Earth Day

The Green Fair on the 11th had a great turnout, it was exciting to see all the work behind the scenes payoff.

The fair was very busy, everyone I spoke to was happy with the results and making great connections. Circular Boutique's fashion show definitly got some attention (will try to get some pics and add them to this post). The evening forum had a small but very powerful turnout, 20 + people maybe (remember this was the night before Easter). We definitly did get influential representatives from key organizations together for intentional strategic dialogue. I am begining to feel confident in the connections I have made in the last few weeks that I will be able to finesse these different groups into working together to develop an Anchorage Green Jobs Corps program. I am definitly the one "rolling the stone up the hill" as one local labor leader phrased it; I am the one doing the leg work.

Acting Mayor Matt Claman was at our forum briefly and spoke about different green initiatives the city is currently working on. Our two final mayoral canidates Croft and Sullivan were given last minute invitations to the forum, but could not make it. They / their staff did stop by the fair though, which was great to see.

Beth Nordlund from the Municipality's Youth Parks Program and Gloria O'Neil president of Cook Inlet Tribal Council both gave excellent presentations and shared some insights with the audience re their programs. Brian Yanity Nana Pacific Engineer spoke about the new UAA Renewable Energy Research and Discovery center that is in the works, Peter Crimp from AIDEA/ AEA was present and talked about Renewable efforts in the state, as well as some reps from different unions and educational entities.

Alaska NOLS Directors Don and Donna Ford attended, as well as some youth from AYEA. I had discussed with Donna on the phone the vision for working with them to build a 3 -5 day intensive @ their branch into the Anchorage Green Jobs Corps program. Where the trainees would be exposed to their farm's sustainable agricultural operation and also participate in a wilderness backpacking trip for a few nights or some of other type of micro NOLS experience. The more I think about this: I believe the NOLS element should be a few weeks at least and should be a cornerstone for the foundation upon which this program will be built. There were also some great comments from Matthew Gilbert who is Gwichin and from Fort Yukon about the relationship between Energy needs, and rural Alaskan Communities (more info here http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89755688).

Where I have been going with all of this: I connected with Green Star a local non profit that certifies Anchorage green businesses; it developed originally out of an Anchorage Chamber of Commerce initiative. At first I thought we were going to be able to collaborate to convene an Anchorage Council of Green Employers... the idea would have been to add an additional social tier/ certification upon their existing green business certification system.

After discussing more with their staff and learning more about their program we all realized that this would be more complicated than we had initially envisioned, and that I better develop this Green Employer Council separate from Green Star. The basic concept is that businesses in this Green Employer Council network will commit to taking on trainees from the Anchorage Green Jobs Corps program for paid OTJ (on the job) internships, and help them continue their career with referalls and transferable skills etc.

I have been to a few different meetings of Labor groups and unions as well, and connections within these groups seem to have great potential. I am definitly learning as I do all of this. I met with Anchorage Central Labor Council and am following up with Building and Trades Council re how Anchorage Green Jobs Corps program would connect trainees with different opporuntities @ UAA, AVTECH, community colleges... and opporuntities with different apprenticeship programs with greater Anchorage unions. The support of these groups is very important.

Gloria from CITC has proved to be really helpful, one of the many ways she has enabled me to make progress is to connect me with Mike Andrews @ http://akwp.org/ . Alaska Works Partnership is the state non profit that coordinates the distribution of the states Weatherization funds. They run some construction academy programs very similar to what I was envisioning re Anchorage Green Jobs Corps, I did not even know Mike's organization existed when I put together that concept paper for the Egan Center Event. I will be updating that concept paper here shortly and will post it with the new vision.

Mike and I both believe strongly in the promise of a new innovative world class Anchorage program that would have a conscious / specific emphasis on Green Economic Development, Green Employment Outcomes: and on cultivating Green "pathways out of Poverty" for disadvantaged youth.

I have also been spending time looking closely at the local social challenges, and have been following people within the local coalition for Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing that is recieving about 800,000 from the recovery Act. They plan to develop a single point of entry program http://www.muni.org/iceimages/Mayor/HPRPCommunityProposal.pdf etc., and their improved / more efficient coordination that could result from the stimulus funds should carryover to link the social challenges in Anchorage directly with job creation/ environmental and labor groups thru this Anchorage Green Jobs Corps program. I was one of the few people who attended the public hearing at City Hall who does not work for an organization that is potentially recieving funds from this program. I have also been researching other programs in different cities.

Today is Earth Day, April 22nd. Originally we were trying to plan a version of a "carrotmob" reverse boycott event for this day, but we are shifting our focus to friday the 25th to collaborate with Synapse Presents ( http://synapsepresents.com/browser.php ), who has brought together two shows with the rapper Brother Ali & DJ BK One of Rhymesayers Entertainment.

The first show is tomorrow at the Anchor pub and is 21 +, the friday show is at Club Millenium on 3rd street and is all ages. We are working with Club Millenium on the carrotmob theme. Synapse (Heather) and I spoke briefly about this: the idea is to plant the seed for future full fledged "carrotmob" campaigns with this first event on Friday. We hope to work with local businesses in Girdwood to execute this type of campaign in conjunction with the June show Synapse is organizing. Tomorrow Lily from Greenstar and I are meeting with Millenium re some simple adjustments / improvements their business can make to become more environmentally friendly and energy efficient.

The "Carrotmob" concept acts like a reverse-boycott. It rewards businesses who committ to become more environmentally friendly and socially responsible by organizing "mobs" of consumers to buy the products or patronize venues from the companies that are taking steps to improve the world.

The Millenium has committed to take some steps to become more Green and environmentally friendly as a result of friday's show. Both Synapse Presents (Heather) and The Last Frontier Eco Alliance (yours truly) are planning on building on this 1st Alaska Carrotmob event in the future for more campaigns. The idea is leverage the power of Hip Hop as a tool for engaging youth as primary players in social activism: cultivate fun and innovative crowdsourcing that yields positive local results for both people and the planet.

I have been on the water a lot. Sometimes rowing out as far as Fire Island and exploring the inlet around Point Mackenzie. Sometimes coming back in the dark under the stars with the city lights glittering and the waves tossing the 17' canoe around like it is a leaf in a stream, sometimes with it perfectly calm and watching spectacular sunsets merged with the steam plumes from Mt. Redoubt. I like the birds, the water, and the sun.

The Redoubt Volcano Eruption has shut down the Drift River Oil terminal, possibly for the summer. Perhaps the Earth is telling us that we need to shift our focus to renewable power: turn off the engines and pick up the pace as we collaborate to build a sustainable future. My camera battery died as I wrote this post... so you will have to wait for pics until tomorrow.

April, Pre Alaska Green Fair and Anchorage Green Jobs Forum

Redoubt Erupts: "Ash cloud seen in the geostationary MTSAT data, courtesy of the National Weather Service. We are at the extreme edge of the view for the satellite which is over the equator in Asia. Date: March 26, 2009 17:30:00 UTC. Image by Jonathan Dehn, image courtesy of the National Weather Service." more @ http://geology.com/usgs/redoubt-volcano-2009-eruption/








I will add a detailed post soon, lots of people have requested more information re the event = here is some more info with this:
2009 Alaska Green Fair and Green Jobs Forum Concept Paper - Last Frontier Eco Alliance
(I will confess I am new to adobe and am still trying to figure out how it works):
https://share.acrobat.com/adc/adc.do?docid=97810c8a-8e3d-41f3-9903-6f710bf6b731
(we are also having some changes/ additions to the list of panelists, so will have to update that)









"different view of Anchorage"





And Remember: the Anchorage Green Jobs Forum is @ 6pm, after which their will be a screening of film the 11th Hour which Tree Media generously donated 21 copies of thru the Yukon River Media Project... than informal after-party at Humpys.


Some pictures from rowing in cook inlet, amongst the icebergs. Thinking of trying to launch out toward Drift River Terminal/ Mount Redoubt (the volcano that has been erupting), to try to raise awareness re ALASKA GREEN JOBS, ANCHORAGE GREEN JOBS CORPS....















Drift River map





"On April 4, 2009, the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 satellite captured this image of the Drift River Valley where it connects with Cook Inlet. Lahars have stained the river valley a deep muddy brown. Water channels form branching patterns just west of the Cook Inlet shore, and the dark brown color of each water channel contrasts sharply with the nearby snow. The Drift River Oil Terminal resides in this network of channels, and part of the facility appears as an off-white rectangle in a landscape of meandering mudflows."



check out the Alaska Volcano Observatory website for more info: http://www.avo.alaska.edu/





still ice on the water

















looking back at anchorage













List of Films donated thru Yukon River Media Project
*Participating Organizations/ films*:The following generous film-makers / organizations have all donated 21 copies of their powerful documentaries thru the 2009 Yukon River Media Project to the 21 primary communities along the Yukon River to be used for educational purposes.

1.The Global Oneness Project: The Global Oneness Project is exploring how the radically simple notion of interconnectedness can be lived in our increasingly complex world. Learn more @ http://www.globalonenessproject.org/

2.Tree Media: Media has the power to change the world: it shares our stories, it drives culture, it shapes our lives. Tree Media Group is a production company with a mission to use media to support and sustain civil society while promoting peace through understanding.Tree Media Group was founded by sisters Leila Conners and Nadia Conners when the emergence of new technologies allowed for a more democratic dissemination of ideas. Over the last twelve years, Tree Media Group has consistently worked on projects that examine global transformation, conflict resolution, care & sustainability, the environment, cultural catalysts and progressive movements.http://www.treemedia.com/ & film The 11th Hour http://wip.warnerbros.com/11thhour/

3. The Bioneers Bioneers is inspiring a shift to live on Earth in ways that honor the web of life, each other and future generations. Founded in 1990, Bioneers promotes practical environmental solutions and innovative social strategies for restoring Earth’s imperiled ecosystems and healing our human communities. http://www.bioneers.org/ & film: 2009 Plenary Conference Speech: ERICA FERNANDEZ Si, Se Puede! (Yes, We Can!)

4. Arnold Creek Productions: The mission of Arnold Creek Productions is to create educational and inspirational media that supports the principles of sustainability and improves the lives of all people.http://www.arnoldcreekproductions.com/index.htm & film "Naturally Successful"

5. Turtle Island Films:
ReelGreen offers the best, award winning and entertaining environmental documentaries and films available. These films are offered to lead organizers to unite, educate and galvanize their communities into local actions that will have a profound impact on the world at large.
http://texasgoldmovie.com/ "Texas Gold" Film. Courtesy of Reel Green Films http://www.thereelgreen.org/

6. Bullfrog Films: To bring together programs that point the way to a new paradigm for living happily, healthily and sustainably. FILM Weather Report : http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/

Also have the "Ask Nature" film en route from great people @ the Biomimicry Institute, and one more film about Hip Hop in Africa that I have not recieved yet. Truly believe in the power of media as tool to engage young people as change agents... and very appreciate of the leadership and generosity of this list of organizations and their partners. And a special thank you to Michelle @ Global Oneness Project, Holli @ Tree Media, Aaron @ Bioneers, Doug @ Arnold Creek Productions, Carolyn @ Reel Green, and John @ Bullfrog Films. I am looking forward to getting these films in the mail to different educators in rural Alaskan communities, and taking some with me in water-proof containers out on the river this spring.