Greetings!

The Eighth Annual North West Regional Permaculture Gathering will be held in Eugene, Oregon, September 10-12, 2004.

This year's theme is "Advancing Towards An Enduring Bio-Region."

We are on the home stretch making ready for the Gathering. Bookmark this site and check back for updates. This update is being made September 10. Updated Schedule below!

Please help us reach more people, tell friends and others about the Gathering! Copy, Paste and Forward this info. Thanks!

Location
This year's site will be at Maitreya Eco Village, on Eugene's near west side. The Village is a wonderfull location for the Gathering. It is home to nearly 20 people, a large organic garden, various earth friendly structures and a host of permaculture features ongoing. The site is an evolving and dynamic example of permaculture redevelopment within an existing medium density residential neighborhood. The location is at Almaden and Broadway, or about 20 blocks west of downtown Eugene. The closest larger street is Chambers, one block to the west of Maitreya. Broadway is 4 blocks south of 7th, which is a major east- west one way street in central Eugene. The Village is 4 blocks south and one block east of the busy intersection 7th and Chambers.

Maitreya will look its best ever for the event! We will be prepared for wet weather. There are indoor meeting spaces and large outdoor spaces will be covered if necessary.

Cost
$20 to $40 per day. You may come for a half day, $10 to $20. We encourage those who can pay more to do so to help the Guild as we offer work trade and scholarships.

Food
You are invited to share your gardens and pantries. Bring the ingredients and we will prepare 3 meals a day starting with Friday dinner through Sunday lunch. Please donate a quantity and quality roughly equivalent to your own personal consumption. Attendees who do not bring food donations will be asked to contribute $3/meal. Please bring your own plates, cups and utensils if you can.

Lodging
Out of town people: Free lodging at peoples' homes or camping on site. Contact Rob, [541] 344 7196 to set up housing.

In town people: We will not be providing lodging to people living in town. However, we would like to create a sense of family and community at the main event site. Therefore, we encourage you to spend as much of the day as possible with us and to join us for all your meals.


Transportation
We are making efforts to create as car-free an event as possible. We would like to encourage all participants to walk, bike, or bus to the registration site. Participants from the outlying areas (Cottage Grove, Dexter, etc.) please consider carpools and/or leaving your vehicle at another in-town location. From further away, please car pool or take the train. We will pick you up at the station, call Jan if you need a train or bus pick up, [541] 686 6761


Dogs and Pets
The Gathering is not a place to bring pets and dogs. Please leave them at home. Thanks!

Volunteer

There will be volunteer/work trade opportunity such as kitchen, recycling, registration, as need requires. There will be a limited number of scholarships. Contact Audrey and Adam ASAP at fullyhydrogenated@yahoo.com or [541] 302 3247

Contact
For more information, Rob at 541 344 7196 or e-mail Jan at spencerj@efn.org

Advancing Towards An Enduring Bio Region

One of our goals for the entire Gathering is to collect good ideas that will become part of the Green Paper. The Green Paper will be a document describing ideas, principles and strategies for moving Eugene in a direction that is oriented towards taking care of more of our needs; cultural and economic, within our Bio-Region. The Guild will present the Green Paper to the City of Eugene in January.

Both Friday night and Sunday late afternoon, see schedule below, there will be group sessions specifically designed to stimulate ideas and insights to include in the Green Paper covering a variety of topics including but not limited to eco restoration, culture, food production and distribution, urban/suburban redesign, outreach and education, transportation, community resource sharing and economics.

Companion to the Green Paper is Action Agendas. These are ideas and strategies people can adopt and commit to in their own lives, with their families and neighborhoods. Participants will be encouraged to cluster with others for mutual support in putting these Action Agendas into use.

Here is the Updated Schedule for the 2004, 8th Annual Northwest Regional Permaculutre Garthering

This schedule updated September10

Note, there are tracks to follow for workshops and panels,

Column A is more "traditional" permaculture skills.

Column B is the Bio Regional Track, ideas relating to attributes of a more local culture, way of life and economy.

Column C contains several topics more on the philosophical and human development side

Column D is a mix

Column E is Kid Friendly, but not restricted to Kids.

The last session at 3:15 will summarize much of what we will discuss at the Gathering. A group is working on a "Green Paper" that will be a set of priciples, ideas and strategies to be given to the City of Eugene describing a Permaculture approach to redesigning and redefining Eugene and its surrroundings within Bio Regional concepts. All good ideas are invited. There will be on going opportunities to share those good ideas about evolving Eugene towards a more local culture, restored environment and economy all weekend, during discussions and at the Idea Wall.

After 5, there will be a seed swap, food preservation and networking.