Tuition Cost: $600 - this includes materials and seven meals
Housing Cost: $400 - this includes breakfasts and four nights stay at Simon's rock
Click here to register and pay by check
Click here to register and pay by credit card
Workshops with Eric Harris-Braun, Elizabeth Keen, Chris Lindstrom, Kirkpatrick Sale, Alex Thorp, Charles Turner, Susan Witt, and other guest speakers
How can regional communities regain the power to revitalize the means of production for basic necessities (food, energy, shelter, clothing) in the face of a deepening economic, social, and ecological crisis? Join us this May to learn about successful, citizen-driven models for community revitalization and how to take action in applying them to your own community.
Featuring a Public Lecture by Joseph Stanislaw
Workshops for Seminar Attendees
E. F. Schumacher's Philosophy of Small is Beautiful
The philosophy underlying the work of building strong regionally-based economies, shaped by the democratic participation of citizens with discussion of the evolution of this concept through the programs of the E. F. Schumacher Society.
Community Land Trust Model
Using the community land trust model as a means to creating affordable access to land for housing and other purposes while ensuring equity in the buildings for the owners, including legal structure and visits to community land trust sites.
Community Development Financing Systems & Local Currencies
Creating wealth on a regional level through self-financing, micro-credit and local currency issues using Deli-Dollars, Berkshire Farm Preserve Notes, SHARE Micro-credit, and BerkShares as examples.
Community Self-Management & Diversification of Wealth
How a community can become a "social entrepreneur" and the role that producer/consumer associations can play in establishing new business initiatives and community accountability, with an examination of the Mondragon worker-ownership model from the Basque region of Spain.
Developing Action Plans
Presentations by participants of how they plan to apply the tools for community economic development they have studied in the training session to the problems faced by their own communities.
Seminar Costs
The tuition fee is $600.00, which includes tuition, materials, and seven meals (4 lunches, 3 dinners), featuring food from local farms. Participation is limited to 25 people, so please reserve as soon as possible by sending in the registration card and payment.
The housing fee is $400.00, which includes breakfast and 4 nights housing in a single dorm room with shared bath at Simon's Rock College. Simon's Rock is conveniently located in Great Barrington, and is the site of our evening sessions. Alternatively, you may arrange a stay on your own at one of the many Bed & Breakfasts or Inns in the Berkshires. The Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce has a contact list available at www.southernberkshirechamber.com. For further questions, please contact Michael Gordon, seminar coordinator, at efssociety@smallisbeautiful.org or (413) 528-1737.
Promisorry Note
To assist with financing your seminar attendance, please feel free to use the attached Promisorry Note when approaching individuals or organizations for sponsorship.
Information on the 2007 Seminar
The 2007 Tools for Change Training Seminar was held
May 23th-27th, 2007, Great Barrington,
Massachusetts
with Erbin Crowell, Alan Glackman, Eric Harris-Braun, Elizabeth Keen,
Christopher Lindstrom, Jennifer Sahn, Alex Thorp, Chuck
Turner, Lawrence Union, and Susan Witt
Who attended? Those attending were interested in
new and alternative models for revitalization
of their local economy. They came from all over the country and from a variety of backgrounds.
More
information on the 2007 Seminar, including seminar
program, schedule, and faculty bios. See our suggested reading
list or
visit our publications page. Note that this information is not for the upcoming seminar, but refers to the seminar session held in 2007.
View photographs from the 2007 Seminar:
Image Index
View photographs from the 2006 seminar:
Slide Show | Image Index
Greta's Wedding Photos!
Read the 2006 seminar report
View photographs from the 2005 seminar:
Slide
Show | Image
Index
View
Rainbow photograph
Read the 2005 seminar report
To be informed of future seminars
be sure to join our mailing list by sending your name
via our membership page
