Community Dialog on Resilience January 24

Registration Due by January 20

Story by Kathleen McFadden

Everywhere you turn, the economic news is grim. Poor retail sales, store closings, bankruptcies, foreclosures, budget shortfalls, layoffs and the highest state unemployment rate—7.9 percent in November—that North Carolina has seen in 26 years.

Difficult times are already here for many, and the people who make forecasts about economic conditions aren’t coming through with any encouraging words. Bad is likely to get worse.

Along with these economic factors are the global impacts of climate change, peak oil and overpopulation.

Western North Carolina experienced firsthand the connection between weather and the nation’s infrastructure last September when Hurricane Ike’s landfall in south Texas disrupted portions of the nation’s gas pipeline that supplies the region, and gasoline was unavailable for days.

Because nearly every aspect of U.S. society is dependent on the availability of cheap and easily extracted high-grade oil, a resource that many experts maintain is extremely limited and rapidly running out, a number of the things we take for granted today are as vulnerable as the gas pipeline was to a major hurricane.

And the expanding populations in some parts of the world are placing increasing demands on the planet’s resources and affecting prices worldwide.

Against this backdrop, the MountainKeepers—a local nonprofit that for the past decade has been an independent voice for the safekeeping of the special character of the High Country and its communities; the preservation of its natural resources and beauty, unique heritage and culture; and an enhanced quality of life for all its citizens—is hosting a community dialogue on the question “How can we create a more resilient community?”

The dialogue will be a conversation among peers, as contrasted to a traditional conference where experts speak to an audience. The event will use a large-group method called Open Space Technology, where the word technology refers to how people gather and interact. Such an approach is useful for occasions when the intent is to generate ideas and identify strategies for action from among people who can do something about the matter at hand—in this instance, how can our community be more resilient in the face of these various challenges?

The fundamental notion behind this event is to raise public awareness and stimulate discussion so we can be better prepared for whatever might come down the road at us, rather than remain reactive and take our chances.

The event was initially scheduled in November, but postponed because of bad weather. The dialogue is now scheduled for Saturday, January 24 (with a snow date of Saturday, January 31), from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Watauga High School cafeteria. The registration fee is $10 and covers a continental breakfast and a box lunch. To assist with planning, the fee must be paid by Tuesday, January 20. To download a registration form, click to www.mountainkeepers.org.

For more information, contact Ron Redmon at 828-297-7893 or Nancy Reigel at 828-268-0637.

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