WELL NEWSLETTER - MARCH 8, 2006

Calendar of WELL Events

Friday, March 17 6:00 - 8:00pm

Willits Community Center Community Mixer and slide show with Richard Register and Kristin Miller of Eco City Builders on creating healthy communities - this is event is open to everyone and free.

Saturday, March 18 9:00am - 3:00pm Special Workshop: Richard Register and Kristin Miller of Eco City Builders Willits Community Center

Richard and Kristin will present examples and solutions for creating walkable, healthy and car free communities. Topics addressed will include: Land use planning, Peak oil, Climate change, Alternative transportation and Economic localization.

There is a $20 fee that includes lunch.

This event is co-sponsored by the City of Willits, REDI, WAG, EDFC, MCRS and NCO.

This is a great opportunity to work on specific changes citizens would like to see to county and city plans and regulations to move them towards alignment with expressed community goals for greater self-reliance, minimal environmental impacts, and improved health.

To register, please see the attached flier.

For more information please call Cathy: 459.7128

Monday, March 20 - General Meeting of the Working Groups

6:30 - 8:30pm Willits Community Center

Join us for our monthly meeting of our working groups and get involved with their projects.

Special Event Coming in April:

THIS IS RLNC — "OUR LINK" TO SUSTAINABILITY

Calling all Economic Localization groups in Northern California to join together for a Regional Localization Networking Conference.  An information exchange opportunity sponsored by the WELL April 7-9, 2006 — Keynote Address by David Schaller - Sustainable Development Coordinator, US EPA

The purpose of this conference is to improve our region’s economic localization efforts through sharing best practices; developing consistent messages for the general public, business community, and political leaders; and enhancing regional communication between groups. The goal for this conference is not to raise the general awareness of the issue of economic localization, but rather to share ideas among those who are presently encouraging this transition in their communities.

An application, including more details for this event, is attached as is a schedule for the conference. Now is the time to register for this event. We have many localization groups coming - please join us.

If you are a member of WELL, please call about reduced rates.

Other Events of Interest

FRIDAY, MARCH 10, Sustainable Laytonville's Film Series presents: "Ancient Futures"

7:00pm - Old BAND ROOM, Laytonville High School

The first night of our three-session film/ LHS Band session played to a packed house. DON'T MISS THE SECOND OF THESE FUN EVENINGS! Continuing with SUSTAINABILITY as the THEME, the LHS BAND and SUSTAINABLE LAYTONVILLE will present another BAND/FILM night for your entertainment.

Sustainable refreshments will be available for purchase.

A $3 donation per person is suggested for the evening, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Please join us!

FILM: Ancient Futures Ancient Futures is a remarkable look at the root causes of our environmental and social crises, and a powerful challenge to re-examine what we mean by "progress." Ladakh, or "Little Tibet," is a harsh, beautiful land high in the Western Himalayas of India. A model of sustainable living, the traditional Ladakh culture has prospered, virtually free of crime and pollution. Now, centuries of ecological balance and social harmony are eroding as the result of western influences.

Saturday, March 11 - Ecovillage Emerging T

he Cloud Forest Institute is in the beginning stages of developing a plan to purchase land collaboratively in order to build a Self Reliant Educational Community in Potter Valley. If you would like to help make this vision a reality please refer to us individuals and ngo's that you know of who are interested in exploring the idea. You can also participate in our on-line forum, Ecovillage Emerging at the www.cloudforest.org wiki website.

On March 11, at noon the Cloud Forest Institute will host a potluck lunch to visit the site and hike the property. Email jen@cloudforest.org for more information.

Saturday, March 11 7-9pm Slideshow and talk about Russian biointensive projects United Methodist Church in Willits - corner of Pine and School streets

Vladimir "Volodya" Loginov, founder of EcoInform, Kurganinsk, Russia, and Carol Vesecky, Director of Biointensive for Russia (BfR), Palo Alto, CA, will offer a free presentation of their work. Volodya has taught sustainable cooperative lifestyles to older teenage boys who have graduated from a school for orphans in Kurganinsk, in the Krasnodar region of southern Russia near the Black Sea and the Caucasus mountains. Some of the techniques he has taught include Biointensive gardening, nutrition and cooking, pruning high trees using ropes, carpentry, car and motorcycle mechanics, and straw bale building.

Volodya also will address some of the ways in which he has striven to become "independent of the corporations" including developing a well and a water purification system, building a windmill for pumping water, heating with an efficient wood stove, growing and preserving his own food using local varieties (garden and orchard), composting, a biotoilet, and using solar energy for cooking, heating water, and lighting his home. He is deeply involved with regional environmental efforts as well, working with the Independent Ecological Group of Experts of the Northwest Caucasus. For example, in 2005 they helped ensure that public hearings be held prior to major development of the port of Taman. For more information contact Dave Watts at 459-9009.

For information on BfR, visit http://www.biointensiveforrussia.igc.org/.

Friday, March 17 and Saturday, March 18 - Nonviolent Communication workshop with Mair Alight

Three Jewels Hall - on the coast

Deepen your practice of the four elements of nonviolent communication, grow your insight and increase your capacity to listen and speak from the heart of compassion: the art of clearly observing the events happening around us (without diagnosing, judging, labeling or fixing,) expressing feelings that develop around our needs relevant to those events (while expanding our consciousness of the spectrum of those fulfilling needs), and building a vocabulary for making requests from a place of calm awareness...that we are the source of our experience by the way we interpret and hold what's happening around us...

We are requesting a deposit of $50 and ask participants to check out their willingness to contribute anywhere from $50~$200 at the end of the event, based on their feelings of fruitfulness (some of you may remember the "duck index" ~)...

For more information, please call: Cristie Holliday 937-3439

Coming in April - Community Emergency Response Team training April 4th, 11th, 15th, 18th, 25th & 26th Location: City of Ukiah Fire Department 300 Seminary Avenue, Ukiah, CA 95482

Presented by Mendocino Emergency Services Authority and City of Ukiah Fire Department: The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program was developed in California in the mid-80s as a way to train people to better prepare for emergency situations in their communities. Since then, it has become a national model for helping people respond to emergencies. When emergencies happen, CERT members can give critical support to first responders, provide immediate assistance to victims, and organize spontaneous volunteers at a disaster site. CERT members can also help with non-emergency projects that improve the safety of the community. CERT training classes include disaster preparedness, disaster fire suppression, basic disaster medical operations, and light search and rescue operations.

The target audience for the first course will be individuals throughout the City who are interested in putting together teams within their neighborhoods.

Registration: Contact Cindy Stanford (707) 463-6261 stanford@cityofukiah.com

For Information: Kurt Latipow, Chief, City of Ukiah Fire Department (707) 463-6263 klatipow@cityofukiah.com

Cost: There is no cost for this training

Date/Time: April 4th - 6:00-9:30p.m. April 11th - 6:00-9:30p.m. April 15th - 8:00a.m.-5:00p.m. April 18th - 6:00-9:30 p.m. April 25th - 6:00-9:30 p.m. April 26th - 6:00 p.m. - Graduation

In the news

Jason sends this link from the Energy Bulletin in which Representatives Roscoe Bartlett and Tom Udall distribute a NY Times op-ed piece to their House colleagues.

Read the article, by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Robert B. Semple, Jr. and the summary of the House bill these representatives have introduced about Peak Oil: http://www.energybulletin.net/13396.html

Review

The Future of WELL Workshop - March 4 & 5

We had a wonderful turnout - each day there were almost 30 people, over the course of the weekend we had nearly 40 participants. Everyone was respectful and dedicated to the process, which was, at times, challenging.

We successfully identified our top 11 common values that underlie the work of WELL, which will be further refined:

Sustainability,

Personal responsibility,

Working cooperatively within community,

Healthy community,

Sustainable community,

Stewardship,

Fun,

Sharing resources,

Justice,

Expression of spirit and

Ethics.

These values led us into a visioning process that was hands-on and invigorating and resulted in the following vision statement, of which we are proud:

An enduring local economy that provides health and security for our community.

Our values work also identified the top five areas of WELL's work: Community, Health, Sustainability, Localization and Security.

These areas will make up the core of our Strategic Plan. We began work crafting short, medium and long-term goals, with more specific objectives and strategies, in each of these areas. Work will continue to organize these five areas into a comprehensive plan that includes funding needs and sources.

We ended our day with a speedy look at our organizational structure. The current Steering Committee was unanimously empowered to continue work, including follow up to this workshop, for the next six months - until the beginning of September.

As a first step in overhauling and clarifying our organizational structure, a committee was formed to address membership. In the next month they will define the terms of membership - based on our large group discussion on Sunday - and organize a membership drive. This membership will be charged with, among other things, approving our steering committee members and responsibilities.

With very few exceptions, everyone present volunteered many hours each week to work on follow-up to this workshop and other WELL activities. Although we still have much to sort out and strategize, a very strong foundation has been built.

A very sincere thank you:

To all of the folks who gave precious weekend time to reinvigorate and clarify WELL.

To Annie Weller for helping set up the space and provide snacks and coffee.

To the steering committee for helping to create the agenda and work out the details of this event.

And especially, to our two committed facilitators who gave us so much time and energy -

I am quite sure we wouldn't have come away with the quality we did without your expert help.

Lost and Found:

There were two items left at our weekend workshop: a small, black velvet scarf and a black umbrella.

And one black wool coat left at the health panel.

Please claim your items at the REDI office.

Happy International Women's Day - honor the women in your life!

spring@redinet.org

Spring Senerchia, Office Manager

Willits Economic LocaLization (WELL)

Renewable Energy Development Institute (REDI) 7

5 N. Main Street, #234 Willits, CA 95490

(707) 459-1256