Dear Permaculturists of North America,

The desire for a North American Convergence has been expressed by a number of Permaculture practitioners and organizers over the years. It was also seriously discussed at the IPC in Jordan in 2011. As a result of efforts a nd organizing meetings held at the recent Cuba IPC, it is now obvious there is enough coherence and momentum to move this idea forward.

The initial Cuba IPC meeting was centered around the notion of a potential US Convergence.  After additionally checking in with Canadian and Mexicano delegates, and receiving positive feedback, we solidified the intention to build towards a North American Convergence, in recognition of Permaculture's global proliferation, biodiversity, and camaraderie that extends beyond borders.
The current trajectory of where there seems to be the most coherence, consensus, and momentum is moving in the direction of a NAPC gathering in late August of 2014 in Minnesota at Harmony Park. It is a centrally located permaculture site that holds professional events, and the venue is well prepared to handle the logistics of 1000+ people at one time. http://www.harmonypark.com

The following elders/permaculture pioneers are in support of a NA Convergence and we are in the process of contacting other supportive stakeholders from Canada, Central America, and all US regions, to form a representative body. If you are an elder/permaculture pioneer and wish to be on the advisory council please contact us. If you have ideas you would like to share, please do. If you have yields in mind that are an appropriate design integration that can help a gathering like this to be more effective and worthwhile please let us know.

Direct communications can be sent to NAPC+PATO@groupspaces.com.

Forming Advisory Council:
Peter Bane, Permaculture Activist, Bloomington, Indiana.
Jude Hobbs, Cascadia Permaculture Institute, Oregon.
Penny Livingston, Regenerative Design Institute, California.
Chuck Marsh, Useful Plants Nursery, Southeast Permaculture Convergence, Earthaven Ecovillage, North Carolina.
Patricia Michael, Patricia Michael Design, Austin, Texas
Jerome Osentowski, Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute, Colorado.
Michael Pilarski, Friends of the Trees Society, Northwest Permaculture Convergence, Inland Northwest Permaculture Guild, Montana.
Scott Pittman, Permaculture Institute USA, New Mexico.
Wes Roe & Margie Bushman, Santa Barbara Permaculture Network, Southern California
Wayne Weiseman, Permaculture Project LLC, Carbondale, Illinois
Starhawk, Earth Activist Training, California

We value your opinions about a North American Permaculture Convergence. What you would like to get out of it, and what you would like to see accomplished are important to us, and we have created a survey to read the landscape. Your opinions and needs will strongly influence how this convergence unfolds. Please share the survey with your social media networks, and email lists as well.  Please note that there are text boxes where you can share more in-depth communications, needs, and opinions with us. Here is the link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/napc2014

We have a created a Facebook group for healthy, yet generative and supportive discussion where anyone interested can join to share, connect, and learn from each other.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/napermacultureconvergence/

Also please like our Facebook fanpage (just for redundancy's sake)
https://www.facebook.com/NorthAmericanPermacultureConvergence

We are looking forward to co-creating many beneficial connections and a stronger, more resilient and collaborative community, ultimately helping to connect the movement to itself and to propagate our reach into positively affecting the world.

Sincerely,

Cover Crop Organizing Team
North American Permaculture Convergence
More Info - Direct Contacts
Michael Pilarski, friendsofthetrees@yahoo.com
Koreen Brennan, koreen@growpermaculture.com
Bill Busse, bill@centerfordeepecology.org
Rashid “Ra” Gilanpour, ra@livingmandala.com
Monica Ibacache, monica@beyondorganicdesign.com