Denver VIllage Building DesigN Course
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Denver Village Building Design Course
August 21-24 Denver, Colorado How do we make a village in a city? Our lives are already filled with a strong network of interconnection, and the purpose of the Design Course is to enhance these connections and bring them to life. We learn how to work with the neighbors who live right on our block to craft our villages again! In Portland, Oregon, The City Repair Project brought the idea of "Placemaking" to common use. City Repair is essentially about "transforming spaces into places" -- thus, Placemaking is the process in which a Place in invested with value and meaning by the people who live there. The neighborhood is transformed to reflect the common values of the neighbors themselves. We're teaching the essentials found from the Placemaking Process for this course. About the course This course is for anyone interested in starting and completeing a Placemaking project in their neighborhood. This may apply to social activists, artists, builders, gardeners, designers, stay-at-home moms, teachers, and anyone with a passion for the common good -- experienced or aspiring. Projects could take the form of anything you and your neighbors come up with: a garden, a communication station, a child-care-co-op, collective tool sharing, street painting, natural building project... this course is designed to teach you the skills to pull the key values and ideas from a group of neighbors, find the one that is perfect for your neighborhood, and create the place together. In this course, we will cover grassroots project organizing, working with neighbors you may have never met before, basic project management, and design strategies. We will tie in concepts of personal empowerment, how that is connected to placemaking, alliance building, and other strategies for cultivating village living in the city. We'll take a Permaculture design approach toward using the resources already present in an urban landscape, and how to bring out the unique skills of the people involved in your neighborhood. VBDC gives the background, insights and training needed to create Placemakers -- people who can return home and, with their neighbors, "transform spaces into places". Locations Thursday & Sunday: Denver Arts Society 734 Santa Fe Dr Denver, CO 80204 Friday & Saturday: The Horse Barn 1031 33rd Street Denver, CO 80205 Class Flow
Dates: August 21-24 Each class day we will go from 10AM sharp to approximately 5PM. Lunch is 1.5 hours. Lunch is provided. Please let us know of any dietary restictions during your registration process. What to Expect in Class We switch it up with walk-a-bouts, group process, small groups, partners, and hands on activities. As a facilitator, I never try to talk for more than 20 minutes at a time, and there is plenty of space designed in for questions, group sharing, and guest lectures from local leaders. Class size between 10-25. Course Schedule Thursday, August 21 10am - 5pm Introduction to Placemaking This is the essential starting place, context and tools to start the simplest forms of group process - understanding what Place means to you, to the group, and the basics of getting to know your neighbors and running meanings.
Friday, August 22 10am - 5pm Introduction to Permaculture & Embodying Permaculture With Special Guest Teacher: Maren Waldman of Moving Joy Studios!
Saturday, August 23 10am - 5pm Patterns & Tools
Natural Building
Human Beings in Nature Relationship
Sunday, August 24 10am - 5pm
We will work with each other to set goals and check-in systems to move forward with the information we've learned. Visualizations will help us understand what we're working toward and motivate us to take action on the inspiration and skills we have in our lives.
*This course includes one-on-one follow-up support from the instructor, and continuing online communication with your fellow Village Building Classmates. Kiddos? Unfortunately, childcare will have to be organized outside of us. If you have a homeschooler who is mature and serious about the course, they may enroll at full price or apply for scholarship. Cost Complete course is $200. Scholarships are available. Please "pay as you are able". $5, a song, $1000, a stone. If you're applying for scholarship, please fill out the registration form as normal so we can keep track of your information, and click "Yes" applying for scholarship at the bottom, and write in the amount you'd like to pay. We may also set up a payment plan, if you'd like to pay in increments. A Paypal invoice will be e-mailed to you upon registration, or you can bring cash or check the first day of class. Any amount paid greater than the minimum helps us generate scholarship money and gives us resources for making more educational content available for free. Before & After Class Before class, it is helpful if you have already had at least one potluck with the neighbors on your block, but not necessary. After Class, we will be supporting each other in follow-up for six months to one year or more, depending on the timeline that works best for you as the organizer, what's right for your community, and relations with the city for getting the project approved. More information will be sent with specifics about the location logistics nearer to class. Questions? Please e-mail us at [email protected], or call 530-238-5237. Registration If you're ready to register, head on over to the Registration Page! |