The topic of the day was social permaculture.

Bioregionalism is the unit of self-sufficiency. We cannot be self-sufficient at the household level. In a bioregion, people have different skills (dentist, construction, farmers,…) The size is 100-10000 people. A city has several bioregions: the association of residents as informal networks.

Our aim is:

• a stable bioregion
• reduce import/export, which is impoverishing (e.g. migration of labor)
• need political, financial and communication units
• network all organisations (the important ones should have more links. If a node is cut (e.g. by government) the system keeps working)

Setting up of bioregions:

• make an inventory of local resources
• create an ethical directory
• start a local economy (LETS,…)

The next topic was land access. The land access should be granted. Some land access strategies are: the oxfam model, community supported agriculture, city as farm, farm and garden clubs, WWWOOF, tourism as land access, plan for climate change, lease not shorter than 5 years.

The final topic of the day was how to make income from our land. There are endless possibilities, but some principles are:

• be ruthlessly realistic about your strategies
• work on short and long term strategies (set goals, develop indicators), fill market niches, produce quality goods, start small