Civic Culture
Pushing back on social engineering and the consumer culture allows us to put more time, effort and money into being a part of paradigm shift. One of the most important tasks of paradigm shift is to build civic culture.
The more people who prioritize time and money on behalf of sustainability and uplift, the more people who choose to Be The Change, the better. The more people who advocate taking purposeful initiative to build civic culture, the better.
Creating civic culture is a core aspect and action of paradigm shift. condition where people care about where they live and make time to participate in the life of the community. Civic culture builds safety, security, resilience and well being in the neighborhood and community along with protecting and restoring the natural world. Civic culture can flourish when people share basic ideals take part in creating social uplift, democracy, an accountable economic system, a healthy environment.
Civic culture is also about enlightened self interest. When everyone and the environment are cared for, everyone benefits. Building civic culture takes place when we are simply helpful and encouraging to others in our everyday lives. Civic culture happens when we engage with our neighbors in the street. Virtually every public interest organization builds civic culture.
Schools, non profits, faith groups and many others can expand their agendas and mission statements to include and emphasize civic culture “literacy” - what is civic culture, how can it be encouraged, what are the benefits? Uplifted civic culture is the core of paradigm shift.
Of course, there are many ways to participate in and create civic culture. If one is a member of a faith group, that could be a perfect place to share paradigm shift ideas, especially if there is a social concerns committee. If there isn’t a social concerns committee, consider starting one.
Any public interest group or civic minded organization could be fertile ground to discuss paradigm shift ideas and actions. Almost any public interest non profit welcomes volunteers. Volunteering is a good way to become acquainted with a group and share ideas.
Site under construction, Dec 9
volunteer,,, donate,,, time and money
Neighborhood Associations
Fit this in with NAs
Civic Engagement needs to go somewhere else,, maybe this lifestyle makes time for civic engagement - time and money
Building civic culture can take place in many locations including work, faith groups, volunteering, school, just about anywhere people come together. Civic culture can be assisted by making time to purposefully interact with people in positive ways that assist social uplift and boost the ideas of sustainability. Resensitizing, encouraging people, downsizing eco footprints and much more can all boost civic culture.
One of my favorite venues for building civic culture is neighborhood associations [NAs].
Many cities have neighborhood programs that support NAs which are made up of residents of the neighborhood and exist to make the neighborhood a better place to live. NAs are a nursery for building civic culture and learning skills for working with others. Typically, NAs have a monthly public meeting with a program of interest to those in the neighborhood. NAs can help promote paradigm shift.
Typically, an NA has an elected board. It usually meets once a month with programs of value to the neighborhood. It can have committees to address different issues. NAs welcome new people. An NA communicates with the neighborhood, interacts with the city, it can organize events, its agenda is made up by those who participate. Many NAs have working groups or committees with interests in land use, crime, the environment, social justice, business or any topic people care to put time and effort into.
A neighborhood association has standing in the community and typically reaches out to the neighborhood with snail mail, has a website, puts out an e newsletter, has a face book presence. NAs can be a place where individuals share their particular interests with a wider audience.
The NA can organize public events and workshops. They confer with the city. Typically, leaders from the city’s various neighborhood associations meet monthly to discuss broader issues, compare notes relating to their neighborhoods and perhaps collaborate on projects and events.
Neighborhood associations are a perfect place to be the change, build civic culture and a perfect place to advance the cause of paradigm shift.
Many of the ideals and actions taken by NAs fit well within the realm of paradigm shift. Our new Neighborhood Plan includes action items that fit perfectly with paradigm shift in regard to producing more basic needs at home. Creating preparedness networks, encouraging conservation and alternatives to cars. A neighborhood association can play a powerful and leading role on behalf of paradigm shift at a scale far beyond most individuals.
One can call their city or check their city or town’s website to see if there is a neighborhood program, what neighborhoods are involved and even when the NA meets and how to make contact with them.
Immediately upon moving into this River Road Neighborhood, I was drafted to run for a position
River Fest, PC Convergence, Site Tours
Of course, there are many ways to participate in and create civic culture. If one is a member of a faith group, that could be a perfect place to share paradigm shift ideas, especially if there is a social concerns committee. If there isn’t a social concerns committee, consider starting one.
Any public interest group or civic minded organization could be fertile ground to discuss paradigm shift ideas and actions. Almost any public interest non profit welcomes volunteers. Volunteering is a good way to become acquainted with a group and share ideas. Any group of neighbors or friends can meet and make common cause in positive ways. One can mentor or tutor young people or help with a local environmental cause. Paradigm shift welcomes everyone for creating civic culture.
Preparedness, Resilience and Permaculture
Preparedness and resilience are concepts receiving a great deal more of public attention with so much news coverage of wild fires, floods, storms and drought. As some people comment, there are no natural disasters. Rather, humans are endlessly creative in putting themselves in the way of nature plus human impacts on natural systems seem to be making those systems more erratic and stronger. Just about everywhere, people can reflect on how weather and climate has changed over the past generation or two.
Creating a community network based on preparedness, resilience, safety and permaculture makes all the sense in the world. Almost any city and county has emergency management personnel and departments. Many cities have programs such as Map Your Neighborhood, Community Emergency Response Team [CERT] and a natural ally, Neighborhood Watch.
These important programs all serve their communities well in their limited capacities. Their social components have far more potential. For Neighborhood Watch, the intention is for neighbors to have “eyes on the street” to help look after each others’’ safety and property. Map Your Neighborhood is about nearby neighbors making preparations, identifying emergency assets and making contingencies with for what to do in case of an emergency. CERT includes training and exercises that simulate emergency conditions to teach first responder skills in the event of an emergency or disaster.
All three programs would benefit by a permaculture overlay that could graft certain aspects of permaculture onto each ones’ respective classroom and training. Permaculture approaches to preparedness can broaden and deepen the safety and resilience for many thousands of people nationwide who participate in these three programs. Let’s take a closer look.
In a general way, MYN and CERT are reactive. They teach making plans and contingencies for different kinds of disruption after they happen, but they not venture to ask why are disasters becoming more frequent, disruptive, widespread and powerful in the first place. These programs do not ask or suggest how can we reduce personal behaviors that are making the disasters worse such as over consumption of energy and resources.
Permaculture offers common sense ideals such as earth care, people care and fair share that point the way towards a more resilient society and lifestyle actions to boost preparedness that goes beyond “traditional” preparedness. Permaculture actions can create homes and lifestyles that produce more basic needs on site like food, water and energy and therefore, less impacted by disruption. Permaculture does not have the political need to avoid difficult issues such as saying the typical middle class lifestyle with its over consumption of resources and energy and the profit motives for building in places that are high risk to disruption is the driving force behind worsening disasters of all kinds. Permaculture can say the mesmerizing social conditioning of the consumer culture interferes with most peoples’ ability to recognize their own affluence is the problem.
Permaculture can tell us for half of all Americans living in suburbia, preparedness could include a garden. Fruit and veggies produced at home can mitigate many types of disruption. A home rainwater system, even only a few 55 gallon barrels under a downspout could be a life saver. More advanced rain water systems add up to an even more prepared condition. Solar energy, both passive and electric, can add to preparedness. Permaculture can advocate resilient lifestyles.
Permaculture would say to us that reducing ecological footprints to diminish the CO2 going into the atmosphere will help reduce CO2 in the atmosphere and we can help pay for these resilient features by prioritizing how we spend our own time and money.
The mainstream preparedness approaches tell us to know your neighbors. That's good, but permaculture “people care” can be more ambitious building common cause with our neighbors than just meeting in someone’s garage in the midst of a big disruption. Neighbors can create a more advanced form of social cohesion long before the need, that can be more powerful and helpful than what the simple mainstream programs call for. Imagine the Map Your Neighborhood classroom explaining the benefits of block planning.
None of the permaculture approaches are complex. They are simply common sense. What is semi magic with permaculture is that it is almost like a new language. It can facilitate a higher level of human performance that can serve the cause of preparedness or almost any other human activity.
Contact me Donate to the Primer
Pushing back on social engineering and the consumer culture allows us to put more time, effort and money into being a part of paradigm shift. One of the most important tasks of paradigm shift is to build civic culture.
The more people who prioritize time and money on behalf of sustainability and uplift, the more people who choose to Be The Change, the better. The more people who advocate taking purposeful initiative to build civic culture, the better.
Creating civic culture is a core aspect and action of paradigm shift. condition where people care about where they live and make time to participate in the life of the community. Civic culture builds safety, security, resilience and well being in the neighborhood and community along with protecting and restoring the natural world. Civic culture can flourish when people share basic ideals take part in creating social uplift, democracy, an accountable economic system, a healthy environment.
Civic culture is also about enlightened self interest. When everyone and the environment are cared for, everyone benefits. Building civic culture takes place when we are simply helpful and encouraging to others in our everyday lives. Civic culture happens when we engage with our neighbors in the street. Virtually every public interest organization builds civic culture.
Schools, non profits, faith groups and many others can expand their agendas and mission statements to include and emphasize civic culture “literacy” - what is civic culture, how can it be encouraged, what are the benefits? Uplifted civic culture is the core of paradigm shift.
Of course, there are many ways to participate in and create civic culture. If one is a member of a faith group, that could be a perfect place to share paradigm shift ideas, especially if there is a social concerns committee. If there isn’t a social concerns committee, consider starting one.
Any public interest group or civic minded organization could be fertile ground to discuss paradigm shift ideas and actions. Almost any public interest non profit welcomes volunteers. Volunteering is a good way to become acquainted with a group and share ideas.
Site under construction, Dec 9
volunteer,,, donate,,, time and money
Neighborhood Associations
Fit this in with NAs
Civic Engagement needs to go somewhere else,, maybe this lifestyle makes time for civic engagement - time and money
Building civic culture can take place in many locations including work, faith groups, volunteering, school, just about anywhere people come together. Civic culture can be assisted by making time to purposefully interact with people in positive ways that assist social uplift and boost the ideas of sustainability. Resensitizing, encouraging people, downsizing eco footprints and much more can all boost civic culture.
One of my favorite venues for building civic culture is neighborhood associations [NAs].
Many cities have neighborhood programs that support NAs which are made up of residents of the neighborhood and exist to make the neighborhood a better place to live. NAs are a nursery for building civic culture and learning skills for working with others. Typically, NAs have a monthly public meeting with a program of interest to those in the neighborhood. NAs can help promote paradigm shift.
Typically, an NA has an elected board. It usually meets once a month with programs of value to the neighborhood. It can have committees to address different issues. NAs welcome new people. An NA communicates with the neighborhood, interacts with the city, it can organize events, its agenda is made up by those who participate. Many NAs have working groups or committees with interests in land use, crime, the environment, social justice, business or any topic people care to put time and effort into.
A neighborhood association has standing in the community and typically reaches out to the neighborhood with snail mail, has a website, puts out an e newsletter, has a face book presence. NAs can be a place where individuals share their particular interests with a wider audience.
The NA can organize public events and workshops. They confer with the city. Typically, leaders from the city’s various neighborhood associations meet monthly to discuss broader issues, compare notes relating to their neighborhoods and perhaps collaborate on projects and events.
Neighborhood associations are a perfect place to be the change, build civic culture and a perfect place to advance the cause of paradigm shift.
Many of the ideals and actions taken by NAs fit well within the realm of paradigm shift. Our new Neighborhood Plan includes action items that fit perfectly with paradigm shift in regard to producing more basic needs at home. Creating preparedness networks, encouraging conservation and alternatives to cars. A neighborhood association can play a powerful and leading role on behalf of paradigm shift at a scale far beyond most individuals.
One can call their city or check their city or town’s website to see if there is a neighborhood program, what neighborhoods are involved and even when the NA meets and how to make contact with them.
Immediately upon moving into this River Road Neighborhood, I was drafted to run for a position
River Fest, PC Convergence, Site Tours
Of course, there are many ways to participate in and create civic culture. If one is a member of a faith group, that could be a perfect place to share paradigm shift ideas, especially if there is a social concerns committee. If there isn’t a social concerns committee, consider starting one.
Any public interest group or civic minded organization could be fertile ground to discuss paradigm shift ideas and actions. Almost any public interest non profit welcomes volunteers. Volunteering is a good way to become acquainted with a group and share ideas. Any group of neighbors or friends can meet and make common cause in positive ways. One can mentor or tutor young people or help with a local environmental cause. Paradigm shift welcomes everyone for creating civic culture.
Preparedness, Resilience and Permaculture
Preparedness and resilience are concepts receiving a great deal more of public attention with so much news coverage of wild fires, floods, storms and drought. As some people comment, there are no natural disasters. Rather, humans are endlessly creative in putting themselves in the way of nature plus human impacts on natural systems seem to be making those systems more erratic and stronger. Just about everywhere, people can reflect on how weather and climate has changed over the past generation or two.
Creating a community network based on preparedness, resilience, safety and permaculture makes all the sense in the world. Almost any city and county has emergency management personnel and departments. Many cities have programs such as Map Your Neighborhood, Community Emergency Response Team [CERT] and a natural ally, Neighborhood Watch.
These important programs all serve their communities well in their limited capacities. Their social components have far more potential. For Neighborhood Watch, the intention is for neighbors to have “eyes on the street” to help look after each others’’ safety and property. Map Your Neighborhood is about nearby neighbors making preparations, identifying emergency assets and making contingencies with for what to do in case of an emergency. CERT includes training and exercises that simulate emergency conditions to teach first responder skills in the event of an emergency or disaster.
All three programs would benefit by a permaculture overlay that could graft certain aspects of permaculture onto each ones’ respective classroom and training. Permaculture approaches to preparedness can broaden and deepen the safety and resilience for many thousands of people nationwide who participate in these three programs. Let’s take a closer look.
In a general way, MYN and CERT are reactive. They teach making plans and contingencies for different kinds of disruption after they happen, but they not venture to ask why are disasters becoming more frequent, disruptive, widespread and powerful in the first place. These programs do not ask or suggest how can we reduce personal behaviors that are making the disasters worse such as over consumption of energy and resources.
Permaculture offers common sense ideals such as earth care, people care and fair share that point the way towards a more resilient society and lifestyle actions to boost preparedness that goes beyond “traditional” preparedness. Permaculture actions can create homes and lifestyles that produce more basic needs on site like food, water and energy and therefore, less impacted by disruption. Permaculture does not have the political need to avoid difficult issues such as saying the typical middle class lifestyle with its over consumption of resources and energy and the profit motives for building in places that are high risk to disruption is the driving force behind worsening disasters of all kinds. Permaculture can say the mesmerizing social conditioning of the consumer culture interferes with most peoples’ ability to recognize their own affluence is the problem.
Permaculture can tell us for half of all Americans living in suburbia, preparedness could include a garden. Fruit and veggies produced at home can mitigate many types of disruption. A home rainwater system, even only a few 55 gallon barrels under a downspout could be a life saver. More advanced rain water systems add up to an even more prepared condition. Solar energy, both passive and electric, can add to preparedness. Permaculture can advocate resilient lifestyles.
Permaculture would say to us that reducing ecological footprints to diminish the CO2 going into the atmosphere will help reduce CO2 in the atmosphere and we can help pay for these resilient features by prioritizing how we spend our own time and money.
The mainstream preparedness approaches tell us to know your neighbors. That's good, but permaculture “people care” can be more ambitious building common cause with our neighbors than just meeting in someone’s garage in the midst of a big disruption. Neighbors can create a more advanced form of social cohesion long before the need, that can be more powerful and helpful than what the simple mainstream programs call for. Imagine the Map Your Neighborhood classroom explaining the benefits of block planning.
None of the permaculture approaches are complex. They are simply common sense. What is semi magic with permaculture is that it is almost like a new language. It can facilitate a higher level of human performance that can serve the cause of preparedness or almost any other human activity.
Contact me Donate to the Primer