Afterthoughts: Public Interest Environmental Law Conference 2015

image source: pielc.org

As activists, volunteers, and advocates, it is easy become hyper-focused in your own work and to forget what people are doing worldwide to help protect the environment.The Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC) brings together many groups for several days of panels, keynotes, tabling, discussions, celebrations, and more. The outcome is a powerful understanding that change is possible and there are many people collaborating to help create it.

The PIELC Facebook page has posted the keynotes from this past week. I highly suggest watching them, especially March 6th's from Janelle Orsi and Severine von Tscharner Fleming talking about the Green Horns and Agrarian Trust. Their work is advancing the power of worker-owned cooperatives, neighborhood associations, and farmers to help localize money and land resources. Moreso than any other campaign I've heard about, these people are creating a practical national model that can undermine unhealthy corporate bodies and build resilient communities.

During another part of the conference, I attended a panel discussing the constructive expression of anger and sadness through a model developed by Joanna Macy called The Work That Reconnects. I mention this work in my book, but the panel was the first time I had the pleasure of practicing it. After starting the session with introductions, we began working through the "spiral" one-on-one with a stranger in the room. We first expressed gratitude and said what we appreciated in the conference. We were then given 10 minutes to honor our pain with our partner, speaking without interruption about the difficulties we personally faced in our work. It's amazing what can come out in 10 minutes, and how much you can relate to another person's pain working on similar projects. Unfortunately at this point, halfway through the spiral, we ran out of time, but I am excited to explore the work further and hope to give a better synopsis soon. 

PIELC left a sense of empowerment and joy. I feel ready for the next year of work ahead and hope to come back in 2016 with my own panel on forming a resilient mind. What a fantastic week!