Scroll down to read about the 1st Annual Southern California Permaculture Convergence in August.

Please save the date!! August 29-31, 2008.

Santa Barbara Permaculture Network
ECO-Film Night

Premier Showing of
Permaculture: A Quiet Revolution
with Award Winning Film Maker Vanessa Schulz

Friday, June 13, 7-9pm
Santa Barbara Central Library, Faulkner Gallery

Please join Santa Barbara Permaculture Network for the premier showing of the documentary film Permaculture: A Quiet Revolution with award winning film maker Vanessa Schulz. Part of the Santa Barbara Permaculture Network ECO-Film Night series, the event takes place on Friday, June 13th, at 7pm.

In May 2007, the 8th International Permaculture Convergence (IPC8, www.ipc8.org) was held in Brazil, bringing together visionary activists from around the world. New to Permaculture, Vanessa Schulz spent a month in Brazil attending the conference and later visiting four ground breaking Permaculture Centers, learning permaculture in settings both urban and rural, in the beautiful and varied landscape of Brazil. From the enormous metropolitan city of Sao Paulo, to the Cerrado (savannah) in central Brazil, to the heart of Amazonia, and finally the historic Bahia region, the story of Permaculture is told.

The film discusses mainstream media's failure to provide accurate news of the world's dire environmental predicament, and some of the strategies permaculturists propose, giving critical inspiration needed to turn our backs on what is failing us. Permaculture (PERMAnent CULTURE) is a design system based on ecological principles for creating sustainable human environments and is a whole systems approach suggesting positive solutions for a rapidly changing world.

Vanessa Schulz, originally from South Africa, began freelancing in the film industry in 1994 while attending Cape Town Film & Television School. After emigrating to the United States she began working for for NBC, Fox, National Geographic, and the Discovery Channel. She founded 21st Paradigm ( www.21paradigm.com), an independent media company committed to airing subject matter difficult and often times ignored by main stream media. Her documentary Cost of Freedom, a film about the re-introduction of wolves to Idaho in the 1990's, generating heated controversy, shows all the intensity of the passions that motivate all sides of the wolf issue. It garnered many awards including Best Documentary at the Female Eye Film Festival (2003), Merit for Conservation Advocacy award at the International Wildlife Film Festival (2003), and Official Selection, Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour (2004-5).

**Update on Cost of Freedom. The reintroduction of wolves is currently in the spotlight with the recent delisting of the Gray Wolf from the Endangered Species List. State management has already resulted in the death of approximately 77 wolves since their delisting on March 28. Eleven environmental groups are filing a lawsuit to reinstate federal protection.

Vanessa will be present at the ECO-Film night, and both Permaculture: A Quiet Revolution and Cost of Freedom will be shown and available for purchase. The event takes place at the Santa Barbara Public Library, Faulkner Gallery, 40 East Anapamu St, in downtown Santa Barbara, on Friday, June 13, 7-9pm. No reservations are required, admission donation $5. For more information please call (805) 962-2571, or email margie@sbpermaculture.org, www.sbpermaculture.org.

**The title of the film "Permaculture: A Quiet Revolution" was taken from an interview by Scott London ( www.scottlondon.com) with Bill Mollison, in a special focus issue on Permaculture in Hopedance Magazine in 2001. It can be found on the Santa Barbara Permaculture Network website, www.sbpermaculture.org, go to Related Articles.

Please Save the Date!
1st Annual Southern California Permaculture Convergence
August 29-31, 2008

Dear Permaculture Community,

We would like to invite PDC graduates to the 1st Annual Southern California Permaculture Convergence, August 29-31, 2008, hosted by the Santa Barbara Permaculture Network and Quail Springs Learning Oasis and Permaculture Farm.

We hope to kick-start this effort of a Regional Convergence, allowing others to take over in the future. As organizers for this first convergence we hope to move past any barriers caused by lack of time, available sites, or even teacher territories that might exist, and instead just recognize the work and accomplishments of all, and proceed from there with the important work around connecting individuals and communities in the region. We feel a certain urgency in these times, but feel permaculture and this amazingly creative permaculuture community that exists in Southern California is up to the task!

We have been working hard to accomplish organizing this event with little time, so we ask for your patience. We have a Convergence website that will be up soon with a registration process designed to be easy and efficient for everyone (hopefullyJ ).

We will share an invitation with details about the event to this list when registration opens sometime in the next couple weeks. If you are concerned that you might miss the announcement on the general list, you are welcome to email Kolmi Majumdar at info@quailsprings.org to join the Convergence interest list. A discount is offered with full payment when you register online before July 1st. Those on the Convergence interest list will be emailed when the Convergence website is up to register online. Please note that the Convergence will be limited to 50, because of site restrictions, and you must have a Permaculture Design Course certificate (72 hour Curriculum certificate) to attend.

If you have any images you would like to share (with captions) of your permaculture site or projects, we would love to highlight those by having them be a part of the Southern California Convergence website. Please forward images to our webmaster, John Calvert jc@virtualtribes.net .

An ad is in the current issue of the Permaculture Activist, placed to meet their deadline, but a little early for us! Again, thanks for your patience, and we hope you can join us at a groundbreaking event for our region.

From the Convergence hosting team-

Kolmi Majumdar
Quail Springs Learning Oasis and Permaculture Farm
Program Coordinator and Caretaker
Email info@quailsprings.org, www.quailsprings.org, Phone 805-886-7239

and,

Margie Bushman & Wes Roe
Santa Barbara Permaculture Network