PAN

Permaculture Association of the Northeast

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News & Announcements

PAN Launches Permaculture Educators’ Pledge

The creation of The PAN Permaculture Educators’ Pledge, was a 3+ year participatory process, convened by the Permaculture Association of the Northeast (PAN formally know as PINE). This 1- page document was distilled from many meetings, conversations, convergences, phone calls, scribbled notes, retreats and late night talks around the fire as our network grappled with how we, as a grassroots movement honor and embody our ethics as we grow and how we do this as a network for the network rather than a top down imposed set of rules and regulations from the outside.  Read more about the pledge and how to adopt it here.

PAN Year-End Appeal Letter

Season’s greetings permaculture friends–

As you may know by now, PAN –the Permaculture Association of the Northeast– is a membership organization that relies on the support of the greater northeast permaculture network to help fund our activities throughout the region.  Some of our members hail from as far south as Pennsylvania, as far west as New York, as far north as Quebec and as far east as the Canadian Maritimes.   Many of you may remember the northeast permaculture convergence, which has been the flagship project for us for the last ten years and has enabled us to build this network based on face-to-face relationships.  We have recently diversified our offerings in how we steward and support the permaculture nodes throughout the region.

Our current activities include:

  • Network strategic planning from the northeast region and beyond to the national
  • Diversity and solidarity trainings for teachers and organizers
  • Teacher trainings for women in permaculture
  • Voluntary and co-created standards in permaculture education
  • Northeast Permaculture Convergence planning for summer 2018
  • NEW! – Webinars focused on supporting permaculture practitioners in a professional capacity – helping permies stay connected and informed across the region!
  • Fundraising
  • Enhancement to our membership program
  • Strengthening member connections within the region

I’m writing to ask you to consider two ways of supporting our continued work.  First, if you’re not already a member, please do become a member of PAN ($30-100/year).  Secondly, whether you’re a member or not, please consider making a $5 to $500 donation to PAN.  PAN is a 501(c)(3) organization so your donation may be tax-deductible.  If you have felt that permaculture education has enhanced your life in any way, your donation would be a great way to “pay it forward” and support the continued development of the network.  PAN exists to support the activities of the regional nodes and increase access to quality permaculture education, events and content.  Your donations and membership dues are greatly appreciated and go toward paying our expenses and keeping our activities consistent and continuous throughout the years.

Thank you very much for your support.

Excelsior!
Jesse Watson
President of the Board, PAN

Funding Sources for Permaculture Initiatives

Across the region PAN members are working on innovative projects on their properties, in their neighborhoods, and in their chosen communities. Moving from idea to implementation is dependent on many variables but one of the most limited is often funding. Over the past few years the PAN Board has been working closely with the New England Grassroots Environment Fund (NEGEF) to share funding opportunities with our members. Fortunately for us NEGEF as an organization shares many of the same ethics as PAN and the Permaculture community do! NEGEF is “dedicated to inspire, connect, and support community-based environmental projects throughout New England.”

New England Grassroots Environmental FundSo, how does this work? There are two initial grant sources at NEGEF that we encourage you to review. They are called Seed and Grow grants and are designed for groups that:

* are doing community-based environmental work in CT, ME, MA, NH, RI or VT;
* are volunteer-driven or have no more than 2 full-time paid staff (or equivalents);
* have an annual operating budget under $100,000.

It is important to note that NEGEF does not fund statewide, regional, national or international work. Their focus is specifically on community-based, local initiatives. More information on both grants is available at https://grassrootsfund.org/dollars.

Seed grants have a rolling application so you can apply anytime. Grow grants are accepted twice per year. There is also a Harvest grant round once per year for capacity building projects for groups empowering youth-led initiatives that allow young adults to design, lead, and engage a community-based effort from inception.

We hope that you will take a closer look at these funding opportunities for your projects. If you do move forward and need a fiscal sponsor at any point you can always look to PAN for that service!

T-shirt Design Contest!


Time for a new look!  T-shirt contest!!! The PAN Board is launching a T-shirt contest and will be collecting submissions until February 10th (2018). Once all of the entries have been received we will ask for members to vote on the design they think reflects the organization most. If we use your design you will receive a one year membership to PAN and a shirt! We are excited to see what the talented designers in this community come up with! Send your submission to us via email.