Andy Lipkis – Restoring Los Angeles | Bioneers

In 1978 the city of Los Angeles was hit by a hundred-year flood. In 1980 it was hit again. The devastation that followed paralleled the effects of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In this groundbreaking presentation, Andy Lipkis describes the unlikely partnerships that arise in emergency situations and the lessons we can learn from ecology to help overcome the fractured condition of city agencies. When we treat an entire city like an ecosystem, he explains, we can combine the integrated efforts of urban planning and resource management to effect radical change in systems of education, infrastructure and community revitalization.

This speech was presented at the 2005 Bioneers National Conference in San Rafael, CA and is part of the Ecological Design Collection, Vol. 2.

 

Paul Stamets – How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World

Paul Stamets describes a series of epiphanies around how to shape our world with fungi in ways that are not just sustainable, but regenerative, resourceful and fun. He shares his patented application of mycelium as an alternative to synthetic pesticides; his regenerative Life Boxes that serve as shipping materials until you add water and soil; and his newest invention — mushroom cultivation centers that convert fungal sugars into ethanol while providing resources for enriching soil, growing food and metabolizing pollution in an environment that encourages community participation. Mushrooms will never look the same after you see this one.

This speech was presented at the 2006 Bioneers National Conference and is part of the Ecological Design, Vol. 2 and Protecting and Restoring Nature, Vol. 1.

 

David Suzuki – Restoring Life’s Fabric | Bioneers

Is the economy the most important thing? Canadian geneticist, author, and television producer David Suzuki says the economy is just a subset of ecology. Drawing on native wisdom and state-of-the-art science, he vividly demonstrates that what we do to what surrounds us, we do to ourselves, and suggests how to restore the fabric of the biosphere.

This speech was presented at the 2003 Bioneers National Conference and is part of the Protecting and Restoring Nature Collection, Vol. 1.

 

Fred Kirschenmann – Planting the Future: Transforming Agriculture | Bioneers

What does the future hold for organic agriculture? Fred Kirschenmann, a respected leader of the sustainable agriculture movement discusses the history of organic farming. Can organic agriculture survive in our industrial food system, or do we need to make sweeping changes to our whole approach to food production and consumption?

This speech was presented at the 2003 National Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, CA.

 

Winona LaDuke – Seeds The Creator Gave Us

Winona LaDuke, the renowned indigenous rights leader and two-time Green Party U.S. Vice Presidential candidate highlights the struggles of indigenous peoples to protect their food sovereignty, restore their food systems and protect their cultures and foods from genetic modification. This speech was presented at the 2007 Bioneers National Conference in San Rafael, CA.

Bill McKibben – The Climate Fight Gets Hotter | Bioneers

The award-winning environmental journalist, author, Co-Founder of 350.org, and leading global climate activist surveys the landscape of climate action, including the remarkable holding action by 350.org and others to suspend approval of the Keystone XL pipeline carrying Canadian “tar sands” oil, the “biggest carbon bomb” on the planet.

“Most of the people we work with around the world are poor and black and brown and Asian and young, because that’s what most of the world is made up of, and oddly, they’re as interested in the future as anybody else. They’re maybe more so because if you’re in some of these places, the future bears down on you with enormous speed.”

This speech was presented at the 2012 Bioneers Annual Conference.

 

Michael Pollan – Beyond the Barcode

Michael Pollan, author of the Omnivore’s Dilemma, encourages us to put our faith in relationship rather than technology and regulation. Pollan is perhaps the foremost critic of the American and global food system and advocate for transforming that system.

“Local food economies are our best hope for checking the drift toward the total global economy. And with food is where these economies begin. A revolt is underway across this country — a revolt of the small producers and consumers. And some of the most important politics today as I said, are happening at farmers markets.”

This speech was presented at the 2006 National Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, CA and is part of the Ecological Food and Farming Collection, Vol. 1.

John Mohawk – Survive and Thrive

In this expansive tour of human civilization leading to today’s climate crisis, Native American scholar John Mohawk explores the interrelationship of climate change and human evolution. For most of our history as hunter-gatherers and farmers, we retained an intimate knowledge of the natural world that supported us, especially plants. That knowledge, he observes, is being lost at radical rates today. Re-establishing our intimacy and kinship with the plant world is key to surviving dramatic climatic changes. He shares insights about the “Native American pragmatism” that successfully balanced the practical with the spiritual for thousands of years.

“All of the survival techniques we learned about our relations to cultivars and everything at this hour stands in peril. And our relationship to wild plants stands in peril. The big human relationship to our cultural heritage is on the verge of extinction, and we need to change that.”

This speech was presented at the 2004 Bioneers National Conference and is part of the Indigenous Knowledge, Vol. 1 and Nature, Culture and Spirit, Vol. 1 Collections.

 

Peter Warshall – Dreaming New Mexico

Peter Warshall gives a guided tour of this ambitious initiative — a dream that asks, “How do we want to be nourished in the next 15 to 25 years?” Dreaming New Mexico’s (DNM) on-the-ground surveys gave way to vibrant maps that illuminate the state’s agro-ecoregions.

Peter, who co-directed Bioneers’ Dreaming New Mexico initiative, worked for more than 40 years on conservation, biodiversity protection and community development projects in Africa, Latin America and North America for the U.N., USAID, various conservation groups and businesses and Native American Governments. His multi-faceted areas of expertise included natural resource management, watersheds, conservation biology, biodiversity assessments and conflict resolution and consensus building between divergent economic and cultural special interest groups. He was the Sustainability and Anthropology Editor of the Whole Earth Catalog from 1973-1996, and worked as a consultant for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Ethiopia. Closer to home here, he worked for the Point Reyes Bird Observatory on migratory bird habitat conservation. Peter received his B.A. in Biology and a Ph.D. in Biology and Anthropology from Harvard University. He served on the board of directors of the All Species Foundation, Sky Island Alliance, and World Innovation Foundation.

This speech was given at the 2010 Bioneers National Conference.

Danny Glover on Reimagining Social Movements

Actor, director and activist Danny Glover explains his view on social movements. This speech (of which a clip is featured) took place at the 2013 National Bioneers Conference.

“It’s gonna take us stepping out, not knowing, stepping further, not just where the system itself allows us to step out, but beyond where the system allows us to step out.”

 

The White Buffalo Souldiers

Lyla June Johnston and Desirae Harp, The White Buffalo Souldiers, perform an original song about unity and togetherness. This performance took place at the 2013 Bioneers Annual Conference.

“This is the reconciliation of blood-lines, skin tones, and histories. Only by forgiving one another and acknowledging the atrocities, honoring the womb and living out the prophecies. Only then can we begin to heal our relationship with this sacred turtle island.”

 

Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, Nina Simons and Ilarion Merculieff on Women’s Leadership

Three bioneers, including Co-Founder Nina Simons, discuss women’s leadership. These talks (of which short clips are featured) took place at the 2013 Annual Bioneers Conference.

“We can call each other into healing and strength and greater leadership, not only with our voices and our listening, but also with our eyes, with our dreams and intuition, and with the insight of our inner-vision.” -Nina Simons