An invitation to Congress

​

A growing number of people are recognizing that to secure the clean air, water, and food that we need to survive healthfully, we have to become guardians of the places where we live. People sense the loss in not knowing our neighbors and natural surroundings and are discovering that the best way to take care of ourselves is to go out, and take action for ourselves. 

 

When we define our places using the Earth as the frame of reference, taking into account flora, fauna, landforms, climate, and so on, we are talking in terms of bioregions.

 

Bioregions are living systems where every being is connected to, and interdependent with every other; bioregions are not by property lines, states, or nations, but by rock, soil, weather, water, terrain, plants, animals, human cultures and human settlements. 

 

From early bioregionalist Stephanie Mills: Bioregionalism calls for active citizenship in the whole of life, yet its key understanding is cultural: attention to place, to local history, natural history, and to how a community’s hopes, wounds, and dreams can inform enduring ways of life that will heal the planet’s bioregions and their inhabitants. Bioregionalism means working to satisfy basic needs locally, relying on renewable energy and sustainable agriculture, developing local enterprises based on local skills and strengths. Bioregionalism challenges and is an alternative to nationalism, corporate rule, and top-down globalization of our lives. Bioregionalism embraces the struggle around the world to preserve, restore and enhance the life of the distinct places that constitute the planet.

​

Since 1984 bioregionalists have been gathering semi-annually throughout continental North America.  You, too, may be a bioregionalist, in fact probably are, if you’ve received this invitation.  ​Can we move from our status of internal colony of the American and Canadian industrial system, used for resource extraction, to a more self- reliant and self-determining bioregional community? Can we gain greater control of our common destiny?

​

Can we? Perhaps. But it all depends. It depends on what we do and how we do it. The challenge of change is great. Without a clearly articulated, collective vision for what we want to do and coordinated strategies for how to move forward, our ability to effect deep and widespread change is stymied. Is there a way to create greater “connective tissue” between various parts of our movement for change, so that we can strengthen and nourish one another?

​

We are here because this work that we are doing is important.  We have a choice and a brief window in time to shape the future for ourselves and future generations. It is up to us, each in our way, to create and promote these changes and lead the way forward rather than wait for someone else to do it for us.