Description:

Join Didi Pershouse of the Soil Carbon Coalition in this participatory workshop as we explore the deep relationship between carbon and water in the soil pore and in the atmosphere. Learn the principles of healthy land functions, and how biological work of plants, soil microbes, and other life forms create the water absorbing and water filtering soil infrastructure that our farms and communities depend on. We will discuss how to enlist the power  of those relationships in our land management to create healthy people, resilient communities, productive land and clean water.

Expected outcomes of this workshop include a deeper understanding of: carbon and water cycling on land, principles for improving land and watershed function through biological work, and an introduction to ways of monitoring and mapping change.

This workshop welcomes farmers, teachers, scientists, climate activists, climate skeptics, land managers, conservationists and any other interested people.

Why are sunlight and microbiology the most powerful forces in creating the structure and function of land, and in directing flows of water?

How does soil biology influence water storage and filtration, flooding and drought?

What are the connections between soil health, public health, and climate resiliency?

How might land managers and communities take effective responsibility for soil health, productivity, and watershed function?

How could monitoring and mapping change over time in photosynthesis, soil health, and water infiltration strengthen local economies and have a positive influence on agricultural policy?

About the facilitator:

Didi Pershouse is a cross-pollinator, helping to connect the dots between soil health and human health. She is the author of The Ecology of Care: Medicine, Agriculture, Money, and the Quiet Power of Human and Microbial Communities and the founder of the Center for Sustainable Medicine. After 22 years of clinical work with patients, she is now working with the Soil Carbon Coalition on a large-scale citizen-science program that engages schools, conservation districts, farmers, and the public in understanding the intersections between soil, water, public health, and climate resiliency. She develops curriculum on soil health principles and whole systems landscape function, and facilitates workshops that empower communities through mutual listening.

Co-Sponsored by Essex County Greenbelt Association

Information on NOFA/Mass www.nofamass.org/membership