2023-05-13 was the date of the EDE session that I missed featuring Sarah Queblatin; this retrospective review was written around 2023-07-29

Sarah Queblatin has a vast range of knowledge and experience around very many aspects of emergency strategy and ecovillage approaches. In fact, so much, so many worthy points were presented, that it is very hard to put them all together into a coherent summary.

We were reminded of the predicted likely consequences of global warming of different magnitudes, as well as the well-known fact that rich countries are responsible for far more than their fair share of greenhouse gas emissions.

Our responses to the threat of climate change can take either or both routes:

• adaptation actions manage the consequences of climate change
• mitigation actions act on the causes of climate change to reduce its severity

and clearly, both are most welcome. We need to reduce the factors contributing to climate change, as well as at the same time preparing for what now looks inevitable to some degree.

One way of defining a disaster, for those such as the Red Cross, is that it is a “sudden calamitous event that seriously disrupts the functioning of a community or society”, and obviously, exceeds the local capacity to deal with the consequences of that event. Put as an equation, (vulnerability + hazard) / capacity = disaster.

There are naturally many actions and initiatives that we could potentially take, at the individual, group, societal or global levels, and the very number and variety can feel overwhelming, with us as individuals not knowing what to do in our own little ways. As Sarah requoted herself, “You can't heal a broken system with broken solutions. To truly transform the narrative of disasters, we must address the challenge of systemic collapse as an opportunity to design from wholeness.” And later we heard a related quote from Bayo Akomolafe: “What if the way we respond to the crisis is part of the crisis? What if a different way of responsivity is required at this time, something deeper than a solution?”

This brings us back fairly and squarely to permaculture, and to ecovillages, remembering that permaculture itself pays great attention to the local context, and includes consideration of indigenous and traditional knowledge and skill. The main point here is that both permaculture approaches, and the whole ethos of ecovillages, are well-positioned to be effective both in mitigation of and in adaptation to climate emergencies.

We could end the reflection there, and just get on with planning, building and living our ecovillages, taking into account not only permaculture principles based on past knowledge in the area, but also with a keen eye on the scientific predictions of how the local environment and climate may change in the future. But just to bring back to mind some of the vital issues presented in this session, we can recall that designing for resilience and regeneration is

• circular
• innovative
• systemic
• long term
• nature based
• reflective
• survivor led
• trauma informed
• local
• inclusive

and some of the questions to ponder are these:

• What can ecovillages nurture today to be more resilient tomorrow?
• How can ecovillages strengthen their practices to prepare for climate change or polycrisis scenarios while amplifying their collective impact and transformative capacity?
• How can they enliven and foster more resilience and reciprocity within their social-ecological systems?
• What are their biggest gifts for others seeking ways forward?

My feeling was that this session did not so much point us to specific courses of action, or particular things to do, but rather opened up more of the awesome interconnectedness of all these matters, and stimulated us to go and explore the resources nearer the time we can take positive action, whether in emergency situations or planning an ecovillage. Some of this challenge came through in the quote from Albert Bates, interpreting the opinion of the 1000+ top climate scientists: “What the world needs most is ecologically aware and socially innovative experimental communities that network with each other and provide educational outreach and positive examples of a better world.”

• intentional community