Bioneers Buzz 12/06: Youth Leadership & Education
Greetings!
In 2005 filmmaker, educator, and activist Shalini Kantayya (28) said, of the Bioneers Conference, "[Bioneers] has been central, absolutely critical, in my development as a thinker, media maker, and culture maker."
Shalini returned to the Bioneers in 2006 to help lead a Youth Leadership workshop. She asked the packed room, "How many of you have something to fight for?" Almost everyone stood. "I don't know about you, but this looks like a movement to me," she responded, smiling.
Momentum, intelligence, connection, and positive impacts are evident in the efforts of youth and youth programs. Inspiration also comes from collaborating with other youth, according to May Boeve (21), 2006 Brower Youth Award winner and Bioneers 2006 Youth Initiative attendee. "I really do look to my peers as my models. If you had asked me a few years ago, I would have had a hard time [saying] who my mentor was, until I looked around at my peers."
In this issue, move to the rhythms of Sarah Crowell, see what Native Movement is achieving on the ground, learn from one of the country's leading environmental educators, David Orr, in his book Earth in Mind, and much more.
Bioneers Voices: Sarah Crowell 
The Courage to Walk in Beauty: Creating Space for Young People to Find Truth and Power – Plenary presentation given at Bioneers 2006
... How will the children know that the earth is theirs to care about? We gotta know first, and then live in that knowing next to this generation that looks to so many of us like they don't care. But we're selling them doses of self hatred wrapped in fancy TV-Wal-Mart-Gap-gotta-have-it-flashy-stuff. Get good grades. Get a good man. Make the right decisions. Go to college stuff. E-mail and cell phone, don't talk to each other face-to-face fear stuff. Ignore the racism, sexism, consumerism, homophobia that keeps running us stuff. Then we turn around and tell them they need to care because the world is falling apart and they are the leaders of tomorrow. We say, get it together y'all. You're the ones who will make the difference.
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Voices Extra!
Bioneers In Action is a radio interview series produced by youth reporters from Environmental Education Council of Marin's initiative called the Teen Environmental Media Network. Listen to podcasts with Bioneers like Janine Benyus and Kenny Ausubel.
A determined youth leader, Billy Parish is Founder of the Climate Campaign, and Co-Founder and Coordinator for the Energy Action Coalition. Billy has focused on coalition-building within the youth movement, designing collaborative campaigns and developing new leaders by organizing conferences, trainings and tours. Energy Action, the coalition of over 30 youth-led organizations in the U.S. and Canada, has launched the "Campus Climate Challenge" challenging high schools and colleges to unite and win 100% clean energy policies at their schools. They've teamed up with thinkMTV and created the Break the Addiction Challenge awarding $1,000 - $10,000 to students and campus groups that are making the greatest effort to reduce campus emissions and support clean energy policies! Billy was a plenary speaker at the 2006 Beaming Bioneers Satellite site in Marion Massachusetts, Bioneers By the Bay, hosted by the Marion Institute. Purchase a copy of Billy Parish's plenary on DVD.
Youth Extra! Check out the article Young and Green on the Bioneers written by Jennifer Liss for the online magazine Wiretap.
Visit the Bioneers Youth site to keep up with the latest. »
Youth Spotlight: Billy Parish
The Challenge As young people Native Movement observes that the world they are living in is tremendously out of balance. For many of them it became clear at a very young age that humanity is headed in a direction that is leading them towards human and environmental turmoil, if not outright devastation. Furthermore, they understood that humanity has been on this path for quite some time. For example, decisions are based on profitability and greed rather than social welfare, environmental wisdom, human rights, and sustainability. Organizing Model Native Movement functions as a collective of projects and campaigns that are led by youth, wherein they support one another both on the personal and professional levels. They focus on peace, sustainability, youth leadership development, healing, community building, and movement building. As they carry out their work, Native Movement collaborates whenever possible with organizations that promote similar values and vision.
Learn more about the organization and its current projects
Spotlight Extra! Four youth representing five unique backgrounds of culture, education, experience, and insight, led a thought-provoking workshop to a packed Youth Tent during the Bioneers 2006 Conference, delving into the many issues that young leaders are facing in trying to organize, find solutions, and collaborate within their communities. Download the workshop or purchase it on CD.
Spotlight Resource: Native Movement
In Earth in Mind: On Education, Environment, and the Human Prospect, noted environmental educator David W. Orr focuses not on problems in education, but on the problem of education. Much of what has gone wrong with the world, he argues, is the result of inadequate and misdirected education that: alienates us from life in the name of human domination; causes students to worry about how to make a living before they know who they are; overemphasizes success and careers; separates feeling from intellect and the practical from the theoretical; deadens the sense of wonder for the created world. Orr describes the problems of education from an ecological perspective, and challenges the "terrible simplifiers" who wish to substitute numbers for values. He follows with a presentation of principles for re-creating education in the broadest way possible, discussing topics such as biophilia, the disciplinary structure of knowledge, the architecture of educational buildings, and the idea of ecological intelligence. Orr concludes by presenting concrete proposals for reorganizing the curriculum to draw out our affinity for life. Find a copy at your local library, local bookstore, or online at Island Press
Publication of the Month: Earth in Mind
Written by Brahm Amadi director of People's Grocery, a community food and urban agriculture project in West Oakland. Low-income communities are often ignored or overlooked by politicians, developers and corporations as attractive opportunities for business and the development of markets. One reason for this is that there is a lack of information and data about these communities that can show just how much economic or market opportunity exists within them. The research and data gathering just hasn't been done, largely because no one has wanted to invest the time, energy and money to do the research. Read More
Food and Farming News: Making Low-income Communities Visible
Year-End Specials Women's Leadership DVD Set -- Save 10% Get sparked by remarkable women standing in their power to effect change, while modeling the gifts of collaborative compassion, empathy and vulnerability that women often bring. Learn how indigenous wisdom, democratic participation, rights to clean water, self-expression and self-care are all symptoms of the same cultural healing, and delight in how women are weaving them creatively into effective systemic solutions, restoring relations among people and nature. FREE bonus presentations by Amy Goodman and Gloria Flora Bioneers 2006 CD Set -- Save 20% Bioneers 2006 DVD Set -- Save 20% Revolution From the Heart of Nature Radio Series VI CD Set -- Save 10% Place your orders by phone or online by December 15th to guarantee arrival by December 25th. Stay connected and connect others in your community to Bioneers by making a purchase from the Bioneers Store today.
Bioneers Store: Gifting the Gift of Inspiration
TheGreenOffice.com is an online retailer of nearly 40,000 office products, envisioning an industry where human and ecological health are the sole byproducts of operation. Their virtual catalog includes supplies, electronics, furniture, janitorial, and break room products, all of which are labeled and ranked by greenness using an innovative product Green Screen(TM). TheGreenOffice.com is dedicated to modeling the best practices of sustainable business. In every sphere of operation their decisions are made to maximize the social, ecological, and financial performance of their company.
Business Spotlight: TheGreenOffice.com
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January 3-5, 2007 January 12-14, 2007 January 18, 2007 February 16-18, 2007 Make sure to visit the Bioneers Events Calendar to view and post events for 2006.
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