July/August 1984 RAIN Page 37 CALENDAR Auckland, New Zealand, will be the site of the International Solar Energy Society's annual conference, from August 23 to 25, 1984. The aim of the conference is to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas in the broad field of solar energy utilization. The formal sessions of the conference will embrace a wide range of topics, such as passive solar systems and construction, photovoltaics, solar thermal power systems, solar ponds, solar thermal collectors, resources and nontechnical issues, biological-related processes and wind systems. For registration, contact the Conference Secretary, l.S.E.S.-A.N.Z. Conference, Centre for Continuing Education, University of Auckland, Private Bag, Auckland, New Zealand. To bring together organic farmers, gardeners, and consumers interested in eating uncontaminated food, the Natural Organic Fanners Association (NOFA) will hold its tenth annual Conference and Celebration of Rural Life August 3-5 at Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, New Hampshire. Reflecting NOFA's philosophy of "thinking globally, acting locally," speakers will report on agricultural developments in China, Africa, Mexico, and Central America. Workshops on small-scale organic agriculture, marketing for organic growers, homesteading, and bioregionalism will complement the international reports. Keynote speaker Catherine Lerza, co-author of Food for People, Not for Profit, will speak on nation-wide grassroots activism on behalf of alternative agriculture. For more information, contact June Francis, 10th Annual NOFA Conference Organizer, PO Box 335, Antrim, NH 03440; 603/588-6668. With the theme "Planting the Seeds of Change," the Fellowship of Reconciliation's 1984 national conference will focus on the role of nonviolence in the struggle to achieve jobs, peace, and freedom for everyone. Fundamental to this struggle is the willingness of pacifists to be open to risk, and to plant the seeds of change with the faith that they will grow and blossom. The conference will explore the roots of unemployment, militarism, and inequality in America. Randall Forsberg, author of the Bilateral Nuclear Freeze Proposal and director of the Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies, and Dolores Huerta of the United Farm Workers, will be among the keynote speakers. Workshop topics include domestic issues of the arms race, radiation victims, and the impact of militarism on the Third World. The conference will be held at the University of Santa Clara, Santa Clara, California, from July 18 to 22. For more information, contact Nora Hallett, FOR, Box 271, Nyack, NY 10960, An international open forum where men and women gather for a month each summer to investigate the underlying concepts of contemporary society from the perspective of democracy, the Institute for Democratic Alternatives, will host a variety of events this summer in Augusta, Maine. Formal course offerings include: Ivan Illich: Toward a History of Scarcity, Organizing and Nonviolence, and Issues in Adult Education. In addition to the courses, the institute will conduct a monthlong camp that will provide facilities for an "open university" where anyone can offer or take a course or participate in a seminar for a minimal fee. On July 28, the Maine chapter of Common Cause will conduct a one-day conference focusing on peace issues, asking questions such as "Is peace possible within 'economic' society?" and "What are the institutional and ideological obstacles to peace?" Sponsors of the institute are TRANET, Maine Common Cause, and the University of Maine at Augusta. Contact Susan Hunt, West Ripley Publications, Route 3, Box 650, Dexter, ME 04930. Consumer cooperatives of all kinds—food, housing, child care, energy, worker co-ops and more—will be the topic of a five-day training and networking conference August 14-18. The Consumer Cooperative Alliance's annual Co-op Institute, this year entitled "Bringing Co-ops into the Real World," will be held at rural Ramapo College in northern New Jersey. For information on costs, agenda, budget plans, and travel coordinators, write to CCA Co-op Inshtute, Matthew Chachere, Institute Coordinator, 24 North Lane, Glen Cove, NY 11542; 516/674-4981. New Alchemy Institute celebrates its 15th birthday this summer with a series of guest lectures in addition to its traditional Farm Saturday fare. The celebration will culminate with a Harvest Festival on August 18, a day of workshops, lectures, music, and fun. Write to New Alchemy for a full listing of one-day courses. A small sampling includes: Integrated Pest Management for the Home Garden, Computer-Aided Building Design, and Edible Landscaping. The New Alchemy Institute, 237 Hatchville Road, East Falmouth, MA 02536; 617/563-2655. Since 1980, Children of the Green Earth has been helping schools, teachers, parents, and youth leaders throughout the Pacific Northwest to develop creative tree-planting programs for their children. From July 22 to 27, it will sponsor the Green Earth Camp at Breiten- bush Community in Detroit, Oregon. Designed to provide intensive training in a variety of skills for working with children in nature, the program will cover ways to guide children more effectively in the outdoors; the use of stories, folklore, games, and arts and crafts to enhance teaching methods; and ways to make tree planting a practical and inspiring part of the children's lives as they become a part of the growing world-wide family of tree planters. For more information about the program, contact Children of the Green Earth, 7635 Tyee Road, Umpqua, OR 97486; 503/459-3122. The Center for Popular Economics in Amherst, Massachusetts, is offering a one-week course on economics for: activists; women's and national minority organizations; religious, peace, and anti-intervention groups; community organizations; the environmental movement; and other groups working for social change. Through two one-week sessions (July 29 to August 4 and August 19 to 25) held at Hampshire College, the Summer Institute for Popular Economics will provide activists with economic knowledge and skills that will help them in their organizing and political work, and in combatting "new right" economics. For further information, contact Betsy Hamilton, Center for Popular Economics, Box 785, Amherst, MA 01004; 413/545-0743. Celebrate Smokey Bear's 40th birthday on August 9. The Forest Service is sponsoring a year-long celebration. For details on local events, contact local offices of the Bureau of Land Management, state forestry offices, local fire cooperatives, or the USDA Forest Service. Hollyhock Farm in British Columbia, a community and educational institute centered around’ the ideas of whole living, harmony with nature, and the interdependence of life on all levels, offers a summer workshop program involving the practical, creative, and healing arts. Hollyhock Farm, Box 127, Manson's Landing, Cortes Island, BC, VOPIKO, Canada; 604/935-6465. The Breitenbush Community at the Hot Springs will be the site for the two workshops this summer—Edible Landscaping and an Herbal Retreat. The Maritime Permaculture Institute is sponsoring the Edible Landscaping workshop from July 29 to August 3, which will cover the uses of edible plants as shade trees, borders, privacy screens, and windbreaks. This five-day design course is oriented toward practicing landscape designers. Herbalists from all over the west coast will gather August 10-12 to discuss herbs and well-being. Sessions will address technical, clinical, spiritual, and ceremonial aspects of herbology. Contact Breitenbush Community, Box 578, Detroit, OR 97342; 503/854-3501. The Concourse at Showplace Square in San Francisco will be the site of A Vision of America at Peace, a major exhibition of images of peace, July 13-19. The Democratic Convention will be held that same week in Moscone Center, just five blocks from the Concourse. The organizers' goal is "to create a brilliant and enduring vision of how life could be if the world were in a state of genuine peace." For more information, contact Michele Sudduth, VISION Project Coordinator, Ground Zero/ VISION, PO Box 9820, Berkeley, CA 94709; 415/486-0233.
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