It`s all alive. It`s all intelligent. It`s all connected. It`s all relatives. Great

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE AT-A-GLANCE
We are committed to making Great Lakes Bioneers financially accessible
to everyone interested in attending. Our rates reflect this. Reduced rates
are available for activists, seniors, teachers and students. We have work
scholarships for youth and persons with low income. Register online with
payment at www.glbd.org, or complete registration form and mail with
payment. Questions: (313) 717-6151.
Venue: MC (Madame Cadillac) Registration, Dining area and Exhibits LA (Liberal Arts) Theatre, Learnshops and Galleries
To register for the conference: fill out and mail the registration form included here or visit our web site www.glbd.org .
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FEES*:
Early Fees Until Midnight October 21
2016 GLBD REGISTRATION FEES
Friday, October 28
SATURDAY, October 29
8 to 9 am 8 to 9 am
Registration/Exhibits (MC)
8:40
Orientation New Bioneers (LA Theatre)
Registration (MC)
CATEGORY
3 Day
2 Day
1 Day
3 Day
2 Day
1 Day
9:05 Opening and Welcome (LA Theatre)
Xiuhtezcatl Martinez and Itzcuauhtli
Roske-Martinez, youth activist hip-hop duo
extraordinaire
Regular
$230
$180
$90
$250
$200
$110
9:30 to noon
Tours or Film: Racing Extinction
Sr/St/Act
$145
$110
$55
$155
$120
$65
Teacher
$135
$90
$45
$155
$110
$65
11:45 to 1pm
Lunch (MC)
Chaperon (Friday)
Volunteer *
Youth
Scholarships **
Vendor Table
October 22 to 25
$20
$20
$45 + 6 Hrs $35 + 4 Hrs $15 + 2 Hrs $45 + 6 Hrs $30 + 4 Hrs $15 + 2 Hrs
1 to 1:50
Plenary 1- Katsi Cook: Deepening Indigenous
Women’s Networks: Embodiment, Healing and
Resilience (LA Theatre)
$10
$5
$15
$10
$5
1:55 to 2:20
Voices of Young Bioneers (LA Theatre)
4 Hrs
2 Hrs
6 Hrs
4 Hrs
2 Hrs
2:30 to 3:15
Plenary 2 - Will Keepin and Cynthia Brix:
Transforming Patriarchy: From Gender
Oppression to Beloved Community (LA Theatre)
3:15 to 4
Break/Exhibits/Networking (MC)
Register and pay on line by September 30
Register and pay on line: www.glbd.org or complete form enclosed.
Make check or money order payable to EcoWorks with GLBD on Memo line.
Mail to: Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit
4750 Woodward Ave. #306
Detroit, MI 48201
*Registration fees include organic/locally grown lunch/coffee/snacks.
Mailed registrations received after October 21 will not be confirmed
by e-mail.
You can continue to register online through October 25 or on site at Madame
Cadillac building beginning at 8 am any day of the conference.
9:05
Welcome and sending forth (LA Theatre)
Xiuhtezcatl Martinez and Itzcuauhtli
Roske-Martinez, youth activist hip-hop duo
extraordinaire
2:10 to 3:20
Learnshops B (LA)
3:20 to 4
Break /Exhibits/Networking
October 28 - 30, 2016
SAVE THE DATE!
13th Annual Conference
October 27-29, 2017
5:30
Community Reflection:
Now is the Time: We Are the Ones.
Closing: Tawana “Honeycomb” Petty
Earth Co
g
n
i
m
t
a
e
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30
8 to 9 am
Registration/Exhibits (MC)
8:40
Orientation New Bioneers (La Theatre)
9 to 10
Opening (LA Theatre) Performer in residence:
Rocket (!!!) MAN
Plenary 6 -Janine Benyus: The Ultimate Symbiosis:
Biomimicry as a Cooperative Inquiry
Sharing our Wisdom
10:25 to 11:35
Learnshops C (LA)
Lunch/Exhibits/Networking
9:30 to noon
Tours
11:45 to 1pm
12 to 12:40 Lunch
12:40 to 1:40
Youth Learnshops (LA)
1:40 to 1:50
Prep for Sharing Insights
1:10 to 2
Plenary 7 – Thomas Linzey and Mari Margil:
Occupy the Law: The Movement for Community
Rights and the Rights of Nature
Sharing Our Wisdom
1:55 to 2:20
Youth Presentations (LA Theatre)
2:25
Youth departure
2:10 to 3:20
Learnshops D (LA)
3:20 to 4
Break/Exhibits/Networking (MC)
Now is the Time:
We are the Ones
4:15 to 5:15
Plenary 8 – Bill McKibben What Winning the
Climate Change Battle Looks Like
Closing: Panoka Walker
Cancellation & Refund Policy:
Cancellations received until October 12 will be charged a 15% processing fee.
Cancellations received from October 13 through 20 will be charged a 20%
processing fee.
Cancellations received after October 21 will not receive a refund.
Speaker changes:
Although all listed speakers are confirmed at the time of printing, the
program is subject to change without notice. We cannot refund registrations
because of program changes.
A Bioneers Resilient Communities Network Event
–
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION
Registration (MC)
Lunch/ Exhibits/Networking (MC)
4:15 to 5:15
Plenary 5 – Vien Truong: Creating An Equitable
Environmental Movement
5:30 to 8 pm
Art Exhibit and Reception (Gallery 4th Floor)
Shock and Neglect: The Works of Shana Merola
and Jeana Klein
8 to 9 am 11:45 to 1pm
1:10 to 2
Plenary 4 – Ericka Huggins: The Role of Spiritual
Practice in Social Justice Work
Sharing Our Wisdom
4:05 to 5
Plenary 3 - Danny Kennedy: Optimizing the
Energy Transition (LA Theatre)
Community Reflection: Now is the time:
We are the Ones.
FRIDAY, YOUNG BIONEERS DAY! Youth schedule (7 - 12th grades)
Learnshops A (LA)
Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit
Conference
nity
Exhibitor Table
$30
Register and pay on line by September 30
REGULAR: a person who can afford full payment
SENIOR: 55 and over, STUDENT: enrolled for nine or more college credits.
ACTIVIST: employed or volunteer for a nonprofit
TEACHER: currently teaching at a public/private school
CHAPERON: $20 per day.
VOLUNTEER*: For more information contact Gloria Rivera river1143@comcast.net
before or by October 20.
YOUTH: 7th through 12th grade – if you are coming with school group for
Young Bioneers Day (Friday only) contact paulacathcart@comcast.net.
If you are coming on your own, register on line.
SCHOLARSHIPS** : Service exchange (19 years and older)
A limited number of service scholarships are available. If interested send an
e-mail to: river1143@comcast.net before or by October 20 or call
(313) 717-6151.
VENDOR or EXHIBITOR: Register on line or fill out and mail registration form
www.glbd.org and pay by check or money order by September 30.
MARYGROVE STUDENTS, FACULTY & STAFF may attend conference for free with
Marygrove ID card. Help us plan by registering PRIOR to the conference.
10:25 to 11:35
The 12th Annual
mu
$15
6 Hrs
$60
9 to 10
Opening & Speaker (LA Theatre)
Monica Lewis-Patrick – Mapping Our Own
Transformation
It’s all alive.
It’s all intelligent.
It’s all connected.
It’s all relatives.
Co-C
r
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Marygrove College
8425 McNichols Rd.
Detroit, MI 48221
Darrell and Alaska
Healthy World Fund
www.glbd.org
Graphic Design: cledbetterdesign.com
The 12th Annual Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit Conference!
A Bioneers Resilient Communities Network Event
October 28 - 30, 2016
Welcome!
Bioneers (biological pioneers) is an annual conference, a movement and a
way of life! National BIONEERS is in its 27th year and Great Lakes Bioneers
Detroit (GLBD) in its 12th year! We are grateful for the ongoing growth of our
relationships as Bioneers, inspired by your commitment and deeply appreciate
the support of all who make this conference possible. We welcome you to this
weekend together celebrating and affirming the transformative work of so
many in Detroit and SE Michigan.
For the past several months I have been pondering David Korten’s new book,
Change the Story Change the Future. In a talk at Seattle University (5/2015)
Korten suggests, “We need to come up with a new story, a sacred story, that helps
us understand our origin and our purpose, one that draws from all sources:
religious teaching, indigenous wisdom, scientific understanding, daily experience,
and discovery.” The concept of a ‘new story’ connects to the ongoing creation
of a ‘new narrative’ for Detroit, one that supports equity, opportunity,
democracy, jobs, fair development, environmental justice, recycling and water
as a human right.
Paralleling Korten’s book, GLBD’s Local Program committee has been diligently
preparing this years program. They chose Co-Creating Earth Community –
Now is the Time: We are the Ones as the unifying theme. The goal is to
provide a learning environment that explores and celebrates:
VALUES that contribute to healthy and vibrant communities
VISION that compels us to recognize and live as one human family
ACTIONS that support and bring forth a sustainable Earth community.
These aspirations can lead us to continue the creation of a new story, a sacred
story for our city, state and Earth. Our time together will help us release good
and healthy ‘emissions’ that will build this conference community and spill over
beyond this space and this time. Yes, now is the time and we are the ones!
Explore one of the five tours offered on Friday morning. Youth learnshops
include topics about: water, environmental art, food and agriculture. Participants
are encouraged to share these ideas in their schools and with their peers. Actions
that witness to the truth – “We are one human family, one Earth community
with a common destiny.”
Twenty-three adult learnshops will feed your soul, affirm your work, evoke
your passion and call you to action. You may find yourself wishing the
conference would extend beyond three days.
You will be invited to uproot racism and plant justice; learn about neighborhood
organizing; understand water as a human right; explore transportation issues;
see how you can garden with children 0 to 5 yrs. old; create a green team in your
congregation or neighborhood; apply biomimicry for social innovation; focus
on urban farming, food security, healthy ‘fast food’ media; respond to childhood
obesity; join the freedom schools initiative; own your environmental justice story
and learn about ethical finance. Nurture your heart and spirit via: awakening life
energy in the present, ritual of oneness, yoga and meditation.
On Saturday, Monica Lewis-Patrick will engage us in Mapping Our Own
Transformation. Throughout the weekend watch eight plenary speakers from
the Oct. 21-23 National Bioneers conference addressing topics of: indigenous
women networking; transforming patriarchy; energy transition; role of spiritual
practice; equitable environmental movement; biomimicry as cooperative
inquiry; community rights and rights of nature and climate change.
Exhibitors and vendors will welcome your visit to the exhibit area, meet old
friends and make new ones and plan potential post-conference networking as
you delight in a locally grown and prepared lunch. An art exhibit, local poets, a
reflection space, a closing ritual will complement your investment these days.
When people come together as a learning community that contribute to
discover new sustainable ways of being and share transformative ideas for the
sake of the Commons, everyone benefits. Share your values, vision and actions
to the new story can indeed change our future. Thank you for being with us!
Gratefully,
Gloria Rivera, IHM, GLBD Coordinator and Paula Cathcart, IHM
ATTENTION !
7TH - 12TH GRADE STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
Friday is Youth Day at GLBD
Friday, October 28
(8 am arrival 2:25 pm departure)
Take advantage of this experiential eco-learning opportunity.
We welcome groups and individuals to register for the conference.
Groups are usually limited to 10 students and 2 teachers/chaperons
per school or youth organization.
Special discount cost: $5 per student (includes tour, lunch and
youth learnshop), $45 per teacher per day, $20 per chaperon per day
(includes tour, lunch and afternoon program)
Other teachers who wish to attend the conference are welcome at
the same discount price of $45 per day. We ask you to follow the
Friday conference schedule. Teachers will find the entire conference
relevant to their work.
Registration for Youth Day: Request a registration form from
Paula Cathcart at paulacathcart@comcast.net. Because we can only
accommodate 160 students, registration will be on a first registered
and paid first served basis. Detailed information will be sent with the
registration form. Make checks payable to: EcoWorks with GLBD
conference on memo line. Mail to: GLBD 4750 Woodward Ave. #306
Detroit, MI 48201 OR Register on line www.glbd.org
Teachers need to seek parental approval and make transportation
arrangements to and from the conference. Please do everything
you can to have students present for the entire time. Leaving early
can disrupt learnshops and student reflections that bring closure to
the day.
FRIDAY MORNING TOURS
October 28
8 to 9 am Registration (MC)
9:05 to 9:30 (LA Theatre) Opening and sending forth
Xiuhtezcatl Martinez and Itzcuauhtli Roske-Martinez —Youth activist hiphop duo extraordinaire
9:30 TO NOON TOURS
Five tours will be offered Friday morning, Board buses at 9:30 and return
by Noon. Tours are included in the registration fee. Space is limited and will
be assigned on a first registered, first served basis. Lunch and conversation is
available on your return.
Film & Conversation (alternative to a tour): Racing Extinction - Director &
team expose the hidden world of endangered species and the race to protect
them. Shown at the LA Theatre.
Tour 1 – Drew Farms: Growing Healthy Minds & Healthy Bodies
Tour Leader: Monica DeGarmo, Matt Hargis and Betti Wiggins are with the
Detroit Public Schools Office of School Nutrition that operates the 2 acre
Drew Farm to create systemic food change, starting with youth and families.
The farm in NW Detroit at Drew Transition Center is a DPS school for 18-26 year
olds with physical and cognitive impairments. Over 20,000 pounds of food per
year are produced for Detroit school cafeterias.
This hands on experience shows DPS is committed to provide fresh, healthy
food for students, nutrition education, experiential learning, and job training.
Tour 2 – HOPE Village Eco-D tour
Tour Leader: Debbie Fisher, Stephanie Johnson-Cobb and Judith Williams of
Focus: HOPE and residents of HOPE Village.
This tour will provide a preview of the work of the residents’ commitment to
repurposing and reusing open space, building prosperity, renewable energy
footprint, and increasing mobility and connectivity. View first-hand some
of the projects related to our EcoDistrict designation, hear stories, and gain
action-oriented tips for growing sustainability in their neighborhoods.
Tour 3 – Growing Connected, Sustainable Communities in Detroit’s
Cass Corridor
Tour Leader: Tom Brennan has been involved in a deep exploration of community based sustainability in Detroit for over 10 years. He’s a member of a
community of “bioneers” creating sustainability for people.
Tour three “living labs” of urban sustainability in Detroit’s Cass Corridor
neighborhood. The Green Garage - co-working community of 50 businesses
to create new and sustainable responses in our communities. The El Moore
- co-living community of over 20 long term residents and dozens of short
term guests whose collective ecological footprint is about 1/5th that of usual
residential buildings or hostels. El Moore Gardens - co-play community set in
open air gardens with an indoor convening space to help reconnect to nature.
Tour 4 - Moving beyond fossils fuels to Clean Energy.
Presenter: Rhonda Anderson engaged with Sierra Club’s Environmental Justice
program for over14 years. “Detroit Makes You Sick,” Newsweek’s April, 2016
cover story reports on environmental justice in 48217 and features Rhonda.
This tour looks at major producers of fossils fuels and asks: How to move
from fossil fuels to Clean Energy? What is health impact on communities and
schools? What ideas have residents offered to change their situations? 48217
“Air Monitoring Project” residents share their work, challenges, accomplishments and recent good news!
Tour 5 – Detroit is a Great Lakes City!
Presenter: Melissa Damaschke is Program Officer for the Fred A. and Barbara
M. Erb Family Foundation. Previously, she was the Great Lakes Program
Director for Sierra Club for over eleven years.
Do you know that the Detroit River is part of the Great Lakes? Visit Detroit
Riverwalk and learn how residents are designing a more sustainable future.
See how Belle Isle’s habitat restoration projects are strengthening native fish
populations in the river. Hear how east side residents transformed vacant lots
into flower gardens to prevent polluted runoff. See Detroit Farm & Garden’s
green roof and parking lot and learn about the new drainage and green credit
program. Visit a water station learn about the People’s Water Board Coalition.
FRIDAY LEARNSHOPS FOR YOUTH
Grades 7–12
12:40 to 1:40 pm
Students will participate in ONE learnshop (LA)
Y1. What’s Up with Our Water? (Suggested for 7th-12th)
Presenters: Anne Balzer and Brian Lewis lead the Youth Energy
Squad, a program of EcoWorks. How can there be lead in Flint’s water
and thousands of water shut offs in Detroit when we live in the state
that has access to 30% of the world’s fresh water? Take a dive (pun intended) into these questions, and learn what you can do to advocate
for healthy, accessible water for all.
Y2. Splash, Spatter and Flow (Suggested for 7th-12th)
Presenters: Naim Edwards and friends are dynamic, eclectic artists
who use their gifts for healing and justice in Detroit and beyond.
They are all trained in their fields including music, dance, poetry, and
visual art production.
Here’s a space to create artistic ways to promote thinking and action
around water justice. Choose from painting, movement, writing, and
singing to promote water justice and awareness.
Y3. Two Years without Water (Suggested for 7th-12th)
Presenter: Jada Patrick lives in Detroit and is a junior in high school.
She is the youth coordinator for the We the People of Detroit Youth
Internship program which connects teen Detroiters to the water
justice struggle.
Hear first-hand stories of living without water, develop a deeper
understanding of water as a human right, and connect to the fight
for a better future.
Y4. Why I Am Vegan (Suggested for 9th-12th)
Presenter: Jacob Haughton has been a vegan for three years. He
wants to help you understand why someone (even you) might
choose this path.
Converting to a vegan lifestyle promotes animal welfare, better
bodily health, and a cleaner, healthier environment. Learn how a
vegan diet affects not only your body, but makes the entire world
stronger and healthier.
Y5. Quality foods, How Many of Us Have Them?
(Suggested for 7th-12th)
Presenter: Olivia Henry is the youth program coordinator for the
Detroit Food Policy Council.
How does where we shop for food impact not only our pocketbook,
but our health? Examine the pros and cons of getting your food from
farmer markets, chain grocery stores, or corner stores.
Y6. The Environment and Modern Agriculture
(Suggested for 9th-12th)
Presenter: Priya Bramadesam’s love for animals sparked her passion
for helping them and for becoming a Humane Educator.
The ways we raise farmed animals and crops affect everything on
our planet! Think about how humans have exploited or abused each
other and other species, and learn that there are different paths we
can take.
Y7. Eco Warriors: Every School Needs Them (Suggested for 7th-9th)
Presenters: Julie Ader and the 7th and 8th grade students of John
Paul II Catholic School are founding members of Eco Warriors, the
school environmental group.
With limited resources and lots of ideas a group of students worked
with teachers and parents to start an environmental group at their
school. You can do this at your school! Learn to be an Eco Warrior.
Y8. Nature is Where You FIND It! (Suggested for 7th-9th)
Presenter: Dorothy McLeer is the Program Coordinator at the
University of Michigan-Dearborn Environmental Interpretive Center.
This learnshop, held partially outdoors, is geared toward training our
powers of observation, using nearly all our senses, to rediscover our
connections to the natural world all around us. Learn how to look for
clues as to what animals live where YOU live!
Y9. Environmental Art (Suggested for 7th – 12th)
Presenter: Chair of the Art Department and Director of the Institute
of Arts Infused Education at Marygrove College, Mary Lou Greene
has worked as an educator and artist for over 35 years.
Inspired by the work of John Dahlsen, Australian environmental
artist, El Anatsui, Nigerian found object artist, and Andy
Goldsworthy, British sculptor and environmentalist, participants will
use the materials at hand on the grounds at Marygrove to work in
groups to build their own environmental pieces which we will then
photograph.
Co-Creating
Earth Community –
Now is the Time:
We are the Ones
FRIDAY AFTERNOON PROGRAM
1 to 6:30 pm
Includes 3 Plenaries, Sharing with Youth, Break,
Networking, time for reflection and opening of Art
Exhibit & reception.
The plenary speakers you will hear this weekend presented at the
Bioneers 27th Conference in San Rafael, CA last weekend. DVD’s were
not sold onsite at national conference but people could pre-order them.
DVDs are for private use only. They are usually not available to the public
until a month after the National conference.
Deepening Indigenous Women’s Networks:
Embodiment, Healing and Resilience
Legendary Mohawk midwife and environmental
health researcher and advocate Katsi Cook will
illuminate her dynamic new work strengthening
KATSI COOK Indigenous communities and addressing the cultural
and physical safety and thriving lives of Indigenous
girls and women. As Program Director of NoVo Foundation’s
Indigenous Communities Leadership Program for Indigenous Girls
and Women, she’s building bridges across communities and existing
networks to increase synergy in the protection of Indigenous girls
and women from multiple forms of violence and oppression.
CYNTHIA
BRIX
WILL KEEPIN
Transforming Patriarchy: From Gender Oppression to
Beloved Community
The Gender Equity and Reconciliation process (GRI)
seeks to heal the profound wounds around gender,
sexuality, and relational intimacy. It brings together
people of all sexual orientations and genders to
jointly confront gender disharmony to reach healing
and reconciliation. Will and Cynthia have developed
the method over 24 years, introducing the practices
in nine countries. Gender reconciliation’s startling
successes in South Africa have played a role in
transforming that country’s AIDS and HIV policies,
and exciting new academic research on the program
is underway at two South African universities.
Optimizing the Energy Transition
The great energy transition is underway. Renewable
electricity build-out is outpacing dirty projects.
Global greenhouse gas emissions have flatlined,
but the transition isn’t happening fast enough to
significantly arrest climate change. Danny Kennedy,
founder of Sungevity and Managing Director of the
DANNY
California
Clean Energy Fund, will draw from lessons
KENNEDY
learned over decades as an activist and entrepreneur
on the frontlines of the global energy transition. He’ll illustrate his
vision of how to achieve clean energy accessible to people of all
classes, cultures and countries in a distributed, decentralized and
democratized system.
COMMUNITY REFLECTION: Now is the Time: We are the Ones
Co-Creating
Earth Community –
Now is the Time:
We are the Ones
FRIDAY 5 to 8 pm
OPENING ART EXHIBIT & RECEPTION
LA Gallery 4th Floor
Shock and Neglect: The Works of Shana Merola and Jeana Klein
In The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein reports “shocked societies
often give up things they would otherwise fiercely protect”. Two artists’ depict in two different manners: one very disturbing and forceful;
the other almost romantic and melancholic—both powerful.
Detroit artist Shana Merola’s scenes in the We All Live Downwind
series have been carved out of dystopian landscapes in the aftermath
of shock.
North Carolina artist Jeana Klein’s Abandoned House Quilts” eerily tell
the visual story of a present place with imaginings of someone’s past,
as if someone was there one minute and disappeared the next.
Contact: Mary Lou Greene mgreene@marygrove.edu (313) 927-1853
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29
8 am Registration and Exhibits (MC)
8:40 Orientation for those new to Bioneers (LA Theatre)
9 to10 Opening and Plenary Monica Lewis-Patrick (LA Theatre)
10:25 to 11:15 Learnshops A (LA)
11:45 to 1 pm Lunch/Exhibits/Networking
OPENING
Mapping Our Own Transformation
Monica Lewis Patrick, M.A.L.S. is an educator,
entrepreneur, and human rights activist/advocate. She is co-founder of We the People of Detroit and
has served as Director of Community Outreach
& Engagement since 2009 and was recently
MONICA
unanimously
elected by the Board to become the
LEWISPresident
&
CEO. She is an active member of the
PATRICK
People’s Water Board Coalition, US Human Rights
Network, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights(IACHR) and
was named to the World Water Justice Council in October of 2015.
SATURDAY LEARNSHOPS A
10:25 to 11:35 am
NOTE
Presenters were requested to attend to the following in
preparing their learnshop or tour.
CONFERENCE FOCUS
Co-Creating Earth Community – Now is the Time: We are the Ones.
INTENTION
Provide a community learning environment that invites all to
explore and celebrate:
VALUES
that contribute to healthy and vibrant communities
VISION
that compels us to recognize and live as one human family
ACTIONS
that support and bring forth a sustainable Earth community.
A1. Introduction to Uprooting Racism Planting Justice
(Various members will also present C1 and D1.)
Presenters: Shane Bernardo and Erin Shawgo are active in Uprooting
Racism Planting Justice (URPJ), which strives to dismantle racial
injustice in the Detroit food system through multiracial gatherings
and racial caucusing.
One of three related learnshops, this is an introduction to URPJ,
racism, and racial justice work through dialogue and an interactive
activity. Enter a space for healing, justice, and relationship building
while learning about the impact of racism in our lives and across our
community.
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
A2. How Community Can Be a Response to Childhood Obesity
Presenters: Angela Newsome (Peoples Kitchen Detroit), Hanifa
Adjuman (Detroit Black Community Security Network), and Lottie
Spady (Just Creative) are three of the eight partners that comprise
the Child Health Incubator Research Project (CHIRP).
This panel will share how they created a vibrant learning community
rooted in a holistic, justice-centered approach to eliminating
childhood obesity in their community. They drew on members’
expertise in urban farms, cooking classes, food media workshops,
outdoor family activities, garden art programs, community dinners,
and in-school nutrition education and environmental classes.
The renowned former Black Panther, political
prisoner, human rights activist — and educator, poet,
and professor of Sociology and African American
ERICKA
Studies at Merritt College in Oakland — has for 35
HUGGINS
years advocated for “restorative justice” and the
role of spiritual practice in sustaining activism and promoting social
change. Grounded in her belief in the greatness of the human heart,
Ericka says each one of us has the ability to look there for the answers
to questions about the future of our world. Personal transformation is
necessary to achieve social transformation.
A3. Neighborhood Organizing 101
Presenter: Yusef Shakur is a father, author, educator, and neighborhood organizer.
Yusef will break down the challenges of neighborhood organizing as
well as provide a comprehensive framework of what neighborhood
organizing is in the context of place based organizing. Participants
will engage in a fun way to connect the dots and build concrete
relationships.
SATURDAY LEARNSHOPS – B
2:10 to 3:20 pm
A.4 Clean Water Is a Human Right
Presenters: Peggy Case is president of Michigan Citizens for Water
Conservation (MCWC) and Michigan Stewart of All Beings Confluence. Diane Wekerle of MCWC will also present. The presenters will
share new research on the threats to clean water. MCWC has been
working to expose: fracking waste into injection wells, expansion
of toxic waste facilities in Detroit, lead in Flint’s water, oil pipelines
under the Straits of Mackinac and St. Clair River, and water shut-offs
in Detroit.
A.5 West Village: Our Eco-District Journey
Presenters: Alessandra (Ale) Carreon is one of the founding members
of Detroit’s West Village Sustainability Committee. Allison Harris is
the project manager of Eco-D, a Detroit based collaborative seeking
to bring EcoDistricts to the City of Detroit.
This learnshop will explore one Detroit neighborhood’s journey
towards a more environmentally friendly and equitable community
with higher quality of life for all stakeholders. Learn how to work on
an EcoDistrict Road Map for your own neighborhood.
A.6 The Great Debate: How Do Improved Transportation Options
Impact Our Communities and Our Environment?
Presenter: Ruth Johnson of Transportation Riders United (TRU) has
been fighting for more and better public transportation and mobility
options in Southeast Michigan for over 16 years. She will be joined by
other transit advocates from The People’s Platform.
Listen to the pros and cons of different modes of transportation and
their impact on community life and the environment in terms of affordability, sustainability, and equity. Learn to advocate for more and
better transportation options in your community.
1:10 to 2 Plenary: Ericka Huggins
2:10 to 3:20 Learnshops B (LA)
3:20 to 4 Break/Exhibits/Networking
4:15 to 5:15 Plenary: Vien Truong
COMMUNITY REFLECTION
The Role of Spiritual Practice in Social
Justice Work
B1. Transformation: Awakening Life Energy in the
Present Moment
Presenters: Cass Charrette is founder of Cities of Peace Detroit, a
minister, and healing practitioner. ROCKET(!!!)MAN is dedicated
to heightening collective consciousness primarily through music,
poetry and the arts. Jen Young volunteers with a number of
organizations and initiatives with the goal of creating healthy,
vibrant and sustainable communities.
The presenters invite you to take a deeper look at your personal
journey of transformation. This learnshop will explore how we can
turn the challenges of individual transformation into an engaging,
mindful, loving and supportive experience.
B2. Salad Undressing: Deconstructing
“Healthy” Fast Food Media
Presenters: Susana Adame and Lottie Spady, Partners of Just
Creative, a media-justice education and production company.
An interactive presentation that questions how “The Salad” is pushed
by fast food chains and media narratives as a viable alternative to
high-fat food. Also learn how a small group of middle school girls in
Detroit made a difference.
B3. Race and Equity in Detroit’s Evolution
Presenters: Julie Phenis and a team of HOPE Village
Initiative members.
The learnshop will address issues of race and equity in sustainable
development, with a particular focus on The HOPE Village Initiative, a
long term comprehensive community change and capacity building
project committed to radically increasing the odds of success of
residents and other stakeholders in a 107 block neighborhood
near the geographic center of the city of Detroit. The focus – who is
included in the “we” of “We Are the Ones.”
B4. Grow With Me- Gardening with Children Ages 0-5
Presenters: Angela Lugo-Thomas is a Garden Development Specialist
at Keep Growing Detroit, specifically supporting gardens in early
childhood centers. Lindsay Pielack is a Co-Director of Keep Growing
Detroit.
Growing vegetable gardens with our youngest generation is vital
to making future gardeners and farmers. Learn about simple “Grow
with Me” curriculum cards for ages 0-5 that can be used in garden
spaces -- even with container gardens.
B5. A Ritual of Oneness
Presenter: Ruby Woods is a singer, songwriter, poet and ritual
performance artist.
Through meditation, story sharing, movement, and song we will
meet each other, fully present and authentically, and strive to reach
that place where we intersect as one.
B6. Creating a Green Team in your Congregation or
Neighborhood
Presenters: Bob Chapman, executive director of Michigan Interfaith
Power & Light (MIIPL), has a thirty year history of putting sustainable
ideas into practice. Peggy Garrigues, a minister, coordinates energy
efficiency and sustainability programs with congregations for MIIPL.
Creating a green team in a house of worship or a neighborhood can
build sustainable practices into operations over the long haul. There
will be local examples of working groups and their successes and
information about the resources MIIPL offers.
Creating An Equitable Environmental
Movement
Vien Truong, director of Green For All, has worked
tirelessly to bring equity, social justice and climate
justice to the frontlines of the environmental
VIEN TRUONG movement and public policy. She has been a central
force in putting environmental justice at the center
of California’s groundbreaking climate policy, legislation and capand-trade funding. Vien will share her wise perspectives on how to
build a new clean-energy economy that brings prosperity and justice
to low-income communities and communities of color.
A POET’S REFLECTION: Tawana “Honeycomb” Petty
8 to 9 am – Registration/Exhibits (MC)
8:40 – Orientation New Bioneers (LA Theatre)
9 to 10 – Performer in Residence: ROCKET (!!!) MAN - Janine Benyus
10:25 to 11:35 – Learnshops C
11:45 to 1 pm – Lunch/Exhibits/Networking
The Ultimate Symbiosis: Biomimicry
as a Cooperative Inquiry
Our species is finally turning toward other species for
their embodied wisdom, borrowing these insights to
solve challenges such as delivering nutrition in a way
JANINE
that nourishes both planet and people.
BENYUS
Biomimicry author and visionary Janine Benyus will
show how nature-inspired breakthroughs in agriculture are evolving
from plant-focused “silver bullets” to
system-savvy healing. She’ll give us a sneak preview of the amazing
entries in the Biomimicry Global Design Challenge in food systems.
She’ll explore how the “democratization of invention” is growing
more biomimetic—as teams turn to nature together, in massive
parallel, to discover a multitude of wild ideas that work together as a
system. Cooperation, naturally enough, is the best way to learn from
Life’s genius!
SUNDAY LEARNSHOPS – C
10:25 to 11:35 am
C1. Racial Caucusing for Healthy Communities
(See A1 and D1)
Presenters: Active caucus members of Uprooting Racism Planting
Justice (URPJ), which strives to dismantle racial injustice in the Detroit
food system through multiracial gatherings and racial caucusing.
The second of three related learnshops. Examine how racial caucusing
can provide a safe space for participants to reflect with peers in
self-identified racial gatherings in order to identify work specific to
their racial identity. This session will include an opportunity for three
caucus meet ups (Black caucus, People of Color Caucus, and White
Caucus) to reflect and engage with one another on experiences in the
Saturday A1 Learnshop.
C2. Bio-Mimicry: Emulation for Social Innovation
Presenter: Gloria Rivera is a member of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
community in Monroe. She is the GLBD coordinator.
Life has had 3.8 billion years to develop some very sound Life
Principles. An understanding of bio-mimicry can help us tap into Life’s
genius and learn how to apply this wisdom to creating alternative
systems that work for good of all.
C3. Food Security in Detroit
Presenters: Kibibi Blount-Dorn and Amy Kuras are Program Managers
at Detroit Food Policy Council.
Explore some of the components of community food security, share
input recently gathered in a survey of Detroit Residents, and learn
some of the current priorities and strategies of the Detroit Food
Policy Council and other food security organizations in Detroit.
C4. Got KI? Emergency Preparedness in Southeast Michigan
Presenters: Carol Izant is one of the Co-Chairs and founders of the
Alliance to Halt Fermi 3 (ATHF3). Her Co-Chair, Keith Gunter, and Ethyl
Rivera, Got KI? Coordinator will assist.
The American Thyroid Association recommends distribution of KI
(potassium iodide) to anyone living within 50 miles of a nuclear
reactor. This learnshop aims to raise awareness about this critical
public health issue, change the conversation and affect change.
There is no better time than NOW to address the need to change to
clean, safe, renewable energy in Michigan.
C5. Urban Farming in Detroit: What the Media Doesn’t Say
Presenters: Atieno Nyar Kasagam is a board member of the Detroit
Food Policy Council. She and Lorenzo Herron are coordinators of the
Detroit Urban Farmers Network.
The presenters will challenge the simplistic and rosy narratives about
urban farming in Detroit , and explore through statistics, anecdotes
and shared experiences, the material challenges that farmers face
in accessing land and resources for farming, and for making a living
from farming.
Co-Creating
Earth Community –
Now is the Time:
We are the Ones
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
1:10 to 2 – Plenary: Thomas Linzey and Mari Margil
2:10 to 3:20 – Learnshops D
3:20 to 4 – Break/Exhibits/Networking
4:15 to 5:15 – Plenary: Bill McKibben & Conference Closing
Occupy the Law: The Movement for
Community Rights and the Rights of
Nature
As species collapse around the world while
MARI MARGIL governments still authorize fossil fuel extraction
and other destructive, unsustainable activities,
communities across the U.S. are rising in resistance
to “occupy the law.” They’re enacting “community
bills of rights” that recognize a community’s legally
enforceable right to sustainability and the rights of
nature. Two of its most effective path-finding national
THOMAS
and
global leaders, Tom Linzey and Mari Margil of the
LINSEY
Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, will
show how this movement challenges our constitutional framework
in which corporate rights and the preemptive authority of state and
federal governments block sustainability, environmental protection
and democracy.
SUNDAY LEARNSHOPS – D
2:10 to 3:20 pm
D1. Taking on Racial Justice in Our Communities (See A1 and C1)
Presenters: Panel of people active in Uprooting Racism Planting Justice
(URPJ), which strives to dismantle racial injustice in the Detroit food
system through multiracial gatherings and racial caucusing.
The third of three related learnshops, this session features a panel of
individuals integrating racial justice work into their community roles
within Detroit to provide a practical understanding of the work, and
inspiration for participants leaving the conference who hope to apply
their new or increased understanding of racial justice.
D2. Freedom Schools & Intergenerational Leadership:
What, How, & Why?
Presenter: Julia Cuneo is a member of Detroiters Resisting Emergency
Management, a coalition of organizations working on the front lines
of water and educational justice issues in Detroit.
Freedom Schools and intergenerational leadership are powerful tools
for changing systems of hierarchy and oppression in our society.
Participants will be invited to explore how they might participate
in intergenerational activism and how they can get involved in the
Freedom Schools movement.
D3. Becoming Present through Meditation
Presenter: Panoka Walter is of mixed French and Anishinabek descent
of the Deer Clan. She is a member of United Plant Savers, Native
American Food Sovereignty Alliance.
Panoka invites you to unleash your creative side and see beyond
chaos and fear we face as humans. Through the use of gentle
meditation and the rhythm of the drum’s heartbeat you will practice
silencing your mind to “Become Present”. This will allow you to see
beyond human emotions and become inspired and confident.
D4. Ethical Finance: The Italians are doing it. Can we?
Presenter: Erica Giorda is an activist and food scholar. She has
been the food coordinator for GLBD since 2010, and is part of the
GLBD Vision Keepers. She was a leader in the Fair Trade Movement
in Europe.
Regaining power over our savings, being able to decide where to
put them, and creating access to funds for those who cannot get
credit through banks seems like an indispensable step for creating
resilient communities. This is about reclaiming our money, and
using it to create solutions, instead of problems.
REGISTRATION FORM
(one per person)
PLEASE PRINT NEATLY 
D5. Swimming in the Detroit River - Owning Our Environmental
Justice Story (telling)
Presenters: Michelle Martinez is a Cis-hetero Mestiz and mama
from southwest Detroit. She has been working for Environmental
Justice in Detroit over the last decade with intersections in racial,
gender and immigrant justice through creative arts, collectivismo
and popular education. Marcia Lee coordinates the Office of Justice,
Peace and Integrity of Creation for the Capuchins.
This workshop will be a chance for participants, many of whom are
already part of environmental justice work, to join in a collective
storytelling process. It will be time to slow down, breathe, write, and
reclaim the living stories.
The most influential climate activist of our era, Bill
McKibben, a founder of the extraordinarily effective
350.org grassroots campaign, will describe the
immense groundswell of global citizen engagement
BILL
rising
to challenge the “dirty” energy industry. Find
MCKIBBEN
out where we are scientifically and politically in the
transformation to end our reliance on fossil fuels, while lighting the
pathways toward a clean-energy future.
Conference Closing: Panoka Walker
PRINT ABOVE THE LINES
Please circle the answers to the following two questions.
Have you attended a previous GLBD Conference?
Yes
Can we add you to our mailing list? Yes
No
No
So we can understand who attends the conference, we invite you to share
the following information with us by circling or checking the applicable
choices below:
Are you? Female Male Other
Age group: Under 25; 25 to 40; 41 to 54; 55+
Ethnic group (Check the most appropriate answer):
 African American
 Arab or Arab American
 Asian/Pacific Islander
 Caucasian
 Indigenous
 Hispanic/Latino
 Mixed
 Other
D6. Transforming Self, Building Community: A Yoga Learnshop
Presenters: Erin Shawgo and Hong Gwi-Seok are Iyengar Yoga
instructors at Iyengar Yoga Detroit in Hamtramck, Michigan.
We will explore how to use asana (yoga postures) for individual
growth in order to sustain larger community. Participants will be
guided through asana and offered opportunities for reflection.
All ages, sizes and abilities are welcome. Physical limitations will
be accommodated.
What Winning the Climate Change
Battle Looks Like
GLBD Conference – October 28-30, 2016
_____________________________________________________________
Name
________________________________________  Organization  Work
Company or organization
______________________________________________  Home  Work
Address
_____________________________________________________________
City/State/Zip
______________________________________________  Home  Work
Personal Phone
______________________________________________  Home  Work
Personal E-mail
Detach Registration Form along dotted lines.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30
HELP US PLAN:
Circle Day(s) Attending: Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Friday TourBelow, Mark your 1st Choice, 2nd Choice and 3rd Choice for Friday Tours:
___Tour 1 – Drew Farms: Growing Healthy Minds & Healthy Bodies
___Tour 2 – HOPE Village Eco-D tour
___Tour 3 – Growing Connected, Sustainable Communities in
Detroit’s Cass Corridor
___Tour 4 – Moving beyond fossils fuels to Clean Energy
___Tour 5 – Detroit is a Great Lakes City!
Fill out all the options below that apply to you. Use Conference Registration
information to determine your registration fees:
Regular Registration fee $________
Senior, Student, Activist
$________
Teacher$________
Chaperon$________
Volunteer$________
Youth (7 through 12 grade)
$________
Exhibitor$________
Vendor$________
Donation to support scholarships
$________
 IHM Fund
 Pre-approved scholarship
 Marygrove student, faculty, staff
 Staff or partner/sponsor organization
 GLBD Committee member
 Presenter
TOTAL AMOUNT ENCLOSED*
$ _______
*Indicate if you need a receipt
 Yes  No
For office use only: Registration ID: _______________
Check amount _____ Check/Money order # ______ Cash amount _____
Initial ______
IHM Fund ______
Register on line or make check or money order payable to EcoWorks with
GLBD on memo line.
Mail to: Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit
4750 Woodward Ave. #306 Detroit, MI 48201