To Market, To Market

I'll be presenting two workshops at the 2009 National Cohousing Conference, June 24-28 at the University of Washington, in Seattle. One of them, Group Process Skills for Committees, will be part of the Pre-Conference Tours and Workshops offering, which means I get four whole hours with folks and 40% of the door. Yippee!

But it also means I am responsible for my own marketing. Recently, the facilitators got an update on the registration numbers for the conference (lower than last year) and each workshop. There was quite a range, from 0 to 16. It turns out some folks had been actively promoting their gigs. "If your numbers are low," wrote my good friend and co-mentor, Eris Weaver, who is this year's chair, "you might want to start sending info to your list."

Err, my list?

I haven't even figured out how to use "Outlook Business Contacts" yet. (But I did buy a book!)

No matter. It is time for me to come out of my shell. I have a business to promote. I am in the middle of a major revamping of my website, which I am very excited about. Writing is a slow process for me, but I enjoy it very much. I just wish I could cloister myself until it is done. I am implementing the advice of Caterina Rando, and a cornerstone of that is to build a permission-based email list and provide valuable material. One way is through your website, so I am looking forward to getting it up and running.

It has taken me a while to trust that what I really wanted to do--facilitate in community settings--is where my niche is. That may not be where I end up, but it is where I am going to start. It is where my heart is, and I can't seem to get away from it.

Next week I am going to be doing one of my very favorite things: hanging out with a bunch of facilitators at a cohousing community. I am such a junkie! But more on that later. First I must finish up my flyer about my pre-conference workshop, and send it out to my list!

What does a facilitator do?

In my last post, I mentioned some of the benefits of facilitation. In this post, I will offer a brief "inside look" at what kinds of things that a facilitator should be thinking about and paying attention to while they are working for you.

When designing an agenda, a facilitator considers:

• Issues, conflicts, feelings in the community.
• What the group has tried before.
• Skill level of the group. Sometimes the group can benefit from sharpening their skills.
• Methods that the group is used to using. Sometimes the group can benefit from learning new methods.
• Where the group is in their overall process. Are they a new group? Experience?
• What the group needs to accomplish.
• How much time they have to meet.
• The ebb and flow of energy levels throughout the meeting.
• The ebb and flow of “divergence” and “convergence” throughout the meeting. Ideally, you want to end on convergence.
• The ebb and flow of “process” and “action.” Each meeting has its own ideal balance.
• Accounting for all of the learning styles—feelers, observers, thinkers, and doers.
• Planning to make space for all voices are heard—especially minority voices.

Just to give you an idea of the variety of meeting formats that can be used, I will mention a few below. The facilitator should be competent in using a variety of styles:

• Go-rounds
• Large group processes
• Small group processes
• Dyad processes
  
• Brainstorming
• Card storming
• Prioritizing
• Voting (there are many kinds of voting)
• Consensus (there are different versions of this as well)
• Problem solving processes (again, there a several)
• Sharing circles
• Fishbowls
• Kinetic mapping
• Guided meditation
• Role play
  
• And also a variety of openings, transfer-ins, “light and livelies,” closings

Before the meeting, the facilitator needs to attend to the physical space:

• Privacy, interruptions, noise
• Set up, furniture, energetics, sight lines, wall space
• Easels, flip charts, tape, pens, any props or supplies needed for exercises
• Writing up agenda, groundrules, instructions, etc. on flip charts and hand outs
• Make sure that the notetaker, scribe, greeter, timekeeper, coffeemaker, presenter, heart-keeper, etc. roles are filled
• Make sure the comfort factors are handled (food, drink, bathrooms, temperature, accessibility)

During the meeting, the facilitator needs to:

• Lead the opening
• Lead the transfer-in
• Review the agenda
• Explain the activities
• Provide instruction (training is a whole other skill set, but one that the facilitator should have)

And then the meat and potatoes of the facilitation itself:

• Contact statements (“getting” where each person is at, so that they know they are heard, and the group gets it too)
• Summaries
• Weaving (connecting individual statements to each other)
• Groping (if it is not clear what is being said)
• Delegating
• Conflict management

While keeping the following mindsets:

• Invite the whole person (including intuition, emotion, heat, body—not just mind)
• Be “content neutral”—not have a stake in the particular outcome
• Find the common ground
• Be everyone’s ally
• Remember: it’s not about you
• Know what you don’t know
• Model an eagerness for new information, be curious
• Admit your mistakes and be open to feedback and where you are at your own learning edge
• Service—always be in the question: “what does the group most need in this moment?” and then do that

Of course the whole time the facilitator should be tracking:

• Where are we in the agenda?
• How much time do we have left?
• What is going on with each person?
• What is going on with the whole group?
• How can this increase the groups capacity to work together?
• What is coming “around the bend”—what is this interaction going to lead to?
• Is everyone participating equally?
• Are the minority voices being heard?
• Are all the learning styles getting their needs met at some point?
• Are both the “process” and the “action” people getting their needs met?

Scribing is also a very important component of meetings:

• agendas
• brainstorming
• note-taking
• parking lots
• graphics to highlight, weave, etc.
• non-verbal representation
• group recording and reporting back

And finally, the facilitator should be holding three levels of the group's process:

• the current interaction
• the ebb and flow of the meeting
• the place of the meeting in the greater process--especially, what skills can the group be learning now, that will help it down the line?

Hopefully these lists will give you some idea of the kinds of things that go on inside a facilitator's head, and what you are paying for.

Benefits of Facilitation

I had the opportunity to write this up for a forming community that was wondering why they should spend $1,000 per day for a facilitator:

Here’s what to expect before the meeting:
· The facilitator interviews community members to find out what the issues are from various perspectives. If there is conflict, they need to speak with the people involved. They should also find out how meetings are usually run, what the groundrules are, etc.
· The facilitator make recommendations on what the agenda should be and confirms this with the community.
· The facilitator design the agenda and meeting formats. Whole group discussion is the typical fall back, but this is not the only form that a meeting can take. In fact, it’s good to mix it up. The facilitator should match the activities with the purpose.
· The facilitator set up the meeting space for maximum comfort and productivity.
· The facilitator makes sure all of the roles (notekeeper etc) are filled.

Here’s what to expect during the meeting:
· Opening, transfer in, agenda preview, closing
· Time, energy, and break management
· Make sure all of the voices and perspectives are heard
· Different learning styles and both “process” and “action” people get their needs met
· Help people find common ground, come to agreements, make decisions
· Help the group surface the individual and collective undercurrents
· Help the group process conflicts and come to at least some resolution
· Summarize frequently and help the group understand what they have accomplished so far
· Make sure that the next actions are clear and that all understand what needs to happen in the future

Here’s some of the expertise that you are getting:
· Most facilitators have a good understanding of the common issues that are a part of community life. They have seen these issues raised over and over again in the communities that they have worked with. So they can spot them quickly, when they are coming up for the community, and help the community understand what they are dealing with.
· They have also seen a variety of solutions that their clients have come up with to deal with these universal problems. They will not usually make “content recommendations” to the community about what solution to use, but they can give examples. The main thing is that they know that, no matter how bleak it looks, resolution is possible!
· They also know the methods that the communities used to come up with the solutions, and can build this into the meeting agenda.
· In addition, some facilitators also offer a separate service as a “process consultant.” This is where they do make “content recommendations” about the processes and structures that communities create and use to get things done. They can provide options, maps, and help you understand how your processes and structures influence people’s behavior, for good or ill. A lot of what seems to be interpersonal conflict is actually sourced at the structural level.

Here are some of the benefits of good facilitation:
· Meeting time is used efficiently. Meeting time is extremely expensive, when you consider all of the person-hours, travel, etc., so this is a high priority.
· Everyone feels heard. This increases “buy in” to whatever decisions the group makes, which increases the likelihood that everyone will do their part in the future.
· The group learns more about itself. This increase in consciousness enables the group to work together more easily.
· The group members deepen their connections with each other. They become more cohesive.
· The group learns new ways of working together. This is especially useful for new groups.
· The group gets closer to its goals. Information is shared, agreements are developed, decisions are made, next actions are clarified.
· The group develops its own capacity. It moves through the stages of “forming, storming, norming and performing.”
· The group learns about facilitation by seeing a different person model it.
· The group gains confidence in how they can run meetings that work well. People are more willing to meet when they believe it will be fun and productive.

In contrast, here are some of the costs of poorly run meetings:
· Time is wasted.
· People don’t feel heard and sabotage the decisions.
· People feel alienated.
· People withdraw and withhold vital information.
· People get frustrated and have unproductive conflict.
· People get hurt and the community is wounded.
· The group stalls in its process.
· People stop showing up, drop out, the project falls apart.

In my next entry, I will post from the facilitator's point of view.

Post Carbon Institute joins Transition United States

In their recent newsletter, the Post Carbon Institute said:

We are excited to announce that Post Carbon Institute has launched a partnership with Transition United States to continue to inspire and support communities as they shift quickly away from dependence on fossil fuels. The challenges we now face as a result of peak oil and climate change require all the collaboration and coordination we can muster. Rather than have two similar but distinct efforts to aid citizens as they prepare for a post carbon world, we are pleased to work together with the Transition movement, which has been hugely successful in establishing relocalization projects around the world.

I have been hoping that this would happen! Because this means that folks won't have to choose between Relocalize.net and Meetup groups and Transition Towns. We'll be able to coordinate our work.

Speaking of which, I have joined Transition Georgia on the ning.com social network site. My understanding is that Les Squires set up a Transition website for each of the 50 states. It's a great place to connect, so go sign up!

turn the world around

This video was created for the AARP "U@50" video contest and placed second. It is called "Lost Generation."



Link to YouTube

Declaration of Independence

This is just a fly-by post to share a beautiful document. It is an evolving story, and I'll keep you posted.

The Transition Declaration of Independence.

The comments are worth a read as well.

Reflections on Intentional Communities

I had two opportunities to interact with intentional communities last month; one as an observer and one as a participant.

I am taking a second round of facilitation training for communities, this time with Laird Schaub, who originated the two-year program. (Regular readers may remember that I did seven sessions with Tree Bressen in 2006 and 2007.) We had our second weekend together, and I am totally hooked on the high of being with 18 other people who are just as passionate about facilitating in communities as I am. I am also really amazed at all of the community-oriented activities that are happening in Asheville, NC.

Over the course of this, I got to observe a cohousing meeting. They were discussing what they could do with a plot of garden to grow more of their own food. First we had them visualize the garden five years down the road. Then they spent a long time brainstorming, and we had two scribes noting everything down. They were a pretty savvy group, and ended up covering all of the bases that a permaculture consultant would have addressed. I know this because DH and I recently had permaculture consultants develop a plan for our yard.

As the brainstorming wore on, I found myself thinking "why don't they just hire an expert and be done with it?" Which is not like me, as I have a high tolerance for brainstorming-type of activities. But 45 minutes pushed even my limits. However, I thought about a basic principle of organizational communication that I learned years ago: participation = buy in. The ideas they generated were their ideas, not somebody else's, who was telling them what to do.

The next part of the meeting was very lively. Our scribes cut up all of the flip chart pages so that each idea was on its own strip. Then we spread them all out, face up, on the floor. In the next 14 minutes, the cohousers put them into clusters. They moved the strips around, looked at what they had done, discussed, argued, negotiated, and moved them again. Then the facilitator had them review each cluster one more time, and come up with a label for that cluster. This exercise is called "snow cards" or "blizzard" because all of the white pieces of paper blanket the floor or wall like snow.

Now the clusters were manageable, and the group figured out where they would start, and who would shepherd the process until they figured out exactly how it would continue. The whole thing took three hours, and they were very satisfied with the work they got done. And how much fun they had.

Meanwhile, I was at the back of the room scribbling notes about the structures the group had and processes they were using to make this kind of decision. Another principle of organizational communication is that structures influence behavior. However, most people don't think about this when they are frustrated with the way somebody is acting. They usually attribute it to a deficit in that person. So it can be very useful to look at the structures and processes, and make sure they are aligned with the organizations purpose, values, and assumptions.

What I have learned from Laird and Tree and Diana Leaf Christian is that there are some very specific recommendations they make for intentional communities, gleaned from their years of experience living in and facilitating them. And as they haven't published their books on this topic yet (ahem!) I am creating my own process maps. Ultimately I am hoping that we can create an open source library of these maps that communities use, so that they can diagnose problems and don't have to reinvent the wheel.

I'll talk about my other adventures next time.

PS. Happy New Year!

Starting a Transition Town Initiative

One of the things that I have been exploring is what would organizations, communities, and even life be like if we adopted the principles of Open Space Technology? There are four principles that apply to the break out sessions in an OST meeting:

• it starts when it starts
• whoever comes are the right people
• it ends when it ends
• whatever happened is the only thing that could have (happened)
  

Imagine how much more relaxed Americans would be if we didn't expect meetings to start on the dot, but emerge from the flow of the day for everyone who showed up? Imagine if we did not feel blame or guilt about who showed up and who didn't? Imagine if we let whatever happened be totally okay? I have found that adopting these principles actually puts me in a different place, a different mode of thinking and feeling. It is a place where I am less judgmental, less anxious, more at ease. I don't always do it, but when I do, I like it.

It is also a place of letting go. When I first started this journey, I knew that I wanted to be a part of a community that was actively working towards relocalizing. But back then (was it only three and a half years ago?), not many in Atlanta had heard about peak oil. Even among that tiny community, I couldn't find anybody who was interested in joining the Post Carbon Institute's Relocalization Network. I was scared, I was frustrated, I felt powerless, and alone. Eventually I had to let go.

But now I am "getting it"... it starts when it starts. For whatever reasons, it was not the right time, and the right people weren't yet available. Now three of us have found each other. We had our first "Transition Town" meeting today. I am realizing that a small part of me was "holding space" for this to happen someday, which is what had me notice the opportunity as it came up.

Three is enough to start. It is the first iteration of community. It is the very center of the spiral, that will circle out to encompass many more. And our first task is to bring in three more burning souls. In order to start a Transition Town Initiative, we need to have 5-7 people who will commit to working together on this. It is too big a job for any less than that. And this is a good size for a small group, as everyone can have a direct relationship, or at least direct communication, with everyone else.

So we have given ourselves a month to do that. A month to study the Transition Town model, to talk to the folks that we know that might be open, willing, maybe even excited about volunteering for kind of thing. I am not very connected to my immediate community, so this will be an opportunity for me to follow up on some of my initial contacts and try to track down the people who might be interested in this. "Turn over rocks," as DH says.

So now, the applicable principle is "whoever comes are the right people." And this means creating a clear and compelling invitation, and putting it out there, so the right people can find us. Yoo hoo! Where are you???

transitioning to a new paradigm business

If you ask my husband what he does, he'll tell you he "drives nails." But what this really means is that he is a subcontractor for new home construction, doing production work. Or he did that until recently. Last year, there was a sharp drop in new homes being built. He went from running five to six crews down to one full-time in-house crew plus one part time crew he subbed out. But now he can't keep one crew busy. He was getting homeowner contracts, because people realized that they couldn't move, so they would upgrade their existing home. But now, nobody is spending any money on anything. We have only so much money left to cover payroll, and then, we have to call it quits. It's heartwrenching. His guys have been with him for decades. They are family.

Fortunately, he saw the writing on the wall a long time ago, and has been searching for a new line of business for the past year. And it was a relief, in a way, because it hurt his heart to work in such an unsustainable business. In fact, he started the "turnkey" model of subcontracting, because he couldn't stand to see all the waste that was produced when the builders bought the materials and just hired the labor. Turnkey Decks, Inc. was born.

Then one night, while listening to Coast to Coast, he heard David Blume speak about distilling alcohol for fuel. Suddenly the lightbulb went off. If this model could work, it could answer all of his needs. He could disconnect from "the system" and become not only energy independent, but contribute to his own food production as well. Blume is a permaculturist, so his model is completely integrated, with no "waste products" at all--only streams to fuel other processes. In fact, alcohol is not the "cash crop"--it is the byproducts and what are derived from them, that is what is sold.

So today, we had a big powwow with his crew. Our dear friends, DF-F and DF-J, hosted the event. (DF-J is also on the crew.) We brought donuts, and watched 2.5 hours of video. After having pizza for lunch, we talked. I "scribed," to use facilitator's jargon, using a modified version of the Dynamic Facilitation process. I took down all of the pictures of DF-F's family on one wall, and put up six flipchart sheets. Each one had its own heading:

• data
• problem statements
• solutions
• concerns
• questions/research
• action items

As the conversation went on, I scribed the content, sorting each one onto each flipchart, and adding sheets as we needed. Scribing is a particular skill all to itself, but I happen to be very good at it, in part because I am a "kinetic" processor. It actually helps me to listen to do things like write on flipcharts, which can be handy for the group.

Having the record of the conversation up on the wall for all to see helps the group be conscious of what has been said already, which has many benefits. One is, nobody has to repeat themselves--they are secure that their input has been captured. Another is, they can build on what has been said--answering questions, coming up with solutions, etc. The "wisdom of the group" is not only captured, but affirmed, for all to see, which generates confidence and even more contribution.

On a side note, I have found that the category of "concerns" is one of the most important to include. Just having the blank sheet on the wall "opens space" for people to speak about their concerns, which is incredibly important in group process to avoid "groupthink" and running into problems later that were not addressed because people did not feel comfortable bringing them forward.

Besides the "questions/research" and "action items" categories that I mentioned above, I have also found it useful to add the "decisions made" category in some situations. In our situation, we hadn't agreed to be a decision making body yet, so I felt that was premature.

In our meeting today, I witnessed new possibilities being born. We have a long way to go in terms of finding out whether we can pull an "energy farm" off--we need to do a lot of due diligence before we find out if it is even worth investing in--but there was a lot of hope in the room.

I'll keep you posted.

19 months later: Back in the saddle

Hi everyone,

After a 19-month sabbatical, I am rejoining the blogosphere. I look forward to discovering the new faces and voices in the green- and communities- arenas. I'm guessing that there will be more than I can keep up with, but I will make a stab at it!

I think back to the day of my last post with a lot of emotion. We were disappointed by the turnout at our StepItUp event--Obama decided to have a rally at Georgia Tech the same day, and 20,000 people showed up for it! Even our own organizers snuck off to participate in that historic event. Now, of course, I wish I was one of them.

How far we have come since then. On so many levels. The Atlanta Beyond Oil Meetup Group, which sometimes only had three people at the meetings "back in the day," is now very popular. JoJo has done a fabulous job of hosting the meetings at his beautiful home. The last time I was there, he showed me where he was expanding the garden. It was inspiring.

I feel like there has be a shift in consciousness... not only at the political level, but also in my own circle of friends and aquaintences. People understand the importance of sustainability. There certainly has been one in myself.

I have spent the last several years learning how to facilitate in communities, because I believe that this is where I can make the greatest contribution--creating an environment that supports people in having the conversations about the issues that challenge their communities. I believe that change is going to happen in communities, not only because relocalizing makes sense, but because human beings are community-oriented beings, and working at this level will satisfy a fundamental need.

I have been exploring forms of facilitation and meeting design that I believe are cutting edge, and embody the values and principles that I hold dear--maximum freedom, maximum choice, self-organization, respect, inclusion of the emotions and the intuition, right and left brains, as well as all learning styles, and trusting the wisdom of the group.

On the home front, we put in a garden this summer, and hired Isabel and Bob from Georgia Permaculture to walk our land and give us a plan for developing it using permaculture principles. DH has been studying David Blume's work about distilling alcohol for fuel, and we are hoping to start program, either on our acerage, or nearby.

So I will slowly be revising the links on the blog to reflect my new pursuits, and sharing what I learn along the way. I also see that Blogger has some new features, so I might be incorporating those as well.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to connecting!

Step It Up 2007 -- Atlanta

Our Step It Up 2007 event in Atlanta was a huge success! It was held at Morehouse College--the school that Martin Luther King, Jr., Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson, and filmmaker Spike Lee graduated from.

We started out the day with a Teach-In. Electric Vehicle Club showcased their cool cars. The "Sparrow" got a lot of attention.

We showed Kilowatt Ours, a film about solutions to America's energy related problems. We had four workshops: The Impact of Climate Change on Human Communities (David Tan and Sonja Ebron; Reducing Your Energy Consumption (Allison A. Bailes, III and Debbie Moll); An Interfaith Response to Global Warming (Alan Jenkins and Jennifer Downs); and Transportation in Metro Atlanta (Anna Cherry, Emory McClinton, and Ryan Gravel).

We also had tables on the veranda that showcased organizations concerned about climate change.

Gail Tverberg from Atlanta Beyond Oil explains Peak Oil to a participant.

Workshop Participants ask Congress to Step It Up and reduce emissions 80% by 2050!

We rallied in front of the Martin Luther King Chapel-where the National Champions Graves Hall Step Team stepped it up!

Paula Gordon inspired us with her invocation.

MC "T.L." Gray holds the mic.

Longtime Activiest Bob Goodman makes his point.

State Representative Brian Thomas explained to us that politicians will respond to our pressure--they want to be reelected, after all! Step one? Register to vote!

Cynthia Hewitt spoke of the relationship of Global Warming to Social Justice issues.

NaTaki Osborne called on us to be an inclusive movement and take action.

About 150 people showed up to tell Congress to Step It Up. (Unfortunately we were competing with an Obama rally that drew 20,000.)
The Grave's Hall Step Team pumped us up with a final performance:

Afterwards participants went to the Dogwood Festival and spread the message about climate change!

Thank you volunteers, the steering committee, and sponsoring organizations. For more information about the emerging Climate Coalition, stay tuned to www.stepitupatlanta.org.

Climate Change Action Day

Hi everyone,

I'm sorry I've been MIA. I have a good excuse, thought, I got involved in a new project: Bill McKibben's National Day of Climate Action; the "Step It Up" campaign. The basic message is to Congress: to mandate that we reduce our carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. We want media coverage, but mostly we want to build a mass movement, along the lines of the Civil Rights movement, because Congress MUST act.

As of today, there are 713 actions planned across the nation. Here in Atlanta, we are making big plans. We would like to have a rally, and are hoping to get 1000 people there. We haven't determined the location yet, but we want it meaningful and make a splash. I'll update you as we get locations and speakers and activities confirmed.

When Atlanta Beyond Oil decided on our name, we wanted something that would encompass climate change as well as peak oil issues. When this event showed up on our horizon, we were motivated to understand the connections between climate change and peak oil. At our last meeting, we had speakers from the Georgia Interfaith Power and Light, a wonderful organization that works on energy issues with the faith-based community, as well as the Sierra Club's "Cool Cities" campaign.

Both are working with their target communities to support them in taking steps towards decreasing our fossil fuel use.

We also asked our members to read Richard Heinberg's January Museletter on "Bridging Peak Oil and Climate Change," so we could have a discussion. Its a long article, but well worth the read, as it lays out the basic problems that the two communities have to overcome in order to work together. Another article of note is Michael Kare's "Global Warming: It's About Energy."

With our StepItUpAtlanta campaign, we are hoping to build a Climate Coalition. We would like to build bridges between the Peak Oil, Environmental, Social Justice, and EcoJustice, EcoTheological and the new TheoEcological communities. We want to include people from both sides of the aisle, and all demographic groups.

We need to articulate these connections--what does peak oil and climate change have to do with human rights? As well as bring home what we can learn from Katrina--basically, that the status quo is NOT adequate to the challenge.

The future of our planet is at stake!

This morning the Step It Up Atlanta organizing committee had our fourth meeting. We really wanted to get as many groups as possible to the table, so that we could get input on our program. We brainstormed on our vision, values, and message that we wanted to send with our events. We discussed where to have the rally. We also broke out into task groups: Organizational Outreach, Logistics, Program, Publicity, and Finance. It takes a lot to put together an event, especially of the size we are hoping for!

Your's truly is the head of the Logistic team. This means glamorous things like porta-potties. But hey, some body's got to do it!

Anyway I'll keep you posted on the developments. And I encourage you to have your own action in your own community. It doesn't have to be elaborate. The point is to take an irrisitable picture for the media. Here are some ideas.

New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year everyone!

This year I am setting some "SMART" goals, that is goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and tangible.

Assess my starting point:

1. Calculate my ecological footprint for 2006 (using calculators here, here and here.)
2. Measure the killowatts my appliances consume using the Kill-a-Watt meter.

Set targets for reducing my footprint in 2007:

1. Honor my pledge to reduce my fossil fuel consumptions by 2.6% based on the recommendations of the Oil Depletion Protocol.
2. Find out what the recommendations are for reducing my carbon footprint to prevent global warming.
3. Meet that goal with a combination of emissions reduction and offsets.

Set up a way to track my progress:

1. Make a spreadsheet with all the variables.
2. Set up a timetable for when to measure my results.
3. Track cumulative numbers and percentages to see if I am on target.

Be accountable:

1. Post my goals (in terms of percentages).
2. Post my progress (in terms of percentages).
3. Network with other people who are doing the same and offer my support.

I invite you to join me! Together we can make a difference.

Gifts for the adults on your list (Cross posted on Groovy Green)

Groovy Green's 12 Days of Christmas
"Green Gifts for the Adults on Your List"
by Liz Logan

Okay. It's December 17th. Hanukkah has started, Christmas is in eight days, which puts the Solstice at four days from now and Kwanza at nine. No matter how you slice it, you are running out of shopping time.

Of course your ideal would be to buy local and not spend precious fuel to ship to loved ones far away. All the better if you can take public transit to shop!

But if you have to ship, you can ease your conscious by shopping on line with green vendors. But where to start? Never fear! Your intrepid Groovy Green personal shopper, Liz Logan, has done a bit of surfing and has rounded up some green selections for you. As Bo Derek put it: "Whoever said money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to go shopping."
Let's get right to the point:

For Him—always the hardest on the list, right? But I've got you covered.

Does he travel? Live in a dorm? Or does he spend the night at his girlfriend/boyfriend's apartment? Then check out BTC Elements' men's toiletries kit, made out of recycled billboards.

You know that vague disappointed feeling when you open up a "container" gift and there is nothing in it but tissue paper? So to avoid that, fill it with this: Grass Roots organic Druide Travel Kit .

Want to keep him stylishly warm and cozy? Then check out the totally cool fleece hats made out of recycled plastic from Cagoule Fleece.

And for the party animal in him, how about a organic beer sampler from Eco Express? Cheers!

But If he's a teetotaler, then check out the organic tea at Diamond Organics.

For Her—we'll start with the jewelry, as that is my personal favorite:

If you're going in circles you're on the right track. Circles are THE fashion motif this year! Add Chakra gemstones plus a 15% discount and you can't go wrong! At Shanti Boutique.

Romance on your mind? Maybe even planning to pop the question? How about gemstones with a conscious: Leber Jeweler, Inc.

Does she keep that beautiful body in shape with yoga? Show your appreciation with this colorful batiked yoga bag from Global Mamas to carry her mat in.

Nurture your special woman with the "Walk A Mile In My Shoes" holiday gift pack, available through Hope for Women until December 20th.

For the Couple—two birds with one stone!

Everybody can use compact fluorescent light bulbs; and don't just look for them at your big box stores, lots of local businesses are starting to carry them as well. On your card, tell the recipients that they will be saving 10 to 15 times the energy of an incandescent bulb. As "light" is the theme for both Hanukkah and Christmas, you have a great excuse to increase the energy efficiency in their homes!

For rechargeable batteries of all types, check out Green Batteries.

You're the practical type? Give them green household necessities. Check out this option at Green Home.

Everybody could use these economical grocery bags form Abundant Earth. Get some for yourself while you are at it!

Have they recently combined households? Gotten hitched? Looking for a hostess gift? Consider this selection of recycled Holiday glassware at Green Glass.

Do you know their taste, and want to get them the perfect object d'art? Check out National Geographic's Novica site. It might take a couple of weeks to get your item, however.

Haven't a clue about what they'd like? Here are some sure fire winners:

· Romantic Dinner for Two from Eco Express
· Organic Wine from the Organic Wine Company.
· Rainforest Munch from Eco Express.
· Organic Herbal Wreath from Eco Express.

For Anybody:

For the person who has everything: give him or her their own private ecosystem! The EcoSphere from Abundant Earth.

Hip & Zen has a lot of cool stuff, but check out this organic neck hugger that warms you neck and smells good.

And there is a great selection of Organic Gift Baskets from Diamond Organics.

And if all else fails, you can't go wrong with organic flowers from Organic Bouquet, or California Organic Flowers, Great sites to bookmark for year-round giving!

Okay, if you STILL haven't found something, then check out these gift guides and directories:

· Green Gift Guide has lots of ideas.
· The Green Guide has several free articles.
· Novica gift guide for beautiful Fair Trade items.
· Local Harvest store has lots of goodies.
· Greenpeople Directory which allows you to search different categories by your location.

Thanks for helping to make this a Green Holiday Season!

How can we assess "sustainability?"

On Friday, December 1st I went to Southface's monthly breakfast roundtable and learned how organizations are designing and implementing sustainability principles.

So what do I mean when I say something is "sustainable?" I like the definition which says it is a practice which could be continued indefinitely without any degradation to the environment or future generations. In Native American tradition, for example, every decision would be weighed based on its impact on the next seven generations.

The first speaker, Susan Garrett, told us about The Natural Step. She has studied it extensively in Sweden, where it originated. The Natural Step is a methodology for assessing the sustainability of something. The criteria were developed over a period of 15 years by scientists who kept refining what they call the "system conditions"--the conditions that are necessary for a society to be sustainable.

She gave an example of how she was applying the principles to an upcoming conference. It is being held at a major hotel. She focused on how they were going to feed everybody. Ideally, it would be with local, organic, and affordable food. So the first thing that she did was call Georgia Organics. The farmers told here that there wasn't a lot of surplus crops available in March--but she could have all the kale she wanted. So that was the first "aha." Gatherings mean mouths to feed, and so there is a reason to pay attention to the seasons. The second aha came when she explained what the farmers said about the animals. 100 pork loins means slaughtering 50 pigs. Couldn't they use the whole animal? But of course the kitchen wasn't set up for that.

One of the goals of doing this assessment is to figure out how to "build capacity" for the future when you come up against such systemic blocks. So in this case, it would mean rethinking the scheduling and the food processing. What would it take for the chefs to create a menu that used the whole animal? And to change the expectations of the diners, as well?

The second speaker, Paula Vaughn, shared what her architectural firm, Perkins + Will have done towards their goal of becoming the greenest design firm on the planet. She gave us a brief tour of their Green Operations Plan, which covers:

• transportation (both commute and company fleet)
• office water use
• office energy use
• office consumables
• indoor air quality
• office renovations and new construction

They did away with most of their fleet, and have mandated buying hybrids in the future. They are replacing all of their plumbing fixtures with low-flow models, and have made substantial savings. Energy use starts with educating people--for example, turn of the computers, turn off the overhead lights, turn on the task lights.

Office consumables has been their biggest challenge. They still use a lot of paper, but now print everything they can on both sides, and make that a criteria for any new printers and plotters. They bought a tester for indoor air quality, and the results of that will drive their decisions in the future. And finally, the same principles they apply to their clients' projects, they will apply to their own.

In the Q&A afterwards, somebody said that when they compared the impact of a ceramic cup to a consumable cup, they discovered that you would have to use the cup over a thousand times before it "broke even." Vaughn said that they had many points of view in this category, but that they did do things like include the dishwasher, detergent and hot water in their calculations. Garrett pointed out that if you used the Natural Step criteria, anything that put pollutants out (like manufacturing Styrofoam) would be automatically discarded.

So my understanding of "what is sustainable?" has gotten bigger and more complex. I am starting to understand that there are no absolutes, that each choice has to be weighed. And this of course includes the human systems, both external and internal.

I am grateful for this opportunity to hear what others are doing, and am excited about learning how to apply these principles to my own life.

Thanksgiving

Now that I've gotten through most of my grief about peak oil, I have discovered a quality of poignancy in my life. Almost every night, as I snuggle under the covers, I give thanks for my warm house, for my meds, and for the power that turns on the TV, phone, and computers. I am grateful for my car and the gasoline to drive it, the food in the grocery store, and the roads that enable me to get there.

I believe that a time will come when I won't have such luxuries, so I try to appreciate them as much as possible while I have them.

Then when the accouterments of civilization are gone, what will we have left? Each other.

In the mean time, I am so grateful for the peak oil community, that I am slowly getting to know. I am grateful for the oil professionals that put their careers on the line so that we would learn about the problem. I am grateful for the people that took this understanding and have made it their life's work to educate the public and support us in preparing for it. I am grateful for the grass-roots activists who are making changes. I am grateful for you.

Strategic Planning

Hi everyone,

I have been in action mode, but I hope to start capturing what I am learning and sharing it here. I have a lot to tell about our big event, hosting Richard Heinberg October 11th, but the first thing I want to do with that is to write up a "best practices" document so that we (and others) can benefit from our experience.

My latest activities have been related to our oil awareness Meetup group, Atlanta Beyond Oil. I have been preparing for our Heinberg event debrief meeting, our "new members" meeting, and in the process of that, have done some strategic planning. I wrote out my thinking so that I could get clearer about it, and also so I could talk to other people who know more about Atlanta and Georgia and politics and environmental groups, etc. and get feedback. So this is just a first draft.

Out basic goal is to get the Peak Oil message out, and so far we have considered three audiences: state and local government officials, environmental groups, and the general public. There is also the realm of education, K through 12 and beyond. And then there are the powers behind everything else, the corporations. But I wasn't ready to tackle those yet.

Ultimately we want an "energy literate" government and society.


STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Specifically, mayors, city councils, county commissioners, state representatives, state senate, the governor, and all the relevant committees associated with these.

Goals:
• Pass peak oil resolutions as they did in San Francisco and Portland (but de-emphasize that it's a West Coast thing)
• Start committees to do assessment on energy needs, food needs, transportation needs (including citizens)
• Produce reports about these with recommendations
• Draft policies, lobby for them, get them passed (unless we go the 501 (c)(3) route, in which case we can't lobby and would partner with a lobbying group)
• Have town hall meetings to raise consciousness about, plan for, and implement preparedness for the coming energy transition
. Develop tax credits, system benefits plan, economic development plans that support preparedness

Strategies:
• Educate local officials
• Find sponsors who will champion our cause
• Hold Open Space Technology meetings for citizens and/or officials to develop areas of focus, groups who will work on them, and action plans
• Use templates to develop plans for assessment (Powerdown Project, Kinsale, Willits, new PCI book, etc.)
• Develop teams that can write policy recommendations (partner with local groups and take advantage of national resouces)
• Get public support for these policies
. Work with GEFA
. Work with GDOT

Tactics:
• Develop ABO team to work in this area
• Continue to lobby contacts we have made so far
• Develop speakers bureau
• Make presentations to committees, etc
• Track GA Energy Strategy Plan and input when possible
• Join the Relocalization Network
• Get advice from folks in other groups who are working on this
• For generating public support, see that category

ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS

Specifically: (at this point I don't want to mention our target groups by name)

Goals:
• Have peak oil be a part of the discourse (especially along with climate change)
• Build an Energy Transition Coalition (both climate change and peak oil require us to make a transition to non-fossil fuel energy)
• Have ratifying the Oil Depletion Protocol be part of the agenda

Strategies:
• Get buy in on the idea that peak oil must be addressed when climate change issues are addressed
. Develop partnerships with other groups
• Invite groups to come to an OST on energy transition
• Invite groups to co-sponsor an OST on energy transition
• Invite groups to join the coalition

Tactics:
• Join GEC
. Do a needs-gap analysis
. Identify target groups, starting with those concerned with climate change
• Identify key contacts
• Meet with key contacts
• Explain how peak oil relates to climate change, especially the coal issue
• Explain how the ODP compliments the Kyoto Protocol
• Develop presentations and materials for environmental groups
. Swap presentations
• Distribute ODP book and Oil Poster

GENERAL PUBLIC

Goals:
• Vote for peak oil aware officials
• Support their officials to make peak oil preparedness policies
• Form committees to do assessments, plan, and take action for preparedness
• Take action for personal preparedness
• Participate in community-wide preparedness actions
• Have many groups like ours throughout the metro area and state wide
• Reduce energy use by 2.5% per year
• Participate in local food production
• Etc.

Strategies:
• Let the public know which officials are peak oil aware
• Campaign for policies
• Share resources and how to prepare on our website
• Have OST meetings for people to come together, create teams, and work on preparedness
• Have seminars where they can learn what other communities are doing
• Have seminars where they can learn how to personally prepare
• Tell them how to do assessments of their own energy consumption or who to hire
• Promote the ODP

Tactics:
• Have showings of End of Suburbia and the Cuba film (Kilowatt Ours too?)
• Bring in name speakers (partner with other environmental groups)
• Participate in events (Bioneers , Earth Day, etc)
• Work with “candidate scorecard” groups to have their criteria include peak oil aware
• Develop education, training, and PR materials
• Create a marketing plan
• Work with other PO groups to develop resources (“how to” manuals, etc)
• Join the Relocalization Network
• Network with Green professionals to develop a resources list

DEVELOP ATLANTA BEYOND OIL

Specifically, leadership, core group, casual members, non-participating members, committees (standing and ad hoc)

Goals:
• Clear purpose
• Clear leadership
• Clear vision
• Clear community
• Clear management
• Clear goals
• Enough active members to sustain projects without burn out
• Standing committees
• Community events

Strategies:
• Schedule gathering(s) to explore purpose, leadership, vision, community and management
• Promote our group
• Ask members for feedback on what they want
• Have internal OST to create committees and action plans
• Capture what we learned from the Heinberg event (write “best practices” document)
• Develop leadership skills of each member

Tactics:
• Have additional meetings on the weekends
• Advertise meetings
• Develop website
• Develop identity
• Create data base of members
• Take a survey
• Debrief Heinberg

Introducing Richard Heinberg: Atlanta October 11th, 2006

Welcome to Peak Oil: Challenges and Opportunities at the end of Cheap Petroleum--a presentation by Richard Heinberg. My name is Liz Logan, and I am the Organizer for Atlanta Beyond Oil.

If you would have told me eighteen months ago that I would be standing here introducing Richard Heinberg, I would have said you were crazy. When my friends first told me about peak oil, I stuck my fingers in my ears and said "la, la, la, I can't hear you!" I was totally resistant to the idea.

Since I started my peak oil journey, I discovered that people had all kinds of crazy reactions. People told me that they sat at the computer for months reading everything they could find about it, or they began to obsessively make lists of all the supplies that they would need to stock up on.

As we shared our stories, something became obvious to us. Learning about peak oil can have a profound effect on your life. It requires you to rethink things that you may have taken for granted.

It is not a comfortable process. For some of us it meant dusting off our critical thinking skills and learning to read graphs and get comfortable with numbers. For others it meant going through an emotional upheaval.

And ultimately, we are all faced with the question: what can we do to prepare for the energy transition?

No matter where you are in your journey, whether this is your first introduction or you have been grappling with this for a while, you will get something out of Richard's presentation tonight. He will explain the problem, but also offer a solution.

Richard has dedicated his life to increasing the energy literacy of our nation. He has written seven books that have been translated into seven languages. We are offering three of them for sale. They include:

1 The Party's Over: War and the Fate of Industrial Societies. This gives some scientific background about peak oil. The latest edition has been substantially revised.

2 Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World, which lays out the paths that are before us and the consequences of each choice. It is his most political book.

3 His latest book is The Oil Depletion Protocol: A Plan to Avert Oil Wars, Terrorism, and Economic Collapse. It explains the Oil Depletion Protocol, which he will tell you about tonight.

Richard is not only an author, he is also a journalist, educator, editor, lecturer and a Core Faculty member of New College of California. He teaches a course on "Culture, Ecology and Sustainable Community."

He is featured in the film The End of Suburbia, which is many people's introduction to peak oil. He's appeared on national radio and television in eight countries, and has been quoted in Time Magazine, Reuters, and the Associated press. Last month, in a profile in the New Yorker, Bill Clinton told the reporter that he was reading Richard's book The Party's Over.

Richard is also my hero. We are thrilled to have him here and delighted that you could attend.

Please join me in welcoming--Richard Heinberg.

Report on the Energy Transition Summit in CA

I have a report from someone who went to the recent Energy Transition Summit. She is relatively new to the information about peak oil, so looks at this event with fresh eyes. She writes:

I learned from your blog that your group in Atlanta, GA is sponsoring a speech by Richard Heinberg, so I attended an event to hear him.

On Friday, Sep 29th Richard Heinberg was the keynote speaker at the Energy Transition Summit in Santa Rosa, CA. His speech was well illustrated on the screen and seamlessly presented. He simplified a complex subject and made a concise presentation in a clear and articulate manner which saved me many hours of reading and study. His presentation was factual, but his concluding statements about the dire consequences to ourselves and the planet were passionate and motivating. He received a standing ovation.

• Ann Hancock spoke for the Climate Protection Campaign and was a panelist.
• Larry Robinson was a panelist representing Sebastopol, CA city council.
• Jason Bradford was a panelist representing WELL: Willits Economic Localization.
• Julian Darley was a panelist representing Post Carbon Institute.
• Deborah Lindsay was a panelist and Peak Oil Educator.

There were about 150 people in the audience who spoke to each other in interactive dyads and who submitted written questions to the panel. There were many sponsors. Some were vendors and had informational tables.

Lead Sponsors:

• Energy Transition Team
• Leadership Institute for Ecology and the Economy, ,
• Sonoma County Climate Protection Campaign,
• PG&E,
• the Livability Project, and
• Whole Foods.

The panelist had good information about what each of their groups is doing. They encouraged others to get people involved by being positive, to be enthusiastic, and to tell people how much fun it is to work with a wonderful group of new friends.

I personally think that's all good, rather than scaring people, which is probably a turn off, but hardly anyone I know knows what Peak Oil means and the titles of events, books, organizations, committees and groups don't help to explain. The names and titles are meaningful to people already involved, but are cryptic to others. We need a few catchy words to capture the imagination of those not in the know so they will attend an Energy Transition Summits like the one in Santa Rosa and hear Peak Oil explained by Richard Heinberg and the other participants.

~Sonja B.

Thanks very much Sonja B. ! And she brings up a good point--how do we communicate what we are about in just a few words? We need to bridge the gap between jargon and mainstream.

Heinberg on Peak Oil: Challenges and Opportunities at the End of Cheap Petroleum

Modern civilization is dependent on cheap, plentiful energy. But we now face a critical moment in human history: Peak Oil, where global petroleum production enters an irreversible decline, even as demand soars. Dwindling resources and increasing international competition for the remaining supplies have led many experts to issue disturbing warnings about the coming decade.

Richard Heinberg, widely regarded as America’s foremost Peak Oil educator, will share the most up-to-date research on the timing and consequences of global peak oil, and the crucial preparations that must be undertaken, both locally and internationally. His new book, The Oil Depletion Protocol, outlines a practical, humane strategy for addressing petroleum’s inevitable decline.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006
7:30 pm
Trinity United Methodist Church
265 Washington Street SW, Atlanta
(opposite City Hall)
Map Directions
$5 suggested donation
($3 for students/seniors)

Richard Heinberg is a journalist, educator, editor, lecturer and a core faculty member at New College of California in San Francisco, where he teaches courses on Energy and Society and Culture, Ecology and Sustainable Community.

His six books include:

The Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies
Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World
The Oil Depletion Protocol: A Plan to Avert Oil Wars, Terrorism and Economic Collapse

Heinberg’s essays and articles have appeared in many journals and he has given over 200 lectures on oil depletion to a wide variety of audiences. He appears prominently in the documentary The End of Suburbia.

This event is sponsored by Atlanta Beyond Oil,a local organization dedicated to preparing for a changed energy world.
For information, email info@atlantabeyondoil.org
Checkout our Meetup website.

Bicycling, public transportation or walking to this event is encouraged!