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ASHLAND Eco Summit gathering works on community goals Grass-roots group formulates blue sky to-do list Comment By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Feb. 24, 2016 at 2:00 AM By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Feb. 24, 2016 at 2:00 AM » Social News The Eco Summit, a grass-roots think tank at Historic Ashland Armory, called upon 100 local folks to talk through the weekend, finally hammering out a to-do list for “a regenerative infrastructure for our future operating system” based on, as one speaker put it, “a resilient sustainable paradigm.” The free-flowing, often utopian gab-fest, sprouting in a non-governmental setting, came up with "action visions" on local food systems, leadership, regenerative economy, clean water/forest, self-health care, humane policy and green power. Here, in final presentations, is some of the conclusions they came up with and plan to work on in future meetings and online pages and chats: —Energy parks, where people come and experience this model of sustainable energy that Ashland, an “eco city” has become, after fossil fuel dependency. Will take this one to the city government. —Eliminate profit motive and capitalism as a value system, says ex-councilman Eric Navickas. Stop overuse of trees. Move out of “corporatocracy.” Stop filling the woods with pesticides. Have “information hubs” on the Plaza. —Hospitals need the full range of alternative healing modalities, which patients can ask for and insurers must cover. Volunteers in these modalities will charge on a sliding scale so all income levels will be insured. A center for natural healing, with emotional, physical and spiritual healing. No one turned away from emergency rooms. Dr. Gerry Lehrburger spoke up, reminding the group that no one is turned away now. Rid EMF from cell towers. —Seed-saving system, propose to city. Open community gardens to all. Lobby the legislature. Everyone grow food and stop this practice of having 97 percent of it brought in from outside the region, said Catie Fayrl, as that leaves us vulnerable to disasters and famine. Use gray water. Grow food, not grass. Participants almost uniformly said these think tanks brought up so many possibilities that, for action plans to form and move forward, and to get the city — which was some characterized as recalcitrant and slow moving — on board, the Eco Summit must be an on-going citizen affair, entraining governments and other agencies to tap into the visions of regular folks. “We’re asking for the support and energy of the city," said Asha Deliverance of Pacific Domes in Ashland. “We’d like to see complete self-sufficiency on energy and us becoming a demonstration city for the state of Oregon, instead of buying power. Then we could use that money for health care and food production, as we create Eco Cities.” Longtime community activist Pete Cotton told the gathering, “We recommend Eco Summit be ongoing. We modeled the conversation that is taking place.” The organizer of the event, Page, declined to give her full name or say who was behind it, other than it was organized by people in Southwest Oregon and is looking at “optimal systems development … with a high level of ecological awareness, community support and financial involvement to keep it solvent.” She said they’ve had offers of land and investment for their efforts, but declined to define this. The Eco Summit web page is at www.theecosummit.com . By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Feb. 24, 2016 at 2:00 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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