Urban & Suburban Ecoliteracy Workshop
9am - 6pm, Sat. Feb. 20, 2010 - Pacoima, CA

Just as none of us learned the principles of practical financial literacy in school, none of us were taught the practical principles of how to live on a finite planet. Sustainability is not possible without ecological literacy as a foundation. Although many of us know or intuitively sense that we’re collectively facing multiple environmental problems and challenges, it all seems and feels overwhelming. The good news is that solutions are available; positive change and transformation is a matter of scale, quality of consciousness, and willingness to move from paralysis to action. Since gardens and landscapes are often the most frequent interface people have with nature on a daily basis, this is the context for the content of the workshop.

If you care about the future of your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, you owe it to yourself and to them to pass on a better environmental legacy as opposed to deeper ecological debt. Striving for authentic sustainability at this point in human history is requisite for our survival as a species and it entails attunement with earth’s systems and cycles – the sources of our collective survival, well-being, and wealth. Human settlements appropriate all of the material and energetic means of their sustenance and economic activity from the planet. Ecology trumps economy – it always has and always will.

Just a taste of what you will learn:

• The myriad (and surprising) ways that the quality of your life is intertwined with your local community, watershed, state, nation, the international community, and the planet and why all these connections matter

• Ten common garden and landscape myths and misconceptions that often lead to expensive errors

• The one important key theme common to all high quality, ecologically literate garden and landscape design (and all other good design, for that matter)

• The concrete steps of a systematic approach to landscape and garden project management that saves you time, money, and water while preventing wasted effort – very important for DIY homeowners

• How to do a site analysis and assessment within an urban/suburban context – this is fundamental to successful and site/climate appropriate garden design and it is applied systems thinking in action.

If you are creating your garden or landscape from scratch, revamping your garden, and/or are tentative about how or where to start, this workshop is oriented to help you get your bearings. If you are converting your conventional garden or lawn to a drought tolerant CA native garden or edible landscape, congratulations! This workshop will help you too. If you seek ways to integrate sustainability into your life and landscape, this introductory workshop will help you reset your mindset and perceptions so that the content from classes and workshops in organic gardening, greener living, garden design with drought tolerant & CA native plants, and Permaculture are easier to integrate into your life. This workshop offers the deep, strong foundation you need – we will take you from concept to concrete, grounding your intellectual understanding of environmental issues with practical knowledge and wisdom.

Two professional ecological designers will be teaching the very same practical skills that they use regularly in their businesses in this intensive all-day workshop. Wendy Talaro of Fruits to Nuts and Steve Hernandez of NativeScape Development Corp. will lead workshop participants in a systematic way through the process of ecological design and problem solving.

Important enrollment details:

• Bilingual instruction in English and Español with real time translation is available

• Enrollment is strictly limited on a first come, first served basis to 16 individuals

• Early registration until February 6th is $40. Registration after February 6th is $50.

• Do not procrastinate! All registration payments must be received by February 13th to ensure you have enough time for the mandatory homework. You’re accountable to your fellow classmates for the quality of the content so give yourself ample time to complete it.

• Homework (2.1 MB PDF file) will only be sent to you via e-mail or snail mailed upon receipt of payment.

• Make checks payable to Wendy Talaro and send to P.O. Box 2382; Gardena, CA 90247

• Potluck lunch on-site to facilitate networking and community building, so please bring your business cards and a dish or snack to share

• 25% student discount available, send with proof of current 1/2 to full time registration

• 25% 55+ senior citizen discount available, so send payment with proof of how young you are

• Cancellation Policy: No refunds unless the instructors initiate class cancellation.

The Urban/Suburban Ecoliteracy Workshop will be held on Saturday, February 20, 2010 from 9am - 6pm; at the NativeScape Development Corp. headquarters in Pacoima, CA.
Address: 10849 Ralston Avenue; Pacoima, CA 91331

Additional info: Firm deadline for registration is February 13th, no exceptions. Free street parking available.

If you would like to know more, please visit http://fruitstonuts.wordpress.com  You may also call Wendy @ 310.329.5719
Para preguntas en Español, llame Esteban, marque 818.302.9699 We look forward to your active engagement in the workshop