Community Events Calendar

Ecovillage Design Education is a program created by the Global Ecovillage Network and delivered all over the world. This dimension is a 9-day focus on Ecological aspects of holistic sustainability, based on the knowledge accumulated by year's of ecovillage living around the world. Teachers include Brad Lancaster, Zaida Amaral, Ma'ikwe Schaub Ludwig and Rich Ruster. (Stay after for the FIC's conference the next weekend, also in Albuquerque!)

Join us for a conversation about South Sound Cohousing. Visit the site and meet our members and friends. We'll gather Sunday, May 18th, 5 pm, at the apartments at 1004 S. 12th St., #8, (corner of S J St.) (Please let us know you're coming and bring folding chairs or cushions since we're not moved in yet.)

This event is one of our two major annual fund-raisers. (The other is our Wild Magic Gathering in September.) Proceeds benefit Elvin HOME, Inc. and Lothlorien Nature Sanctuary. ELF-Fest includes primitive camping, community fire pits w/firewood provided, showers, woodland excursions, fellowship, musical and theatrical performances, kids' activities, seasonal rites and ceremonies, workshops and discussion circles, drumming and dancing, etc. Vendors will be selling their wares and food is available from our Cauldron Cafe. Please visit us on-line for complete details, fees and for maps to get here. *Gate hours: 8:00 AM-11:00 PM. There is very limited space for small RVs. Camping/vending sites are on a first come, first served basis.

This basic project incorporates most of the skills and techniques that you will need to tackle much bigger things (like building your own Earthship or building that dream mansion out of straw bales). But the scale of the Vaulted Straw Bale building is small enough for a beginner “green builder” to learn without being overwhelmed - useful techniques for big or small building projects. Also the Vaulted Straw Bale building is pretty cool all by itself and makes a great garden shed, play house, guest room or hunting cabin. This seminar will walk you through the entire process of building a straw bale structure using a pounded tire foundation. We will begin with site preparation, building a foundation, framing the structure, building vaulted walls using straw bales, building walls and free standing structures using cans and bottles, and the various aspects of earth plastering.

This year's conference theme is: Cooperative Culture: Synergy at the Edges. The FIC's official conference supporting community building and cooperation of all sorts and sustainable living. Workshops for seekers and starters of IC's, plus a wide range of topics for creating community and sustainable living everywhere. This three day event at the University of New Mexico includes workshops, speakers, tabling, networking opportunities, a "Meet the Communities" session, author's table at Community Bookshelf, banquet, benefit auction to support the FIC and a community-created drumming circle. Main speakers include: Mark Dubois of the Pachamama Alliance, Mary Lou Singleton of the Midwives Alliance of North America, Albert Bates from The Farm's Ecovillage Training Center, Laird Schaub of the FIC and Myra Murphy Jacob of the Sustainable Global Leadership Alliance.

The Cascadia Permaculture Institute is offering a certificate course in Permaculture Teaching, at Wolf Gulch Farm, near Jacksonville, Oregon. Participants will be empowered to advocate for meaningful change by becoming certified permaculture teachers during this week-long, highly participatory class. Please visit our website for complete course information and FAQs.

Entertainment and education are allied agents of change on June 7 and 8 —two stages combine with over 40 workshops on how to make your life, where you live and where you work more sustainable. There is also eco friendly vending , live action energy installations, and a fleet of alternative energy vehicles. A full musical line-up for both stages, workshop listings, $20 advance price tickets for two days and transportation info are available at www.livingfest.org.

This national conferences is presented by the Cohousing Association of the United States (Coho/US). It features two days of pre-conference workshops, including folks well-known to the broader intentional communities movement, including Laird Schaub & Ma'ikwe Ludwig, Diana Leafe Christian, and some key cohousing thought leaders, including Chuck Durrett, Katie McCamant, Jim Leach and many others. Pre-conference community tours are also available. These are followed by a weekend of regular conference activities. Presentations will address everything from the basics of cohousing and designing and building communities, to living in community and sustaining the movement throughout the country. Registration includes Friday night Keynote by John Abrams and reception, all presentations on Saturday and Sunday, and Saturday Night Dinner Fund-raiser Auction. Funds raised at our auction help support both Coho/US and the FIC. Also included are breakfast and lunch on Saturday, and breakfast on

The aim of this workshop is to liberate people to provide for their own and their communities' needs from the smallest practical area of land. Learn to save life on our planet from devastating climate change. Perennial biodynamic gardening, mortgage-free shelter, catching and storing water, biological waste management, aquaculture, forestry, saving the wild, and how to organize secure local economies. A. Goodheart Brown, Scott Horton, Albert Bates, Cliff Davis and others, $1100 for 9 days, or $2000 for couples, includes meals, lodging and course materials.

Gillian and Warwick Rowell, Founders of Rosneath Farm, the first ecovillage in Western Australia, will be between SF and LA with their own transport, primarily to explore Chris Alexander's works and techniques. They would also welcome the opportunity to spend time with like-minded people. They would rather pay you for meals and accommodation than make random contributions to US economy. They are more than willing to "talk for their supper" - about their experiences designing, building, and financing an ecovillage, straw bale houses, ethical investment in Australia, Keyline,.... Gillian is a retired lecturer in Nursing, Warwick is a management consultant. Both have been involved in Permaculture since 1987.

Come explore your potential & Experience the yogic lifestyle! Daily meditation, yoga & a vegetarian diet, all in the beautiful foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains.Join us in one of the longest existing intentional, spiritual communities for an intensive in “Yogic Living”. Participants create a working community as they camp, cook, eat, serve, learn & play together. This energetic program combines daily instruction in yoga & meditation, classes in yoga philosophy, and hands on learning through service projects. A supberb staff as well as inspiring guest artists, musicians & presenters provide a full and dynamic experience. $500 for 2 weeks includes program, camping & delicious vegetarian meals some work exchange available

Are you looking for change and transformation in your own life? Are you needing a “vacation” - or simply time and space for renewal? Do you seek deeper insight into who you are and what you might offer to the world? Starwalkers’ Transformation Vacation is a week of exploring our dreams; reconnecting with nature; and imagining, manifesting, and creating change - both in ourselves and in society. Live in community with others, prepare and share meals, learn about community supported agriculture, create art, explore holistic and hands-on healing, and take time to simply live and BE.

Learn practical tools for self-reliant living and sustainable human habitats. This dynamic residential program includes a full permaculture design course, and provides a holistic introduction to ecovillages, intentional communities and social permaculture. Topics include: social sustainability, personal growth, community well-being, spiritual diversity in community, natural building, appropriate technology and renewable energy, site analysis and design, organic agriculture, forest gardening, mushroom cultivation, simple living skills, earth-based crafts, plus so much more! You will learn practical solutions to environmental and social problems that you can implement in your own life, in your local communities, and on larger scales. You will also develop skills that help you foster communities that are more ecologically regenerative, socially cooperative, and personally satisfying. We can help you get college credit! Mountains, old growth, and hot springs nearby.

About this Unusual Series: Let us imagine a time when men are not men and women are not women. What would that look like and how would our society be different? What if we were all simply unique human beings and we paid no attention to the shape of the body or the way it is “plumbed”? What if there were no essences of the feminine or the masculine? What if the Divine Essence discouraged each person from using femininity or masculinity against our basic humanity? This is a way to begin exploring why it is valuable to focus on the differentness that men and women have from each other as genders. In doing this, we are being consistent with evolutionary psychology, where diversity is highly valued. Motivation to really explore the essential differences between men and women comes from wanting to reveal the mysteries that reside in gender differences--the different lives that happen to us because of our interpretations and expressions of being man and being woman. ~ The Design Team

While the presence of women working in the building trades is ever more common, avenues for women to learn the basic principles and techniques of woodworking are still scarce. We are offering this intensive three-day course to enable women to conceptualize and carry out basic carpentry projects. Topics will include essential tools and their proper use; safe and effective use of power tools; structural integrity; and basic techniques such as cutting, nailing, drilling, driving, and leveling. We will also tour the various buildings of OAEC to show different styles of carpentry: standard professional, natural building, temporary, artistic, and hippie funk! Come together with other women participants to share in this practical and empowering workshop. this course tends to sell out so register early to ensure your place in the course. This course tends to sell out, so register early to ensure your place in the course.

This event at Lothlorien Nature Sanctuary is free to our sponsors. Re/new sponsorships are available on-site. This event includes: primitive camping, community fire pits w/firewood provided, showers, fellowship, seasonal rites and ceremonies, kids' activities, drumming and dancing, etc. All are welcome. Please visit us on-line for complete details, updates and for maps to get here. *Gate hours: 8:00 AM-10:00 PM. Parking is along Rinsa Road (our north road inside Lothlorien). There is very limited space for small RVs. Camping/vending sites are on a first come, first served basis.

About this Unusual Series: Let us imagine a time when men are not men and women are not women. What would that look like and how would our society be different? What if we were all simply unique human beings and we paid no attention to the shape of the body or the way it is “plumbed”? What if there were no essences of the feminine or the masculine? What if the Divine Essence discouraged each person from using femininity or masculinity against our basic humanity? This is a way to begin exploring why it is valuable to focus on the differentness that men and women have from each other as genders. In doing this, we are being consistent with evolutionary psychology, where diversity is highly valued. Motivation to really explore the essential differences between men and women comes from wanting to reveal the mysteries that reside in gender differences--the different lives that happen to us because of our interpretations and expressions of being man and being woman. ~ The Design Team

This five-day intensive residential training at the 80 acre OAEC site offers hands-on skills and theoretical approaches to create and sustain school garden programs. The course includes sessions on integrating the garden into curricula and state standards, as well as nutrition, recycling and vermiculture, composting, project-based learning, art, team building and fundraising. These residential trainings are offered to teams of teachers, garden coordinators and core parent volunteers who have a relationship with a specific school or school district. In addition to lectures and presentations, participants receive 20 hours of hands-on learning in the garden, as well as written materials, curricula and a resource binder. The training is followed by 18 months of technical support offered to each participating school by OAEC staff, including site visits, consultations, and two one-day skills workshops in the spring. Credentialed teachers may receive continuing education units.

This basic project incorporates all the skills and techniques that you will need to tackle different size projects (like building your own dream mansion or a retreat out of straw bales). But the scale of the vaulted straw bale building is small enough for a beginner “green builder” to learn without being overwhelmed - useful techniques for big or small building projects. Given the size and nature of this project, we will cover the work site in a canopy - so the event will proceed rain or shine . Come prepared to work hard, have fun, discuss politics, eat terrific locally grown food (lunches and snacks are provided), make friends, sweat, have a proper cup of tea - then sit in the shade and admire all you have accomplished.

Spend a day in the OAEC gardens learning how to integrate the ancient principles of Tai Chi while working in the garden. The most important tool you have in gardening is your own body. This is a great course to show you ways to build your strength and improve tool use techniques, while avoiding injury. These techniques will allow you to work more effectively, strengthen your lower body and create less upper body stress, and ultimately find a deeper connection with yourself and the Earth. You will learn the basics of being rooted, developing leg strength, proper posture, moving with your waist, and using tools as an extension of your body. This will be covered with simple exercises and practical applications in the garden. Michelle Vesser brings 22 years of experience in Tai Chi and gardening to this workshop.

We will gather in OAEC’s mother garden for this three-day workshop to remember our connection with the Earth, the soil, the food that nourishes us, and the healing ways of the plant world. During this hands-on course, we will explore the wisdom of plant spirit medicine, medicinal herbs and oils, gardening as a practical and spiritual practice, and food as medicine. Each day we will meet in a sharing circle and our dinner table will become our altar of gratitude. The workshop will also cover Weston A. Price’s pioneering work in health and nutrition developed during the 1930’s, while studying the vitality of traditional people before the introduction of processed foods. We will discuss and practice ways of including this wisdom for a healthy future for both ourselves and the Earth.

This week-long workshop offers an introduction to the social foundations of building strong and thriving communities and a positive future for our world. Enjoy a balance of nature connection, personal renewal, hands-on learning, skills building, and field trips to local area sites, while being immersed in an environment with green building and renewable energy systems, consensus decision-making and deep ecology. Enjoy and create delicious meals from local foods, swim in our pond, hike the land. This course is part of a month-long curriculum created by Gaia Education of the Global Ecovillage Network.

This half day, non-residential workshop is for all those interested in how to safely harvest and store high quality water from your roof for potable and/or landscape use. We all depend on fresh water and a roof water harvesting system can provide a cost-effective and self-sufficient source of clean water that is not dependant upon diminishing ground and surface water supplies and provides water for fire protection during the dry season. In addition, roof water systems can enhance overall watershed health and assist in the recovery of endangered salmonids by reducing demands on the creek water that is so critical to their survival. This course will have a lecture/slideshow component that covers all the details of system design as well as a tour of the various systems we have installed on site.

Site selection, master planning and pattern design for Ecovillages and Transition Towns; consensus and conflict resolution, financial aspects, work issues. With the Fundamentals this course completes the Permaculture Design Certificate. Greg Ramsey, Diana Leafe Christian, Albert Bates. $1100 for 9 days, or $2000 for couples, includes meals, lodging and course materials.

Buildung up of a non-violent worldmodel and changing oneself. Study of a theory of healing, or why we can trust that a few centres are already stronger than the old system of violence Ending the war between the genders The following experts and visionaries, amongst others, will participate and contribute their knowledge : Juergen Kleinwaechter (Sunvention Loerrach/Germany): Future visions and experiences of a decentralized solar technology Dieter Duhm (Tamera/Portugal): A global peace – plan, or why the earth can be healed Sabine Lichtenfels (Tamera/Portugal): GRACE and Global Campus: Gathering knowledge for peace Sami Awad (Bethlehem/Palestine): Non-violent resistance and building a violent-free model of life in the Middle East Don José Carmen (Mexico): Cosmic agriculture, or communicating with plants Benjamin von Mendelssohn: International networking for the building of concrete future models.

This event at Lothlorien Nature Sanctuary is a fund-raiser for our ongoing Thunder Dome projects. Folks must be a current sponsor to attend and re/new sponsorships are available on-site. Our regular camping fee is the only fee for this event and additional donations are accepted and will be put toward the Thunder Dome. Our Lammas Gathering includes primitive camping, showers, community fire pits, kids' activities, seasonal rites and ceremonies, drumming and dancing, etc. There is very limited space for small RVs. Parking is along Rinsa Road (our north road inside Lothlorien). *Gate hours for Friday and Saturday are: 8:00 AM-10:00 PM and Sunday: 10:00 AM-5:00 PM.

Network for a New Culture Summer Camp West: Near Medford, OR. Our intention is to build sustainable, nonviolent culture through intimacy, personal growth, emotional transparency, radical honesty, equality, compassion, sexual freedom, and community. Workshops listed at http://www.nfnc.org/08

Imagine yourself striking a perfect balance between giving and receiving, loving and being loved, being taught and teaching. The Human Relations Laboratory is a week long, experiential journey, where you, as an individual, partner, or family, can experiment with new ways to learn. You can expect opportunities to experience yourself practicing new behaviors with encouragement from others; a rich intergenerational experience, including a program for children and youth; social creativity, and a rejuvenating, healing experience of living amid the 70 acres of natural wonders. Held at Sahale Retreat, a 70-acre site of farm, forest and wilderness, registrants have an opportunity to immerse themselves in the natural world. There are programs for all ages.

Have you ever wondered how to create a home that is energy efficient, environmentally friendly and designed for both human comfort and integration into the natural surroundings? This three-week intensive offers a broad overview of the elements of home building and design with a focus on Permaculture principles. Participants will have direct involvement in hands-on practice sessions and ongoing building projects in various stages of construction. Find out more about appropriate technologies you could be using in your home today.

Are you in a leadership role or belong to a community that is committed to a vision of mindfulness, caring, mutual support and wisdom, yet find your community is not reaching its potential because of power dynamics, hierarchy and “in groups”? In this experiential workshop, we’ll look at how to work with these community dynamics as a mindfulness/awareness practice. Learn skills for creating a warm, welcoming environment that invites and empowers members to contribute their energy and talents to the community, working skillfully with chaos and conflict while recognizing our common ground of tenderness and compassion. We’ll also develop a practice field in which shared leadership and collective wisdom dynamically emerge. For Mukara's and Susan's bios, please visit the program link. Shambhala Mountain Center is located on 600 acres in a mountain valley of pine forests and meadows two hours NW of Denver Intl Airport. Our rural setting provides an ideal environment for meditation, yoga,

The Communities Conference is a networking and learning opportunity for anyone interested or involved in co-operative or communal lifestyles. Join us for a weekend of sharing and celebration! Friday August 15 through Sunday August 17, 2008 $85 (sliding scale) includes meals and camping With workshops and events focused on ~ Intentional relationships ~ Group process ~ Collective child raising ~ Creating culture ~ Forming communities ~ Sustainability ~ Appropriate technology ~ Community economics Enjoy... ~ Music ~ Dancing ~ Slide shows ~ Campfires ~ Swimming ~ Magic ~ More! Respond to: Twin Oaks Communities Conference 138 Twin Oaks Road, Louisa, Virginia 23093 540-894-5126 conference@twinoaks.org

If you want to know more about life in community or have ever considered becoming a resident of EcoVillage at Ithaca, then this workshop is for you! Enjoy a balance of nature connection, personal renewal and hands-on learning, while being immersed in an environment with green building and renewable energy systems, consensus decision-making and deep ecology. Enjoy and create delicious meals from local foods, swim in our pond, hike the land. Come experience a more richly connected way of life in our internationally acclaimed ecovillage in Ithaca, New York.

Bring your friends and family to the Ohio Green Living Fayre on Labor Day for a day of fun and learning – with an eye on green living – just like your grandparents used to do. Learn good old-fashioned tried and true sustainable skills such as canning, maple syruping, weaving, making your own cheese… and so much more. Or experience the future of renewable energy… from solar to wind power to bio-diesel. We will also demonstrate sustainable building techniques, building our very own timber-framed straw-bale composting toilet... and you can join in the earth plastering, learning this amazing technique and getting a chance to play in the mud - and you thought this type of fun was only for kids. And what old-fashioned green living Fayre would be complete without buggy rides, games, fishing, hiking, vendors, workshops, nature walks, food and music? All this and more at the Ohio Green Living Fayre!

If you long to steer your own course and be the CEO of your own eco-friendly business, our Green Business Development Degree program—offering Masters Degrees and Postgraduate Diplomas—can provide you with the resources, practical tools and inspiration to help you accomplish this dream. The program begins this fall with an intensive 5-day workshop September 4-8 led by investment expert Catherine Austin Fitts and permaculture designer and biofuels expert David Blume.

Attend our 3-day Green Business Development Course and receive all the guidance, resources, and tools you’ll need to launch your own green business. Guided by two of the leading green entrepreneurs of our day— investment expert Catherine Austin Fitts and permaculture designer and biofuels guru David Blume, you’ll get the big-picture overview of current market trends, strategies for designing your business according to ecological principles, and tips on managing a land-based business. Cost: The 3-day course is $300 or $375 with lodging and meals. Early registration discount if you register by August 7.

Permaculture Design Course at The Blue Raven Permaculture Homestead, Salt Spring Island, BC Sept 8-28, 2008 Three week intensive Permaculture Design Certification Course Create a sustainable human environment for yourself and the planet Instructors: Brandon & Patti Bauer ~ The Blue Raven Permaculture Farm, Doug, Sam & Yuriko Bullock ~ Bullock’s Permaculture Homestead, Michael Ableman ~ Foxglove Farm, Dan Jason ~ Salt Spring Seeds, Michael Nickels ~Seven Ravens Permaculture Farm, Jan Steinman ~ EcoReality Co-op, Adam Gold ~ SS Exotic Mushrooms The Permaculture design course will include 145 hours of lecture/discussion and hands-on experiential learning in permaculture. We will explore and demonstrate different styles and methods of organic agriculture, eco-forestry, sustainable energy systems, and self-sustaining systems in land stewardship and urban living. The course will delve deeply into; Permaculture principles & techniques Soils, Water Climate Pattern observation Herbology

During this 18 day course, we will experience the whole process of transforming inhabited wild landscape into an anthropocentric ecology in the midst of conserved Oregon Coastal Rainforest. Topics include water supply and storage, drainage, trails and access, food forest design, soil building, multi-story horticulture, ponds, swales and aquaculture, solar and hydro power, ethnobotany, natural building, forest complexity restoration and commercial ecoforestry. Join us with Tom Ward as we continue to design and implement the rest of our 11 year old, 3.5 acre homestead. Tom has guided the evolution of the design since 1999. The 400 acre site is home to both Mountain Homestead Intentional Community and Cob Cottage Co., who began their Natural Building School here in 2001. Costs: $500-800, sliding scale (plus your exertion!) Organic vegetarian/vegan meals and camping w/showers provided. Graduates are welcome to stay after the course on a work trade basis to continue projects.

If you’d like to focus a year or two gaining knowledge, skills, and valuable experience in the area of relocalization, engage in our Relocalization Pathway—and gain an MS Degree or Postgraduate Diploma in the process. When you enroll you will be provided with the support and learning framework to effectively launch a relocalization project in the community where you live or work—thus strengthening the health and self-sufficiency of your community into the post-carbon future. Early enrollment discount if enrolled by July 10, 2008.

We invite female world-changers from across the globe to enroll in Gaia South East’s Women’s Actionist Training Degree program—and acquire a Masters Degree or Postgraduate Diploma. Our Degree program begins this fall with a 7-day Gaia University Orientation September 10-16 followed by 5-day Women’s Actionist Training Workshop September 18-22 featuring visionary author and activist Starhawk, and the “mother of midwifery” Ina Mae Gaskin. Following the workshop, students will have a day to meet with their specialist Advisor and begin planning their year of study.

This event at Lothlorien Nature Sanctuary is one of our two major annual fund-raisers (the other is ELF-Fest in May). Proceeds benefit Lothlorien Nature Sanctuary and Elvin HOME, Inc. This event includes primitive camping, community fire pits w/firewood provided, fellowship, showers, musical and theatrical performances, kids' activities, seasonal rites and ceremonies, workshops and discussion circles, drumming and dancing, etc. There will be vendors selling their wares and food available from our Cauldron Cafe. All are welcome. Camping/vending sites are on a first come, first served basis. There is very limited space for small RVs. Parking is along Rinsa Road (our north road inside Lothlorien). *Gate hours: 8:00 AM-11:00 PM. (We'll be closed for admission on Sunday.) Please visit us on-line for complete details, updates and for maps to get here.

Led by Laird Schaub and Ma'ikwe Schaub-Ludwig, the program consists of eight three-day weekends spread out over two years. Each weekend session will be held in the context of live facilitation held by host communities in the Mid-Atlantic/Southeastern region (MD, VA, WV, NC, SC, GA, Eastern TN/KY). Integrative Facilitation is an approach to group dynamics built on a solid understanding of human development, sensitivity to undercurrents in the room, playfulness and appreciation. The program begins the weekend of September 18-21, 2008 and ends the weekend of June 3-6, 2010. Program is open to individual participants and host communities or cooperative organizations.

Desire guides us all our life—from erotic attraction, to the work we love, even our spiritual yearning. So powerful and personal is this force of desire that mystical poets, myths from around the world, and Jungian psychology have depicted it in human form: as the archetypal Beloved, guide to the soul. One of the most powerful and passionate ways we awaken the inner Beloved is by falling in love. For this special retreat, we invite couples who have a strong and loving relationship to explore the soul’s Beloved in your partner and in your own heart.

Come into your own as a powerful female force for change by attending our Women’s Actionist Training for Earth Regeneration (WATER). Over the coures of the event Starhawk, one of the most respected voices in modern earth-based spirituality, will share her various visionary and pragmatic tools to help participants increase personal power, presence, and effectiveness as world-changers in service to Gaia. The event includes an earth healing ceremony in celebration of the Autumnal Equinox. We’ll gather at the Gray Bear Lodge, nestled within 150 acres of rolling hills with abundant forests, natural springs, and a gorgeous waterfall. Cost: Sliding Scale $450-$575 includes comfortable lodging, full use of facilities and gourmet vegetarian meals. Some work trade available. For further details check out graybear.org or contact info@holisticecology.org

Immerse yourself in ecovillage living while learning about sustainable agriculture, natural building, agro-forestry, creek restoration, bee keeping, mushroom cultivation, appropriate technology, non-violent communication, ecovillage design and implementation, earth-based crafts, and much more! Instructors: Rick Valley, Jude Hobbs, Marc Tobin, and many exciting guests. Students may be able to arrange to receive college credit at their home institutions. See our website for details.

Got Problem Kids? Here's your Problem Student Problem-Solver Conference. You name the problems and this workshop delivers hundreds of immediate, problem-stopping answers. You will leave with innovative, more effective strategies for school failure, truancy, dropping out, work refusal, violence, delinquency, bad attitudes, depression and more. College credit and clock hours are available. Free sample interventions, and free monthly Problem Student Problem-Solver magazine available at our web site, youthchg.com, or via email (dwells@youthchg.com), or call toll-free to 1-800-545-5736. Work-study financial aid is available for all classes. Call for details. Coming to many cities around the US. Also available on videotape and DVD. Call 1-800-545-5736 for information and a workshop flyer. College credit and clock hours for many disciplines offered for both live and recorded classes. On-site workshops can also be scheduled for your school, agency or conference. This class also makes a

Grow your own fuels, become food self-sufficient, heat and light your home with solar, and convert your car or truck to run on alcohol or biodiesel. This three day course will get you started towards personal oil independence. $225, or $400 for couples, meals and lodging included.

If you want to know more about life in community or have ever considered becoming a resident of EcoVillage at Ithaca, then this workshop is for you! Enjoy a balance of nature connection, personal renewal and hands-on learning, while being immersed in an environment with green building and renewable energy systems, consensus decision-making and deep ecology. Enjoy and create delicious meals from local foods, swim in our pond, hike the land. Come experience a more richly connected way of life in our internationally acclaimed ecovillage in Ithaca, New York.

This event is a fund-raiser for Lothlorien Nature Sanctuary and Elvin HOME, Inc. This community Samhain event includes primitive camping, showers, community fire pits w/firewood provided, seasonal rites and ceremonies, fellowship, kids' activities, drumming and dancing, etc. *Gate hours: 8:00 AM-9:00 PM. (Sunday gate hours are 10:00 AM-5:00 PM.) Parking is along Rinsa Road (our north road inside Lothlorien). Visit us on-line for complete details, updates and maps to get here.

The practice of shamanic journeying is an ancient method of accessing spiritual wisdom by developing a means of communication with helping spirits and animal allies. These tools can be used for personal growth as well as healing of the self and others. We will explore How to integrate shamanism in everyday life and empower ourselves to live a life of Spirit. If you are curious about shamanism and would like to have an opportunity to learn this ancient meditative practice, join us for a wonderful weekend of journeying and exploration!

How to grow shiitake mushrooms for food and profit. Half-day course begins with brunch: 10 am to 3 pm with Frank Michael, Cliff Davis, Albert Bates and Will Bates. $50.

Become a solar installer with this week-long course from Ed Eaton. $490 includes food and lodging. We will install a PV system.

We have all seen those pesky 2-liter plastic bottles littering the countryside. If you are like us, you have imagined that there must be something useful we could do with that bit of rubbish. Well, there is... Come spend the day with us learning how to build your own greenhouse using discarded pop bottles. This simple, attractive little structure actually works quite well... Allowing you to get a head start on your spring planting or keeping your plants green year-round. The Workshop Agenda includes: * Orientation/ quick tour of Blue Rock Station. * Framing the greenhouse. * Cutting the bottles. * Placing and fitting the pop-bottle walls. * Putting it all together. * Foundation options for your greenhouse. This pop bottle greenhouse concept was tested and developed at the Sustainable Communities Initiative in Scotland.

Led by Laird Schaub and Ma'ikwe Schaub-Ludwig, the program consists of eight three-day weekends spread out over two years. Each weekend session will be held in the context of live facilitation held by host communities in the Mid-Atlantic/Southeastern region (MD, VA, WV, NC, SC, GA, Eastern TN/KY). Integrative Facilitation is an approach to group dynamics built on a solid understanding of human development, sensitivity to undercurrents in the room, playfulness and appreciation. The program begins the weekend of September 18-21, 2008 and ends the weekend of June 3-6, 2010. Program is open to individual participants and host communities or cooperative organizations.