Learn about International Development & Permaculture

by | Sep 18, 2013 | Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute

Interested in learning about the realities of working internationally in permaculture?

Please join us at one of these two events:

“What’s it like over there?”

September 25 at 7pm.

First Neighborhood Common House

Ecovillage at Ithaca.

Our guest presenter will be Lesley Byrne, an international permaculture teacher and trainer, who has worked with subsistence farmers, widows and orphans in Jordan, Afghanistan, Kenya, and Cambodia.

We’ll cover these and other topics:
  • How do you get a foot in the door?
  • How do you prove yourself professionally?
  • How can you be culturally competent?
  • How can you live simply abroad and thrive?

This evening is open to all. Lesley will highlight the realities for women working in the field.

A self-determined sliding scale admission of $5-$20 can be paid at the door.

Lesley Byrne in Afghanistan: “As a woman I had an advantage over Western men because I was not viewed as a threat, which allowed them to let their guards down and for me to make much more headway training the farmers in permaculture.”

If you need directions to Ecovillage, you can use this address in your maps program: 100 Rachel Carson Way.

Please park along the road near the major construction. Please don’t park in residential parking areas.

Contact Karryn at <karryn@seedsustainabilityconsulting.com> if you need further directions or have questions.

Regenerating Rusinga Island Through Permaculture

September 26 from 7 to 9 p.m.

At Ithaca College, as part of the Sustainability Speaker Series

Textor Hall, room 103

In December of 2012, Lesley was invited by Permaculture Research Institute Kenya to teach a permaculture design course to subsistence farmers on Rusinga Island. At that time, she learned about the history of environmental degradation of the island that continues from the colonial legacy. Since then, Lesley has returned to Kenya for a series of workshops to assist the development of an organic farmers association and a permaculture demonstration site at the local health clinic which supports the nutrition and health of individuals with AIDS and HIV. The local community is self-determining efforts to regenerate the landscape while ensuring food and water security, as well as economic and community development

For more information, or to request accommodations for disabilities, please contact Marian Brown at: mbrown@ithaca.edu or 274-3787. Please make requests for accommodations as soon as possible.

Both of these events are brought to you by:

Ithaca College Sustainability Initiative

SEED Sustainability Consulting

Ecovillage at Ithaca

Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute