Collective Genius – Cimbria Badenhausen, MBA, ENV SP

Collective Genius, Community Building, First Circle Coaching, Green Collar Economy, Local Economy, Mindfulness in Schools, Pathways to Thriving, Synergetic Genius, Unique Genius

Chicago’s Mindful Children

February 11, 2017 cimbriab

The majority of the news coming out of Chicago has been horrific. 67 people have been murdered in Chicago as of 2/10/2017. When I hear good news, when I hear mindfulness is being taught to children in the early grades in Chicago schools as a way of helping them cope with stress, I want to jump for joy, and share this news with everyone. So I am!

This Erikson Institute project is a bright light, and shows what is possible, even in the darkest of times. If you’re looking for an efficient, compassionate and creative organization to support with your hard-earned cash, please consider donating to the Erikson Institute. @EriksonInst

Collective Genius, Community Building, First Circle Coaching, Green Collar Economy, Local Economy, Pathways to Thriving, Synergetic Genius, Unique Genius

Finding the Hidden Talented

February 3, 2017 cimbriab

Looking for an employee who is friendly, dependable, has good customer service and would be grateful for a chance to expand her skills, and accept more responsibility? There are people with Hidden Talents right in front of your eyes!

When the economy went bust in 2008, people who formerly had “successful” careers began to find themselves unemployed or underemployed. These hard workers still had their hard-won skills sets and unique genius.

Some of these people have retired. Some are waiting to be recognized for the human resource assets they are. To many in the business world, these people are invisible. I’m here to tell you these dedicated, loyal workers are the ones checking you out at the chain stores, the convenience marts, and supermarkets. They want to increase their income, gain more experience, and work for a supportive company with compassion.

Now, imagine you’re a small business owner in a geographic area with limited human resources. There are a couple of big local employers who can afford to give their employees great benefits. These employers naturally are the employer of choice for most of the experienced talent pool. What’s a small business owner to do?

First, I suggest that you change the way you’re thinking about what defines “talent”. Instead of looking for staff trained for office work, with higher expectations around income and benefits, look for the kinds of skills that is transferable, the ones that make a good employee. You want someone with a good attitude, primarily. She also needs to be dependable and honest, with the best interests of the company at heart. You want someone who is going to be accountable, and loyal, because turnover is expensive.

People with these skills are working in “blue collar” jobs throughout your community, and many would love the chance to try something new.

cashier02 The next time you’re shopping at the pet store, in a box store, or eating out, pay attention to the person behind the counter. Are they courteous, helpful? Are they accountable when they make an error, or if something is mis-priced? Are they aware of what is going on around them, do they create relationships? Pay attention to the way they speak to customers on the phone. Then imagine them working in your office.

When you meet a service person with hidden talents, give her one of your business cards. Let her know you’ve noticed what a great job she’s doing, that you’re looking for someone with her skills for your business. Just this moment of appreciation will improve her day, to be sure! She might even give you a call, or send you her resume. And you’ll both win!

It may take some time until her hidden talents will be fully aligned with that of your business. If you handle this relationship with compassion, understanding, and clear communication of expectations, I believe you will both have engaging and successful careers ahead of you.

Collective Genius, Community Building, Infrastructure, Local Economy, Pathways to Thriving, Permaculture, Synergetic Genius, Systems Thinking, Turning Point Gratitude Project, Unique Genius

Turning Point Gratitude Project Recieves 2015 Seed Grant from NEGEF!

May 28, 2015December 21, 2016 cimbriab

We are deeply grateful to the New England Grassroots Environmental Fund for awarding the Turning Point Gratitude Project one of their 2015 Seed Grants. Wrote Ally Philip, Program Coordinator, during a recent correspondence, “We are happy to support such an innovative project that touches upon several of NEGEF’s issue areas.” We are quite happy too, Ally! The funds will go to defray some of the costs incurred in setting up the program, purchasing materials for the classes and implementation of the design.

Thank you so much NEGEF! Want to donate to our project? Contact Turning Point of Windham County Executive Director Susan Walker at TPWC.1 (at) hotmail.com. Your gift is tax-deductible! We will also need materials and manpower to implement the design once it’s complete. You’ll be in great company!

Here is the course outline: TPGPCourseOutlineRev. The registration fee for the full PDC is $500, (which is one third to one quarter of the usual cost for certification). If you would like to enroll in the Permaculture Design Certification course please use this form: TPGPCourseReg.

To enroll in individual courses, download this registration form: TPGPINDCourseReg. Those who have EBT cards may enroll in individual courses at no cost! If you have questions, please contact Cimbria CimbriaGratitudeProject (at) gmail.com. We look forward to having you play with us in the garden!

Collective Genius, Community Building, Edible Brattleboro, Green Collar Economy, Infrastructure, Local Economy, Pathways to Thriving, Permaculture, Synergetic Genius, Systems Thinking, Turning Point Gratitude Project, Unique Genius

Turning Point Gratitude Project: What is a “Gratitude Project”? Why Turning Point?

May 14, 2015December 21, 2016 cimbriab

When I moved to the One and Only Brattleboro VT in September 2014, I felt called to demonstrate my gratitude. This community feels like home. I began planning how I could combine my life philosophy, permaculture, with a service project which would help improve food justice, provide stakeholders with a natural landscape in which to congregate, create workforce training opportunities, and slow, spread and sink stormwater currently inundating the Whetstone Brook. Turning Point’s location at 39 Elm Street is the perfect site for this project, and the staff and stakeholders are just as excited about it as I am. The Board is terrific, and there are many Master Gardeners already tied into the group.

Turning Point Addiction & Recovery Center moved to downtown Brattleboro after being located in a more remote area. The move helped increase their ability to provide services to area residents who don’t have access to private transportation. There was damage in the basement from Hurricane Irene, which brought more than 2′ to the Frost/Flat/Elm corridor. TPAprilShowers (18)

Water from sites above, all the way to Western Avenue and beyond, eventually settles in this neighborhood, as do all the pollutants. This makes the area around the building very rocky.

Volunteers have begun harvesting rock to be used as materials once the design is completed.

A full Permaculture Certification Course will be offered based at the site during June and July 2015 for a cost of $500. (This is less than half of what courses usually cost, and is mainly to cover expenses for the Gratitude Project.) The course schedule is almost finalized.

We’ll invite individuals to attend the workshops singly. Stakeholders for Turning Point and people receiving EBT (3-Squares VT) will be able to attend the training sessions at no cost. We are also offering an option to attend individual sessions through Brattleboro Time Trade. Participant hours received for attendance of the courses will be used to “pay” volunteers who help implement the project. This could only happen in a town that has hundreds of engaged Time Trade members, as Brattleboro does!

We would appreciate any donations of materials or plants. Right now we need barrels which can be used to hold rocks until the implementation begins. A wheelbarrow or two would be nice!

The Grand Opening of the new site will be in September. That will be quite a celebration for Turning Point staff, stakeholders, and for me. A real celebration of their mission and vision, of the committed staff and Board, and of this town that I love, the One and Only Brattleboro, Vermont!

Check out the program schedule here!

Collective Genius, Community Building, Green Collar Economy, Local Economy, Pathways to Thriving, Permaculture, Synergetic Genius, Systems Thinking

Walking the Land at Singing River Farm

December 28, 2014December 21, 2016 cimbriab

The weather was ideal yesterday as A. Laurel Green and Steve Crofter welcomed us to walk the land at Singing River Farm. Laurel, Steve and I met recently at a meeting of the Southern Vermont Permaculture Guild held in the community room of the Brattleboro Food Co-op, where they invited us to participate in a design charrette on their farm. The three of us decided it would be fun to work on the program for the charrette together.

Cimbria prepares to facilitate the design charrette — I prepare for the design charrette at Singing River Farm 12/27/14

Loosely defined, a design charrette is an opportunity for permaculture designers to learn about a specific piece of land, and then suggest ideas for incorporating permaculture principles into the landscape design. Laurel and Steve had completed their PDC online, and so had not had the chance to participate in a charrette before. They asked me to facilitate for them, which I was very happy to do. Landowners would benefit from input at any time in the implementation process, it’s really never too late to incorporate restorative measures into your design. Ideally, the earlier in the design process the charrette takes place, the better.

Coming into our planning session, Laurel was feeling an urgency to plant her edible forest garden in the coming Spring. She will be ordering trees quite soon and wanted to have a good idea of what she’ll be planting. After we’d had a chance to discuss the flow of the charrette, Laurel and Steve decided we might be rushing things. Permaculture is built on small and slow solutions. It might be best if we accepted that walking the land with our fellow permies, and then doing a sector analysis, might be the best use of our time. Nurturing our permie community could be the primary goal for the day, with design outcomes an added benefit.

Due to the charrette taking place over a holiday weekend, we offered a casual schedule and were happy to have 6 local homesteaders join us for the afternoon. We started the day with introductions built around an ice-breaker, then headed out to walk the land, making note of existing conditions.

A sector analysis is based on the first permaculture principle: observe and interact. Steve and Laurel had been observing the land for almost 3 years, and wanted help from fresh eyes. Where is water available? What are wildlife and human access patterns? Where are woody plants already thriving? How would existing conditions on abutting properties affect her design? Steve and Laurel were inviting us to listen to their land as it suggests a design that could be restorative. I asked each of the participants to spend some time walking by themselves, making note of anything that could be instructive, then we all returned to the house, and hot beverages.

SingingRiverIntroPermie (4) Laurel had identified a great deal of information including historical uses of the land, the location of various existing gardens, weather patterns, micro-climates, etc. on her base map. We were able to expand on that, each making note of our observations in the appropriate sectors. Next, Laurel considered what our findings suggested. It helped to clarify for her that the entire farm is really an edible forest garden. She and Steve began identifying which sections would be suitable to develop production gardens such as blueberries, and how to make best use of wet areas, highlands and lowlands.

Laurel and Steve now have a clearer idea of what they projects will be over the next several seasons, and and are ready to decide which trees they will plant come Spring. Everyone agreed it would be nice to participate in charrettes at some of the other homesteads, which we’ll plan during the regional Permaculture Guild meetings. My hope is that I will be asked to help facilitate these charrettes for rural and urban/suburban landowners. ThIs was a very enjoyable way to spend a winter afternoon! My thanks to Laurel and Steve for inviting me to play with them!