The first ever Eastern Pennyslvania Permaculture Convergence took place a few weeks ago in Lilitz, Pa. Nearly 60 people came out to take part in the event at the Millport Conservancy. I wasn’t able to attend, but the way my friend Dana Herman describes, it sounds like it was a great event:
The convergence was very interesting from my standpoint, I haven’t been in a permaculture gathering before so it kinda felt like I was in a different country, a kind country. The group used new meanings for familiar words like, popcorn for throwing out ideas, and after stacking when they would identify individuals who wanted to make a longer point. Also some interesting hand signals to show you were agreeing or not to what the speaker was saying, another set of signals to point out if person went off topic or if another wanted to make a specific comment back to that point the speaker made. The process in getting all the ideas down was very organized and at the same time organic. When time was up, the organizers told us we could have lunch while they took all the boards out of the room to compose them in groupings.
After lunch they came in and placed 6 posters up on the wall with bubble off shoots of ideas. Outreach, Public Relations, Programming, Funding, Vision/Mission, and Structure.
The plan was for us to decide which one spoke to us most and when they called out the name of that poster someone was to come up (one who wanted to be acting leader) get the poster and go to a different area of the room and those interested would follow. Structure had Legal, Membership, Staff/Volunteers, Infrastructure, Functions, Funding and Internal and we barely got the first 3.
The goal now is that each groups leader take what was discussed and type it up into a format and post within the Worldpress.com [site] and that we (the rest of us) work on this for the next month or so until a new meeting is scheduled.
-Dana Herman
There are a few other reviews of the event on the blog, click on the names below for those reviews.
Those of us not able to attend the convergence are asked to join one of the Working Groups to join the discussion.
Here’s the site for the convergence: easternpennpermaculture.wordpress.com
For more information about the convergence, contact susq.pc@gmail.com.
Philly Permaculture 