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.

2010 Bioneers National Plenary

Peter Warshall: Dreaming New Mexico

Peter Warshall: Dreaming New Mexico from Bioneers on Vimeo.

Dreaming New Mexico produced a systemic statewide analysis and re-visioning of all aspects of a region’s food (and energy) system. This innovative project offers a template for cities and states to realize do-able dreams to leverage the way we produce, market and eat food, region by region.

Carolyn Hart is going to be giving an introduction of sorts (“a teaser,” she says) to an Awakening the Dreamer Symposium on Saturday afternoon at the Conference. She and I spoke on the phone , while outside, here in Cleveland, the strong winds swirled and pulled the leaves from the trees. Evidently, it was windy in Boulder as well.” Very rare,” Carolyn said,” that we have the same weather.”

I wanted to speak with Carolyn because she represents organizations – maybe a better word might be movements – that I’d only vaguely heard of. So, for anyone who might be feeling similarly, here they are, along with the mission statements on their extensive websites:

The Pachamama Alliance

The two-fold mission of the Pachamama Alliance is to preserve the Earth’s tropical rainforests by empowering the indigenous people who are its natural custodians and to contribute to the creation of a new global vision of equity and sustainability for all.

AwakeningTheDreamer.org

Their mission is bringing forth an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling and socially just presence on Planet Earth.

FourYearsGo.org

Four Years. Go. is a campaign to catalyze and empower a fundamental shift in the direction of humanity, inspiring collaborative action, connecting individuals and organizations, and amplifying best practices and successes.

How did Carolyn, a Clevelander of 54 years, end up in Boulder on such a windy afternoon? She retired as a special education teacher, then sold her home and most everything in it. Freed, she set out to travel and experience the world. One year of travel would turn into four, “because it was so sweet.” It was at Esalen that she met a woman who was going to travel into the Amazon on a Pachamama Alliance voyage. As she says, “Up for any adventure,” Carolyn went along. As it turned out, she voyaged with people who were deeply involved with sustainability and awakening others to the possibility of a better life for all. So inspired by the Achuar way of life, and the deep experience the Pachamama Alliance provided on the trip, Carolyn became grounded in what was hers to do in this time of the Great Turning.
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Gather 'Round Farm, photograph by Marianne Eppig

The more you become involved with the various environmental and community-building projects in Northeast Ohio, the more you hear about other great people and projects filling niches you had never even considered. It’s a nourishing, uplifting experience that reminds you your work is not in vain and that you’re not alone. Yet much of this great work goes unnoticed. Often you don’t learn about something until you meet that person who heard from her sister that the co-worker of an old neighbor of theirs is involved in this wonderful project that….

A large part of what Bioneers Cleveland is about is bringing people together. We strive to be a group that fosters inclusiveness and connections. As part of that, we are launching a “Stories From the Field” page on this site to keep readers apprised of various efforts being made to better life in our area. Our volunteers hail from many different locations and backgrounds; they have their hands in a wide array of projects and know of many more.

Still, we’re sure there are a lot of good things we’ll miss. That’s why we’re hoping that visitors to our site will jump in and share their stories too. Are you involved in a community arts project? Tell us about it. Planting an urban garden in your neighborhood or even your own backyard? Let us know how it’s going. Want to shine a light on a new education initiative in a local school? We’d love to hear about. In short, if you know of any project, event, organization or person that’s working to make a positive difference in Northeast Ohio, please write something up about it and send it to us at: info@bioneerscleveland.org.

We’ll post your story to the “Stories From the Field” page and invite others to comment. Or, if you’d rather, simply submit your story, links, etc. as a comment to a post that’s already on the page. Together, we can create a vibrant community discussion and help to spread awareness, participation and pride in Northeast Ohio’s web of creative and meaningful energy!