Community Events Calendar

Come join us on this "traveling workshop" and very special tour of a rich variety of the Portland Area cohousing communities. Portland is a very vibrant city and home to many Cohousing communities As you travel between each location on a comfortable bus, the guide will give participants a chance to introduce themselves, share general information about cohousing, answer questions, provide fact sheets and site plans, and prepare you for your ~40-minute visit to each community. At each stop, a community host will guide your group through his or her neighborhood and answer questions. We look forward to having you join us for a day full of learning, community building and fun. On this tour you will visit these five communities. To read more and register, click the weblink below.

Conférence : 13 novembre de 19 h à 22 h au Chalet Pauline-Vanier de Saint-Sauveur. Tout commence par la conscience. La conscience est la partie de l’être qui pousse à agir. Une conscience éveillée éclaire les actes et établit les priorités. Il est donc primordial d’avoir une conscience avertie qui dirige nos pratiques vertes. Quels gestes poser en faveur de l’environnement? Comment être vert au quotidien? Pourquoi penser vert? On répondra à ces questions et on illustrera ces propos de multiples exemples. Avec Bernard Anton Ph. D., Bernard est professeur, écrivain, penseur humaniste et conférencier remarquable. Il a publié 28 livres (poésie, conte, essai...). Son dernier livre Plaidoyer pour la Terre et les Vivants, publié aux éditions Marcel Broquet, est une réflexion brûlante d’actualité sur l’environnement. Il est engagé culturellement et socialement dans la communauté.

Planning Potluck for UPSTATE NY PERMACULTURE CONSULTA The Alchemical Nursery will be hosting the 2010 Upstate NY Permaculture Consulta regional networking and skill share event on Saturday, March 13, 2010 from 10am - 5pm. This event, which was inaugurally held in Ithaca during February 2009, is coming to Syracuse for 2010, and you are invited to participate. In preparation, You are invited to a PERMACULTURE POTLUCK & PLANNING MEETING on Saturday November 14, 7:00 pm at the Gear Factory (200 South Geddes St, Syracuse, NY) to start the process of pulling together the program, resources, and action steps to make for a successful Consulta event. RSVPs appreciated, but not required (feel free to just show up if you can make it), at http://www.meetup.com/Permaculture-and-Urban-Homesteading/calendar/11764706/ You should join us for this meeting & potluck if you'd like to conduct a skill share or presentation at the event, partner your organization with ours for the event, help develop

Portland, Oregon’s newest cohousing community Daybreak Cohousing is officially open! Members are now moving into their new urban village in North Portland. They are actively seeking new members and invite you to the next social and tour, Wednesday, November 18, 6:30 pm-8 pm on site at 2525 N. Killingsworth Street. (#72 Killingsworth bus or Max to the Killingsworth station) Daybreak Cohousing provides a physical design that encourages social interaction while respecting personal needs for private space. Homes have most of the features of conventional homes, and members also enjoy extensive common facilities. The community is offering a price incentive for new members who join by Dec. 15, 2009. For more information, contact Ken at AskAboutUs@daybreakcohousing.org, 503-310-7044 or visit www.daybreakcohousing.org

“The experience of true community is a unique way of communicating, of sharing our deepest thoughts and feelings without fear or guilt.” writes Scott Peck in his book “The Different Drum – Communitymaking and Peace” (in German: Gemeinschaftsbildung – Der Weg zu authentischer Gemeinschaft). Elements and wisdom from the quakers, native talkingstick-circles, the AA-groups and the Tavistock are brought together in this form of “communitybuilding”. Scott Peck discovered 3 stages (pseudocommunity, chaos, emptiness) that each group passes on the way to authentic community. Pseudo and chaos is well known in each relationship. But how to walk through the stage of chaos? In this workshop you can experience how some simple guidelines lead you through the stage of emptiness in the stage of true community. We also travel on your place if there are min. 10 people for a workshop. Further details and more workshops at

Ventura Eco-Community Potluck Sunday, November 22, 5pm A place and time to hang-out, and talk about starting an eco-community. At Ventura Urban Homestead Please RSVP Rachel Morris.

Monday, November 23, 2009 at Greenfield’s on Atlantic 5199 West Atlantic Avenue, Delray Beach Two Seatings at 5 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. $30 per person Due to limited seating, reservations are required. Please R.S.V.P. By November 16, 2009 by Calling (561) 233-9009, ext. 106 or by Email to kbloodworth@crosministries.org with your name, address, telephone number, number of guests and preferred seating time (5 p.m. or 7:15 p.m.). Prepayment is accepted via credit card at time of reservation. 100% of the proceeds will go towards the purchase of food for C.R.O.S. Ministries’ Caring Kitchen and Community Food Pantries.

If you are interested in personal growth and have longed for more authenticity­ in yourself and in your relationships with others— this empowering workshop is for you. Meeting together will give you the opportunity to learn the principles and stages of, what M. Scott Peck calls, community building. Through observation and participation, you will be challenged­ to: · Communicate with authenticity · Deal with difficult issues · Welcome and affirm diversity · Bridge differences with integrity · Relate with compassion and respect Further details at www.willingchange.com

Conférence : 27 novembre de 19 h à 22 h au Chalet Pauline-Vanier de Saint-Sauveur. Identification des risques environnementaux nuisibles aux enfants, tels que les contaminants à la maison, à l’école, à l’extérieur ainsi que dans les aliments que nous consommons, l’air que nous respirons et les produits que nous utilisons. Conseils et stratégies pratiques vous seront communiqués pour réduire ces risques. Avec Michel Gaudet Vice-président et porte parole de l’Association pour la santé environnementale du Québec (ASEQ) qui est un organisme à but non lucratif dont la mission est de démontrer le lien entre l’environnement et la santé. www.aeha-quebec.ca

Learn about sustainable living for 2 weeks in a 20-year-old community in Oregon. This course explores what it means to live sustainably on different scales: as individuals, as a society, & as communities. The course explores permaculture & sustainable living through different formats, including lectures, discussions, hands-on projects, & field trips. Throughout the course students work on group on-site design projects—a great opportunity to integrate what students are learning. The curriculum includes: * permaculture ethics, principles, philosophy * reading the landscape * recognizing patterns * waste as resources * water on the land: catching, storing, & using rainwater * growing soil * natural building & retrofitting * appropriate technology * transportation & sustainability * producing & harvesting food in our yards/ communities * sustainable economics * invisible structures & social sustainability * rural, urban, & suburban applications. Learn more & register online.

"Enable the symbioses of mutual effects, letting nature work, reestablishing natural cycles" The essential areas of Holzer's Permaculture are the development of water landscapes for the ecological renaturation of the land, and the evolution of many mutually-supportive communities of plant and biotopes, which also create a self-sufficient supply of food for the people living there. In addition to dealing with these basic topics, each seminar has its own focus in such a way that the seminars can be attended individually, or as a series that complement each other.

True Holidays Celebration - ‘Tis the Season to Befriend 7:00 p.m. Doors open 8:00 p.m. One-hour program 9:00 p.m. Dancing and festivities To befriend another—active compassion—is both the common sense and the spiritual power of this holiday season. We encourage you to claim your friendships with goodwill. This season challenges us to extend our feeling and caring to all those we encounter. This mid-winter festival will prepare you for a season that includes: Hanukah, Diwali, Solstice, Christmas, Kwanza, and the New Year. There will be a program for all ages and faiths, a time to prepare your heart for the season ahead. Food and drink will be for sale in our café. There will be a silent auction. A supervised childcare area will be provided. Location: Mercer Island Congregational Church (UCC) 4545 Island Crest Way, Mercer Island ... From Seattle: I-5 to I-90 Eastbound. Exit 7B. Merge to the left lane. Travel 1.7 miles church on the right at the crest of the hill.

Natural Plaster on Cob - Workday With Teacher and Artist Betty Seaman. Free event. Just bring your helping hands and good food to share. Saturday, December 5th 9:30am to 4:30pm At Ventura Urban Homestead RSVP Rachel Morris.

“The experience of true community is a unique way of communicating, of sharing our deepest thoughts and feelings without fear or guilt.” writes Scott Peck in his book “The Different Drum – Communitymaking and Peace” (in German: Gemeinschaftsbildung – Der Weg zu authentischer Gemeinschaft). Elements and wisdom from the quakers, native talkingstick-circles, the AA-groups and the Tavistock are brought together in this form of “communitybuilding”. Scott Peck discovered 3 stages (pseudocommunity, chaos, emptiness) that each group passes on the way to authentic community. Pseudo and chaos is well known in each relationship. But how to walk through the stage of chaos? In this workshop you can experience how some simple guidelines lead you through emptiness in the stage of true community. We also travel on your place if there are min. 10 people for a workshop. Further details and more workshops at

As every year, we celebrate this time of joy and contemplation together with our guests who are welcome to arrive as early as 20 December and assist with the Christmas decoration and preparations. On Christmas Eve we will celebrate Christmas in the woods, perform a nativity scene, sing Christmas carols, play music and time to connect with one another, eating biscuits and giving each other gifts. Between Christmas and New Year's Eve, there will be a daily evening programme. Our guests often like to spend the daytime skiing, sledding or going for walks with new and old friends, browsing at books in the library or simply enjoying and experiencing wintry nature. Conversational circles, focusing on spiritual themes and fire ceremonies, provide an opportunity of deepening the experience gained by yourself or together with others. We celebrate the turn of the year by contemplatively and joyfully looking back and ahead, and welcoming the New Year with a magnificent great bonfire.