Swannanoa River Watershed is...

 Just who is Swannanoa Watershed Action Network? And why and how?

Swannanoa Watershed Action Network (SWAN)

 When All Thrive, Earth Regenerates (WATER)

Here's a brief summary written by another member.

SWANWATER is made up of a group of local residents who wish to impart the theories behind Doughnut Economics to people living in the Swannanoa Watershed.

 
We are in the process of organizing workshops to which members of the community will be invited. The goal of the workshops will be to help us zero in on where the shortfalls lie in the local social safety net and to identify where we might be overshooting the ecological ceiling, thereby threatening sustainability and the environment.
 
Once we collect data, we'll be able to paint a picture of where needs lie. We plan to facilitate solutions via channels as needed including: working with and advising local government, active citizen participation in such things as river clean ups, workshops to increase environmental awareness and permaculture education just to name a few possible tracks.
 
Our organization was launched in March of 2022 and has been meeting weekly since with participation growing. We presently meet at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church every Friday at 3.

And the mission of the group:

The mission of SWAN is to mobilize caring individuals and organizations in the Swannanoa watershed to help catalyze a safe and equitable space for all people without shortfalls of the social foundation or without overshooting the ecological ceiling, based on the model of Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth. This includes climate change adaptation and mitigation, home food gardens, home solar, tiny homes for the homeless, river clean ups, capital for local initiatives, gender equality, social equity, education, and health for all.

SWAN is a network of volunteers with skills in permaculture, IT, raising capital for BIPOC enterprises, community development, Buncombe County planning, videography, website design, facilitation, environmental policy, blockchain, teaching, political activism, environmental planning, solar energy, local governance, writing, and more. For the past one year, the organic, self-organizing network has met for two hours each week for discussion, presentations, planning, and action. Workshops will soon be held throughout the watershed.

 

SWAN welcomes new participants, partners, and support for these efforts. The network has a Facebook page, Google Group, and Google Calendar which new members can join, and we now have a YouTube channel as well! Please complete the signup form with your name, address, email, affiliation, interest, and skills.

 

Regular weekly meetings take place at the Black Mountain Presbyterian Church house at 129 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain, NC, each Friday afternoon from 3-5 pm. All are welcome. 

Let's think outside of a box and into a circle...

 The Donut Hole model...I've always loved non-linear thinking. Please enlarge so you can read what each diagram describes.

Donut Economics:

What is the Doughnut?

Think of it as a compass for human prosperity in the 21st century, whose goal is to meet the needs of all people within the means of the planet.

It consists of two concentric rings:

• A social foundation – to ensure that no one is left falling short on life’s essentials.
• An ecological ceiling – to ensure that humanity does not collectively overshoot planetary boundaries.

Between these two boundaries lies a doughnut-shaped space that is both ecologically safe and socially just – a space in which humanity can thrive.

Quantifying the Doughnut

The image below reveals the current state of humanity and our planetary home: think of it as humanity’s ‘selfie’ in the early days of the 21st century.

Each dimension is measured, where possible, with 1 or 2 indicators, and the red wedges show the extent of shortfall and overshoot of the Doughnut’s social and planetary boundaries.

It shows us that millions of people still fall short on all 12 of the social dimensions, and that humanity has already overshot at least four planetary boundaries (air pollution and chemical pollution are currently unquantified). 

To achieve the 21st century goal of meeting the needs of all within the means of the living planet means eliminating all of the red from the Doughnut diagram, and this must be done from both sides at the same time.

Or here's the PDF file What is the Doughnut?

And all this comes through Doughnut Economics Action Lab (DEAL) HERE. I sometimes get their newsletters. And they've revamped their home page, which means maybe it's easier to find things.

I was recently thrilled to see a nearby college (Warren Wilson College) has been offering a place for a group of environmentalists to meet weekly, The Swannanoa Watershed Action Network: When All Thrive, Earth Regenerates. I joined them when their meeting was in Black Mountain (Fri. Sept 16) at the 1st Pres. Church.

It was a meeting without an agenda, and several people attended via zoom...and I was among 3-4 newcomers. I am so bad at remembering names! But the issues discussed had to do with rain water, erosion after storms, building on steep slopes, the map of the area of the Swannanoa Watershed, sources of water, areas of timber farming of old growth trees, building rain gardens; several other groups and what they are doing about climate change. It was good to network with some of these people, who had great knowledge.

Today has been lots of quotes but here's another:

Ruth Reichl (restaurant critic for The New York Times and author) said, "My idea of good living is not about eating high on the hog. Rather, to me good living means understanding how food connects us to the earth."

Tomorrow I'll be at another blog address: Living in Black Mountain.