At a time when many are disillusioned with big banks and big business, the economic crisis and growing inequality in our country, employee ownership offers a real solution for workers and communities. Shift Change: Putting Democracy to Work is a new documentary (released in fall 2012) that highlights worker-owned enterprises in North America and in Mondragon, Spain. Part 2 is a video...
Urban Roots is the next documentary from Tree Media. Produced by Leila Conners (The 11th Hour) and Mathew Schmid and directed by Mark MacInnis, the film follows the urban farming phenomenon in Detroit.
Peter Warshall is Co-Director of the Bioneers' Dreaming New Mexico Project, and a world-renowned water steward, biodiversity and wildlife specialist, research scientist, conservationist, and environmental activist. Dreaming New Mexico has built a map of pragmatic and visionary solutions to create a more localized and green economy with greater local self-reliance and enhanced prosperity.
A short documentary about the taste of immigration in California. Synopsis: In California, the state with the largest Latino immigrant population in the country, there is a cuisine that has a deeper meaning. Written & directed by Fran Guijarro Produced by Fran Guijarro & Juli López Cinematography by Juli López Edited by Carl Cordova Music by Marc...
Based on the 72-hour Permaculture Design Certificate Course as devised by Bill Mollison, join Geoff Lawton as he takes you into the world of Permaculture Design and introduces you to a new way of looking at the world. Learn how to apply your design skills by observing, analyzing and harmonizing with the patterns of Nature. Discover the theory and then see the examples in action in this...
Occupied Cascadia is a documentary film both journalistic and expressionistic. Exploring the emerging understanding of bioregionalism within the lands and waters of the Northeast Pacific Rim, the filmmakers interweave intimate landscape portraits with human voices both ideological and indigenous. Stories from the land contrast critique of dominant culture, while an embrace of the radical...
Edible City, a 60 minute documentary film, tells the stories of the pioneers who are digging their hands into the dirt, working to transform their communities and do something truly revolutionary: grow local Good Food Systems that are socially just, environmentally sound, economically viable and resilient to climate change and market collapse. Part 2 is the trailer. Please share it freely...
REAL ESTATE 4 RAN$OM outlines a genuine alternative to the global property speculation that forced so many into debt. Doubling the pressure, the tax game has become just that, with tax havens a favoured option for the wealthy. The result - we are taxing the wrong things, causing more problems whilst bankrupting once proud economies. Fast edits and funky music help to lift the world of...
In Transition 2.0 is an inspirational immersion in the Transition movement , gathering stories from around the world of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. You’ll hear about communities printing their own money, growing food everywhere, localising their economies and setting up community power stations. It’s an idea that has gone viral, a social experiment that is about...
How do we become a sustainable civilization? GrowthBusters explores our society's worship of growth everlasting: Economic Growth, Population Growth, Increasing Consumption, and Urban Growth. I puts a spotlight on the powerful forces that keep us in pursuit of growth even though evidence is abundent we have outgrown our planet. Please visit the GrowthBusters website to order the film, locate...
Lawrence Lessig explains how institutional corruption has affected every aspect of our government. Quotes from the video: "The big change came in the late 1970s and 1980s when large corporate chains accelerated the long-term trend to gobble up daily newspapers." -- quote from The Death and Life of American Journalism by Robert McChesney, John Nichols "When locally based family owned...
On March 1st 2010 Transition Heathrow members swooped on an abandoned market garden site in Sipson; one of the villages to be completely tarmacked to make way for a third runway at Heathrow Airport, London.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba's economy went into a tailspin. With imports of oil cut by more than half – and food by 80 percent – people were desperate. This film tells of the hardships and struggles as well as the community and creativity of the Cuban people during this difficult time. Cubans share how they transitioned from a highly mechanized, industrial...
In 1973, British economist E.F. Schumacher wrote “Small is Beautiful – Economics as if People Mattered”, – a book that offered a vision of an economy driven by a desire for harmony, not greed; an economy based on community and ecological values, not global financial derivatives. In the 1970s, “Small is Beautiful” helped launch a back-to-the-land movement...
Describes the goals, process, and philosophy of an experiment in community-building. A movement of people interested in defining, nurturing, and celebrating Eugene as City of Peace are building a new common story, definition and understanding of who is valued: each and every one of us.
In this interview we discuss Mark Shepard’s 106 acre profitable permaculture farm – New Forest Farm. Specifically: -Mark’s decision to use permaculture in his farm -Perennials vs. Annuals in Agriculture -The history of annuals and the future of them -Rainwater Harvesting -Composting -Humanure -Miscellaneous Goodness
As corporate media fails to provide accurate news of the world's dire environmental predicament, the Earth sends a clear message in the form of record-breaking natural disasters, famine and epidemics. People are mobilizing for what lies ahead. In May 2007, the 8th International Permaculture Convergence (IPC8) was held in Brazil, bringing together visionary activists from 43 countries in the...
This is an 18 part 90 minute intro to permaculture webinar with Bill Wilson of Midwest Permaculture in Illinois. Bill has been teaching permaculture for 6 years. He holds 2 PDC Certificates and has Advanced Training in Permaculture Design and in teaching Permaculture. He took his Permaculture Teacher Training with Jude Hobbs of the Permaculture Research Institute U.S. She was trained by...
This is a story of about 20 families who have purposefully uprooted from out of their comfortable suburban homes and moved into one of the worst neighborhoods in Kansas City. They bought homes within a 5 block radius of each other and put down a stake for the sake of the youth and the poor. What is going to happen to them? … who knows, but this is certainly not some novelty idea, and...
Economic globalization has led to a massive expansion in the scale and power of big business and banking. It has also worsened nearly every problem we face: fundamentalism and ethnic conflict; climate chaos and species extinction; financial instability and unemployment. There are personal costs too. For the majority of people on the planet life is becoming increasingly stressful. We have less...
Rob Hopkins reminds us that the oil our world depends on is steadily running out. He proposes a unique solution to this problem -- the Transition response, where we prepare ourselves for life without oil and sacrifice our luxuries to build systems and communities that are completely independent of fossil fuels. This talk was recorded in November 2009. TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the...
Judy Wicks’ love of place has made widening ripples on a global scale. She’s the founder of BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies), a national network of sustainable, small businesses. After moving onto a quaint street in Philadelphia, she learned it was slated to be torn down. Organizing her community, she saved the block as a walkable community. She opened White Dog Cafe coffee...
Richard Heinberg, author of “Peak Everything”, reviews the accelerating events since mid-2007, including the credit crunch and fossil fuel price volatility, noting that we’ve missed most of the best opportunities to manage collapse. He asks, “how far down the staircase of complexity will our global civilization have to go until we’re sustainable?” His answer: when managed properly, with...
How much energy does a town consume? Brian Corzilius sleuthed that out for Willits, California, and got a big surprise: in this community of 13,000 people, nearly 25% of personal after-tax earnings (about $30 million annually) leaves town to pay for energy - gasoline, diesel, electricity and natural gas. His inventory grew into an energy independence report which identified opportunities for...
City Councilor Scott Walker of Port Townsend, Washington is working to build a walkable, bikeable community where the car is not essential. As a result, the town has designated many undeveloped streets and "connectors" as non-motorized routes. He says, "Build safe, convenient facilities for walking and biking, and they sprout people." Watch Janaia test ride Scott's electric bike, which...
Francis Ayley established over a dozen local currencies in the UK before moving to the U.S. He contrasts our standard, scarcity- and debt-based money system with local currencies in which "there's always as much as you need." Local currencies like his Fourth Corner Exchange issue money when members trade goods and services. Communities with local currencies will be less affected when recession...
Michael Brownlee didn't stop after creating the Boulder Valley Relocalization group. He's catalyzing Boulder County's Going Local! campaign, encouraging residents to buy local first, eat and grow local food, create local energy and local currency. The community will celebrate at a "Renaissance of Local" festival, conference and expo with a feast prepared by the local Slow Food group...
How will rising oil prices affect low- and middle-class lives? Sociologist and professor Rowan Wolf sees at-risk populations growing while government services and class divides are increasingly strained. A member of the Portland Peak Oil Task Force, she discusses relocalizing our economies, to counter globalization based on an unsupportable grow-or-die economic model.