Msikaba Gorge

07 Jun 2010

Setting up systems for local food security and local food sovereignty in our own towns and neighborhoods will determine our sustainability.   

Robina McCurdy is a co-founder of a leading self-sustaining community (TUI community www.tuitrust.org.nz ) in New Zealand and the original founder of the Schools Environment Education and Development (SEED) www.seed.org.za program, and has assisted dozens of others to get going.

She is a leading international practitioner and facilitator who assists others to develop and run entire food secure systems at neighborhood level, and is offering a series of workshops in Cape Town, Swellendam and Rustenburg in July/August 2010.

Check out her programme below, and the downloadable brochures.

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‘COMMUNITY FOOD SECURITY’ Workshops
in Cape Town
with Robina McCurdy
- international facilitator-educator from Aotearoa/New Zealand

Tues 6 July, 4 – 7pm
Presentation: ‘Transition Towns, LETS systems and Local Food Initiatives in Aotearoa/New Zealand’
Venue: WESSA Barn in Kirstenhof (about 15 Km from Newlands).
For directions, visit: http://www.ces.org.za/
Entry: R25 – R50 (half TALENTS accepted and encouraged)*
No pre-registration necessary.

Thurs 8 & Fri 9 July, 9am – 4pm
‘Small Space – Big Harvest’ – facilitating abundant urban food gardens
Learn how to teach others to work in harmony with nature and produce an abundance of food in an environment of beauty…
Who For: experienced gardeners, permaculture and environmental educators.
Participants can attend one day or both. Full attendance is strongly encouraged.
Venue: a private property in Capetown. Location & directions on registration.
Cost: 1 day: R325 – 650* Both days: R500 – R1000*
Cost is on an income-based sliding scale. Participants choose their own figure relative to their income.
Up to 150 TALENTS accepted as part payment for whole workshop.
Participants can attend one day or both. Attending both is highly recommended.

Thurs: site design, fruit, herbs and flowers Fri: vegetable gardens
Registrations Essential.
This workshop is limited to 14 participants, so early registration is encouraged.
Registration: earthcarenz@gmail.com
Local Contact (if essential only): E-Mail: admin@seed.org.za Ph 021 391 5316
See separate flyer for description of workshop and how to register.
Downloadable from: www.seed.org.za also from: www.earthcare-education.org

Sat 10 & Sun 11 July: 9am – 4.30pm
Local Food Self-Reliance
Want to break your dependence on the supermarket forever? Its possible here and now to be 100% food self reliant at a bio-regional & local level!
Come and learn how...
Who For: anybody and everybody - especially community activists, environmental educators, permaculture practitioners, farmers and gardeners.
Venue: WESSA Barn in Kirstenhof. For directions, visit: http://www.ces.org.za/
Cost: R450 – R900 for weekend, R250 – R500 for Saturday only*
Up to 100 TALENTS accepted for full weekend attendance as part payment. It is highly recommended to attend whole weekend. Registrations Essential
See separate flyer for description of workshop and how to register.
Flyer downloadable from: www.seed.org.za and from: www.earthcare-education.org

Mon 12 July: SEED Facilitators Training – for SEED facilitators only
Venue: SEED Training Centre, Rocklands, Mitchell's Plain.

Wed 14 July: School Gardens for Local Food Security
- for school teachers, environmental educators and community development facilitators. Details 7 June on: http://www.seed.org.za/courses
Venue: SEED Training Centre, Rocklands, Mitchell's Plain.
Cost: R350 – R700* Up to 150 TALENTS accepted as part payment.
Registration Essential. Registration through SEED website.
Phone (only if essential): Tel/Fax: 021 391 5316

* Cost of Workshops
(1) Costs are based on a sliding scale, where participants decide on the amount to pay across the scale, appropriate to their income. The lowest amount is for lower income people and students, the highest amount being for higher income people, as well as externally funded organizations and businesses who are sponsoring a participant to attend on their behalf. This range simplistically represents wealth discrepancy in society, with the aim of making the workshop accessible to the ‘lower strata’ whilst still enabling it to be viable for the tutor and organisers. Please give as generously as you are able, with consideration for the value of the workshop to you.
(2) Robina acknowledges and appreciates the South African private sponsor who covered her international airfare, so that these workshops can be offered closer to local rates.
(3) 10% of all earnings from Capetown workshops will be donated to SEED for their awesome work in impoverished schools.
(4) It will be possible to join TALENTS (a local exchange trading system) at the workshops. Organisations as well as individuals can join.

ROBINA'S MAIN COURSES in SOUTH AFRICA:

SKILLS FOR COMMUNITY SELF-RELIANCE
Fri 16 – Sat 25 July
Venue: Jakkalskloof farm, near Swellendam, Western Cape

This is a 2 day introductory weekend, followed by a 6 day course on the social, economic and land development skills, also food security systems, required for developing and living in a self reliant, resilient land-based community.
This highly participatory event covers some of the principles, practices and successful models of land based community self-reliance around the world, with relevance to the South African context.For more info, visit: http://xhabbofarmcommunity.co.za/
Contact: John Raimondo: raimondo@telkomsa.net

‘SKILLS & TOOLS FOR SUSTAINABILITY’
- a series of 7 Workshops on Food Security & Sustainable Community Design:
29 July – 27 August

Venue: Tholego Village, near Rustenburg, NW Province

27 – 30 July: Global Solutions to Local Food Insecurity
2 & 3 Aug: Growing Healthy Food for Children in Schools
5 & 6 Aug: Teaching Communities how to grow Healthy Food
6 – 8 Aug: Practical Skills for Growing Organic Food
10 – 12 Aug: Small-Scale Commercial Organic Farming
20 – 22 Aug: Designing for Sustainable Communities
23 – 27 Aug: Dynamic Facilitation

For Further Info, view these downloads from the web:
1. Course Promo & Overview
2. Course Details:
3. Registration Form
Registration/Enquiries: Contact stephne-fain@iafrica.com Ph 021 - 783 4007
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Info also available on the Earthcare Education Aotearoa website:
www.earthcare-education.org NB: this is a new site, only active on 10 June
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TUTOR’S BACKGROUND: Robina McCurdy
Robina is co founder/resident/trustee of Tui Land Trust & Community in Aotearoa/NZ, founder/trustee of the Institute for Earthcare Education Aotearoa. She is also the pioneer-developer of the international programme, S.E.E.D. Schools Environmental Education & Development, and of 'PLANET Organic’ in New Zealand – a vocational training in bioregional & community-scale sustainable landuse design, management & facilitation. Currently she works under the Nelson District Health Board (NZ), as a community garden co-ordinator for Victory Community Health Centre.

Robina has a Dipoma in Education, Permaculture, and Seed Technology. For the past 25 years she has been engaged in community development, permaculture design & tutoring, organic growing, the development of environmental education resources and the creation of participatory processes for decision-making & collective action.
She has taught & applied these powerful community-building methods with households, neighborhoods, schools, farms, ecovillages & bioregions, in Aotearoa/NZ, Australia, Southern Africa, Britain, Canada, USA and Brazil. In 2008, this vast experience culminated in the publication of her community facilitation manual, 'Grounding Vision, Empowering Culture'. Human capacity building is Robina’s special skills – inspiring, guiding and offering specific tools and techniques for people to access their gifts, develop their potential, build their resourcefulness, and live their dreams!