This weekend the Environmental Center will host the fourth annual Colorado Bioneers conference, which brings together environmentally and socially conscious people for three days of events on campus.
Bioneers is a forum held every year in several communities that discusses visionary and practical solutions for restoring the Earth and its communities. Boulder is one of 18 cites that will host satellite conferences this weekend to coincide with the main conference in San Rafael, Calif.
“It’s a huge conference that’s a way for scientific innovators and environmentalists to get together, try to connect the dots between the problems we have, and propose novel solutions,” said Jen Mueller, a senior anthropology and biological sciences major and employer at the Environmental Center.
The weekend’s schedule of events includes workshops, simulcast video sessions from the California conference, films, concerts, a yoga session, children’s activities and more.
Most of the talks will be from California and the topics are eclectic. Speech titles include “How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World,” “The Courage to Walk in Beauty: Creating Space for Young People to Find Truth and Power,” “Beyond the Barcode: The Local Food Revolution, and “Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders and the People Who Fight Back.”
Amy Goodman from Democracy Now, Michael Pollan, a New York Times writer, and Sofia Quintero, a writer from the Bronx, are among the guest speakers that will be simulcast to Colorado Bioneers.
According to Environmental Center associate director Marianne Martin, Bioneers is about health, social justice and spirituality in addition to the environment.
“Bioneers is so beyond the environment, it roots itself in the laws of nature and that is common to all of us,” Martin said. “We can only be successful as a society if we live the way nature intended.”
Bioneers allows participants to find this out for themselves.
“The power of Bioneers can’t be understated, we couple the California conference with sessions and workshops here in Boulder and use that expertise from the national level and focus it locally,” Martin said.
Bioneers not only attempts to find solutions to environmental and social problems, but also focuses on what people can do individually.
“It really is an inspiring event,” Mueller said.
Those interested in attending events this weekend can find more information at the Bioneers Web site. Events are free for CU students and those interested can register in the lobby of Humanities.
