This workshop has been cancelled.
This session will have a focus on the commons model, Indigenous collective stewardship and ownership of land, and regenerative agriculture. By creating Agrarian Commons throughout the US, which are a hybrid model of community and conservation land trust to hold farmland and housing, we are addressing the realities of farmland owner demographics, wealth disparities in the US, results of historic and present racial injustice, farm viability, the high price of land, and the impact on all who are excluded and marginalized from land and food. Each Commons permanently removes agricultural land from the commodity market, so it never risks being sold to the highest bidder. Affordable long-term leases allow farmers to have secure land tenure, helping farmers cultivate the security and financial viability to invest in farm infrastructure and long-term stewardship. Commons are structured in a way that ensures local stewardship and governance of land and keeps land in the hands of the community closest to it, including those farming. Participants will learn about the Black Swamp project and how the innovative Commons model works. Panelists are land conservationists, farmers, and the Indigenous people leading the project. Attendees will hear inspiring stories of the transformation that is occurring around the country because of this new way of being in relationship to land and learn ways to be participants in the movement.