All events at location: @ SOULPATCH in the Permaculture Action Hub

Thursday, May 24
4:15 PM – 5:45 PM
Documentary Screening of Inhabit: A Permaculture Perspective
Inhabit explores the many environmental issues facing us today and examines solutions that are being applied using the ecological design process called ‘Permaculture’. Permaculture is a design lens that uses the principles found in ecosystems to help shift our impact from destructive to regenerative. Focused mostly on the Northeastern and Midwestern regions of the United States, Inhabit provides an intimate look at permaculture peoples and practices ranging from rural, suburban, and urban landscapes.

Friday, May 25
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Plant Propagation: How to Make Plant Babies w/ Joana Amorim
Join us in the SOULPATCH gardens for a hands-on workshop to propagate plants by cutting and grow new plants from seed. We’ll make seedlings and little plant starts from the mother plants here in the garden that will then live at the nearby Seven Circles Heritage Center, a local Native American community space and the site of our annual Summer Camp Permaculture Action Day.

Friday, May 25
11:15 AM – 12:15 PM
Yoga for Anatomical Empowerment w/ Leah Van Winkle
In this workshop, I offer a guided yoga practice as a framework for coming to deeply understand one’s body. Specifically, the class focuses on really feeling into what your body needs, and what to do with that information. All of this placed within a context of learning to use our bodies well no matter what situation we find ourselves in, particularly to learn proper body mechanics in manual labor contexts. I seek to share proper movement patterns, informed by your own experience of your body, for moving safely and effectively through this world!

Friday, May 25
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
Empowered to Organize for Change w/ Noor Us-Sabah
There’s more to community change than politicians and voting. How can we use our own unique set of skills for the movement and not get burnt out? Join Noor for a workshop and discussion about strategies to self-organize and collaborate with others to serve your local community. From public art to redistributing the heady ground-score you don’t really need, we’ll be looking at diverse examples of successful and inclusive D.I.Y. community organizing.

Friday, May 25
1:45 PM – 2:45 PM
Attracting Pollinators & Beneficial Insects to Your Garden w/ Chris Enroth
Enlist some natural predators in your fight to save your garden. After attending this program, participants will have fundamental knowledge to identify which insects can help them control pest populations and how to attract the good guys to your garden. Get hands-on and make some seedballs with native wildflower seeds to grow pollinator attractors everywhere!

Friday, May 25
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
SOULPATCH Natural Building Systems w/ Michael Beck
This workshop is an interactive walk through of the natural-built structures of SOULPATCH. From cob ovens to willow benders, thatch roofs to wattle and daub, we will be learning together some valuable techniques for building with natural materials.

Friday, May 25
4:15 PM – 5:15 PM
Intro to Herbalism and Medicine Making w/ Nicole Klinge
Nicole has been a practicing plant healer for over 10 years. After attending an extensive clinical herbalism program she has been educating others on the profound healing that plants can bring. Part of this work is finding the jewels in local weeds, endangered plant conservation, and reconnecting the the spirit of nature. Her mission is to connect people back to the earth through plant healing.

Friday, May 25
4:15 PM – 5:15 PM
Urban Permaculture: Whole Systems & Viable Farms w/ Keith Morris
Think you need a ‘farm’ to grow food? Think again! When it comes to ecological health and food production in today’s cities, there’s very little we might want to “sustain”. As urban populations continue to grow worldwide amidst the convergent crises of energy depletion, climate change, and economic ‘uncertainty,’ it’s critical we redesign our cities to provide for more of their residents’ needs. This workshop focuses on practical skills usable by urban communities to achieve greater local access to and control over life’s essential resources. The workshop will introduce simple and affordable techniques for soil building, bioremediation, rainwater harvesting, intensive food production, micro-livestock and aquaculture, small scale autonomous energy production, DIY air purification, and other infrastructure retrofits. We’ll look to existing urban farms, “urban homesteads,” and other examples of urban permaculture to explore the ways we can design and establish our homes and communities as ‘human ecosystems’ that are not only less fuel reliant, but also beautiful, productive, ecologically regenerative, and wholly nourishing.

Saturday, May 26
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Grow Your Own Gourmet Mushrooms w/ Jason Alberts
Learn how to use simple low tech methods to grow your own gourmet mushrooms! Jason will be able to get you set up to grow at home in an hour with common and available materials as well as resources to take your growing to the next level!

Saturday, May 26
11:15 AM – 12:15 PM
Urban Residential Landscaping for the Sustainable Home w/ Parker Ameel
Today, 80% of the population in the United States live in Urban Environments. Let’s learn how to make the best of ours. This course is intended to give you the DIY confidence to turn your urban environment into a sustainable, native, and edible landscape. The course will cover topics including: Water Management, Waste Management and Food Production while simultaneously considering Budget, Space, and Scalability.

Saturday, May 26
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
#HustleBetter: Making the Most Out of Nothing w/ Eliot Snaith
Let’s have a different conversation about economy – one where we can go beyond surviving to thriving. From paradigm shifts to practical business model development worksheets! This workshop has something for everyone: from landowners to the unemployed, and everything in between and beyond. Eliot Snaith is a Social Permaculture Nerd: mixing social science and humor to help folks design healthier, happier social ecosystems.

Saturday, May 26
1:45 PM – 2:45PM
Regenerative Economics & Local Solutions for the Great Lakes BioRegion w/ Rowan Green
Hear a solutions-oriented perspective on issues facing the Great Lakes BioRegion from a community organizer who has transformed problems around policy agenda, development projects, and existing infrastructure into an opportunity for environmental sustainability, social equity, and affluence for all. A discussion on moving forward together will follow.

Saturday, May 26
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Logistics of Liberation: Permaculture & Power w/ Ryan Rising
What are logistics in the context of the extractive economy? How do materials flow through the industrial economic system? How can we reinhabit space and create autonomous communities worth living in? What does a just transition to a regenerative world look like? How can we get there? Come explore these questions in a poignant talk that gets to the heart of the matter.

Saturday, May 26
4:15 PM – 5:15 PM
Re-Imagining Healthcare w/ Sam Jackson
Come join a collaborative and participatory discussion on re-defining, re-imagining, re-forming, and re-creating a vision of Health Care. Bring your experience to the table and join others as we talk about what is real for us with the guidance of medical professional.

Saturday, May 26
5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
Organizing with Purpose: Direct Action Crash Course w/ Kristoff
History tells us that social and political change doesn’t come easy, and no significant social movement has succeeded without direct action, which is a fancy way of saying “breaking the law”. This workshop will examine the premise that extralegal (not fully legal) actions are a necessary component of permaculture and social justice frameworks, and will examine some of the challenges in incorporating this kind of strategy into our work as change-makers.

Sunday, May 27
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Interactive Intro to Beekeeping (See an Observation Hive!) w/ Tim Benedict & Sarah Wells
Come join two perspectives, both technical and sensitive, to overview the basics of beekeeping. Explore the relationship of bees, flowers, pollination and honey production while diving into more nuance regarding hive health, the state of bees and exciting research in our efforts to help rebalance one of nature’s most intimate processes.

Sunday, May 27
11:15 AM – 12:15 PM
Applied Permaculture: 30 Acres in 5 Years w/ Kammer Moss
Kammer Moss is a certified permaculture designer and has been implementing learnings with his family’s 30-acre, diverse system. The speed of their development and extensions into market gardens, nurserying, mushroom production, micro greens business, earthworks and terracing, energy systems, and more at scale have informed this conversation about how to get going with your big permaculture dreams.

Sunday, May 27
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
The Role of Mushrooms in the Ecosystem & Intro to Mycoremediation w/ Tess Burzynski
A biological primer for all things fungi — overview of the spore to fruit life-cycle, food sources, ecological relationships, mycelium and a deeper dive into the promise of mycoremediation and its many solutions. Tess Burzynski is the founder, head educator and cultivator at Fungi Freights Urban Farm and Environmental Studio. She works as an Environmental Project Manager and continues doing research with Mycoremediation in the city of Detroit. Throughout her studies she has learned the impact mycelium plays in the environment and how beneficial, tenacious and magical it truly is. Through Fungi Freights, her goal is to reunite mushrooms and (wo)mankind by educating Detroit and its surrounding neighbors about the benefits mushrooms have on health, food scarcity and the environment.

Sunday, May 27
1:45 PM – 2:45 PM
How To Start an Eco-Community: Ground Up, Scale Up, or Transforming in Place w/ Christian Smith
Get a good grounding in practical strategies and necessary steps to form your own ecological community. Whether you’re starting from bare land, scaling up on a homestead, or transitioning in place in rural, suburban or city environments. Subjects: Food, Water, Energy, Housing, Financing and Government.

Sunday, May 27
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Social Permaculture: Applying Ecological Principles to Communities & Relationships w/ Ryan Rising
How can the lens of permaculture – the mimicking of nature’s patterns and principles – inform the way we design both the ecological systems of food, water, and shelter that give us life, and the social systems of how we make decisions, come together as people, and build resilient communities? How can we take effective action to create viable life-affirming alternatives to the extractive and exploitative systems that we seek to replace. Ryan Rising of the Permaculture Action Network will start this session with an introduction to permaculture design and lead into a conversation that takes its application beyond forest gardens, rainwater catchment systems, and natural building to how we can cultivate effective collaborative groups and communities capable of taking action towards realizing a more just and regenerative world.

Sunday, May 27
4:15 PM – 5:15 PM
Rust Belt Restoration: Vacant Lots to Garden Plots w/ Carrie Lierl
Come, join urban permaculture practitioner, Carrie Lierl, for an optimistic discussion about the practical potential for community-led urban agriculture and permaculture projects! With an emphasis on the specific skill sets, tools, and foundational knowledge you may need to both successfully self-start and self-maintain your own urban agriculture or permaculture project, Carrie will discuss some best practices and lessons learned from the shared experiences of herself and other urban permaculture practitioners who have set out to restore urban landscapes in the name of promoting sustainable food production, ecological health, and community solidarity. Some other central themes of this discussion will include: making things work within the system (while simultaneously working to change it!), generating value from waste materials, and tapping into the productive potential of both micro-climates and social anomalies.

Sunday, May 27
5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
Decolonizing Agriculture & Participatory Ecology w/ Keith Morris
Permaculture is an evolving and expanding design system used to create agriculturally productive human habitat at scales varying from balconies to broad regions. As permaculture rapidly expands around the world, the field is constantly evolving and taking new directions. We’ll discuss the history of permaculture and ecological design as we look to the sciences of ecology, anthropology, and evolution for inspiration and guidance to establish our homes, gardens, and communities as ‘human ecosystems’ that are beautiful, productive, ecologically regenerative, less fuel reliant, and more wholly nourishing. What is the potential for human beings as ‘Keystone Species’? How have we acted as such through history? We’ll explore the ways human beings have ‘co-created’ ecological communities in the past, at present, and our potential to do so more insightfully in the future.