change of plans we are on our way west to tour sustainable farming in thailand

Heres some interesting links:


You may ask yourself what this list of links has to do with traveliing through asia?
Well as I am travelling I have much time to dream, for this I am grateful. Having this time and new perspective allows me to synthesize the kaledoscope of experiences and ideas i have been exposed to up to this point. From apprenticing under a madman architect hell bent on building with reused archectectural elements, to working on my own as a steel fabricator and desgner, to moving more into creative facillitation and work with street youth, I have really been feeling these experiences coalese into a vision of what I want to create in the future and explore here in asia.

This past autumn I had the chance to visit the kooteneys and it was there that I felt that some longterm dreams becoming possible. The dream is essentially to create what I am calling a "mystery school". To create a space that transmits knowledge and life skills through practical hands on learning. A space that can host workshops in communication skills, green building techniques, growing food, geek shops that design and create light electric vehicles out of old bicycles, where there may be a yearly gathering work/learning/party, a place where there are elders and children, a space that honours the skills needed to survive as much as skills needed to dream and create......

WOW, .......plans are changing rapidly. I just caught whiff of a very interesting happening going on in the north of the country, at a sustainable farm called PUN PUN. So this may mean that vipassana will wait and chaa and I will be trying to get to a remote farm north of chang-mai in order to meet with sustainality leaders and travel to their farms for the next week...STOKED!!

enjoy the links, more to follow, I hope that they inspire.....


Pun Pun is an organic farm, seed-saving operation, and sustainable living and learning center. We feel that only by living in a sustainable way ourselves, is it possible for us to create a model from which others can learn and live. Through natural cultivation on our organic farm we display ways of transitioning to, and living more sustainably. Through the living and learning center we experiment with appropriate technologies, organic farming, and natural building techniques. We discover the practices that work well for people and are practical. We then spread this knowledge to those individuals and networks that will put it to use. Through our seed-saving operation we seek to bring back indigenous and rare species of all kinds of vegetables, fruits, and medicinal herbs. We propagate them at the farm and then exchange them for greater use amongst farmers and other interested people, thus empowering and improving the health of the general public.
http://www.punpunthailand.org/cfabw/en/index.php?action=home


heres some other interesting links in the constellation

Van Jones,
"promotes alternatives to violence and incarceration".
Jones currently focuses on green economic development for urban America. The City of Oakland is expected to adopt the Ella Baker Center's "Green Jobs Corps" proposal this year, which aims to train youth for eco-friendly "green-collar jobs." Now Jones is pushing to create the first-ever "Green Enterprise Zone" and attract environmentally-sound industry to Oakland.
http://vanjones.net/

The Hollyhock Leadership Institute empowers current and emerging leaders to create high-impact social change. We do this through building alliances in our role as a convener and facilitator, supporting leaders through our skills training, and re-kindling inspiration through programs that nurture creativity and spirit.
http://www.hollyhockleadership.org/


SOLVIVA
Within this website you will find information that proves that it is possible for us to live in ways that are far better than the normal modern standards today. Less polluting ... less wasteful ... less costly ... less risky --- as well as more secure ... more dependable ... more sustainable ... more conducive to local and global health, peace and prosperity.
http://www.solviva.com/index.htm

The City Repair:
The City Repair Project is group of citizen activists creating public gathering places and helping others to creatively transform the places where they live.
http://www.cityrepair.org/wiki.php