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LATEST NEWS Stay tuned! Coming soon are film screenings in Cortland, Ithaca, Watkins Glen, Corning, and Rochester for our Winter 2012 series. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thanks to Shira Golding Evergreen and Suzanne McMannis for our highly successful partnership in screening their new film "Empowered" at Cinemapolis. A large and appreciative audience enjoyed both the film and the panel of women practitioners. It was great to see folks lingering in the lobby afterwards, making connections and commitments to living more sustainably. Despite the wintry weather, we were glad to see some of our other partners from Cortland and Cayuga Counties joining us. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, Dec. 7th - Empowered - Encore community screening in Ithaca of local film on clean energy. "Empowered: Power from the People" Wednesday, December 7, 7-9pm Cinemapolis, 120 E. Green St., Ithaca, NY Tickets are $10, $8 for Sustainable Tompkins and IGBA members Tompkins County, NY is one of the cloudiest, least windy places in the country, and yet its residents are proving that we can meet our energy needs through totally renewable resources. From solar and wind to veggie oil and geothermal, "Empowered" tells the story of one community's role in the energy independence revolution. Join us for an encore Ithaca screening featuring tabling by local sustainability groups and renewable energy installers. Since our community sneak peek screening at the end of September, we have refined the film and added lots of animations so even you've seen it, there's lot's of new stuff to check out! The screening will be followed by a special "Women Power" panel discussion including director Shira Golding Evergreen and some of the local innovators featured in the film - Gay Nicholson of Sustainable Tompkins, McKenzie Jones Rounds of Ithaca Biodiesel, Gwendolyn Barr of Weaver Wind Energy, Annie Koreman of Sierra Club Finger Lakes Group, and Lexie Hain of Enfield Energy and Snug Planet! This event is co-presented by Finger Lakes Bioneers, Ithaca Green Building Alliance, Sierra Club Finger Lakes Group and Sustainable Tompkins. The screening kicks off a NY state tour co-sponsored by Finger Lakes Bioneers and Sierra Club Finger Lakes Group. "Empowered" is an independent feature-length documentary directed by Shira Golding Evergreen and produced by Suzanne McMannis. Learn more and empower yourself at: http://empoweredthemovie.com Tuesday, Dec. 6th - The Greenhorns -- Documentary film's local premiere at the Glen Theater, Watkins Glen. 60-min. documentary film takes an inspiring journey across the US to explore new food and farming enterprises, rural and urban possibilities and diverse producer and consumer initiatives. A panel discussion and community conversation is part of the evening event: How can Schuyler County and the Seneca Lake area continue to nurture and support the current and emerging potential for on-farm and food related businesses? The public is heartily invited. Doors open at 6:30 for the 7PM screening. Refreshments will be available. Presented by Finger Lakes Bioneers with Cornell Small Farms Program and the Glen Theater. http://www.thegreenhorns.net/ Contact: Nick Vaczek, film series coordinator, at 607-793-7566 or http://www.wemakeourfuture.org/Event-Schedule/Watkins-Glen ---------------------------------------------- Community conversation and film to explore "the economics of happiness" in Elmira and Chemung County Nov. 9: The Finger Lakes Bioneers, the Park Church and Pax Christi Upstate New York present the Elmira premiere of the new film: The Economics of Happiness. The 70-minute film will be followed by a discussion and panel of local business owners. The 7PM screening is preceded by a potluck dinner meal at 6PM. Public is invited to the free program and donations are accepted. Event takes place in Beecher Hall of The Park Church at 208 Gray St. entrance. See website (http://www.theparkchurch.org/) for directions. The event will offer audience members the opportunity to participate and contribute their ideas about enhancing their community's strengths and equitable well-being. More info at: Finger Lakes Bioneers event schedule in the left column. ----------------------------------------------- Great article in Saturday's Cortland Standard about the Freedom bus visit to Cortland High School on October 7 by alum Boise Thomas. The Finger Lakes Bioneers, in association with Sustainable Cortland and SUNY Cortland, present the Cortland premiere of FREEDOM, a 90-minute documentary film by Josh and Rebecca Tickell. The film explores an array of greener fuel solutions and technological alternatives to address the dilemmas of our fossil fuel-dependent society. The national tour of the "Freedom" eco-bus, visiting around 50 cities, is stewarded by Boise Thomas, a young Cortland native who went west and has developed and hosted programming for Discovery Communications' channel Planet Green and for the G Living lifestyle network. He will participate in the audience Q&A after the film along with representatives from Sustainable Tompkins and Sustainable Cortland. Other local groups advancing the community conversation about our ecological 'footprint' will be tabling. The 90-minute film will screen at 7:30 PM Monday, October 10th. Public is invited and admission and parking is free. Location for both events is the Corey Union on the campus of SUNY Cortland. From 6-7:30 the traveling bus, which doubles as a clean-energy laboratory and a “green” mobile entertainment system, will be open for tours in front of Corey Union. See Cortland schedule for more details. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Our first gathering for the 2011 Finger Lakes Bioneers film series will be September 29 and 30 at the Auburn Public Theater. We’ll be screening the Auburn premiere of The Economics of Happiness – a film by Helena Norberg-Hodge, Steven Gorelick and John Page, and a project of the International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC). Relocalization of our economy is essential if we are to buffer ourselves from speculative bubbles and escalating food and energy prices. How can we transform our personal household economies to build in long-term resiliency and well being? How can we work together to design a local economy that works for everyone and takes advantage of the power of entrepreneurship, sharing, self-provisioning, and local investment? What principles should guide us? We’ll explore these questions and more with a panel of local community leaders and suggest opportunities to pursue in the next few years. Audience members are encouraged to bring their ideas and to share news on other local initiatives. Tickets are offered at the door.
Finger Lakes Bioneers is going on the road this year! Our 2011-2012 program is focused on stimulating useful conversations across our region about our shared future. We are partnering with active citizens and innovating venues in Auburn, Cortland, the Elmira-Corning area, and Watkins Glen to host insightful film events followed by audiences sharing reactions and outlooks. This traveling Chautauqua approach is designed to advance awareness about the bioneers vision during an evening program that explores our options for local and regional equity, resilience, and renewal. You are invited to attend one or more of our programs and to be a participant in these community conversations. Your insights into the challenging perturbations in (and available solutions for) our social, economic, and ecological support systems will be most welcome. If you are interested in participating or assisting at any of our venues, please get in touch with us at info(at)wemakeourfuture(dot)org.	Special thanks to the Park Foundation for bringing Bioneers to the Finger Lakes Region, and for their longstanding support for so many bioneers in our community and across the nation. They are truly shifting the paradigm in our country! Our gathering in the Finger Lakes is part of a national movement of Bioneers working to create a more sustainable world. Learn more about the national conference at: http://www.bioneers.org/conference For more information about the Finger Lakes Bioneers, email: info(at)wemakeourfuture(dot)org
Omar Freilla speaks about the human economy at We Make Our Future 2009 Dorothy Cotton, speaking at the Finger Lakes Bioneers conference on October 18, 2009, shared stories and lessons learned from the civil rights movement that might guide the global sustainability and social justice movement. Cotton was director of the citizenship education program of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference under Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for twelve years. Watch her complete speech on youtube.

THANKS TO OUR PARTNERS

Sustainable Cortland

If you would like to be a collaborator, partner, or sponsor please contact

Nick Vaczek at

(607) 793-7566 or

nick(at)sustainabletompkins(dot)org