a. powell: The Challenge is Great! from Bioneers on Vimeo.

Hear Elizabeth K. Lindsey and john a. powell share their inspiring wisdom about the challenges that we all face.

2010 National Bioneers Conference

Alec Loorz: iMatter

Alec Loorz: iMatter from Bioneers on Vimeo.

The now 16 founder of Kids vs Global Warming calls upon the “ruling generation” to consider the needs of his and future generations in their actions, urges youth to lead the way to a sustainable, just society, and tells us about the “million kid march” on Mother’s Day, 2011.