Planet Drum Foundation P.O. Box 31251, San Francisco, CA 94131, Shasta Bioregion, USA Tel: 415.285.6556 | Fax: 415.285.6563 email:planetdrum@igc.apc.org website: http://www.webcom.com/manoman/planetdrum/planetdrum.html publications order sheet: http://www.webcom.com/manoman/planetdrum/pd.catalog.html Planet Drum Foundation was founded in 1973 when Peter Berg, in collaboration with other ecologists and community activists, saw the need to redefine the context of the discussion of environmental issues. Concepts like the “carrying capacity” of a region and “unique ecological systems” cound not be readily applied within arbitrary political boundaries. In order to create a framework for addressing these issues, Planet Drum was founded to promote a bioregional orientation and encourages the general public to re-think attitudes about the places where they live. Bioregionalism A bioregion is a distinct geopgraphic region that has a continuity of watersheds, rivers, landforms, climate, native plants and animals, and other natural characteristics. Bioregions also include the cultural values that human residents have developed about living in harmony with these natural systems. Bioregionalism advocates reinhabitation -- undertaking the practice of living-in-place, becoming a part of a bioregion again. Individuals need to see their connections to natural surroundings in order to realize their long-term interest in maintaining and restoring these regions. This outlook creates a fundamental shift in a person’s social actions, information needs, buying patterns and voting habits. In some respects, bioregionalism can be thought of as a “new” old idea that puts a modern twist on indigenous people’s living strategies. Urban Sustainability and the Green City Project Cities are important parts of bioregions. In fact, at least 75% of the people in North America, Europe, and Australia live in cities or towns of 25,000 or more. By the year 2000, 50% of the people in the world will be living in cities. We have become an urban species. Supporting the ever increasing numbers of people in cities is draining resources to exhaustion and fouling the surrounding land, air and water. While cities continue to exert the most stress on bioregions, most people living in cities don}t realize that they are a part of an ecological natural system. The problem of disinhabitation (loss of a sense of a natural place) is a worldwide epidemic, impacting interlocking environmental, social and economic patterns in highly significant ways. In 1986, Planet Drum facilitated a series of meetings which brought together 150 knowledgeable individuals to discuss mutual sustainable public policy goals for cities. They included educators, planners, government agencies, businesses, ecologists and activists. Their goal was to develop visions and proposals for change in nine specific Green City areas: Urban Planting, Smart Transportation, Sustainable Planning, Renewable Energy, Neighborhood Character and Empowerment, Recycling and Reuse, Celebrating Life-Place Vitality, Urban Wild Habitat, and Socially Responsible Small Businesses and Cooperatives. Planet Drum published the results in our 1989 book A Green City Program for the San Francisco Bay Area and Beyond. Since 1990, Planet Drum’s Green City Project has been bringing ideas from the book into action in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Green City Project is a model urban sustainability program which has already been replicated in other urban areas. A one-year membership in the Planet Drum Foundation costs $25 (tax deductible). It includes two issues of Raise the Stakes, at least one bonus publication, a 25% discount on all our books and bundles, and access to our networking and workshop facilities.