UMass Amherst Offers ‘Permaculture Your Campus’ Conference

AMHERST, Mass. – As part of campus-wide sustainability efforts, the University of Massachusetts Amherst is hosting its second annual “Permaculture Your Campus” conference on June 23–26. Discount registration is available for students, faculty and staff from other universities, food service managers, chefs and sustainability coordinators who wish to attend.

 

Kicking off the conference will be urban revitalization strategist Majora Carter, co-founder and CEO of StartUpSouthBronx, who will deliver the keynote speech, “Home(town) Security,” at 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 23 in the Campus Center Auditorium. This event is open to the public. Doors open at 6 p.m. for refreshments and networking before Carter’s presentation. Tickets can be purchased online at www.UMassMajoraCarter.Eventbrite.com.

 

Carter is an internationally renowned urban revitalization strategy consultant, real estate developer and Peabody Award-winning broadcaster. She is responsible for the creation and successful implementation of numerous green-infrastructure projects, policies and job training and placement systems.

 

Participants in the UMass Amherst permaculture conference will examine diverse models of institutional sustainability designed using the campus permaculture toolset. They will gain hands-on permaculture experience and explore strategies for creating a culture of sustainability at college campuses and other organizations, says Rachel Dutton, a sustainability manager at UMass Amherst and a conference organizer.

 

The 2013 Permaculture Your Campus Conference mission is to gather students, faculty and staff from colleges, universities and businesses in the United States and internationally to learn why and how permaculture design is being used as the guiding framework for some of the most cutting-edge sustainability programs around the world, she adds.

 

“College and university campuses are incredibly important places to demonstrate sustainability practices that our planet and society truly need,” says Dutton. “Permaculture is a whole-systems approach to sustainability that allows us to meet the needs of people today while improving the quality of social and ecological systems for future generations.”

 

A previous participant in the UMass Permaculture conference, Cedar Blazek of Williams College, says, “I know the basic principles of permaculture, I know what we can do at our campus, and I gained a lot of tools that I can take back to Williams and hopefully get a program started.” Abrah Jordan Dresdale of Greenfield Community College adds, “I think this is a really good catalyst event for people to go home and have some concrete material to digest.”

 

Dutton says current and aspiring academic professionals, food service managers and marketing staff, landscaping and grounds staff, facilities and sustainability managers, students and others will benefit from the course. A permaculture garden achieves whole-systems sustainability in that it is diverse, environmentally regenerative, aesthetically pleasing and produces a variety of edible plants, including berries, nuts, fruits, roots, herbs, medicinals, flowers and vegetables, she adds.

 

In 2012, the UMass Amherst Permaculture team won the most votes nationally in President Obama’s Campus Champions of Change Challenge from among 1,400 entries. The student-led group has planted more than 4,000 fruit trees, berry bushes, herbs, flowers and vegetables on the campus and has plans to transform more grass lawns into edible landscapes each year.