A Panel Inquiry into Initiating Community Action

Many people are coming to understand that the situation for humans is pretty urgent right now. If we continue our current path, we will be in for a very bumpy ride sometime in the foreseeable future. The threats are global, and they are also very local. Most of us in Whatcom County are vulnerable to rising energy prices and many aspects of our lives would be effected by a spike: our food systems, housing systems, and transportation systems are very energy dependent, and the precarious global economic system could easily go off the deep end. For those who do recognize the issues it can be a little scary living in a society where many people don't see the problem, are in denial, are distracted, or are simply overbooked, especially when we are prone to fall into those same old traps too! However, many people are also coming to glimpse the possibility of more connected, conscious, generous, healthy communities even in the midst of and post energy crisis and climate change. So, knowing that we're all very much in this together how do we initiate action in our communities to take steps toward ensuring a vibrant future for people in Whatcom County and beyond? This is the question that we will explore together.

Initiating Community Action
Guest Panelists: Stephen Trinkaus – Fertile Ground; Rhys Faler – WWU Neotribalism Club and Community Living Workgroup; Colleen Burrows – WSU Extension Branch Sustainable Agriculture Professor
October 26, 2010
2:00 pm – 3:50 pm

As a part of the curriculum for the course on Applied Human Ecology at Fairhaven College the student facilitators have organized two panel discussions that visitors from the community are encouraged to attend. This will be the first of the two events, each emphasizing a different theme related to the values in the class: encouraging sustainable and regenerative human activities on various levels - social, environmental, economic, and political. The format for the discussions is based on a structure used at Oxford and Cambridge that allows for panelists first to on their work and their experience related to the theme, then to engage in a glass-housed discussion, and to take part in a unique extended question and answer period. Our vision is to invite panelists who have varied vocations and areas of expertise and who share common hopes and aims with those involved in the class, and to combine them with the Applied Human Ecologists alike in the class and in the community. By bringing all of these active minds together we will look deeply at challenges and how they can be overcome, and glimpse some of the many different roles and vocations that are important within a larger sustainability “movement.”