Agraria_Journal_Summer_2022

AGRARIA JOURNAL 2022 7 PRACTICE, PARTNER, PROMOTE Our work takes place at multiple scales. In the coming years, we will place a particular emphasis on that “third space” through building regional partnerships and projects. Our goals are as follows: • Practice at the local level. This includes demonstrations at the farm and integration of regenerative practices into our organization. We will work in collaboration with the Yellow Springs Village government and community organizations to develop a more sustainable and resilient local economy, such as through the YS Climate Action Sustainability Plan, and to shift local institutional practices in the direction of regeneration. • Partner at the regional level. We are working with like-minded community organizations to develop model projects in the areas of small-scale regenerative farming, local food and herbal medicine production and distribution, cooperative economic enterprises and other areas. This includes the Melrose Acres Urban Agriculture Center in South Springfield and a new community garden project in the DeSoto-Bass neighborhood of West Dayton. • Promote at the national and global level. We want to share effective bioregional solutions with other bioregions and bioregional groups. Rather than “scale up” solutions, we seek replicable solutions, which can be tailored to the unique ecological and cultural conditions of each bioregion. We are part of a growing network of like-minded organizations focused on regeneration and stay connected through conferences, publications and other collaborations. WHAT IS BIOREGIONALISM? “The concept of a bioregion is uniquely useful for putting ourselves back into nature rather than on top of it. A bioregion is a way to describe the natural geography where one lives. It also identifies a locale for carrying out activities that are appropriate for maintaining those natural characteristics. Bioregions have distinct features such as climate, soils, landforms, watersheds and native plants and animals. They have also been sites for adaptive long-term inhabitation by native peoples in the past, and they can be reinhabited by their present occupants.” — Discovering Your Life Place, A First Bioregional Workbook by Peter Berg, Planet Drum Foundation