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Workshops
can be outdoors or in |
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The
following workshops help with building habits and practices
that save money, reduce impact and bring abundance to
life without extraneous consumption. To locate the time
and place of these workshops, click here:
Art
of Natural Building
Ben Graham
Learn about natural building methods and the
tricks of the trade—the subtle information that can only
be passed down from experience. Straw bale, cobb, light
clay, and timber frame building will be covered along
with other strategies for successful earth friendly building.
Ben
Graham is a designer and builder who develops natural
building and sustainable living systems. Ben directs SpiralWorks
www.spiralworks.com, a collaborative venture promoting
community vitality and viability. He holds an architectural
degree from the Rhode Island School of Design and a permaculture
design certificate from the Permaculture Association of
Britain.
Caretaking
Nature
Paulinka de Rochemont, Cynthia Kazmirsky, Tim
Kowalik
Do you care about making a yard, neighborhood,
or woods more inviting to animals and native plants? Do
you desire to have a deeper, more spiritual relationship
with the natural world? This is what caretaking nature
is all about. In this workshop, we will begin by exploring
our inner landscape to increase our sensory and spiritual
awareness of the world around us and then learn how to
apply these skills to determine what can be done to a
landscape to make it more inviting to native plants and
animals.
Paulinka
de Rochemont, born and raised a city girl, has had a longing
for wild places and nature as long as she can remember.
Now a student of Tom Brown Jr., a member of the New England
Trackers and living in the woods of West Greenwich, RI,
she finally found a way to make the world a better place
by caretaking.
Cynthia
Kazmirsky, from childhood has played in the woods and
swamps, and honored the plants and nature. A child of
Slovak Farmers she became aware of the healing spirit
of plants and herbal medicine. Her love for nature led
her to search out a like minded community, which she found
through Tom Brown Jr. and The Tracker School. She now
lives in the woods of south central Connecticut and caretakes
the land that owns her.
Tim
Kowalik has been studying mindfulness and awareness in
the aboriginal traditions taught by Tom Brown. Jr., the
Earth-Heart Institute and the Empowerment of Healing.
Tim is a founding member of New England Trackers.
Caring
For Your Compost, Caring For Your World
Nan Quinlan
Learn how to build composting techniques into
your lifestyle! Composting helps enhance your soil, plants,
and the environment all at the same time. In this workshop
we will cover the basics of starting a compost pile and
will answer many frequently asked questions about caring
for and maintaining a successful composting operation.
There will be a bin building demonstration and information
on useful tools to make composting easier.
Nan
Quinlan graduated from the University of Rhode Island
(URI) Master Gardener program in 2003. She is a member
of the Veggie Garden Team and heads up the Compost operation
for the demonstration gardens at East Farm in Kingston,
RI. When not in a garden, Nan is an organizational development
and training professional with the URI Continuing Education
Program, Providence Campus.
Cob
Home Building: HOME/LAND Security
Erin and Jim Malloy
Jim and Erin will share stories and a visual
journey of a community-built, off-grid wind/solar powered,
mortgage-free, efficient earthen home. Within these stories
they will explore how to integrate ideas from around the
globe into a working vision.
Erin
and Jim Malloy are social, environmental and experiential
energy educators who led over 500 volunteers in mixing
the raw materials for the creation of their hand-sculpted
home in North central Vermont.
Cohousing
Kim Shute
Cohousing is a community living model that balances
the need for privacy and community. These modern day villages
enable people to own their homes and provide a place to
gather and share resources. Come learn about this comfortable
and satisfying way of life in an old fashioned neighborhood.
Kimberly
Shute has been involved with Mosaic Commons, a cohousing
community in Massachusetts, for four years. Kimberly discovered
cohousing after experiencing total isolation while caring
for her ailing Grandmother and a newborn. She relishes
the opportunity to spread her enthusiasm for building
community.
Composting
in the City
Tara Germond
Learn how you can compost in urban areas free
from worry about pests, annoyed neighbors, or no space!
This workshop will show city dwellers how they can use
worms to turn food scraps into a rich soil amendment for
household plants or container gardens. Worm composting
is a compact alternative to bins or piles and is easy
for anyone to do. Come see how you can start a worm bin
and engage in discussion about how individuals can reduce
waste no matter where they live.
Tara
Germond is a recent graduate from the University of Rhode
Island with a degree in Environmental Economics and Management.
She currently coordinates the RI Master Composter / Recycler
Program at the URI Cooperative Extension Education Center
and is actively involved in educating local communities
about the need for waste reduction.
Fire
By Friction
Ellen Bidlack, Tim Grantham, Rick Wood
Learn the basics of traditional fire making and
see what rubbing two sticks together can teach you about
survival in the wilderness and civilization. We will gather
materials from the landscape to build and light a low-smoke
fire structure using bow drills. Join us and give your
hands a go at “busting out a coal”.
Ellen
Bidlack finds that practicing primitive skills is a good
way to connect more deeply with the environment and to
learn new things about old friends. Ellen attended Tom
Brown, Jr.’s school in New Jersey, and has been a member
of New England Trackers since its inception in 2002.
Tim
Grantham has had a lifelong love affair with old skills
and ways of living. He has studied primitive skills with
the Tracker School, been trained in the Vision Quest experience
with Earth-Heart, and works with local Boy Scouts.
Rick
Wood tries to get outside whenever possible and studies
shelter, plants, and other skills. His awareness was jump
started by classes at several outdoor schools. One of
his goals is to spend a comfortable weekend outdoors,
with no modern tools.
Going
Organic—The Environmentally Friendly Yard
Carl Brodeur
Now is the time to create, maintain, and enjoy
that beautiful, sustainable yard and garden. They are
healthy for you and friendly to the environment! In this
workshop, you will learn about compost tea applications,
tree and shrub pruning, design and installation of landscapes
and gardens that emphasize non-lawn alternatives.
Carl
Brodeur of Arborcare with Ropes 'n Saddles, Inc. is a
Massachusetts NOFA Accredited land care professional and
experienced arborist who specializes in plant healthcare
for trees & shrubs as well as 100% organic lawn care.
Planning Projects for a Sustainable Future
Troy West
Architect Troy West and Associates will speak
about and display plans and models developed over a 10
year period. Starting with a light rail proposal for south
county that would preserve open space and concentrate
development around station stops; to a complete transformation
of Wakefield, RI into a pedestrian-friendly commercial
center, featuring a 100’ diameter green park in the center
of the Dale Carlia intersection that will generate new
three-story green architecture along the roadways.
Architect,
educator and sculptor Troy West has guest lectured on
his art and architecture at over thirty universities in
the USA and abroad. His work is featured in several books
and periodicals including Green Architecture (Tashesn),
and New Houses New Households (Reinhold). He serves on
the board of directors of Architects, Designers, and Planners
for Social Responsibility (ADPSR/NY), DOT Watch, Inc.,
and The Alternative Food Cooperative.
Priority
Actions for Urban Dwellers Panel
Jim Merkel, Erin and Jim Malloy
To urban dwellers, sustainable living can feel
easy or impossible. What are the actions and possibilities
facilitated by community? How can the difficulties of
alienation from nature and the induced footprints of existing
in a consumer based culture become opportunities?
Jim
Merkel is the author of Radical Simplicity, founder of
the Global Living Project (GLP) and the Sustainability
Coordinator at Dartmouth College. Originally a military
engineer and arms trader, Jim changed his life at the
time of the Exxon Valdez disaster, quitting his job and
devoting himself to environmental service and world peace.
He has lived on $5,000 a year for 16 years.
Erin
and Jim Malloy are social, environmental and experiential
energy educators who led over 500 volunteers in mixing
the raw materials for the creation of their hand-sculpted
home in North central Vermont.
Radical
Simplicity in Crazy Times
Jim Merkel
This workshop will discuss trends toward sustainability
in higher education as well as how individual choices
can lead the way. What is truly radical today is slowing
down and living as a global citizen. In this workshop
participants will learn how to live equitably amongst
all life. Once our own ecological house is in order, we
can bring this knowledge into larger institutions.
Jim
Merkel is the author of Radical Simplicity, founder of
the Global Living Project (GLP) and the Sustainability
Coordinator at Dartmouth College. Originally a military
engineer and arms trader, Jim changed his life at the
time of the Exxon Valdez disaster, quitting his job and
devoting himself to environmental service and world peace.
He has lived on $5,000 a year for 16 years.
Sacred
Drum Ceremony
Tim Grantham, Tim Kowalik
All indigenous cultures use Earth based ceremonies
to honor life and death, to mark seasonal changes, and
to celebrate rites of passage. Come experience your connection
to the world in a new way with a simple ceremony.
Tim
Grantham has had a lifelong love affair with old skills
and ways of living. He has studied primitive skills with
the Tracker School, been trained in the Vision Quest experience
with Earth-Heart, and works with local Boy Scouts.
Tim
Kowalik has been studying mindfulness and awareness in
the aboriginal traditions taught by Tom Brown. Jr., the
Earth-Heart Institute and the Empowerment of Healing.
Tim is a founding member of New England Trackers.
Survival
Shelter
Ellen Bidlack, Tim Grantham, Rick Wood
Would you know how to survive a cold and rainy
night when lost in the woods? Come take a lesson from
the squirrels and learn to make a simple shelter with
natural materials and no tools that will keep you alive
and dry even in cold and wet weather.
Ellen
Bidlack finds that practicing primitive skills is a good
way to connect more deeply with the environment and to
learn new things about old friends. Ellen attended Tom
Brown, Jr.’s school in New Jersey, and has been a member
of New England Trackers since its inception in 2002.
Tim
Grantham has had a lifelong love affair with old skills
and ways of living. He has studied primitive skills with
the Tracker School, been trained in the Vision Quest experience
with Earth-Heart, and works with local Boy Scouts.
Rick
Wood tries to get outside whenever possible and studies
shelter, plants, and other skills. His awareness was jump
started by classes at several outdoor schools. One of
his goals is to spend a comfortable weekend outdoors,
with no modern tools.
Tips
of Less Toxic Pest Control-Two Perspectives
David Jones, Ben Daniels
Ben Daniels of Ultimate Organics & David
Jones of Bio Tech Pest Controls discuss managing common
household and garden pests without toxic pesticides. Bring
your questions and problems. Sponsored by Toxics Information
Project (TIP), Providence, RI
David
Jones is experienced using an arsenal of baits, borate
gels, diatomaceous earth, boric acid, mineral, and plant-based
products to control a wide variety of household pests,
including fleas, ticks, termites, wood boring beetles
and other types of creepy crawlies.
Ben
Daniels is a supplier of products such as non-poisonous
rodent control bait, organic insect and animal repellents,
crawling insect spray, flying insect spray, dust insecticide,
wasp and hornet spray.
Victory
Gardens
Rich Pederson, Kiera Mulvey
Victory gardens grew from crises. This dynamic
movement creates local change by transforming a culture
of consumption into one of production. Come learn the
history and significance of victory gardens and go away
with the tools to start your own.
Rich
Pederson is the City Farmer at Southside Community Land
Trust (SCLT) in Providence. He loves to celebrate the
many victories that urban agriculture makes possible.
Kiera
Mulvey is the Education Coordinator at SCLT. She loves
big meals grown in small spaces.
Walk
In the Woods
Marc Tremblay, CF
Walk through Apeiron’s woodlands. Identify local
trees & shrubs. Discuss forest and wildlife management,
forest health and stewardship. Review proposed thinning
of white pine for sustainable harvest of natural building
sources.
Marc
Tremblay is a Certified Forester with 25 years of experience
working with private forest land owners.
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