For the beginning of our third year of Swabi retreats, we started to explore transitioning the group to another phase. These videos explain this transition while also providing some idea of what the retreats are about.

Part I, New Ways of Living, shows examples of cohousing and permaculture-inspired ecovillages as potential models for living sustainably.

Part II, The Transition, discusses a range of energy descent futures we may need to incorporate into our thinking.

Part III, We Have the Tools, discusses contemplative community as a key in navigating the transition to sustainable ways of living.

Note: Here are those references that are too small to see on video slides.

• Cohousing: Creating Cohousing: Building Sustainable Communities by Kathryn McCamant & Charles Durrett
• Ecovillage references: Permaculture in a Nutshell by Patrick Whitefield; crystalwaters.org.au; Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage blog by BrianToomey: “How Much Does a Rabbit Consume?”
• Permaculture: Permaculture Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability by David Holmgren
• Societal Collapse: Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed: Revised Edition by Jared Diamond
• Complexity: The Ingenuity Gap: Facing the Economic, Environmental, and Other Challenges of an Increasingly Complex and Unpredictable Future by Thomas Homer-Dixon; The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
• Peak Oil references: [1] Food, Land, Population and the U.S. Economy, Pimentel, David and Giampietro, Mario, Cornell University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences,  Carrying Capacity Network, 11/21/1994; [2] Food, Land, Population and the U.S. Economy, Pimentel, David and Giampietro, Mario, Cornell University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences,  Carrying Capacity Network, 11/21/1994; [3] United States Dept of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 9, 2008; [4] The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience by Rob Hopkins, page 19
• Societal Collapse factors are happening slide: [1] State of the World (2004); [2] Permaculture in a Nutshell (2009); [3] www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110518131427.htm; [4] ewg.org; [5] In Harm’s Way, www.preventingharm.org; [6] www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/congress-may-ban-dangerous-0224.html; [7] CIA World Fact Book; [8] IPCC 4th Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007 (next report 2014)
• The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods by John McKnight

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