Michael Burns, Co-Creator of Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute, Co-Owner/Operator of Cayuta Sun Farm, and History Teacher. This Introduction to Permaculture covered the basic concepts of Permaculture design; Permaculture history, ethics, principles and the design method. There was also time for questions.

Karryn Olson, Co-Founder of the Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute, hosted an opportunity to meet other Permaculture Week participants and connect around requesting permaculture-related and things and services you NEED, and offering up what you have as YIELDS. We used the MeetAway software, and it was cool!

Scott Morris, Creator of Ithacash, Ithaca’s new local currency, shared a game that he is developing that helps communities do great things even when times are tough. The game brings permaculture thinking to the economy and is key to healing our relationships with money, each other, and the planet. Scott is a political economist and economics systems engineer operating at the intersection of capital, currency, and collective consciousness. 

Rebecca Cutter, Activist, Organizer, Popular Educator, and FLPCI board president shared a Training of Trainers (TOT) in the use of The Circle Way, developed by Christina Baldwin and Ann Linnea. The Circle Way creates a social environment that encourages shared leadership, deep listening and intentional sharing. This transformational tool can be used with both in-person and virtual meetings. It’s for individuals and teams facilitating difficult conversations, book clubs, decision making meetings and other public forums. “I’ve been using The Circle Way in my non-profit work and in a book club I lead and I’m excited to share it with others.” 

Carlos H. Gutierrez, Occupational Safety and Health Trainer with Midstate COSH. Know Your Rights Under OSHA; Map Your Workplace to Identify and Control Safety and Health Risk: Prioritize Controls and Interventions Including the Use of Community and Institutional Resources. Carlos is a staunch advocate for workers rights in our region. 

Donna Beckwith, herbalist, member of the Perry City Friends Community and co-creator of the Perry City Permaculture Project, took participants on a virtual herbal plant identification walk. 

Ben Tyler, of Unadilla Community Farm, shared about the farm’s ongoing SARE research on dynamic accumulators. Dynamic accumulators are plants that are thought to mine minerals from deep in the subsoil and make those minerals bioavailable in their foliage. But at present there is a lack of research into nutrient management practices that incorporate dynamic accumulators. Attendees learned more about ongoing research to prove or disprove the efficacy of dynamic accumulators for nutrient management. 

Karryn Olson, Principal at Regenepreneurs and Co-Founder of Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute 

Last year, during our kickoff World Cafe event, Karryn facilitated our exploration of the question: “How can we work together for a ‘just transition’ away from the extractive economy that is degenerating our ecosystems and communities and towards an economy in which all can thrive?”  

This year’s exploration was based on this idea:  Let’s suppose that Ithaca decided to become THE small-sized city mobilizing energies to design a regenerative economy.

How would that design process look? 

We probably don’t know! But we want to know! In this session, Karryn facilitated an experiment, with the aim of learning together how we might apply ecological design and living systems principles to this process, and how we can co-evolve our understanding of what is possible.