Colorado Bioneers

The Colorado Bioneers Conference, an inspirational scientific, environmental, and social justice event, will be held at the University of Colorado at Boulder on October 16-18, 2009. 

Boulder is one of 21 communities in North America with a Bioneers satellite forum, taking place October 16-18 at CU-Boulder. Bioneers (www.bioneers.org) is the preeminent gathering of leading scientific innovators & environmental visionaries who offer practical solutions to the most pressing environmental and social issues of our time. Bioneers, in its 20th year, uniquely and authentically connects the dots between environment, health, social justice and spirit.

In its seventh year, the Colorado Bioneers companion event offers a weekend of sharing, learning and action, and brings together the region’s progressive ideas, people and organizations. The conference features a live satellite feed of the main Bioneers plenaries, and is locally enriched with sessions and workshops on regional issues, music, art, films, field trips, networking opportunities, children's activities, and a green living marketplace.

The 2009 Colorado Bioneers event features:

·      Bioneers Plenary Speakers, live via satellite

BROCK DOLMAN Basins of Relations: A Reverential Rehydration Revolution

KARI FULTON  Youth Redefining Environmentalism, Reclaiming our Futures

JACK HIDARY  From Small Steps to the Energy Revolution

SARAH JAMES Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change: Report from the Arctic

MICHAEL POLLAN  In Defense of Food: The Omnivore’s Solution

JASON MCLENNAN  Living Buildings-The Future of Architecture

LILY YEH  The Rwanda Healing Project: Bringing Hope Through Art and Creative Action

JENSINE LARSEN  The Electric Pulse of Women Transforming Our World

ARTURO SANDOVAL   Changing the Axis: Drawing from Mexican and Latin American Cultures to Create a Sustainable Future

ANDREW WEIL   Environmental Health, Environmental Medicine

JOANNA MACY  The Hidden Promise of Our Dark Age: Discovering Our Wisdom, Strength & Beauty in the Midst of Crisis

MARI MARGIL  Who speaks for the Trees? Driving Nature’s Rights into Law

CHIEF ALMIR NARAYAMOGA SURUI   Biocultural Conservation in the Amazon

JEROME RINGO  The Color Of Green: The Next Inconvenient Truth

ANNIE LEONARD  The Story of Stuff

·      Sessions and Workshops addressing topics of regional importance, including:

Local Agriculture - Decolonize Your Mind – Mycology - Micro and Social Entrepreneurship - Co-Housing Tour - Carbon Neutrality - Nourishing Children Through Nature - Awakening the Dreamer - The Crash Course - Traditional Ecological Knowledge - Four Seasons Gardening - Plant and Herb Walk - Water as Resource, Water as Relative - Local Currency - Social and Community Media - Green Jobs – Exploring Oppression - The Transition Movement ­- Front Yard Gardens & Backyard Chickens

·      Keynote speaker WOODY TASCH on Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms, Fertility Mattered

·      The Bioneers Marketplace which will showcase environmental and socially responsible products and services for sustainable living

·      Slam Poetry Performance with SlamNUBA!

·      Films, Arts, Networking, Dialogue, Performance and Music

·      Children's Activities for ages 4-12

Bioneers is not just a typical event.  It is based on solutions and success stories – what is working in today’s world. For both professional and general audiences, this three-day annual event equips participants with models, resources, and networks, encouraging everyone to act as primary forces in the transformation toward a restorative future. Bioneers serves as a network to link many diverse people working in a wide range of areas and to cross-pollinate people and fields that are related but not necessarily connected. 

Registration costs $20/day. Multi-day discounts, student, educator and senior discounts, scholarships and volunteer opportunities are available. Free for CU-Boulder students. Online advance registration available thru 10/14.  Onsite registration opens at 9:30am on 10/16 in Humanities lobby.

For more information on Colorado Bioneers, the complete program and to register, visit http://ecenter.colorado.edu/bioneers09.

Bioneers in Colorado is co-produced by University of Colorado Environmental Center, Transition Colorado, University of Colorado Continuing Education and Professional Studies, Blue and Yellow Logic, Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, Woodbine Ecology Center

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