Brandy Gallagher [previously MacPherson] (BSW, MA) is one of the original founders and developers of O.U.R. ECOVILLAGE, Shawnigan Lake (Vancouver Island) BC. (More)

Full Presentation Title: COMING OUT OF THE CLOSET.... How Ecovillages & Sustainable Land Management Design Projects Might be Considered Mainstream (where community meets regulatory reform!)

Brandy brings an innovative and unique discussion on the real life example of how one Ecovillage was created from within all regulatory processes. This amazing example of a “full featured human settlement” was not created out of the visibility of regulatory processes but dared to partner with the regulatory powers that be! First, by creating a brand new re-zoning project which allowed for a ‘Sustainable Land Management Design” (a park, an organic farm, an education facility, and an eco-residential housing cluster), secondly by working with building inspectors and engineers on ‘natural building’ (cob, strawbale, light clay, etc) compliance with building codes, then alternative Waste Water Treatment through the Health Act, now a national research project on FOG: Finance, Ownership and Governance for Landshare Projects....these landmarks have created unprecedented opportunities and an amazing contribution to all other live/work communities in Canada and even the US. This is all accomplished through an amazing development of new relationship and partnerships within the Regulatory process.

Please join us for an evening of sharing the history, design and development of this example through a slideshow and group discussion!

(complete title: “Piazza: The Luminous Village Heart - Natural Light and the Italian Piazza”)

Sandra Davis Lakeman is an Emeritus Professor of Architecture from California Polytechnic State University, 1981-2006; and, University of Arizona. She is an architect, photographer and author of Natural Light and the Italian Piazza, the international exhibition and catalogue, sponsored by the Comune di Siena, Cal Poly, the Graham Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Primarily architectural and urban in nature including contextural landscape images, this exhibition opened in the Palazzo Pubblico, Cortile del Podestà in Siena, Italy in 1992; Portland, Oregon in 1994 and San Luis Obispo in 2004. (More)

Bhangra, Hip-hop, Dub, Dancehall, Bollywood

“DJ Rekha invites the listener to go with her into a world that merges the traditional Bhangra music of South Asia and the Hip-Hop beats of today” Koch RecordsDJ Rehka

“Who is The Goddess Alchemy Project? Bringing forth a timeless science through a live, lyrical experience of “more than one sista on the mic at a time”… this crew gives voice to the potent medicine of Goddess Alchemy rising. Empowering the revolution from within, these creatresses synergize their individual skills to weave together an evolutionary, artistic collective grounded in the ancient ways of women’s wisdom. In collaboration with many artists and producers, Goddess Alchemy’s sound alchemizes a fresh, feminine flavor by integrating elements of underground hip hop, world accents, spoken word flows, and soulful melodics. Combine this with ancient texts, quantum physics, ancestral roots, multi-dimensional symbology, and an all-female cipher… the result to this equation is a new, musical science they call “Open Source Soul Floetics”. Utilizing multi-media as they’re tool of mass creation, The Goddess Alchemy Project fuses music, visual art, spoken word poetry, dance, their al.KEM.y Designs clothing company, and community outreach to bring sacred intention to the forefront of artistic momentum.”Goddess Alchemy Project

Mark Lakeman, “CR Impact on Community Health”