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Amir Kassam <[log in to unmask]>
Mon, 15 Jul 2019 17:08:57 +0100
text/plain (13 kB) , text/html (62 kB)
*Global CA-CoP* *CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE*

*for sustainable agriculture and land management*

Dear Subscribers,

Please see herebelow a message from Did Pershouse about the annual soil
sponge gathering at Lake Morey Resort
<https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=6cb79467f0&e=7906f4d8e3>
at Fairlee, Vermont, USA (which she hosts with Australian soil
microbiologist and climate scientist Walter Jehne). The gathering will take
place from August 15 to 18, 2019 (with an optional hands-on soil workshop
on the 14th). Tickets are on sale now.
<https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=5a04c621c2&e=7906f4d8e3>

Apologies for any cross-posting.

*Amir Kassam *

*Moderator*

*Global CA-CoP*

e-mail: [log in to unmask]

URL: http://www.fao.org/conservation-agriculture


*Conservation Agriculture is an ecosystem approach to regenerative
sustainable agriculture and land management based on the practical
application of context-specific and locally adapted three interlinked
principles of: (i) Continuous no or minimum mechanical soil disturbance
(no-till seeding/planting and weeding, and minimum soil disturbance with
all other farm operations including harvesting);  (ii) permanent
maintenance of soil mulch cover (crop biomass, stubble and cover crops);
and (iii) diversification of cropping system (economically, environmentally
and socially adapted rotations and/or sequences and/or associations
involving annuals and/or perennials, including legumes and cover crops),
along with other complementary good agricultural production and land
management practices. Conservation Agriculture systems are present in all
continents, involving rainfed and irrigated systems including annual
cropland systems, perennial systems, orchards and plantation systems,
agroforestry systems, crop-livestock systems, pasture and rangeland
systems, organic production systems and rice-based systems. Conservation
Tillage, Reduced Tillage and Minimum Tillage are not Conservation
Agriculture, and nor is No-Till on its own* (more at:
http://www.fao.org/conservation-agriculture).
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Didi Pershouse <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2019 at 17:22
Subject: Join me for the annual Soil Carbon Sponge Gathering with Walter
Jehne
To: Amir <[log in to unmask]>


*
<https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=4438013a1d&e=7906f4d8e3>Didi
Pershouse*
*Author • Soil Sponge Strategist • Educator*
*Founder of the Land & Leadership Initiative*

*Author of The Ecology of Care
<https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=b9c6ec0a4e&e=7906f4d8e3>
and Understanding Soil Health and Watershed Function
<https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=d53f924bbc&e=7906f4d8e3>*
*Hello wonderful people,*

*Do you want to learn how to build effective communities of practice--that
bring diverse groups (different political parties, different species,
different cultures) into trusted working relationships that can build the
world we all want? *

At our annual soil sponge gathering at Lake Morey Resort
<https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=6cb79467f0&e=7906f4d8e3>(which
I
host with Australian soil microbiologist and climate scientist Walter
Jehne) we have been building a cohort of engaged farmers, policymakers,
educators, and community members. A few of the projects that have come out
of our past gatherings include the Vermont Healthy Soils Coalition
<https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=f932fd21fd&e=7906f4d8e3>,
the Can We Rehydrate California? Initiative
<https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=63e65839c5&e=7906f4d8e3>,
the Land and Leadership Initiative
<https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=34c099efdd&e=7906f4d8e3>,
major shifts in public perception of soil's role in community and climate
resilience, legislative action, many hands-on monitoring workshops, new
narratives
<https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=b97ceff789&e=7906f4d8e3>,
YouTube videos
<https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=7e5a0692e8&e=7906f4d8e3>
, a facilitator's manual and curriculum
<https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=482b82e437&e=7906f4d8e3>,
online courses
<https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=e884890897&e=7906f4d8e3>,
and other outcomes too numerous to list here.

We will gather this year from August 15 to 18, (with an optional hands-on
soil workshop on the 14th) and since we are gathering in summer rather than
winter, we will finally get to enjoy the lake! Tickets are on sale now.
<https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=5a04c621c2&e=7906f4d8e3>

Here's what Dave Chapman, Founder of Long Wind Farm
<https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=5d9ef45496&e=7906f4d8e3>
and
the Real Organic Project
<https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=85ff59fb1a&e=7906f4d8e3>
 said:

*"The workshop that Didi facilitated this weekend with Walter Jehne was
stellar. I count it as one of the best educational experiences of my life.
The intimacy and community-building of the three days at Lake Morey Resort
was a significant part of the experience."*

This year we are taking it to a new level.

*We will focus our learning this year on communication, communities of
practice and **emergent strategies. *

Emergent strategies are new aims and adaptive actions that unfold
and become clear as a result of ongoing learning, listening, and
observation within a community of practice. Here are some examples:

   -

   Emergent strategy is the basis of the incredibly high gains in soil
   carbon at a group of farms in Saskatchewan, whose holistic managers gather
   every month in a community of practice to discuss failures, successes, new
   learning, long term aims, and immediate challenges in their land and
   relationships. (I wrote about this in *The Ecology of Care*
   <https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=eeae54720c&e=7906f4d8e3>,
   and the upcoming book *Health in the Anthropocene*.)
   -

   Emergent strategy was the foundation of the wildly successful New Mexico
   Soil Health Bill that passed with a landslide of support from both
   Republicans and Democrats
   <https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=279143e787&e=7906f4d8e3>
   .
   -

   In Andhra Pradesh, India, half a million farmers have adopted Zero
   Budget Natural Farming
   <https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=bd64580398&e=7906f4d8e3>--due
   to the emergent strategies that came out of women's self-help groups and
   farmer-to-farmer peer learning groups. They are on target to turn the
   entire state into a natural farming region within the next five years.
   -

   Plants, fungi, microbes, and animals (and sometimes humans) manage
   landscapes through emergent strategies as they sense changes, adapt, create
   new systems and structures, and learn together as a community of practice.
   The new film *The Biggest Little Farm*
   <https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=1cd05d32c2&e=7906f4d8e3>
shows
   many beautiful examples of this.

We will learn from these and from participants' own examples.

An interrelated theme this year is *communication*: how do we talk to
others about what we know? How do we set up meetings and conferences and
learning groups that build working relationships and inspire ongoing
learning and action? We will look at why some narratives, facilitation, and
communication styles create fear, wedges/conflict, and feelings of
dis-empowerment that result in stagnation. And we will explore and
practice narratives, facilitation, and communication styles that
create close working relationships, flexible thinking, and emergent
strategies (rather than rigid rules), to bring diverse people
together towards common aims.

*Throughout the four days together, we will dive deeply into the principles
at work in vibrant communities of practice (above and below ground) that
create livable climates, and landscapes that provide health and resilience
for all the species that live in them. *

We will share our projects (both successful and not-so-successful), our
vision of what is possible, look at what stops us and what keeps us
inspired, and allow space for new emergent strategies to develop.

Since it's well known that our minds work best when we can relax together,
as well as work together, we will spend our mornings and evenings learning
and working together, and the afternoons will be devoted to relaxed
conversation and simply “being” together—with a big buffet lunch and time
for sitting by the water, walks, swimming, boating, (even a round of golf
if that appeals to anyone!).

*We are also offering a hands-on, experiential soil workshop with Didi
Pershouse, Walter Jehne, and Cat Buxton at a local farm on Wednesday
afternoon, from 1pm to 5pm called "Understanding the Soil Sponge and Green
Stormwater Infrastructure."*
*Pricing & Payment*

   - Hands-on Pre-Conference Workshop: "Understanding the Soil Sponge and
   Green Stormwater Infrastructure" (Wednesday, August 14, from 1pm to 5pm):
   $75
   - Four-Day Learning and Strategy Session Registration (includes buffet
   lunches): $395 (Thursday, August 15th-Sunday August 18th)
   - Thursday & Friday only (includes buffet lunches): $225
   - Saturday and Sunday only (includes buffet lunches): $225
   - Optional Donation (your choice of amount) towards our scholarship fund.

You can save yourself from paying hefty ticket processing fees on
Eventbrite by sending me an email to let us know you are coming
<https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=446e975685&e=7906f4d8e3>
and
then mailing your check (made out to "Land and Leadership") plus your phone
and email contact information, directly to: Didi Pershouse, PO Box 277,
Thetford Center, VT 05075.



*Our aim is for everyone who wants to attend to be able to. We are counting
on donations and sponsors to make this possible. If you are in need of
financial assistance, please contact me directly
<https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=a5083ec5f1&e=7906f4d8e3>,
*let me know your situation and what you can afford to pay.

Please sign up soon, as attendance is limited to 60 people on Thursday and
Friday, and 100 people on Saturday and Sunday.
Click here for the registration page for the conference!
<https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=3c549ad869&e=7906f4d8e3>
*Lodging:* Lake Morey Resort is mostly booked, due to it being summer, but
we have five rooms available to share right at the resort, (with space for
two to five people to bunk together in each room) and will be also helping
to coordinate rooms and space for camping in the surrounding communities.
If you'd like to share a room at the Lake Morey Resort, or share a local
AirBnB, *(or if you can offer a spot in your own home for someone)* contact
Cat Buxton at [log in to unmask]
<[log in to unmask]>.
I hope you'll join us for these strategic sessions and Vermont summer
magic.

Warmly,
*Didi*

<https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=e56b6c619f&e=7906f4d8e3>

<https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=d00748f318&e=7906f4d8e3>
*Gmail Users: To make sure my newsletters don't end up in your Promotions
folder (where you might never see them!), right-click (on the newsletter)
when it shows up in Gmail and select Move to Tab > Primary.*
*Copyright © 2019 Didi Pershouse, Author and Educator, All rights reserved.*
You are receiving this email because you subscribed at www.didipershouse.com
or www.sustainablemedicine.com, you signed up at a conference or event, or
because I added you after a personal conversation we had. Please send me an
email if you have a question or request, or you can simply hit
"unsubscribe."

*Our mailing address is:*
Didi Pershouse, Author and Educator
PO Box 277
Thetford Center, VT 05075

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<https://didipershouse.us6.list-manage.com/vcard?u=6075151f49894b2c63289a22a&id=23a9af86fe>


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