Download The Peace of Wild Things

The Peace of Wild Things
Permaculture Design, Bioregional
Discipleship, and the Ecology of Justice
A 17-day Permaculture Design
Certification Course
With Chris Grataski, Melissa Shank,
Sylvia Keesmaat,
Elaine Enns & Ched Myers
April 25th-May 11th, 2014
Ventura River Watershed, CA
We live in the midst of an historic crisis that demands serious and sustained engagement from people of
faith. A commitment to God, as well as to the interwoven issues of climate change, structural violence, and
the interlocking oppressions that stalk our history, should compel us to make the work of social and
ecological justice integral to everything we do as Christians and citizens. We can no longer ignore the
connections between the social and ecological catastrophes that loom over us. We need both deep paradigm
shifts and practical changes of habit in our homes, churches, and denominations. It is time to embrace the
vocation envisioned by the Apostle Paul: that followers of God stand in passionate solidarity with a Creation
that is enslaved to our dysfunctional and terminal civilizational lifeways, and find ways to bring liberation to
the earth and all its inhabitants (Rom 8:20f).
Radical Discipleship, Permaculture Design, & Bioregionalism
Through immersion in the study and observation of wild nature, both in the classroom and in the field, and
through ecological re-readings of ancient texts and engagement with relevant social analysis, students will be
equipped to creatively inhabit the prophetic tradition in a diversity of ways relevant to our context of social
violence and ecological catastrophe. In addition to the standard PDC curriculum, this course will survey what
we call “watershed discipleship,” and is designed to offer a radical re-orientation to how followers of Christ
see the world and take up their place within it. Seeking to foster a transition from what Bill Plotkin calls an
“ego-centric” posture to an “eco-centric” way of living, we will provide practical pathways to re-inhabitory
discipleship and recast spiritual formation as the recovery of creatureliness. By setting permaculture design
and the bioregional framework in conversation with radical theology and practice, we will explore the rich
ecological character that is at the heart of biblical faith.
About the Instructors
Chris Grataski is a Permaculture Instructor & Design Professional working
across the continent and rooted in the landscapes between Appalachia and the
Chesapeake Bay. Drawing heavily on the bioregionalist vision, he works as an
herbalist, grassroots educator and design
activist committed to social and ecological
justice. He is currently completing a
Master’s Degree in Applied Ecology.
Melissa Shank Grataski is an herbalist,
wildcrafter, and midwife’s assistant. She has
a passion for women’s traditional wisdom
and is committed to the preservation of knowledge and skills that are
increasingly endangered by industrial rationality and culture. She has
been gardening since she was 7 years old.
Elaine Enns is a practitioner and trainer in Restorative Justice, currently doing
doctoral work in how to heal historic trauma. Ched Myers is an activist
theologian known for his work on scripture and social justice (see
www.ChedMyers.org). They work with Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries
(www.bcm-net.org), cultivate edibles and native plants, and volunteer in local
environmental organizations in the Ventura River Watershed.
Guest resource person Sylvia Keesmat is a New
Testament scholar, theologian and farmer at Russet House Farm in Ontario, Canada
(www.russethousefarm.ca). Sylvia, along with partner Brian Walsh, wrote Colossians
Remixed: Subverting the Empire. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004.
Curriculum
Coming into the Watershed: Bioregionalism & Discipleship
The intersecting oppressions regarding race, class,
sex and gender are fundamentally connected to
problems of ecological degradation. The same can
be said for many forms of psychological and
physiological illness. To acknowledge this
“ecology of injustice and pain” is to recognize that
violence, dehumanization, and illness always occur
against the backdrop of actual places and
ecosystems. And that the personal, social, and
ecological problems that have consistently marked
human history arise from the same root
pathology.
Since the church is called to a ministry of
reconciliation that encompasses the whole of
reality, we believe that a faithful embodiment of
the gospel must “connect the dots” and address
the interwoven ailments of civilization at their
roots. As Christians, we believe that regenerative
resources for eco-social imagination and praxis lie
at the origins of our own tradition.
Sadly, the church has often forsaken these gifts in
favor of power and comfort in the contexts of
empire. Our theological imaginations have
become banal and fragmented, our memory has
grown dim, and we’ve become increasingly
severed from the liberative elements of our
scriptural tradition. [Right: Print by Julia Jack Scott.]
In order to rediscover these ancient resources, we need to look at our tradition anew, in conversation with
paradigms that more readily hold the connections together. The constellation of movements known
collectively as “bioregionalism” can prove particularly helpful for this task. Bioregionalism is a diverse and
evolving body of thought and practice that seeks to make explicit the connections between socio-political
issues and the regional ecosystems within which they are embedded. Emphasizing disciplines of re-
inhabitation and place-based cultural renaissance, the social imagination and practices of bioregionalism offer
a more holistic framework for the church’s work as an agent of restorative justice in the world. This 17-day
course will offer a comprehensive overview of what we call “watershed discipleship”—a fresh way of mapping
our context that draws heavily on permaculture, bioregionalism, and radical ecological justice movements,
ancient and contemporary.
Theology, Bible Study, & Radical Discipleship
When people of faith are detached from their storied history, we also become alienated from our most
enlivening resources for resistance, liberation, and hope. We strongly believe that the Bible is an ally, not an
adversary, in the task of tending to the earth’s wounds. The prophetic traditions of scripture represent a
repository of “dangerous memories” which are capable of rousing us from our ecocidal slumber. Through
reflective poems, warning tales, grand sagas and radical histories, the scriptures summon us to remember our
origins, invite us to imagine and work for a restorative future, and call us to liberate and heal ourselves and
the places we call home.
The ecological endgame we face requires that Christians re-think
the fundamental paradigms undergirding all the practices of the
church—from prayer and liturgy to mission and proclamation—in
order to deconstruct habits of objectification and exploitation and
reconstruct identity around place, fidelity, and shalom. This
involves reflective and critical theologizing; pedagogic engagement
at all levels of the Christian community; personal healing and
recovery work; rehabilitation of atrophied or forgotten skills (e.g.
gardening, foraging, and food preservation); and political
organizing efforts that are both locally and globally accountable. This PDC will uniquely weave biblical study,
liberation theology and spiritual practice throughout the curriculum, showing the profound resonance
between radical theology and a deep ecological re-visioning of human life.
Permaculture & Applied Ecology
The internationally recognized Permaculture Design Certification requires a minimum of 72 hours of
instruction. According to industry standards, the curriculum is ordered around the contents of Bill
Mollison’s The Permaculture Designer’s Manual. The primary objective of a PDC is to offer baseline
training in the design of regenerative human habitats that are modeled on natural patterns. This course is an
entry-level requirement to the field of professional permaculture. With broad and deep content, it serves as
an extended introduction to applied ecology and (eco)systems-thinking, providing exposure to the skills,
practices, tools and analytic framework that shape permaculture as an ecological design discipline. While
some hands-on training will be part of the curriculum, the course is traditionally structured to be information
and imagination intensive. This course is not a substitute for field experience and action-learning, but rather
designed to inform, catalyze, and facilitate subsequent learning-by-doing. It will “fill the toolbelt” of the
student and equip her or him for action, in ways that are accessible and challenging to a wide range of
participants, regardless of experience. Course subject matter will include, but not be limited to, the following:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Patterns and Processes of Wild Ecosystems
Ethics & Principles for Nurturing Regenerative
Human Habitats
Ecological Design Methodologies
Pattern Literacy and Pattern Recognition
Reading & Interpreting Landscapes and
Watersheds
Large Scale Land Restoration
Water Harvesting Strategies
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Soil Science
Tree Ecology
Aquaculture
Mycology and Mycorestoration Strategies
Restoration & Bioremediation of Degraded
Landscapes
Regenerative Waste Treatment Systems
Regenerative Earthworks
Livestock Systems
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Wetland Ecology Preservation &
Enhancement
Natural Building Strategies & Vernacular
Architecture
Agroforestry
Nutritional Anthropology
Herbal Medicine
Animal Tracking & Bird Language
Basic Botany
Regenerative Vegetable Production
Agro-Biodiversity
•
•
•
•
•
•
Food Forests and Holistic Orcharding
Energy Conservation, “People Power” &
Liberation Technologies
Wildland Management and Restoration
Ecological Justice and Intersecting
Oppressions
Alternative Economics and Ecological
Community Structures
Food Justice & Community Supported
Agriculture
About the Host Site
While many permaculture courses are
held on functioning permaculture farms
(or in exotic places!), this course will be
held in the kind of context we most
hope to see the practice of “bioregional
imagination” take root—within ordinary
local congregations. Ojai Valley
Community Church (OVCC), like
many other churches, is just beginning
to explore how the ecological
ramifications of its faith are connected
to the inward and outward journey of
following Christ in the way of peace.
OVCC is discerning how best to inhabit
God’s cause of justice in the range of landscapes and social contexts in which it is located or proximate,
perched at the suburban/rural interface. This congregational site will allow participants to reflect critically on
their own social locations, whether culturally diverse or homogeneous, privileged or marginalized. OVCC is
nestled in the amazing Ojai Valley within the Ventura River Watershed, home to many integrative
environmental and food justice movements (above: the Topa Topa range in Ojai).
Certification & Accreditation
The Permaculture Design Certification is the baseline requirement in the interdisciplinary field of
permaculture design. While many people from all walks of life find the curriculum to be formative and
empowering with regard to their “lay” pursuits, the PDC is also the prerequisite to using the trademarked
term “permaculture” in on-the-ground applications ranging from community organizing to organic farming,
and from urban renewable energy cooperatives to sustainable business consulting. The most frequent
professional use of the PDC is with regard to land-use management, design, and the agrarian arts. The
certifying instructor for this course is Chris Grataski, a registered Tagari Permaculture Instructor who has
been practicing professionally since 2009.
See Registration Form for Costs & Policies