The Big ONE 2008 Convergence

A community gathering for change

Help build and enjoy a village of engagement
for healthy body, home, family, and community

Saturday & Sunday, June 21–22, 9 am–7 pm
Sharon Meadow, Golden Gate Park

The Big ONE “Village of Engagement” is a gathering of people from Bay Area neighborhoods, schools, coops, nonprofits, foundations, businesses, and municipal agencies. Participants will design, envision, collaborate, and dialog with new friends about the future of their neighborhoods and communities.

Prepare for the challenging times ahead; come, be heard, and engage. You can set up a table or an interactive exhibit to collaborate and share information and/or do a workshop, presentation, forum, art project, or hands-on demonstration of sustainable skills. We provide the space – a large grassy area with open-air tents, a media tent, and a stage for music encircling a larger gathering tent for food and socializing.
Fill the space with your dreams.

The Big ONE movement represents a tectonic shift in thinking toward sustainability awareness and action, civic engagement, and localization of culture, economy, and decision-making. Based on respect for all life and the planet that sustains us, the gathering provides opportunities to build community through dialogue, committed engagement, and trust.

We are using the Wiser Earth platform to organize, plan, and co-create the event. www.beautifulcommunities.org

This first annual convergence will take place in Golden Gate Park, Sharon Meadow, next to the Children’s Playground and Carousel, on Saturday and Sunday, June 21 and 22, 2008. We will set up exhibits and activities on Friday in open-air tents, grouped into areas of community need, such as Greening Neighborhoods and Schoolyards; Food Justice; Peak Oil and Climate Change; Sustainable Environment and Permaculture; Youth Engagement and Empowerment; Local Economy and Green-Collar Jobs; Health; Music, Dance, and Art; Spirituality; and Community Communication.

This is a 100% noncommercial event; nothing will be for sale. Bring picnic food and drink, plates, cups, and utensils for an enormous zero-waste potluck. We will have storytellers and games, and an eclectic mix of live music will be performed throughout each day.

Who we are:

We are Bay Area residents from diverse social and ethnic backgrounds. The seeds of inspiration for this movement were planted in 2005 during the week-long celebration of World Environment Day in San Francisco, which coincided with the 60^th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. A small group of people who felt the need to move beyond a celebration, continued the dialogue about how to develop awareness around sustainability issues.

In 2006 we started gathering every three weeks to discuss community and sustainability. We decided to host an annual “convergence” that would bring together people from all walks of life. In order to reach the full spectrum of the diverse community that inhabits the Bay Area, we focused our vision on the elements needed by all life. We all need clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and healthy soil to grow food. We all want inspiring education, decent housing, meaningful relationships, and a culture in which all life is respected and all voices are heard.

Over the past three years 110 people have flowed in and out of our gatherings. No one person “owns” this vision. The Big ONE is a collaborative, democratic embodiment of what we, as engaged members of our communities can create. It belongs to all of us.

Come experience and participate~

“The New Me is We.”

Web site: www.beautifulcommunities.org
Contact: ToriJacobs@gmail.com