"Resilience Revolution" Revealed

Last month our Evolver Spores focused on Local Resilience. Groups explored transition towns, barter pods, urban beekeeping, adaptogenetic plant medicine, re-skilling, Tree People, "Crude Awakenings," dumpster diving at Trader Joe's, and more. Take a look below at our Post Spore Questionnaires to see what various regionals did and what they are doing to make their communities thrive. We are still waiting to hear from some regionals and will update this as more Post Spore Questionnaires come in. 

We currently have Evolver Spores in over 35 cities across the globe. See if there is one in your area, here. You can also contact the regional coordinator if you would like to get involved. If there is not yet a spore in your area, email remi(at)evolver(dot)net to start your own. 

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Evolver Asheville

Regional City: Asheville, NC


Your Name: Virginia Paris

How many people helped organize the event? Just me, this time, but I hope to have more regional coordinators soon!  (This was my first time hosting!)



How many people showed up? 28



Did you collaborate with any groups?  If so, which ones?
Transition Asheville, Asheville Currency Project, Firestorm Cafe

Where did the event take place (name of café, yoga center, etc)?


Firestorm Cafe

What did you do that night (give brief outline/description)?

We opened up with a brief introduction to Evolver and Evolver Asheville and the topic of Community Resilience.  Then, one Asheville Evolver member did a brief book review on “The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity and the Renewal of Civilization,” by Thomas Homer-Dixon.

Then, Transition Asheville did a presentation on their work, Asheville Currency Project did a presentation on their work, Joe Rinehart from the Firestorm Cafe (a worker-owner co-op which was also the venue) talked about how co-ops and resilience fit together (he also gave us a great definition of community resilience), and city council member Cecil Bothwell talked about how community resilience can be created and facilitated at the local policy level.  Then, we had about 45 minutes of open discussion, which went really well.

Also, I made an audio recording of the whole event, which will partly air on my radio show this Sunday, and the whole of which will be available online for anyone who wants to check it out.  As an additional measure, I will also be compiling an "Asheville Community Resilience Resource Guide" with a fairly comprehensive list of Asheville's Resilience efforts and groups.  I also asked attendees to e-mail me suggestions for the guide, which I will publish online in a week or so.

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Evolver Baltimore
Regional City: Baltimore
Your Name: Robin

How many people helped organize the event?
I think 13 or so of us at were at planning meetings and probably 6 of us helped with the more hands on work of pulling everything together.
How many people showed up? At least 40
Did you collaborate with any groups?  If so, which ones? No
Where did the event take place (name of café, yoga center, etc)?
at a friend’s farm, Three Streams (I think she just renamed it) in Freeland, MD close to the PA line

What did you do that night (give brief outline/description)
Our itinerary shifted because we had a lot of later arrivals Friday night, but around 10 we began with a little fire spinning, some sage smudging and a sculpture burn (thanks to Tom’s pyrotechnics that burn was beautiful) We then had a loose dream discussion for the next hour or so, us selecting sticks from a huge wood pile and as each of us spoke some words before releasing our intention into the fire. We then followed a trail into the woods (me w/ a lot of awesome help from others, set up brown paper, luminary tea light bags through the woods that looked very faery) where we smoked mugwort Js and hung out around the bonfire with some drumming until, eventually, guitars and song broke out.
The next morning I awoke around 9 to Dominique and Mike building another fire where the sculpture had been. I began the pancake mission that took hours on one Coleman stove (the other stove not working properly and the third never arrived) but the pancakes were good and Michael led a meditation and yoga circle in the morning. With everyone waking at different times and the eternal pancake mission, our morning dream discussion never quite happened, but we did just hang out with each other and enjoyed our morning out in nature.

How did it go?  What was the response?
I think this was a transformative experience for many.  I also heard feedback from a friend about more structure being needed, with which I agreed. Overall, I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

What themes came up?
Techniques for remembering dreams, transitions between settings in dreams, lucid dreaming, general dream discussion and experiences

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Evolver Boulder
Regional City:Boulder
Your Name:Jason Bowman

How many people helped organize the event?
1
How many people showed up?
32
Did you collaborate with any groups?  If so, which ones?
Transition Colorado
Where did the event take place (name of café, yoga center, etc)?
Private Residence
What did you do that night (give brief outline/description)?
We started with two short presentations given by Carolyn Baker and Tom Wells from the Transition Colorado Initiative.  Following the presentation was spirited question and answer/discussion time.
How did it go?  What was the response?
It went well.  I think some of the most tangibly realistic dialog we've had yet.
What themes came up?
Economics/Environment/Energy
Power of Community
Awareness
Re-Skilling for a future
Psychology of change
Archaic Revival and the detriment of a path leading backwards
Need for collapse?
Activist in-groups don't help anyone

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Evolver Chicago
Regional City: Chicago
Your Name: Smu

How many people helped organize the event?1
How many people showed up? 9
Did you collaborate with any groups?  If so, which ones? No other groups responded though I reached out to Burners with out Borders and the Chicago Regional Burning man List
Where did the event take place (name of café, yoga center, etc)? the Tonic Room
What did you do that night (give brief outline/description)? We discussed our current economic system and about the possible collapse.
How did it go?  What was the response? I felt I really had to lead the conversation this time around. There where lots of lulls that I stepped up to fill, in order t keep the conversation flowing. Though the over all feeling was good and the conversation was interesting. I find the spores that discus more open ended topic seem to flow better (psychedelics, 2012, dreams, concept based topics).
What themes came up? Economic collapse, failure of power systems, how we rely so heavily on corporate America for food, energy, and communication. We discussed creating a meeting point in case these collapses occur so we could work as a community to survive. We discussed our dependence on the internet. Then we discussed agriculture and roof top gardening, barter pods.

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Evolver Columbus

Regional City: Columbus, Ohio
Your Name: Robb Ebright
 
How many people helped organize the event? 3
How many people showed up? 17
Did you collaborate with any groups?  If so, which ones?
We tried to collaborate with transititon towns central, ohio but they were unable to get someone to come and present.
Where did the event take place (name of café, yoga center, etc)?
Sporeprint Infoshop
What did you do that night (give brief outline/description)?
We had a discussion about local resilience and autonomy and had a go around about what local resilience meant to each participant. Then we continued with a free flowing conversation about lots of stuff. We ended it with a plan for everybody to say what project they might want to work on after this.
How did it go?  What was the response?
It went pretty well, people had a good time conversing and there was a general build-up of energy and excitement following the meeting.
What themes came up?
Local exchange systems, autonomy, permaculture, alternative energy sources, geodesic domes, gardening, sustainable living.


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Evolver LA

"Previously on Evolver LA."



Regional City: Evolver Los Angeles - California, USA


Your Name: Erin Shaw, Be



How many people helped organize this event?
3: Baza, Jill, and Erin



How many people showed up? between 20 -30 human beings



Did you collaborate with any groups?
Our guests, The Tree People, Mollie 'KindKreme', Jeremy Seifert with
the movie Dive!, and Janet Owen Driggs from Metabolic Studios.



Where did the event take place?
Crescent Heights United Methodist Church in West Hollywood, CA



What did you do that night?
We opened with a short breath-centered grounding meditation, then Baza
made announcements and co-presented with Jill about their trip to
plant trees in the incredibly resilient Hopi territory of Arizona with
the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation.  Our Special Guest Jonathan Talet 
Phillips talked about his entry into the Evolver Social Movement.
Torin, our first presenter, spoke about urban forestry and water
conservation techniques and the mission of the Tree People to
establish functioning community forests in every city in LA. He also
announced bi-monthly free trainings that we plan to take part in as a
group on July 10th.

Our next guest, Mollie, shared samples of her vegan superfood
"kindkreme" (she explained the dairy industry owns rights to the words
"milk" and "cream"). She talked about opening LA's first vegan ice
cream place, providing sustainable alternatives in a harsh small
business environment and how to continue being entrepreneurial in the
face of adversity.

Next, we screened the movie Dive!, a documentary by Jeremy Seifert
about his year spent living off of food procured from the dumpsters of
well-known supermarkets. The movie touched on how much food ends up in
landfills every year (96 billion pounds), how this excessive waste
relates to energy waste and environmental degradation, how the
discarded food can be salvaged, closing the loop of poorly distributed
food, and changing major grocery chains' policies about throwing away
food that can go to charities.

After the movie, Janet Owen Dreggs of Metabolic Studio spoke about her
project the Strawberry Flag, a representation of the American flag the
size of half a football field, that's made of strawberries
transplanted from abandoned lots. The flag is tended by veterans as
part of a therapy program at the Veteran's Administration and makes
use of water recovered from rooftops. Ms. Dreggs also spoke about
engaging comunities through art and closing the loops of waste in ways
that address several community issues at once (water reclamation,
veterans therapy, recycled materials, plant knowledge).

Post-spore, friend of the spores Nick Heyming from Growcology gave
away his surplus of homegrown vegetables from his farm in Riverside.


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Evolver Long Beach

photo gallery+ video of jonathan coming soon.

Your Name: Tony Damico
Regional City: Long Beach, CA

How many people helped organize the event? 1

How many people showed up? 35

Did you collaborate with any groups?  If so, which ones?
Vaiden Roi Gallery

Where did the event take place (name of café, yoga center, etc)?
Exhibit A on Pine

What did you do that night (give outline)?
Opening DJ set: resilient hip-hop w/ DJ Dravidian
Opening meditation: Shania Domingo and Joseph Gell shared their Buddhist chants
Ben Lawson spoke on survival strategies
Julie James spoke on adaptogenetic plant medicine
Sati Ah talked about the energetics of the Time Bank we’re building
Paul Tryba spoke on resilience in plants and people, and connecting to our joy
Jonathan Talat Phillips spoke on the energetics of the Evolver movement
DJ Dravidian spun some more music

How did it go?  What was the response?
Very well.

What themes came up?
Shania – Lotus Sutra Chanting
Principal: Don’t wait for something to change, use your own power to change it yourself.
Main Goal = Chant for World Peace
Practice = Resilience  
Ben Larson – The Gayan Mind
Modern Survivalism = material aspect of resilience
Disaster/Emergency Prep
Dimension 1 = Personal Pack/enough food/water for 72hrs
Dimension 2 = Bug our vehicle
Dimension 3 = @ home, stock up on food, dehydrate vs. compost
Dependence on gov’t for support/artificial systems –> middle range of self-reliance < - self-supportive, permaculture , tribal ancestry
2012: Solar Storm / Shift hitting the fan!
Sun Spot = huge explosion of magnetic rays
Resource:  HYPERLINK "http://survivalpodcast.com/" \n _blanksurvivalpodcast.com  
Julie – Adaptogenic Plants
Humans adapt to the environment vs. allowing the environment adapt to us
Maintain flat line status = weaker as a species
Physical and physiological reactions to stress = adaptogens help normalize reactions  
Paul – The Farm
You are the party!
Seeds - > Maturity
We’re not claiming our power
Joy = Our Gifts!
Rich exchange of connectedness = resilience
Money has no power
Whatever you want, someone has it and has too much of it
Life is funny.. and we’re not getting the joke!
10-Acre project in LB  - The Farm will support anyone who wants to grow food
Awareness of environment
The universe is moving us to where we want to go… we just need to follow it
Sati – Time Exchange
Building local resilience
Understanding each others value
Build relationships as you give and receive  
Jonathan Phillips – Evolver.net HQ
LB Spores are inspiring the network and are teaching the other regionals
Believes we’re in a paradigm shift / miracle of the universe
Initiating process – Evolvers act as midwives to help others go through it
Detached from who we are, our joys/passion
Allow ourselves to screw up. Amazing screw-ups = amazing lessons of bravery.
Energetically the world is house divided and are passing into a new consciousness
From the 3rd chakra – masculine/achievement/fire in to the 4th chakra – feminine /sacred matters of heart
We’re pulling out of our old paradigms that no longer serve us.  

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Evolver New Orleans
Regional City: New Orleans, LA
Your Name: Natalie Pierce

How many people helped organize the event? 2: Ben Kappel and Natalie Pierce
How many people showed up? 28

Did you collaborate with any groups?  If so, which ones?
You know, we tried to work with several different organizations and
individuals (for example, the Gulf Restoration Network, the Bucket
Brigade, a woman who started a time bank awhile back but hasn’t been
able to get it off the ground, a marine biologist who was going to
talk about wetland restoration, a couple who has their own
permaculture farm, etc) but unfortunately everyone was either too busy
working with the Gulf Oil Spill or they had existing commitments. We
connected with many people though, and look forward to collaborating
with everyone in the future.

Where did the event take place (name of café, yoga center, etc)?
At Swan River Yoga

What did you do that night (give brief outline/description)?
We opened up the night by watching the educational documentary, Crude
Awakening; about the history, politics, and addiction we have with
oil.  I then gave a slideshow presentation about Transition Towns, the
design principles of permaculture, and alternative currencies. We had
a brief discussion, and then wrapped up as it was getting late.

How did it go?  What was the response?
You know, I’ll be honest. It went all right. I would like to say that
it was a beautiful gathering, where everyone brought their concerns
and fears over the oil spill, and we were able to talk about it, form
plans of action, and discover useful tools where everyone can go out
and help transition our city into a resilient community with a sense
of hope and inspiration.  And while this did happen to some extent
(one man had never heard of permaculture before and was very excited
about it), I feel like showing a 90-minute documentary right at the
start was a waste of the time we had together. By the time it was over
at 10:30, the energy level was down and everyone was getting
impatient, so it didn’t allow for a lot of time to focus on the
exciting topics of Transition Towns, permaculture, and alternative
currencies. You know, I don’t think anyone in that room was pro-oil,
so while we did learn a few new facts, I think our time could’ve been
spent focusing more on solutions and allowing the community to share
their concerns and fears during this time of uncertainty.

What themes came up?
We all recognize and are aware of our world’s dependency on cheap
energy and oil. We realize that because of the low-hanging fruit
principle, all the readily available oil has been extracted, and that
now we are drilling in very deep and dangerous places, such as the
ocean floor. It’s a complicated matter, both physically and
politically. New Orleans is acutely feeling the consequences, but we
are able to look at the transition into resilient communities as a
positive, creative opportunity that will reconnect us to each other
and the earth.  We touched on Transition Initiatives, permaculture
design principles, the characteristics of money and capitalism, and
alternative currencies that we can implement instead.


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Evolver Orange County


Regional City: Orange County
Your Name: Isabella Stoloff, Kaeti Humphrey
How many people helped organize the event? 2

How many people showed up? 10

Did you collaborate with any groups?  If so, which ones? Yes 2: Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board,  Chris Paider of The Water Brewery

Where did the event take place (name of café, yoga center, etc)?Orange County Healing Center

What did you do that night (give brief outline/description)?  Bill Rice talked about the water-ways and people felt very informed. Chris talked about drinking water that has been purified through a vortex and then had minerals added

How did it go?  What was the response? It was informative and warm. People enjoyed it.

What themes came up? The spiritual nature of water. What we can do to change the way we manage water.

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Evolver Sydney



Regional City: Sydney


Your Name: Dan Gooden



How many people helped organize the event? 10



How many people showed up? 32

Did you collaborate with any groups?  If so, which ones? Transition Towns, Waratah CLT Association (community based land trusts)

Where did the event take place (name of café, yoga center, etc)?
Recording studio in Redfern

What did you do that night (give brief outline/description)?
- Began with a guided music meditation led by one of the sporeganizers- Watched an inspiring 20-min segment from a doco called 'How Cuba
Survived Peak Oil'
- Then had Lance from Bondi Transition Towns talk to the group about
the movement and how he's been initiating urban garden in and around
his apartment block near Bondi Beach (very cool!)
- Then had Liz from the community based land trust association talk to
the group about what the land trust model is and how its been
initiated in the sydney region
- With the energy building in the group this morphed into a large
group discussion on the subject matter that had been covered during
the night



How did it go?  What was the response? The night was great, with alot
of positive feedback. We had a large showing and we trialed a new
venue that people really liked. People commented how inspiring the
night was, and how great it was feeling amidst like-minded people.
Some attendees commented how for the very first time they could
literally glimpse how an alternative sustainable future could emerge.

What themes came up?

The Cuba documentary was an excellent case in point of a society that,
when placed in a position of sheer need for a transition towards more
sustainable community centric models of agriculture, posed by extreme
trade restrictions, ran with this challenge really well. Even kicking
and screaming as the case was for many citizens having to shed their
previous high consumption mod cons, they managed to pull together into
a cohesive community effort towards ensuring food security which was a
really heartening message, and made the transition toward a
hyperlocalised low carbon economy that we're going to have to make
seem all the more possible.


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Evolver Toronto

Regional City: Toronto

Your Name: Mark (Hitosan Daisansha)

How many people helped organize the event? 1 (member posted a call on
Evolver.net toronto Group.

How many people showed up? 4 - Me, Mali, Jack and host James (it was
outdoors and heavily raining)

Did you collaborate with any groups? NO  If so, which ones? X

Where did the event take place (name of café, yoga center, etc)? On
the roof top of an urban garage in the north/west end of toronto.

What did you do that night (give brief outline/description)? Built a
roof top garden box in the rain and discussed other designs options.

How did it go? It was last minute and not promoted fully. What was the
response? Happy that we stuck it through.

What themes came up? We talked about 2012 and Gardening Medicine.