Most of our activities will be centered in or around Third Street Park.  Here is a map of the area with explanations of each facility:

1. Bloomington Playwrights Project – Hosting the Saturday night keynote Aaron Newton
2. Farmer’s Market – A great hangout on Saturday morning
3. Monroe County Public Library – Hosting the Thursday night keynote Eric Brende and closing sessions on Sunday afternoon
4. Garage Art (4th & Washington) – Free parking on weekends
5. First United Methodist Church – Hosting the Friday night dinner and two tracks of workshop on Saturday
6. Center for Sustainable Living/Bloomington Eco-Center – Will contain hospitality center for out-of-town guests on Saturday
7. Rhino’s All Ages Music Club – Hosting one track of workshops on Saturday
8. Third Street Park – Hosting Family Tent, Vendor Tent, and demonstrations on Saturday; also departure and arrival point for Sunday tours
9. Alison Jukebox Center (inside Third Street Park) – Hosting two tracks of workshops on Saturday

Are you coming to Bloomington for the fair?  Here are a few things to know about our city:

• Bloomington is home to Indiana University
• We have an awesome farmer’s market Saturday mornings at the Showers Plaza (7th and Morton)
• We have a great tourism office with information about lodging and things to do in town – http://www.visitbloomington.com/
• Free parking is available on Saturday in any of the university parking garages and the city-owned Garage Art at Fourth & Walnut Streets.
• Beware metered parking spaces and 2-hour limits – they are enforced on weekends!
• We will provide a hospitality center in the Bloomington Eco-Center (323 S. Walnut Street) during Saturday’s events

A lot of folks are unfamiliar with the term “permaculture” which has its roots in two different word combinations: permanent+agriculture (meaning sustainable agricultural practices) and permanent+culture (meaning a way for people live sustainably).  Here is a short explanation of permaculture from local instructor and practitioner Rhonda Baird.

Imagine a world of natural abundance, clean water and air, and community connection. Permaculture, an ethical system of design which reintegrates the human world with the natural world, helps us regenerate our landscapes—both physical and cultural. By understanding and working with natural systems we can repair the damage done to our planet over the past centuries—including re-foresting deserts, repairing soil, cleaning water and air, and increasing farm productivity through regenerative practices.

Permaculture comes out of systems theory (understanding how systems work) and also integrates information from many different traditions (indigenous wisdom, nature awareness traditions, horticultural traditions, forestry, and many other streams of knowledge).  Permaculturists work to design gardens, farms, homes, communities, and even cities that enhance both the human world and the natural world.  These designs help us live within the limits of our planet while strengthening our communities.  Permaculture practitioners and teachers around the globe have been at the forefront of sustainability education, relief efforts, and landscape scale regeneration.

Permaculture is based on three core ethics:

Care of the Land—This is the highest priority. If we don’t take care of the land and heal it, it will not provide for us. When we repair the soil, conserve and clean water, promote biodiversity, and create new opportunities for things to happen, we serve the land and allow it to support life to its fullest.

Care of People—Permaculture is quite clear that our goal is to take care of people. When we meet our needs—our real needs for belonging, security, participation, creative expression, autonomy, and so on—resilient communities will emerge.

Distribution of Surplus—We learn from nature that when an abundance of something is present, it quickly disperses to where there is lack—so that movement toward equilibrium takes place. The same is needed in our cultivated systems. Too much of anything in one place will make for disorder and pollution.

Beyond these core ethics, permaculture works with principles. David Holmgren delineated 12 of them:

1. Observe and Interact
2. Catch and Store Energy
3. Get a Yield
4. Self-Regulate and Accept Feedback
5. Use and Value Renewable Services and Resources
6. Produce No Waste
7. Design from Patterns to Detail
8. Integrate Rather than Segregate
9. Use Small and Slow Solutions
10. Use and Value Diversity
11. Use Edges and Value the Marginal
12. Creatively Use and Respond to Change

See www.permacultureprinciples.com for more information.