Living Systems Institute

LIVING SYSTEMS INSTITUTE

Teaching Practical Holism

When we are able to look up from our daily struggles, we can begin to see the flows around us. There is flowing around and through us; energy, air, water, nutrients, materials, services, and information. These flows create and maintain us and we participate in their creation and maintenance. Every flow interacts with every other flow creating a single pattern of flows.

• To be conscious of these flows gives us the power to choose how we will place ourselves in the flows.

   

• The knowledge of how the flows are generated and maintained gives us the power to choose wisely.

   

• To consciously choose to enhance the flows gives us the power to create the world we want.

Learn to exercise your power at Living Systems Institute.

In March 2011 we began holding events at the Institute (then known as the Applewood Permaculture Institute).  The first event was to build an experimental sheet mulch 1/3 hay, 1/3 wood chips and 1/3 Hugelkultur.  The picture shows that garden on the 4th of August, 2011.  Other events included cool season planting, living with deer, drip system basics, warm season planting, and accepting the gift of mulch.

Look for up coming events in our calendar and as announced through the Transition Colorado social network.

We have formed the Living Systems gardening team.  We believe that a gardening team in each neighborhood, gardening the former lawns of the neighbors, to produce food for the members of the team, is a way to move toward an understanding of Community Sufficiency Technologies that will allow humans to occupy this planet indefinitely.  You can follow our work by joining Transition Colorado and the group Front Range Gardeners where we are posting the LSI Chronicles (see also the API Chronicles).

PROGRAMS

Click on Program Title for Details

(We are currently developing our program schedule - Check the Calendar of Events and watch for Annoucements through Transition Colorado and other media - or, contact us about programs you would like to see)

SPEAKERS AND DEMONSTRATIONS

RESKILLING CLASSES

• The Living Systems Institute facilities are available for qualified people to present programs consistent with our mission.  If you are interested in making a presentation, contact David Braden

TEAM GARDENING - LEADERSHIP SKILLS

• a series of skill development events appropriate to each season - $25.00 per event, except that the events are free for Team Leaders and Team Learners.

• Or, join the LSI gardening team - Participate with team members and a share in what we produce – this is the gardening team for Applewood and gardening will not be limited to the LSI grounds. David Braden leads this team.

• Available Courses (See Event Calendar):

Building 7 Modified Warre Hives

Sheet Mulching/Hugelkultur

Start Plants/Cool Season Planting

Warm Season Planting /Drip Irrigation Primer

Plant Identification/Accepting the Gift of Mulch

DEEP MUCLH GARDENING MAINTENANCE CERTIFICATION

• a course for those wanting to learn how to build a garden maintenance business using deep mulch tecniques.  The course will be scheduled on request. It is a two day intensive with hands on experience. Price $200.00.

PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE

• We are currently soliciting participation from qualified instructors to teach each of the sections of a Permacultue Design Course.  Each section may also be presented as a stand alone event as instructors join our team.

MULTIPLE USE FACILITIES

• Look for events based on the development of the designs for our mulitple use green houses and other facilities.

PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNITY DESIGN

• A one day seminar exploring 33 concepts that make up a framework for building community with the living things around you.

WHOLE SYSTEM DESIGN/PRACTICAL HOLISM

• In this course David Braden will share his insights into the way all the “things” that we know fit together to create the world we experience and how we can use that information to build the kind of world we would like to live in. The course involves three meetings per month over the course of a year and independent study appropriate to each student. Price is $1,000 for the full course, or $100.00 per month.

Here is the property we have to work with as it existed in November of 2010.  The property has been in the Braden family since 1954.

As you can see, we already have a lot of trees.  There have been no poisons used on the property for at least 30 years.

Applewood is the name of the area between 32nd Avenue and South Table Mountain.  Most of the homes where built on large, horse property, lots in the late 50's and early 60's with some more modest tract homes on the east end of the mountain up to 20th Avenue.  There has been some scraping of older homes in order to build big houses.

This community is relatively well off and can afford the kind of Community Sufficiency Technologies we would like to develop.  The key is to find a way to explain why they would want to do that.