Bioneers want to bring people together
For the first time in it’s 15 years, the annual Bioneers conference will be held on the Utah State University campus.
The conference is normally held in California, but due to growing interest has been broadcast to a number of different locations. Last year, USU wrote a proposal to host the conference and was accepted to be one of 15 locations nationwide to receive the conference broadcast via satellite Oct. 15-17, said Leona Hawks, USU professor and extension housing and environment specialist.
The theme of this year’s conference is “Healthy Families, Healthy Communities and Healthy Environments.” The purpose of the yearly conference, which boasts being the largest environmental conference in the country, is to improve the quality of life and save the environment, Hawks said.
The conference include national speakers broadcast from California as well as local workshops allowing the Bioneers (biological pioneers) of Utah to discuss world and local issues.
L. Hunter Lovins, co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute and co-creator of the Natural Capitalism concept, will be the keynote speaker.
One main topic of discussion will be global sustainability and fairness, which Celia Peterson, a graduate student in bioregional planning who is helping organize the conference, explains as “making sure we live within the physical capability of the planet.”
In other words, the conference hopes to address the issue of finding balance between development and conservation.
Other topics will include air quality, renewable energy, cultural diversity, wildlife and recreation, fair trade, Hispanic and migrant issues and more.
“It’s so powerful because it broadens your thinking and education on environmental issues,” Hawks said. “It gets you out of the box.”
Peterson has played a key role in organizing the conference and is heading up a student workshop called “How to organize, involve and fund student activist groups.” Peterson said she hopes students and student groups can come together and be revitalized.
The workshop will discuss, among other things, projects that could be done on campus such as recycling and a further look into dining services and where the food comes from.
The conference also hopes to promote interaction among people from various places. During lunch, “conversation cafes” will be set up. Butcher paper will be placed on tables and those sitting together will be encouraged to discuss ideas and opinions as well as write them down.
Evening social events are also planned. There will be a multi-cultural event with food and entertainment Friday night, and there will be a contra dance with a live band Saturday.
On Sunday morning, there will be a sunrise service at the USU outdoor amphitheater where people can gather and “talk freely about their ideas of the earth,” Hawks said.
There will also be music each morning and a reverence message delivered by the Native American community.
Exhibitions will be set up and available for viewing, including one on the sidewalk of the Eccles Conference Center showing vehicles that use alternative forms of fuel.
Awards will be given out to sustainable businesses in the community, Hawks said. The criteria for being a sustainable business includes, but is not limited to, saving energy, water, recycling and not using fossil fuels.
Hawks is working on “green mapping” which will identify all sustainable businesses, agricultural and manufacturing, in the area and put them on a map that will be featured in a brochure.
Organization for the conference started in May. Peterson and Hawks expect the conference to be a success because many people who would travel to California to attend and now have even closer locations. The next closest conference site is in Boulder, Colo.
“We expect a lot of people from the Wasatch Front area as well as all over. We’re hoping to fill the Eccles Center, ” Peterson said.
Hawks also said the university and community have given a lot of support to the conference and that if interest and support continues USU hopes to host the conference annually.
The conference will be held at the Eccles Conference Center. Students can attend for $15, meals not included, while others will pay close to $100 for the three-day conference.
Students can also receive one credit for attending the conference. Those interested in the conference can go to http://extension.usu.edu/bioneers to register or call 1-800-538-2663 or 1-435-797-0423.
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