1st Edition of our Newsletter Cascadian Monthly Released!

A few days late, but the first edition of Cascadia Monthly is out! We'd love to get any feedback you might have at this point. Next issue out in May.

In this April Edition of the Cascadian Monthly:

• Where did this come from?
• The Doug, A Brief History
• Documentary Looking for a Kickstart
• What is Cascadia?
• This Month in Cascadian History
• News
• Chapter Updates
• Sucking Eggs for Cascadian Freedom: A Weekend Reportback
• Earth Day 2012 Across the Bioregion
• Around Cascadia
• Oregon Garden Beerfest
• Calendar of Events - April
• Get Involved - Local Contact List

[gview file="http://www.cascadianow.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/CascadianApril1.pdf" height="600" width="100%"]

Or download the full file here: Cascadia Monthly - April 

Unifying Cascadia: Bioregional Meetup in Eugene this Saturday, March 31st

What could make a real difference for resilience and sustainability in the Eugene area and the Cascadia bioregion? Bring your ideas, questions and projects about local resilience and sustainability to our Open Space Conference March 31 at the City of Eugene Campbell Community Center 155 High St., Eugene, OR 97401 from 9am to 5pm.

This will NOT be your ordinary conference. Open Space events like this are participatory and self-organizing: YOU will make it the exciting gathering it will be. There will be no official speakers and no predetermined workshops or panels. Anyone who wants to create a session for any topic related to the question above will announce it in the first 30-45 minutes. Then we'll just get on with it. We'll be all together at the start and the finish - but in the middle we'll each be doing exactly what we really want to be doing. And it will probably add up to something amazing.

Come to learn, share, explore, collaborate or organize around whatever has heart and meaning for you. We can make breakthroughs together because our diverse passions, group knowledge, meaningful conversations and new collaborations will make us far more smart and effective together than we are separately.

But this is important: Only attend if community resilience and sustainability are important issues for you. You may have more questions than answers - or more answers than questions - but it is your passion that counts here. This conference will ONLY succeed because of your energy and the energy of everyone else who comes. The participants will make this the thrilling event it is going to be.

More information can be found at: 

See www.unifyingcascadia.net

http://www.facebook.com/events/274309922649237/

SO please come if you find yourself thinking about things like...

• building local food systems... • launching community currencies or credit clearing systems... • nurturing the expansion of gift economies... • developing peer-to-peer sharing and barter systems... • strengthening your community's "buy local" dynamics... • promoting sustainable, sensible transportation systems... • advancing local energy systems, local manufacturing, local entertainment, local celebrations... • nurturing stronger relations among neighbors... • reaching beyond the choir through media, community leaders, demonstrations, the arts, occupations... • developing indicators of community well-being... • bringing more heart, spirit, feeling, movement and vitality to sustainability activities... • catalyzing conversations about how to get our needs met and live richer, more enjoyable lives without money... • any other activity, idea or question that could strengthen the sovereignty, sustainability and vitality of our cities and towns...

Michael Moore holding Cascadia Flag at #Occupy #PDX Rally - "The Cascadian Flag will Fly Over Wallstreet"

Michael Moore holding a Cascadia flag at a recent Occupy Portland event. Original link from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulcone/6301787608/?reg=1&src=comment

New Cascadia Now! Sticker Logo

Thanks go to Cascadia reddit user queen_rush for the design and letting us use it!

Cascadia Now! Visions of Cascadia Exhibitions in Seattle from March 9th to April 3rd

Cascadia Now! Come see visions of Cascadia as interpreted by a collection of regional artists; curated by Aaron Murray. Part of the NCECA Ceramics conference, Seattle 2012 A mythical region consisting of Washington, Oregon, Northern California, and parts of British Columbia. In reality it is a cultural biosphere, where dress, custom and art form a common culture.

This is Cascadia Now!

Includes works from Charles Krafft, Jeffry Mitchell, Jesse Edwards, Garth Johnson, Aaron Murray, Kristen Loffer Theiss, Zoe Garred, Erich Ginder, Kate Greiner, Chris Theiss, Claire Cowie, Garrick Druss, Matthew Cox.

A group exhibition from a mythical place in the future. Organized by Arron Murray. Mar 9-Apr 2, Tue-Sat 12-6pm. Reception Mar 30, 6-9pm. Located at Fancy, 1914 2nd Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101.

More information can be found on the Curators blog:  http://www.aaronmurray.blogspot.com/2012/03/cascadia-now-at-fancy.html 

Join and share the facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/events/354063097966704/

My original idea for Cascadia Now! was to make a show of regional artists with their own interpretation of what a Cascadia could look like. Cascadia, according to most interpretations is mainly the northwest corner of the US and part of Canada which includes Northern California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and may or may not include parts of Montana, Idaho, Alaska, and the Queen Charlotte Islands. The book Ecotopia talked about a Cascadia,many separatists,environmentalists,small government advocates,websites,blogs, and even wikipedia have written about it. I was thinking about the original thirteen colonies and how less than 5 million formed what became the USA and thought that if our country ever fell apart, we could re-form a nation here in this region, because Washington State alone has 8 million people and the people north and south of us generally are similar in culture, appearance, and politic.

View the complete NCECA program guide here:

[gview file="http://nceca.net/static/documents/NCECA_2012_Exh_Gde.pdf" height="600" width="100%" save="1"]

More information from the homesite of http://nceca.net/

University of Washington Cascadia Now! Chapter Formed

A University of Washington (UW) Cascadia Now! Chapter has been formed and meets each week on Tuesday at 3:30pm in the Upstairs of Allegro Cafe in the University District of Seattle, WA. More information can be found on our events page as well as directions for those who need it as well as at their website: http://uwcascadiaproject.org .

Students from other schools, colleges and universities are more than welcome, as are anyone who can't make the regular Seattle meetings on Saturdays. The main focus thus far seems to be on networking and coalition building with other student groups, hosting events, creating lots of buttons, stickers and flyerings and helping raise awareness about the idea of Cascadia.

2012 CNU Cascadia Regional Summit: Envisioning Resilient Communities March 15-17th in Seattle

CNU Cascadia invites you to our annual regional Summit - the premier venue for cross-disciplinary conversations that inform development, policy, and design of communities in the Pacific Northwest. This year our summit will explore the question “What does a sustainable, diverse, resilient community look like?” More information can be found on the Center for a New Urbanism website, on our events page or from the flyer below:

[gview file="http://www.cnu.org/sites/www.cnu.org/files/12cnucsummit-programsummaryposter-120225_0.pdf" height="600px" width="100%"]

From their website:

CNU Cascadia is a group of 100+ planning, urban design, public sector, real estate development, and architecture professionals. Reflecting our uniquely diverse bioregion of maritime coasts, river plains, mountain ranges, and high deserts, the CNU Cascadia promotes sustainable urbanism at all scales from the region to the neighborhood, down to the street, the block, and the building. By building walkable, diverse, mixed-use urban neighborhoods as alternatives to suburban sprawl, the CNU has always emphasized reduced energy consumption and healthier communities. CNU is at the forefront of addressing climate change through more sustainable urban development and the Chapter’s mission supports these efforts.

Olympia Cascadia Now! Chapter has their first meeting

Several of our members went down to Olympia on March 9th to talk with folks interested in getting a chapter started, culminating in their first public meeting at the Sem II Cafe on Evergreen Campus the following week on the 16th. Evergreen student Ian Carre-Burrit who is currently making a Cascadia documentary was able to get several interviews, and participants were able to talk about what they were interested in, as well as how to coordinate with other groups. Organizers set the date for the next meeting for the first Friday after Spring Break on April 6th at 6pm at Pizza Pipeline. More information and directions can be found at their website or on our Calendar page.

Seattle CascadiaNow Chapter Formed

Organizers in Seattle have now started meeting every other Saturday at 7pm at M.O.B. Studios at 624 S Lander St. If you'd like more details or further directions, feel free to check out their website at: http://seattlecascadiaproject.org .

Information on specific meetup days and directions can be found on our calendar events page.

1st Monthly Cascadia Freedom Party in Bend, OR

Come learn about and celebrate our bioregion at Bend's first monthly Cascadia Freedom Party atthe Horned Hand 507 NW Colorado Ave., Bend, OR 97701. Open mic is from 6-8 followed by bands: WHEN WE WERE WOLVES & WILD EYE REVOLVER. Drinks are available for purchase and there is good food outside as well.

Hope to see as many Cascadians here as possible.

More information can be found on our Calendar Event page here.

For those of you with facebook, join the event page here: