Pre-Bioneer Intensive at EcoVillage

Ithaca, NY – Want to get a taste of what living in an EcoVillage is really like? Want to get your hands dirty on one of the area’s most outstanding small farms? Want to see for yourself how this innovative community is tackling climate change, preserving open space and biodiversity, nurturing beginning farmers, creating innovative transportation and energy systems, and helping people all over the world to reduce their ecological footprint?

On Thursday, October 15, join the Groundswell Center for Local Food & Farming and the EcoVillage Center for Sustainability Education for an all-day experiential workshop. For more than ten years EcoVillage has served as a living lab for cooperative community living, featuring tightly clustered residential development, two thriving organic farms, innovative energy systems, and community governance systems that sustain a vibrant village of over 300 residents. Thousands of local, national and international visitors have toured EcoVillage to learn first-hand about creating and sustaining a green community. Now you have a unique opportunity to experience first-hand this highly successful community initiative in the spirit of bioneering. 

The Groundswell Center for Local Food & Farming is a new local initiative providing on-farm training and education programs for beginning farmers, students, and community members. Groundswell’s primary campus is West Haven Farm, a highly successful, 260-member Community Supported Agriculture farm located at EcoVillage. West Haven produces and markets certified organic vegetables and fruits on ten acres, including year-round production using a state-of-the-art heated greenhouse and several unheated plastic “hoophouses.”

What will your day be like?  
After being welcomed at 9:30 you'll spend the morning at West Haven Farm getting a close look at sustainable farming practices and a behind-the-scenes view of Ithaca’s thriving local foods economy. You’ll get a chance to harvest your own lunch and then enjoy it at the EcoVillage Common House. Next you’ll get an in depth look of what makes this community work: how it was launched and organized, how people live and work together; the type of partnerships the community fosters; what residents have done to minimize their ecological footprint; how they are applying these lessons to a future third neighborhood; what they’ve learned about renewable energy use; how they address transportation issues; and how they are contributing to a sustainable green business economy. The workshop will end at 6pm, and we have also made arrangements for you to stay and have a wonderful dinner of locally grown foods at the common house and continue your conversation with EcoVillage residents over dinner.

 
Registration fees are on a sliding scale from $40 to $90, with dinner optional. To register send an email to education@ecovillage.ithaca.ny.us, visit www.groundswellcenter.org, or call 607-379-9270.