Photo courtesy of Great Lake Bioneers
This year is a celebration of ten fantastic conferences for the Great Lakes Bioneers of Traverse City on October 14th, 15th, and 16th. Northwestern Michigan College, SEEDS, and The Neahtawanta Research and Education Center are sponsoring the tenth annual conference in Traverse City, MI. This is the longest standing satellite location of the national Bioneers. This year’s theme: RECLAIMING THE COMMONS—which includes natural and cultural resources, public goods, and “life commons”. The conferences have been a place for a “broad tent” of people to come together to learn and grow together as a community. A bioneer is anyone who keeps thoughts about their place in the natural world—who cares about their personal affects on the Earth and other people. For some of us that may simply mean: Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
A day at the conference includes, but is not limited to: speakers, films, workshops, music, skills fair, field trips and food. The speakers are both locally and nationally renowned, and are going to be speaking on the importance of the “Commons.” Throughout the day, participants are invited to hands-on in workshops about empowerment—for instance: Participatory Media and the Communications Power Shift, The Real Food Challenge, or Learning Local: Building the Next Generation of Environmental Stewards. Beyond the workshops, participants are invited on exploration field trips, or to a re-skilling fair during the day that teaches new skills like making soap, sharpening tools, yoga or how to compost. The Bioneers will also have an area devoted to families where people can take their kids to nap or hang out. With the purchase of meal tickets, attendees can get a nutritious lunch full of local and organic foods each day.
On both Friday and Saturday, the conference is sponsoring some awesome entertainment for the conference-goers and the public. Every year on Friday, The Earthwork Music Collective puts on a concert to showcase Michigan’s talent. On Saturday, Steppin’ In It will be entertaining the crowds. Saturday night will also feature the world premiere of the film “When We Run” at the State Theater.
The core of the Bioneers are the hardcore group of volunteers who work to make this conference happen every year. It’s a collaborative effort between these volunteers, the SEEDS staff and the very helpful weekend volunteers who pledge anywhere between 3 and 100 hours. The result of all that hard work is that anyone is welcome to attend; Michiganders of all ages join in the community and sometimes folks from further out into the Midwest join in as well. Those that are traveling are encouraged to carpool, and the Bioneers site has resources to help with that and lodging. There are plenty of hotels near by and there are local Bioneers willing to host people as well.
This conference is an AWESOME experience to learn how to keep our mitten as great as it is for many years to come. One of the main volunteers in charge of this year’s conference says, “This Bioneers conference is awesome because of its connection to the Great Lakes! The logo includes the lakes’ watershed–the commons is far reaching.” There is an undercurrent of empowerment and inclusiveness that reigns over the weekend with the hope that mitten-lovers of all ages, communities, political perspectives, and ideas come together to “Reclaim the Commons!” ~Joanna Dueweke, Regional Director
Check it out on their website at Great Lakes Bioneers of Traverse City or on Facebook at Great Lakes Bioneers of Traverse City
