With high community interest in Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), we wanted to share the following presentation on creating resilient homes and neighborhoods, built to withstand natural disasters.

The presentation, in collaboration with the Office of Human Rights and Neighborhood Involvement, will focus on creating culture, economy and lifestyles that are friendly to people and planet. The presentation will be similar to the one Jan Spencer made at the recent Neighborhoods USA Conference in Palm Springs. People keen for responding to climate change and a host of other social, political and environmental challenges will be very interested in this presentation.

Jan will show and tell resilient features on his own quarter acre suburban property in River Road such as grass to garden, patio to passive solar, garage to living, edible landscaping, 6500 gal rain water system, driveway to food production, accessory living structure, aesthetics, collaborations between neighbors and much more. Creating resilient homes and walkable neighborhoods has enormous economic and employment potential.

The presentation will also touch on why and how the current neighborhood planning process involving River Road, Santa Clara and the City of Eugene is an unprecedented opportunity for implementing many progressive city, state and climate change planning goals such as reducing dependence on automobiles, reducing CO2 emissions, green economic development, resource conservation, emergency preparedness and building social capital, to name a few.

Key words and concepts in the presentation – one earth lifestyles, city and state planning goals, wisdom of the world’s great spiritual traditions, permaculture, block planning, strip malls to mini downtowns, Barcelona, the double benefit, how to pay for the world we want; and the benefits green and resilient homes and community can deliver.

For more information, see Jan’s website – www.suburbanpermaculture.org and his KEPW radio program podcasts at https://player.whooshkaa.com/shows/creating-a-resilient-future that elaborate on all the above