The Ragbirds with special guests Brett & Circus performed tonight starting at 9
Take a look:
Post-Workshop Fun
The Summit Is A-foot
We are finishing up the workshops and coasting into evening festivities. All in all, the Summit has been quite a success thusfar. Compared to past summits, we seem to have really pumped up the volume, if you know what I mean. The MSSC is growing in leaps and bounds. There are approximately 175 students participating this year. Excellent turn out!
As the MSSC grows, we really need to develop a new infrasturcture within our groups. Now that we’re supporting so many members, organization and planning is vital for the success future MSSC Summits. I urge all of your to get involved in your campus MSSC activities and with the planning of next years Summit. It will be here before you know it and with all of our skills and specialties combined, we can make it even better than this year!
PEACE and SUSTAINABILITY,
Maria
Peter Sinclair @ MSSC Summit ‘09
Mayor’s Speech is Now UP!
Mayor George Heartwell came to the MSSC Summit this year to introduce all of our participants to the city of Grand Rapids and the various sustainability efforts that are underway. You can download his speech here and listen to what he had to say!
Link:
/mayorspeech-msscsummit2009
REGENERATION To Open 6 P.M. Today!
Click here for Directions
WWMT - Channel 3 - Kalamazoo
REGENERATION 2009 Video
Our Time Is Now - Stay Motivated
Today, Barack Obama gave one of the most encouraging and motivating speeches in American history. He asked us to band together, gather like minded individuals to create a force of change.
For all of those who plan to attend ReGeneration this weekend, you will be part of the change he is speaking of. This is a call to action for those who want to save our planet, our economy, and our people. Join us this weekend for three days full of events about sustainability at ReGeneration, the premiere Michigan sustainability summit.
Why, you may ask should I come to the summit this weekend? Because, now is time for a new generation to rise and steer our country in a new direction. To quote one of our movement’s visionary leaders, Van Jones, “If we do our work right, the United States will lead the world again, someday. This next time - not in war. Not in per capita greenhouse gas emissions. Not in incarceration rates. The United States will lead the world in green economic development, in world-saving technologies, in human rights. We will lead by showing a multiracial, multifaith, rainbow-colored planet how our multiracial, multifaith, rainbow-colored country pulled together to solve tough problems. The United States will go from being the world leader in ecological pollution to world leader in ecological solutions.”
If you have not yet registered, some spots remain available. Please follow the link to register for the summit
Be the change you wish to see in the world. Attend ReGeneration.
♥ toni jones
ReGeneration - Facebook
/home.php#/event.php?eid=43670103883
The Road to Power Shift Begins in Grand Rapids
It is one month and 13 days left before Power Shift and the Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition is beginning to rev it’s electric-biodiesel hybrid engine in preparation. In one week, January 23rd-25th, the MSSC will be holding it’s third annual summit, but unlike past years, this summit will carry national implications.
While the rest of the country has slid into an economic crisis over the past year, in Michigan we have been feeling the pain of misguided energy and climate policies for years. In fact, between 2000 and 2005, Michigan lost 218,000 manufacturing jobs. For the MSSC, now is the opportunity to make an impact. Starting just three days after the inauguration, the MSSC is using this years summit as the perfect opportunity to send a message to the United States’ newly established Presidential and congressional administrations that Michigan needs a new economic vision, built on clean technology and the development of green jobs.
The event will feature keynote speeches from Appalachian community organizer Judy Bonds, Detroit Sierra Club Environmental Justice Organizer Rhonda Andersen and Energy Action Coalition’s own Jessy Tolkan.
After the summit, all roads point to Power Shift.
“As the economic crisis continues to hit hard in Michigan, its great to see these young people putting forward real solutions. MSSC knows that investing in clean energy means creating thousands of new green jobs that can help rebuild the economy in Michigan and across the country. I am excited for these young people to let their vision for a clean energy economy ring throughout the state of Michigan, and for them to bring this demand for a power shift to Washington, DC in late February.”
Young people had a powerful impact on the 2008 elections, but the time is now to refocus our efforts on the first 100 days of the new administration. We have created so much momentum through the Campus Climate Challenge and Power Vote but now is the time to pressure our politicians to take bold, comprehensive action.
For Michigan students, it begins in Grand Rapids….
More info about Regeneration: The 2009 Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition Summit.
Regeneration 2009 will unite students from the entire state of Michigan. With students coming from diverse organizations such as Student Against Sulfide Mining at Northern Michigan University, Roosevelt Institute at Michigan State University and art & design students from Kendall College of Art and Design, the MSSC aims to pull together as diverse of a group of students and young people as possible. It is our belief that united as a state we can build a better future. We see the conference as part of a process of building people power around a vision for a clean energy economy and a sustainable future that can unite youth and students with labor leaders, unite rural farmers, inner-city residents, small businesses, students, and local governments. It is a recognition of our own role in making change, bridging the gaps between our personal lives and the sweeping changes that must be made. The Summit is intended to empower Michigan youth to demand the state of Michigan invest in sustainable energy and transportation technology at all levels.
Regeneration 2009 is about building a strong community and giving back to that community. Our goal is not a student conference, but an intergenerational gathering, with everyone from middle school students to local activists and nonprofit leaders participating in the activities. The conference has a focus on service and building community- the community and friendships that will make a transformation possible and make working with each other both more productive and more fun.
A massive service project is being organized for the summit by Toni Jones of the Grand Valley State University Sustainable Community Development Initiative and Sarah Chartier of GVSU’s Student Environmental Coalition as part of USA Service’s National Day of Service. The service project will be held January 24th from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. and will include service with 14 non-profit organizations in the Grand Rapids area.
Regeneration is about going beyond “drop-in-the-bucket” solutions – its about transformation. It is about recognizing our crucial role as change agents, not just to improve our own local communities, but to build models for change that generate more economic, social, and political power for the global transformation while inspiring other local groups, students, small businesses, and local leaders around the world. Regeneration acknowledges the importance of both policy and technology, but also that neither will be adequate or effective unless they focus on empowering we, the people, to actually implement the solutions we need to reorient our lives and our neighborhoods for a sustainable future. It is literally a shift in power: from fossil fuels to clean energy, from an economy controlled by large centralized entities to one that emerges from the vibrant relationship of local producers, from seeing ourselves as victims of the turbulent changes facing our future to seeing ourselves as collaborative creators of the future we want to see.
Join us January 23-25th in Grand Rapids for Regeneration! For registration, and sponsorship please go here
ReGeneration 2009: Let’s Get Physical!
When you volunteer you are giving something back to your community by lending a helping hand to people and organizations. What you may not realize is that volunteering also benefits you as an individual. There are many good reasons to get involved in the community, including learning something about yourself.
To give back to the community of Grand Rapids, ReGeneration planners have planned a big Community Reinvestment project to help 14 great organizations. As a participant of ReGeneration, you will have the opportunity to give back. Below are links to each organization. We believe that to build the society we want we need to work with the tools our communities provide to us in Michigan. The M.S.S.C. is about collaboration and the belief that united as a state we can build a better future.
Clean Water Action
Land Conservancy of West Michigan
Eastown Community Association
Southeast Community Association
Humanity for Africa
Creston Neighborhood Association
Midtown Neighborhood Association
Ottawa County Parks
YWCA
Grand Rapids Children’s Museum
Degage Ministries
Habitat for Humanity – Kent County
Dwelling Place
Grand Rapids Housing Commission – Ransom Tower
Mark your calendars, ReGeneration 2009 is coming to Grand Rapids on January 23rd – 25th!
ReGeneration is the third annual Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition summit. It will be hosted by Grand Valley State University. This year’s conference, located in Downtown Grand Rapids, will bring together hundreds of youth from across Michigan for a three day sustainability extravaganza. Hard working students have been adding tons of hours to their already laden workloads to make this the premier winter event for every Michigan resident.
Registration is $15. Click Here to Register
This is your one-stop shop for all things ReGeneration. We will be constantly updating the site with the most up to date information on the planning of ReGeneration.
Some early highlights about the conference:
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Lunch on January 24th with the Mayor of Grand Rapids, George Heartwell
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14 Community service projects.
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Workshops focusing on many areas of sustainability, environmental justice, labor, agriculture, energy, art, activism and more.
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Green Jobs Fair: GVSU Sustainable Community Development Initiative, West Michigan Green Building Council and others!
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A Saturday night concert
To get involved with the planning process, suggest workshops, give support, or for questions please contact: brandon@globalexchange.org.