Monterey Green Action

Welcome home to the 10th Continental Bioregional Congress, to be held Oct. 3-11, 2009 on The Farm, one of the continent's premier ecologically-based communities, in Summertown, TN. on the 25th anniversary of the First Bioregional Congress.

The Event:

In the ceremonial village of the congress, we will share and celebrate stories of place, model the communities we wish to support and create, and organize for ecological and cultural restoration. The congress will pilot the a bioregional curriculum – a toolbox of workshops, approaches, and practices that focus on building, sustaining and relocalizing communities; reinvigorating culture and arts; and grassroots organizing for ecological restoration and policy change. The congress includes large group plenaries, ceremonies and celebrations; small group talking circles; open space workshops and presentations; men's and women's circles; and a bioregional school for children. Pre-congress hands-on sessions will be offered in Transition Initiative, Carbon Farming, and Financial Permaculture. Holding this event at a successful 35-year-old ecovillage allows us to experience life in a permaculture-designed village full of earth-friendly housing, cooperative forestry, local foods, and consensus-based decision-making.

The Participants:

During a time of environmental devastation, social injustice and economic upheaval, CBC X unites activists, artists and writers, permaculturalists and farmers, entrepenuers, public policy-makers, community leaders, First Peoples, scientists and researchers, homesteaders and ecovillagers, children and adults, and all concerned about the state of the planet.  In calling together those involved in bioregionalism, the Green movement, relocalization efforts, transition town innovations, and other movements during a time when public opinion is shifting toward a more sustainable outlook, we embrace global awareness and action.

Bioregionalism:

Bioregionalism offers us a glimpse of a sustainable and just human culture that is firmly grounded on earth, and woven into the interdependent tapestry of life. The essence of bioregionalism has been reality and common sense for native people living close to the land for thousands of years. In recognizing that we live in watersheds, ecosystems and ecoregions, we can find a context for how to craft our lives in balance with our communities and eco-communities. We recognize that we are part of the web of the life, and that all justice, freedom and peace must be grounded in this recognition.

The Bioregional Movement: 

Only around 30 years old, the Bioregional movement has helped spawn and support other movements and trends, such as the Green Party, Permaculature, Ecovillages, Ecological Restoration, Eco-Poetics and much more. Continental Congresses have taken place since 1984 in Missouri, Michigan, British Columbia, Texas, Kentucky, Mexico, Kansas, and North Carolina; other gatherings and actions by watershed and bioregional groups have flourished throughout the continent.

For More Information:

Please visit www.bioregional-congress.org for detailed information, and to register on-line, or call 931/964-4474.