Programs

Public Events—Generating Public Dialogue and Plans of Action on Important Environmental and Social Matters

Annual Environmental Distinguished Award

Public Events

Our public programs explore issues relevant to our times and vital to the Hudson Valley. Typically they follow a format of offering a global and local approach to problem-solving based on the belief that “there is no substitute for dialogue.” We encourage a mixture of participants, widening the base of citizen involvement. The historic Mohonk Mountain House Parlor usually serves as the meeting place.

Bob Larson, 2008 Distinguished Environmental Awardee receives congratulations from Paul Kellar.

Events highlight environmental and social issues. Our environmental topics focus primarily on the Hudson Valley and include fresh water protection; local effects of global climate change; agriculture, including biotechnology; environmental values; and the international environment. Social topics concentrate on human conflicts and their ties to social, economic and environmental issues.

We offer five types of dialogue:

• Forums. A Sunday afternoon exchange of ideas with themes that vary widely from global eco-villages to lessons learned from the Katrina disaster. Each two-hour session begins with presentations from experts who provide the context from both global and local viewpoints. The discussions that follow sometimes provide fertile ground for new conferences and coalitions. Our 2004 forum, co-hosted with the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater organization, pinpointed threats to fresh water in the Hudson Valley. The intense discussions led to a future conference and the formation of the Hudson River Watershed Alliance (HRWA).
  

A series of small groups consulting on climate change “café-style” in the Mohonk Mountain House parlor, 2008.

• Conferences. Day-long gatherings of regional representatives. Themes have run the gamut from social concerns such as crime prevention to environmental issues such as sustainable farming and the fresh water crisis. We showcase national experts, as well as students and professors from local colleges. Additional organizations often co-sponsor these events that target specific problems, solutions and plans of action.
• SEMINARS. Gatherings concerned with important issues that are best discussed in small groups. Topics have ranged from biotechnology’s potential effects on Hudson Valley farming to personal responses of the 9/11 events.
• Special Presentations. Events that stimulate thinking and discussion of important global and local issues. Lester Brown’s visit in 2004 included public presentations to the Hudson Valley colleges, local citizens and leaders. The world-renowned economist and environmentalist spoke of the need to adopt his “Plan B,” including new global and local approaches to solve major problems of the world.
• PUBLICATIONS

Dialogues on Environment and Society

ENVIRONMENT

We have focused on water, climate change, biotechnology, environmental values, the international environment, and agriculture.

Water

A crisis exists in communities throughout the world, including the Hudson River Valley. Our emphasis is on the provision of clean, toxic-free water, conservation, and protection of aquifers.

• 2003 Forum: What Water Crisis? Global and Local Perspectives. National and regional water experts outlined challenges, plus solutions being tried in many parts of the world. Discussions generated the impetus for a regional conference on protecting fresh water, coinciding with the UN’s “Year of Fresh Water.”
• 2003 Conference: Keeping Our Heads About Water; Protecting Fresh Water for our Future. Scientists, planners, local governments and citizen groups exchanged ideas on protecting local water resources through local laws, regional planning, training of volunteers, and reduction, re-use and recycling of water. Co-sponsored with Hudson River Sloop Clearwater.
• 2004 Forum: Forming a Hudson River Watershed Alliance. Resulting from previous forum and conference, local watershed leaders discussed creation of a local alliance, based on the Chesapeake Bay and other models, to: educate, coordinate regional efforts, promote and support appropriate technologies and policies. Co-sponsored with Hudson River Sloop Clearwater.
• 2004: Conference: Creating a Hudson River Watershed Partnership. Solutions to problems of water quality and quantity, threatened by the region’s growth. A new organization formed out of this conference: Hudson River Watershed Alliance [HRWA: www.hudsonwatershed.org].

Mohonk Consultations sponsored the following conferences with HRWA:

• 2005 Conference Hudson River Watershed Alliance. Responding to development pressures, in this first meeting of the new organization, towns were urged to monitor streams, and to map degraded water areas and impervious surfaces (e.g. roads) that cause damaging storm runoff. HRWA introduced its regional listserve site for education and information. www.hudsonwatershed.org
• 2006 Conference: The Watershed Commons: People, Wildlife, and Water in the Hudson Valley. Speakers addressed problems of existing laws, lack of scientific information about groundwater, and need for public education. Hope for protection also lies in recognizing the economic value of water resources.
• 2007 Conference: What’s Your Watershed Address? Protecting the Hudson Valley’s Water and People. Local officials, water managers and citizens discussed the mechanics and challenges to healthy streams, rivers and buffer zones.
• 2008 Conference. See below.

Climate Change

• 2007 Forum: Lessons from Katrina: What is our Local Plan? Local leaders and citizens learned from Katrina’s disaster to consider what local responses could be to mitigate loss and to create community support through collaboration and individual preparedness. Clare Danielsson’s opening comments on community and environment were of note.
• 2008 Forum: Climate Change in the Hudson Valley: What Can We Do About It? An in-depth exchange with local climate change experts focusing on ways each community can meet future challenges. Co-sponsored with Hudson Valley Watershed Alliance. Based on these discussions, MC is offering:
• 2008: conference: Meeting the Climate Challenge: Taking Action in the Hudson Valley. November 21, 2008. The Hudson River Watershed Alliance and Mohonk Consultations co-sponsored a full-day conference for 180 people exploring current climate change policy and science, and demonstrate effective local responses to climate change. Topics included state-of-the-art regional and local climate change science; economic and social implications of climate change in the Hudson Valley; and current federal, state and regional climate change policy. Included a panel discussion by regional leaders on how to respond effectively to climate change on the local level and available tools to adapt to climate change. Keynote address by Andrew C. Revkin, science writer for The New York Times.  Click here to view the Mohonk Preserve's Daniel Smiley Research Center's presentation given at this event on local climate change.

Agriculture

An important issue for the Hudson Valley. In the late 1980s when small farms were undergoing great changes, MC organized two dialogues with local farmers and community leaders; we were encouraged by NYS Congressman Matthew McHugh:

• 1988, 1989 Conferences: Dialogues with Family Farmers on Economic Survival and New Technologies in Family Farming. Farmers and local leaders discussed the mounting challenges to family farms, which led to the formation of the Working Group on Family Farms. Publications: New Technologies for Family Farming; 1989 and Preservation of Agriculture in the Hudson Valley, 1889, which is still a valid plan of action.
• 1994 Project: Phillies Bridge Farm Project. Co-founded the non-profit organic farm, a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) project in New Paltz and Gardiner, for the education of adults and local school children in sustainable agriculture that became independent of MC in 2001 Phillies Bridge serves to educate both children and adults with workshops, camps and school programs, and internships, while collaborating with other local CSAs to raise consciousness about the value of agriculture, open space, and the idea of stewardship of the land for future generations. www.philliesbridge.org;
• 2002 Publication: History of Farming in the Hudson Valley. By MC Board member Clare Danielsson. Explores how land, farming practices and people have changed over the last thousand years to encourage citizens to make informed choices about their food sources and to support healthy land use.
• 2007 Forum: Demystifying Permaculture. World and local Permaculture experts introduced principles of ‘perma’nent agriculture: “the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing food, energy, shelter and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way.” Hudson Valley Permaculture: www.hudsonvalleypermaculture.org Permaculture International: www.permacultureinternational.org

Biotechnology

• 1989 Seminar: What Biotech Means for the Hudson Valley and Beyond. Biotech experts, local farmers and MC board members discussed the impact of bioengineering on local agriculture and planned a public meeting.
• 1999 Seminar: Biotechnology: How it will Affect the Future of the Hudson Valley. University scientists, state agricultural leaders, local farmers and representatives from a biotech corporation debated the gains and risks. MC issued a public statement urging a cautious approach to the use of genetic modification in all applications, and advocating consideration of the long-term impacts on farmers, consumers and future generations.

Environmental Values

• 1980s Meetings and Support: Highland Middle School Tree Project. A local effort to educate youth on global and local environmental challenges and opportunities. Publication: The Tree Project. A Model for Developing Global Understanding at the Middle School Level, 1998*
• 1994 Conference: Environmental Values. Co-sponsored with the Mohonk Preserve. National leaders, local government officials and educators discussed environmental values and ethics.
• 2007 Forum: Survival Lessons for the Earth: How Can Native American Models Help Us? To guide communities toward sustainability through New and old ways of looking at the land – its history, inhabitants and uses. Plus methods of empowering group participation using the circle and talking stick.
  

James D. Auldin (Distant Eagle), author of Circle of Life: Traditional Teachings of Native American Elders (2004), leads the group

International Environment

2004 Public Lectures and an Invitational Luncheon: A Dialogue with Lester Brown, Economist and Environmentalist, author of Plan B. Lectures at Dutchess Community College, Bard College, and SUNY New Paltz; an invitational luncheon at Mohonk Mountain House with local leaders. Discussions centered on world issues involving the interconnections of economics and the environment. Co-sponsored with the Hudson Valley chapter of the World Affairs Council.

SOCIETY

Building on the Mohonk legacy of addressing problems in the society, Mohonk Consultations has hosted meetings and conferences to highlight a range of solutions to current and pressing issues of human, social and economic concerns.

Human Conflicts

We explored the sustainability of people as an important resource. Our board members in fields such as the corrections system and peer mediation helped develop these programs.

• 1995 Conference: How Different Cultures Settle Differences. Presentations included Co-Custodial Dispute Resolution Panel; Peer Mediation in the schools, Alternatives to Violence, a program used in prisons; Native American peacemaking; and training of public officials in mediation and facilitation skills to resolve land use conflicts and zoning. Co-sponsored with Ulster-Sullivan Mediation, Inc.
• 1995 Seminar: Improving Peer Mediation in the Schools. Day-long discussions to improve conflict resolution in the schools, with representatives of Mediation Centers from seven counties and local high school educators.
• 1996 Conference: New Directions for Crime Prevention: A forum for Environmental Alternatives Professionals, policy makers and community joined to consider the factors in childhood that cause crime and to identify new approaches to the problems of crime and how we attempt to resolve them, including improvements in the criminal justice system. Publication: Seeking New Directions for Crime Prevention, 1998.
• 1998 Conference: Environmental and Human Rights: Making the Connection. A Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Homan Rights Declaration. Leaders of groups from the Hudson Valley explored ways that people are put at risk by such environmental problems as living near toxic sites and having limited access to high quality air or drinking water. The groups targeted “Clean Water for the Hudson Valley” as a goal. Publication: conference report.
• 2000 Conference: Lessons from the Conflict in Kosovo: Where Do We Go from Here? Co-sponsored with SUNY New Paltz and the Carnegie Foundations. Consultations hosted this international meeting to present and discuss the findings of the International Commission on Kosovo. Some 80 invited guests and panelists, including diplomats, scholars and human rights activists, heard and discussed the Commission’s report and their proposed principles to guide future humanitarian intervention.
• 2001 Seminar: International Terrorism and Our Response to It. Individual and group reflections from many cultures on the events of 9/11 by board members and invited guests, based on deep feelings of pain and grief, to empower the MC Board to make its work more relevant. Publication: (Booklet) From Crisis to Opportunity: Reflections on September 11.[No longer available]

Social, Economic and Environmental Concerns

• 1981 Meetings: Revitalization of the Hudson River Basin. Consultations with local business, government leaders and educators, resulting in a publication and baseline for action. Publication: Report on Revitalization of the Hudson River Basin, 1982*
• 1983 Conference: Celebration of the Hudson Valley Environment. Further discussions of the “state-of-the- Hudson-Valley Environment” and what needs to be done to change it. [See above.]
• 1984 Meeting: Multinational Corporate Executives for more Effective Role for the Private Sector in International Development and for more active participation in the revitalization of the Hudson River Valley environment.
• 1984 Conference: Representatives of Corporations, Labor Organizations and Labor Arbitrators. Our goal was to encourage better communications among these groups.
• 1987 Conference: Initiatives for the Future.
• 1993 Conference: Greenways: Partnerships for the Future. Discussions of the influence and support for environmental concerns of NY State Greenways, including Palisades Parkway and Harriman State Park.
• 2002 Conference: Smart Growth Success in the Hudson Valley, Diverse perspectives from business, development, environment, municipalities and local citizens to improve growth and development while preserving open space and rural character. We considered consideration of agriculture and open space, zoning regulations, and community visioning. Co-sponsored with Hudson Valley Smart Growth Alliance.
• 2005 Forum: Eco-Villages: How Do We Get There from Here? In response to challenges created by regional sprawl, international Ecovillage leader Albert Bates offered the Ecovillage concept as one way to create community and halt destruction of the ecosystem.