The Massachusetts Coalition for Healthy Communities will follow up on its 2007 Pioneer Valley Relocalization Workshop with a statewide conference to be held in Roxbury on Sunday, October 18th. The Massachusetts Relocalization Conference will be a celebration and display of the many grassroots initiatives that are springing up in response to systemic breakdowns and meltdowns, from the economy to healthcare to the environment.

RELOCALIZATION

Relocalization is a push for vibrant local economies based on sustainable jobs and economic justice, including community-led initiatives in renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, community farms and gardens, local manufacturing, livable walkable bikeable streets and well-integrated public transportation, community-owned finance and local currencies, and more. We’ll use the conference to help build statewide momentum for the urgent changes we need to address the unjust and unraveling economy, climate change, energy disruption, inadequate nutrition and an unsustainable food system, transportation inequity, healthcare breakdowns, etc.

Relocalization is a term coined by the Post Carbon Institute, representing a strategy to reclaim our socio-cultural and economic systems in response to over-reliance on cheap energy and the related erosion of community.

BACKGROUND

The Massachusetts Coalition for Healthy Communities (MCHC) was formed in 2003 to advance a holistic view of what constitutes a healthy community and to work towards healthy communities in an integrated way. Since early 2007, MCHC has grown more focused on the converging crises of climate change, resource depletion, and economic unraveling -- recognizing that they spell a new kind of urgency for Massachusetts and the world. Our 2007 Pioneer Valley Relocalization Workshop, with over 200 attendees, highlighted the remarkable initiatives already underway in the Valley, and provided a springboard for inspired sharing, dialogue, networking, and collaboration. It also helped launch an ongoing, local grassroots effort called the Pioneer Valley Relocalization Project which continues to work on relocalizing the Pioneer Valley.

FUNDING

Initial funding for this conference was made available by the Sparkplug Foundation. We are incredibly grateful for this critical spark! And we are thankful for further funding provided by the Institute for Sustainability & Post-Carbon Education, the Small Planet Fund, and Lee Strauss. We are proud to have their support.