Swim-A-Thon for Oakland Kids

The weekend of July 8/9 I will be partiticpating in the Swim-A-Thon put on by the Temescal Aquatic Masters. This is an annual event to raise funds for Oakland Parks and Rec. (OPR) to support swim programs for underpriveleged kids.

My goal is to swim 4 miles, which is 210 lengths at the Temescal Pool. You are invited to sponsor my efforts with a tax-deductible donation to Friends of OPR to benefit the kids. It's a great cause!

Make your check to "Friends of OPR" and mail it to me at

3126 Harrison St
Oakland CA 94611

Thanks a lot -- from me and from the kids!

Nomination for Sainthood: Lee McDerment

Well, we have identified the next destination for Frodo's continuing journeys throughout middle earth: Anderson South Carolina. Anderson is not too far from Frodo's birthplace in Oconee County, so I'm sure he'll acclimate quickly to his old stompin' ground.

This miracle is made possible through the generous love and support of my ol' pal and college roommate, Lee McDerment. I know Frodo will get on famously with Lee and his community in Anderson.

Much thanks to Lee for the opportunites he is making possible for my life and work for ecological sustainability in India and beyond. Lee is one of the most generous and loving people I have ever met. His community knows this -- and because of his offer to care for Frodo while I am gone his generoisty will reach even further around the world.

Much thanks to Lee for this amazing opportunity!

Straw Bale Building

I spent last weekend at a ranch outside of Booneville, CA at a workshop put on by the CA Straw Building Association (CASBA). We were building a cottage-studio for an artist couple that live on the ranch. It was incredible! Definitely one of the most empowering and rewarding experiences of my life.



Check out Fritter's blog for more photos.

Open water, baby!

Last weekend I rocked the Lake Berryessa open water swim. It was awesome. Here's me looking stoked after the 2-mile event.

A sustainability vision quest throughout the Indian subcontinent -- part B: methodology outline

OUTLINE

Intro – A sustainability vision quest throughout the Indian subcontinent

Central Research Question: How can we all live well within the means of one planet?

Background research and development of metrics

• Personal EF calculations
• EF and HDI national and global trajectories and ‘sustainable development’
• Localized HDI analogs: smaller-scale well-being indicators
• GPI disaggregated
• CIW
• Gross domestic happiness

Conference Attendance

• ISEE 2006, Delhi
• Unveil the Master Plan and enroll ecological economists in the quest!

Four live/work research internships:

• Kerala (3 – 6 months)
• Participant-observation and interviews in ecovillages, intentional communities and organic farms organized around permaculture and localized, biodynamic agriculture methods
• Identifying "best practices" and "exemplary people" who are leading communities in well-being and ecological lifestyles
• Observing how a democratically elected communist government operates vis a vis people and ecosystems
• Auroville – participant-observation in several sectors (6 months – 1 year)
• Earth Institute
• Earth building materials and architecture (cob, straw bale, living roofs, passive solar and solar-thermal technologies, gray water utilization and treatment systems and waste composting, biomass energy systems)
• Institute for Educational Research
• democratic, participatory, non-hierarchical, experience-based liberatory educational modes and creative self-expression; the practice of "holistic" and "integral" education at the elementary school age; environmental/ecological education
• Economics Department
• study how Auroville economy functions vis a vis practical alternative (ecological) economics – promoting equity, sufficiency, quality over quantity, and sustainability – how encourage living very well (abundantly!) with less monetary wealth and with smaller Ecological Footprints; non-monetary economy
• Centre for Scientific Research
• Research and deployment of affordable sustainable technologies that can be easily transferred across cultures
• CISED (6 months – 1 year)
• Short-course on Environment and Rural Development Concepts and Debates for Practitioners and Researchers
• Research Associate on project(s) pertaining to
• Forests and common lands
• Water resources
• Forest-water-agriculture linkage
• Institutions and democratic decentralization
• Science, technology and society
• Navdanya (3 – 9 months)
• Work/live in agricultural intentional community / learning center
• Participate in educational and practical training sessions and short courses
• Water democracy
• Soil as a living system
• Sustainable agriculture
• Sustainable cities
• Women and food sovereignty
• Gandhi, globalization and self-organization

Data and experiences analysis, publications, translation of learnings to living-learning center in Oakland

A sustainability vision quest throughout the Indian subcontinent -- part A: motivations

I am presently gearing up for a massive campaign of grant-writing to support my upcoming travels, work and research in India. I figured that as long as I am getting thoughts down, may as well put them up for review on the blog. So...

Roughly speaking, my plans are to travel to and within India beginning December 2006 for 1 – 3 years learning and working for sustainability in various capacities including but not limited to:

• participating in the bi-annual International Society of Ecological Economics conference in Delhi, December 2006;
• in ecovillages, intentional communities and organic farms, especially in the Kerala region;
• with ecological/economic non-profits such as the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Environment and Development (CISED) in Bangalore, and Vandana Shiva’s agricultural, ecological and democracy education and research center at Navdanya;
• and in the Earth Institute, Institute for Educational Research, economics department and Centre for Scientific Research in the experimental global community of Auroville.

My goals are to learn about sustainability and community in practice through experience and participation – to learn in an experiential manner and develop my ecological intuition and emotional intelligence for community, sustainability and connection among people and ecosystems. Some areas of practical interest are:

• creating and maintaining intentional communities;
• earth building materials and architecture (cob, straw bale, living roofs, passive solar and solar-thermal technologies, gray water utilization and treatment systems and waste composting, biomass energy systems);
• permaculture and localized, biodynamic agriculture methods;
• democratic, participatory, non-hierarchical, experience-based liberatory educational modes and creative self-expression;
• nonviolence practices including communication forms and spiritual development methods such as yoga and meditation;
• being immersed for a time in the Eastern cultural and philosophical milieu; and
• practical alternative (ecological) economics – promoting equity, sufficiency, quality over quantity, and sustainability – how encourage living very well (abundantly!) with less monetary wealth and with smaller Ecological Footprints

I will indulge in modes of learning that are inherently different from the Western, linear, reductionist, mechanistic, academic, detached and often alienated style I have been immersed in for most of my life. The trip is a research trip in that I will perform participatory research in effort to build a base of ecological wisdom which will (eventually) be brought into play back here in the Bay Area in a project to create a living-learning center. This concept is being organized by my new friend and colleague Karl Steyaert. I aim to tune my research trip in India to produce experiences and wisdom that will be ultimately useful to advancing the aims of the living-learning center to foster an intentional and sustainable community here in the US in the urbanized ecosystem of Oakland CA.