Principles and Practices of Regenerative Design

Mar 13 2010 - Mar 14 2010
Iowa City, IA

Hosted By: Backyard Abundance
Cost: $110

This weekend workshop will be led by Dave Jacke, award winning author of Edible Forest Gardens, Chris Jackson, ecological landscape designer and educator.

Evidence of planet-wide damage caused by humans abounds: polluted rivers and waterways, toxins in our soil and food, climate change, loss of biodiversity, peak oil and more. We stand on the verge of threatening our own survival, as well as that of other species. We cannot maintain our economy if we deplete the natural resources that support our jobs and businesses. People are asking, “What kind of future are we creating for our children and grandchildren?”

What can we do? As caring residents, now is the time to learn new ways to positively contribute to improving our community’s environmental and social health. We must heed the words of Einstein: “We cannot solve the significant problems we face at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” We need to ask, “What new ways of thinking will get us out of this mess and help us restore our world to health?”

We can look to nature for answers. Healthy ecosystems are based on interdependence and mutually beneficial connections. With nature’s help, we can heal landscapes, our community, our planet, and ourselves.

This workshop will give you the solid base of a holistic, ecological worldview, while simultaneously offering practical solutions that demonstrate how we can create a sustainable, abundant community. Ecological principles form the foundation of this way of seeing, and offer concrete directions for finding solutions to multiple problems with maximum effect for least effort. These principles apply at all scales, from your garden bed, to your neighborhood, to cities, to whole regions, and in every realm of human endeavor. We invite you to experience a new way of looking at our world, and through that lens, you will find empowerment and skills you never knew existed.

This presentation is part of the Seeds of Sustainability event series.