Concerned about climate change? Reskill yourself and get empowered to meet the future.

By now I'm sure that all of you out there in reader-land have heard the term climate change. Going hand-in-glove with that, I'm sure that you have also heard the long and ongoing list of death and destruction that is inevitable if we stay on our present trajectory of valuing convenience over the natural environment and attempting to divorce ourselves from the earth in which we live. Let's run down the usual suspects: ice cap depletion, global warming, rising sea levels, the collapse and destruction of countless species right down to our pollinator bees and, of course, our friends the polar bears. These things are all happening and it is depressing and frightening. So what can we do? How can we grasp at any control over what is an insane situation? Well for one, we can reskill.

Reskill you say? What is that? My Word dictionary doesn't even recognize it! And I say to you again: reskill. While there are a few definitions out there, I prefer the one from The Free Dictionary online: reskill; to acquire new or improved skills. It's easy, and it's just like it sounds. Your next question may very well be, "well yeah, but I already know about all that eco-friendly stuff", or "what can just one person do?" More than likely though, you'll be just like so many of us out there who are concerned about preserving our planet and you will think, "Where do I start?" On this I can offer a simple solution: If you are going to be in the Ann Arbor area this Saturday, Oct. 24th anytime between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., you can start by walking up to Rudolph Steiner High School, located at 2230 Pontiac Trail, and letting yourself in.

Transition Ann Arbor, a new and wonderful group in town, is hosting a free (yes FREE) Reskilling Festival at Rudolph Steiner High this weekend. Transition Ann Arbor only came into being ("officially") in May of this year, but already they have been engaged and active in preparing for and educating our community on global climate change. Founded as a result of a workshop held in Southeastern Michigan in January of this year by the Transition Towns Movement, Transition Ann Arbor is here to help. The Transition Towns Movement's mission in their own words:

The Transition Towns approach empowers communities to face the challenges of peak oil and climate change, and to unleash the collective genius of their own people to find the answers to this momentous question: For all those aspects of life that this community needs to sustain itself and thrive, how are we going to drastically reduce carbon emissions (in response to climate change), significantly re-build resilience (in response to peak oil), and greatly strengthen our local economy (in response to economic instability)?

The workshops are geared toward reducing our CO2 emissions to 350 parts per million (we currently sit at a nasty 387 parts per million), and Transition Ann Arbor is holding this event as a local contribution to 350.org's International Day of Climate Action. And as local Michigan folk artist Daisy May Erlewine puts it in her new song, "Three-five-oh, that's all you need to know..."

www.350.org

With workshops ranging from Caring for the Land to Solar Water Heating to an Introduction to Small-Scale Beekeeping, there really is going to be something for everybody. I can already hear the cries of my more sarcastic friends asking me if this is going to be all "hippied out", but cry not dear skeptics, you can choose which workshops you attend and if nature has taught us anything, it is that it is all connected. So maybe it would do some good to participate in Partner Play Yoga, you never know. And for those of you who are wowed by the ability of nature to thrive even in odd and oftentimes daunting situations, you can experience a microcosm of nature's ability to adapt by attending the Growing Oyster Mushrooms on Coffee Grounds session. Come one, come all; we are all in this together.