Written by April Event Series Continues Efforts for “Community Opportunity Organizing”
April 15, 2021, Southern Illinois – Clean energy and climate change adaptation and mitigation opportunities are the biggest moment of our time. A series of events this April and May are kicking off a concerted #AllTogetherNowSI effort to organize our communities around the efforts to bring these new opportunities to the southern Illinois region, for the benefit of current and future generations. All event schedules and related information are at AllTogetherNowSI.com or you can link directly to Zoom registration at the links below.
On Tuesday, April 20th at noon, Monica Gehrig, Curriculum and Professional Development Manager at Green Our Planet, will present on their turnkey School Garden and Hydroponics Program. She will also cover how GoP pivoted to offering online education to students over the last year. For an additional twist on the hydroponics opportunities, Hilary Scott-Ogunride of Macedonia Development Corporation is going to tell us about SLIP, St. Louis Indoor Produce, their innovative business model and sustainable lighting solutions. Hilary’s work is focused on development of the clean energy and jobs development pipeline. She said,
“When you think about your future, your children’s future…Think green, think clean, think how, then act now.”
Registration is required, please register at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAkdOqhqjwtEtHKIkx86BRhzEQ0mjoUlw5m
On April 20th from 4:30-6:00 p.m., a round table discussion on the topic of local food and farms will take place. Panelists and topics include:
- Marilyn Tipton – Food Autonomy Group in Carbondale – Coalition of Community Gardens and Chicken Coops
- Jennifer Paulson – Food Works – Local Food System Development
- Marcella Woodson – Men of Power-Women of Strength – Cairo Community Gardens
- Stephanie Taylor – Community Development Sustainable Solutions of East St. Louis – Urban Agriculture Experience
- Molly Gleason – Illinois Stewardship Alliance – Latest Illinois farm and food legislation news
- Shantanu Pai, Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, Food Waste and Farm-to-Food-Bank Survey, Technical Assistance Program
Registration is required, please register at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcpd-igqjIsE93qMonUYKZ0Wh5FYyjjUZZc
On Wednesday, April 21st from 4:00-5:00 p.m., we’ll be hearing about the future of public housing with ReGen Villages by James Ehrlich:
- Engineering and facilitating the development of integrated and resilient neighborhoods that power and feed self reliant families around the world.
- Using artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to enable thriving and flourishing communities with surplus energy, clean water, high-yield organic food that support urgently needed neighborhood regenerative resiliency.
- Partnering with regional land developers, architects, construction, universities and brand manufacturing firms to maximize cost-benefit efficiency that enable global scaling of development projects.
Registration is required, please register at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcvdO2oqzMrGNHZEnxSmCclrh0LnoP839jX
On April 23rd at noon, we’ll be hearing from Tim Michels of Energy Resources Group, long-time proponent of energy efficiency and renewable energy. He has a plan for revitalizing and strengthening our southern Illinois communities and growing jobs with energy efficiency and renewable energy. Over the years, Mr. Michels has developed a variety of appropriate technologies, building designs, and economic development plans to meet the needs of economically disadvantaged populations. He visited Carbondale in June 2019 for the first Climate Economy Kickoff Event. With more time to talk this time around, Tim’s going to go into much more detail on how to get past “net-zero” to “restorative.”
Registration is required, please register at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIsfuuhpz4pE9BrvMCxMKWvwfU_e5jkCbJD
On Tuesday, April 27th at noon, we’ll be hearing from Dr. Paul Anderson. Dr. Anderson has long experience in biochar equipment and producing biochar, and he’ll be sharing some of his insights for southern Illinois. Also, a new local group is aiming to establish a “local carbon network” for collecting local organic non-food waste and forestry waste to produce biochar, combining it with local food waste compost, and supplementing our soil. There are many benefits of applying biochar to soil. There are also many other uses of biochar. We’ll be launching our new local carbon network over this event and the coming months.
Registration is required, please register at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwpfumprj4iHtUY8D_daMgJNbj3xXo-XboH
Amy McMorrow Hunter, President/CEO of The Climate Economy Education Inc (TCE), is the host of these events and moderator of this discussions. Additional sponsors include the Just Transition Fund, experts in helping coal communities transition their economies after coal shutdowns, and ShopSouthernIllinois.com, a locally-owned business directory. TCE’s events are always recorded and put up on our YouTube channel. The change that we need will come from our communities. We can learn what’s happening in our communities to create positive change, and learn how we can get involved today.
The Climate Economy Education Inc is a local nonprofit for education on business models and lifestyles that are good for the climate, economy and humanity. TCE also runs the CLimate Economy Action Network at CLEANetwork.com, also funded by the Just Transition Fund. Everything on CLEANetwork.com is free and up and running and available 24/7 so people can check in and get involved when they have time. CLEANetwork.com is all about making it super easy for people to take target actions that reduce harmful emissions, increase community resilience, increase civic engagement or help others. Online courses are available so people can hone their skills on the hottest emerging topics that are relevant to southern Illinois. Also, we’re building our community. CLEANetwork.com facilitates online groups, discussions and project management so when the time is right, we take it offline and get some work done outside. Youth programs are also available. It’s all an evolving, long-term project for southern Illinois. Signing up on the CLEANetwork.com is free and people can earn points and rewards for taking positive target actions.
