20% Discount to Great Lakes Bioneers Chicago

GREAT LAKES BIONEERS CHICAGO, The Living City  

Building a Future Guided by Nature 

November 2nd - 4th

UIC Student Center East

750 S. Halsted

http://bioneerschicago.org

Elizabeth Wenscott who is the head of NNA's Environmental Committee is the Volunteer Coordinator for the Great Lakes Bioneers Chicago conference has graciously set up a discount code for any Resident Members or Social Members of  Northcenter Neighborhood Association to receive a 20% discount on any portion of this event. Just note that you will only have until October 19th at midnight to use this coupon!

All you would need to do is go to http://bioneerschicago.org/registration/register and choose the type of ticket you want (Standard, NGO / 1-Day, 3-day etc.) then enter the promotional code NCNA. Feel free to share this news!

You can also Volunteer and Half Day and Get the Other Half Day Free!

ABOUT GLBC: On November 2-4, Great Lakes Bioneers Chicago will host its first annual conference at UIC Student Center East, 750 S. Halsted.  For three exciting days, participants will have the opportunity to join international, national, and local visionaries in a program of presentations and interactive workshops interwoven with music, drama, dance, poetry and celebration. 

Our theme, Chicago the Living City, will bring together innovators from all walks of life to exchange ideas, build networks, and experience the power of visions guided by a philosophy that the responses to our city’s most significant environmental, social, and economic challenges must be in harmony with the wisdom and proven design of natural systems.  

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

• Keynotes and Flash Talks by leaders in the environmental and social justice movements.

• Empowering, interactive panels and workshops

• Inspiring art, music, poetry, drama, and dance

• Youth-related workshops and activities

• Exhibit Hall showcasing Chicago’s change makers

• Facilitated discussions designed to move the dialogue beyond the event

KEYNOTE ADDRESSES

Learn how to turn today’s most pressing challenges into just solutions that restore and heal our planet.

• Richard Heinberg - Senior Fellow, Post Carbon Institute

• Dr. Vandana Shiva - Author, internationally renowned scientist and food justice activist

• Nina Simons - Co-Founder, National Bioneers

• John Edel - Eco-preneur and founder of The Plant, Chicago’s first vertical farm and food business incubator

• Starhawk - Author/voice of earth-based spirituality, activist, and ecofeminist

• Dr. Gerould Wilhelm - World-class botanist and Director of the Conservation Research Institute

• Mark Lakeman - Urban placemaker, Communitecture

Bird List - Chicago River, Berteau to Montrose

Below is a list of birds spotted during one day! 4/30/12 Clearly the river and the green space up and down the river is a great asset to all of us and one we should continue to take great care of.

Canada Goose  15
Mallard  8
Double-crested Cormorant  3
Green Heron  2
Ring-billed Gull  3
Mourning Dove  1
Belted Kingfisher  2
Downy Woodpecker  2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  3
Barn Swallow  1
Black-capped Chickadee  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1
American Robin  12
Gray Catbird  2
European Starling  3
Northern Waterthrush  3
Yellow-rumped Warbler  2
Chipping Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  1
Swamp Sparrow  1
White-throated Sparrow  20
White-crowned Sparrow  3
Northern Cardinal  2
Rose-breasted Grosbeak  1
Red-winged Blackbird  1
Common Grackle  6
House Finch  4
American Goldfinch  2
House Sparrow  10

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

Pete Leki - People You Should Know

Berteau and the River

Within an urban environment it is possible for neighbors, schools and businesses to create a more integrated wholistic experience of living. Experiences where we the participant get to enacted either our "big ideas or little acts" in order to add depth an meaning to our lives while deepening our relationship with our environment.

This past weekend Pete Leki, teacher, ecologist, environmentalist, land steward, and awesome neighbor invited us to learn, participate or just watch two controlled, perscribed burns.

On Thursday, March 16, Pete gave a  workshop on prescribed, controlled burns of natural areas in preparation for two upcoming burnings in our ward. On Saturday the weather was oddly perfect (85 degrees in March!) dry, low winds which allow Pete and the graduates of the workshop to apply the perscription prairie burn to both the Bill McBride Prairie at the intersection of Berteau and the river, then on Sunday the garden of Waters Elementary School.

Waters Elementary School

It was an incredible weekend and based on the success of the burns we can bet that both green spaces will flourish this spring, summer and fall. Thank you Pete!

If you would like to participate in other exciting events like this, please contact the Riverbank Neighbors at kgander@pobox.com, they can always use YOUR HELP!

19th Annual Chicago River Day

URBAN RIVER CHALLENGE

The Chicago River vs. The Los Angeles River. The competition is ON!

The Windy City is taking on the City of Angels - but with an ecological twist. For decades, our two cities have hosted some of the largest volunteer-driven river clean-ups in the country - and this year, we’re competing to be the best.

The Urban River Challenge is a three-month competition between our two organizations to see who can 

(1) get the largest number of volunteers out to our large watershed workday/cleanup events Saturday, May 14, 2011, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. and 

(2) add the most new Facebook fans leading up to their cleanup. The prize for this competition is the fame, acclaim and the knowledge that both of our rivers will be better off than they were before the challenge began. And, just so you know, we are in this it win it Chicago!!!!!

The competition is from March 1 through May 20, 2011. Help the Chicago River win the Urban River Challenge. Follow this link for more information! http://www.chicagoriver.org/events/chicago_river_day/