Dear Friends and Supporters of Beyond Boundaries, please read our proposal and see what 2012 has in store, Beyond Boundaries!

Now, nearly two years after the close of our year-long pilgrimage of service, learning and bearing witness, our intergenerational team is coming together again. In March, we will have our first reunion since completing the journey and together, with an expanding team, we are propelled into new forms of bridge building, citizen diplomacy and earth stewardship. We are responding to calls for collaboration, invitations and requests, and we are listening, together once again, for what serves. Thank you for being a part of Beyond Boundaries, of believing in this vision and mission and for being willing to listen to this call for support. 

At this time of quickening we can all see the changes happening around the world and within our communities.  In the emerging gift culture and global community we see the importance of cross-cultural and inter-generational collaboration and an increasing need for cross-pollinating, for sharing information to maximize collaboration and minimize reinventing the wheel. It is a time in which there are many bridges needing to be built, to be tended and strengthened.  In 2012, as many have prophesized, bridging indigenous roots with a future of earth stewardship and modern technological and consumer culture are the heart of it. Toward this, we focus our energy Beyond Boundaries… 

We write to you, allies and supporters, to help us manifest these collaborative endeavors, to realize these dreams of cooperation. There are many diverse good works being done in the world, and we know you are already involved in many.  As the dreams and creative solutions to the challenges of this world come through all of us, we feel that we each are representatives, or acupuncture points, for a much greater collective movement…a shift in consciousness that is much needed. We so hope that you can continue to be a part of Beyond Boundaries …through contacts, participation, ideas, resonance, and/or  financial support.

With gratitude,

Beyond Boundarians… Gigi, Shay, Siri, and Win 

“Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water. See who is in there with you and celebrate.”

                                                                                            - Hopi Elders Speak (We are the ones we have been waiting for)

Please read the proposal below.

Beyond Boundaries: The Dreaming Continues in 2012

bridge-building, citizen diplomacy, earth stewardship

on-the-ground education and training for a new world, a new era, a new generation

 

The Beyond Boundaries (BB) vision of service, co-creative learning, bearing witness to and supporting positive work in the world, continues in 2012. Founder and visionary Gigi Coyle, with a growing intergenerational team, continues to listen for new expressions of the vision and songline of BB. Together we are responding to invitations and calls for support from a growing global community of people and places working towards an ecological, peaceful and regenerative future. These are invitations to build alliances beyond boundaries, beyond culture, beyond our personal and organizational borders… alliances that foster intergenerational cross-cultural collaboration in service of people, place and planet. The first invitation comes from Tamera (Portugal), the second from International Peace Initiatives (Kenya) and the third from Grandmother Margaret Behan of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers (Montana). You will see that the time for these projects is coming up quickly, that these are unforeseen needs and opportunities, made possible through long-term relationships and requiring quick responses. We are writing to share these invitations with you and to ask for your support to make these requests a reality.

                                                                                                        

Tamera: Global Love School & Water Symposium, April 10–30, 2012

Tamera is a ‘peace research center,’ a cooperative of 170 individuals working for a regenerative future with the intention to build a model for nonviolent culture. Coming from the German democratic movement of the ’70s, the founders believe the issues in the world stem from our inner issues of fear and a pervasive lack of trust and connection. Today, the people of Tamera engage peace work in a holistic way from their land base in Portugal and at international partner projects through their Global Campus. Their four main areas of research are: Water, Technology, Food Systems and Community Knowledge. 

Gigi is a long time friend and ally of Tamera and during the BB Pilgrimage (2009), the team spent a month onsite bearing witness to and supporting Tamera’s holistic peace-building efforts. One of the BB pilgrims, Siri, has continued to work with Tamera since that time. Most recently, Sabine Lichtenfels, Tamera co-founder, has invited a small international group of leaders and teachers, including Gigi and members of the BB team, to further develop the global ‘love school,’ to envision and realize social structures fostering peace between the genders and create a global field of alliance and support during this time of transition and transformation. Following this special seminar, the Institute of Global Peacework (IGP) of Tamera is hosting a symposium on the importance of Water Retention Landscapes as an answer to globalization and desertification. This work is a serious contender for the Buckminster Fuller Challenge, a contest to support design, development and implementation of solutions for humanity’s most pressing problems. A roundtable of international specialists will share knowledge on right relationship with water as a core aspect of peace work. The work that has been done in both of these areas at Tamera is impressive and we want to be a part of the future with them, supporting, participating, and bringing the discoveries back to our own communities here in the USA. Funds are needed to send a delegation of three: Gigi plus two youngers: Shay and Siri. (See budget and bios below). 

From Tamera leaders Sabine Lichtenfels, Vera Klienhammes and Benjamin von Mendelssohn

“We want to invite Gigi, Siri and Shay, as 3 representatives of Beyond Boundaries, to participate in several meetings in Tamera this April. We are all aware that the planet is facing crisis, and we see that one of the most important acts right now is to create ‘crucial connections’ to develop the consciousness and the knowledge that will enable us to find profound solutions for the inner and outer crisis of humanity. After being in continuous cooperation with BB for more than 3 years we see that deepening the cooperation, exchange, and inquiry is an enriching and important process to bring our projects to their highest potential. We wish to use the knowledge and experience of Gigi and BB as we know that they had a one-year education, travelling through several such future research centers. We hope to draw from their knowledge to further shape a continuous curriculum for the Global Campus education.” 

 

Spiral Living Spaces: Council Hut Building and Training in Kenya, November 2012

On a former wasteland in Kenya a community is growing. International Peace Initiatives (IPI), run by Dr. Karambu Ringera, is a grassroots project responding to the community’s issues of broken homes, poverty, disease, discrimination and violence with reconciliation and support, offering hope for a future of peace and wellbeing. At IPI, women and children are offered a safe place where they can reclaim their lives. Here, young ones are seen for their gifts and nurtured as pioneers for positive change in the world. 

In 2011, Marlow Hotchkiss met Karambu at a Nature of Council course he offered at Findhorn (Scotland). Immediately recognizing the positive impact that council practice could have on her work with the men and women of her community, Karambu invited Marlow to build a council hut and bring council practice to the staff for their future peace university. In November (2011), with the generous support of friends and donors, Marlow made a scouting trip to ensure that this collaborative endeavor should move forward. The answer is a resounding yes, and the project is now ready for the next phase. The vision is to send a spiral dream team (Marlow and Gigi plus 3 youngers) to build an earth bag council hut in collaboration with locals and to seed council in the community. Together, we will practice council for team building and co-visioning and learn to build on all levels: body, heart, mind and spirit. Once the building is complete, the council hut will remain as a community gathering place, a place to meet, to pray, to explore conflicts, to heal wounds, build relationships, to listen and be heard, to vision and to dream. Funds are needed for 2 weeks of trainings and 2 to 3 months of building for Marlow, Gigi and 3 trainees, TBD. (See budget and bios below and Kenya Report attached with cover letter.)

 

11^th Council of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers: “Gratitude Brings Freedom,” Spring & Summer 2012, Cheyenne Reservation, Lame Deer, Montana

With the shared vision of working collectively for Mother Earth, the Grandmothers believe the teachings of our ancestors will light our way through an uncertain future. Since their first meeting in 2004 the Grandmothers have come together every six months in their respective homelands to listen together and further their vision through projects that protect the world’s diverse cultures, lands, medicines, languages and ceremonial ways of prayer. In 2007, Gigi initiated and hosted a spacebridge council with the Grandmothers and the Bioneers. Gigi has continued to support the Grandmothers, to foster collaboration with Bioneers, and to spread their messages of hope.       

Grandmother Margaret Behan (Cheyenne) in hosting the 11^th Council of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers in Montana in July 2012. As a member of the 13, Margaret is holding true to their shared vision of working collectively for Mother Earth. She is bringing the Council and international participants to meet on her reservation. She needs a lot of support and, based on a relationship of love and trust with Gigi, has reached out for some of the BB youngers to come, as volunteers, to do everything from computer work to on-the-ground assistance. GM Margaret will provide housing and food. Gigi unfortunately will not be able to attend due to a scheduled month-long training she is leading for the School of Lost Borders. We are open to another elder who may want to join the team. Funds are needed to cover travel  for BB youngers, Shay and Siri and a donation to the conference facilties. (See budget and bios below.)

 

The Team

 Part of the unique nature of this work is the intergenerational focus, youngers and elders working together. In this way we pass on the best of what we have learned, while being open to and building with the inspiration, beauty and power of the younger ones. We feel the bridge we are building between ages, cultures, and genders is part of the essential healing that is needed for all of our relations and contributes to the co-creation of the global community we long for. There will be others added to the team of the Kenya project in the coming months and possibly Tamera as Krystyna Jurzykowski has been invited as well . (bios will be available) 

Marlow Hotchkiss is a poet, council trainer, avid naturalist, and wilderness guide with over 40 years of circle work with young people and adults in classrooms and in nature. He has taught high school and university level courses, in addition to serving for two decades on The Ojai Foundation (TOF) Board of Directors. He was, with Gigi Coyle and Jack Zimmerman, a founding member of TOF’s Leadership Council, and continues today as a senior teacher and member of the Elders Council. Together with other TOF elders, Marlow offers programs in Europe and Africa and is assisting with the launch of the European Council Network. A co-founder of Mobile School, an alternative high school in San Francisco, and of LivingSystems, a community-building and organizational training outfit, he has worked extensively with rites-of passage for young people and adults. He is a father, grandfather, and (as he cheerfully admits) a sort of “small b’’ Buddhist for as many years as he can remember. 

Virginia "Gigi" Coyle is a Council trainer, wilderness rites of passage guide and community consultant and facilitator. She is co-author of The Box; Remembering the Gift and The Way of Council. Gigi helped create, direct and oversee The Ojai Foundation, an educational retreat sanctuary for youth and adults where she still teaches and serves as an advisor today. With a master’s degree in international relations, she has worked extensively in the area of citizen diplomacy and women’s empowerment traveling to 37 countries in the past 40 years. She recently completed a year-long intergenerational pilgrimage of service, Beyond Boundaries, and continues to mentor young people in community leadership. Currently she is focused, with co-leader Marlow Hotchkiss, on seeding Council in other countries and has recently helped initiate a European Council Network. Her interests and skills include numerous healing modalities, permaculture and interspecies communication. She has co-founded four social profit organizations and served on the Board or as an advisor to many others.

Sharon Shay Sloan is a community steward, council practitioner and rites of passage guide dedicated to supporting individuals through life’s transitions, bridging at the intersection of languages and cultures. She has trained, fasted and assisted with the School of Lost Borders and Beyond Boundaries and has supported individuals through the wilderness solo experience over the past eight years. She is the co-creator of the Living Council Immersion course at The Ojai Foundation and for the past thirteen years has worked internationally in project management, including with Bioneers in California and the World Wilderness Congress and Native Oceans in Mexico. She is currently the project manager for the Native Lands & Wilderness Council for The WILD Foundation and a quest guide with Wilderness Reflections. 

Siri Gunnarson is a youth leader, carrier of council and student of community. Interested in both new and ancient forms of education and learning, she has worked with LEAPNOW Transforming Education to run, support and create inner and outer journeys and rites of passages for youth. Siri is a coordinator of the Global Campus, a cross-cultural educational initiative bringing together community projects from around the world to study and create models for peaceful and regenerative living. She is part of Tamera’s global network of support, and has participated in many of their international leadership, spiritual and educational seminars. She currently works with The Ojai Foundation, part of a large pool of stewards caring for the development of the organization, community and programs. Siri has trained with the School of Lost Borders, practicing and supporting wilderness rites of passage journeys.

        Both youngers, Shay and Siri, participated in the one-year Beyond Boundaries pilgrimage, worked on the construction of the Earth Bag Council Hut at Three Creeks and are soon to be confirmed as Trainers in the Way of Council.

 

Budget

We begin in gratitude for the many people who have supported other Beyond Boundaries (BB) projects. BB is made possible by the generosity and support of people who share in the vision and spirit of the journey. From the conception of BB, the joy of service and the give-away have been part of the core motivation for Gigi and all participants. The gifting culture and reciprocity are not new ideas for humanity; these values have been lived by cultures around the world with diverse traditions.

We cannot build these bridges without your support. This growing global community needs all of us, and are grateful to have you part of the circle. Whether your contribution is financial, personal or hands-on, we thank you for your support and being a part of this dream. 

                                         Expenses: (These are estimates/projected costs, given the changing travel costs at this time.)

Travel: $11,500

Tamera (Portugal): $1,500 each, total $4,500 for GG and two youngers

Spiral Spaces (Kenya): $1,200 each, total of $6,000 for Marlow, GG and three trainees

13 Indigenous Grandmothers (Montana): $500 each, total $1,000 for two youngers

 Site Visits: $4,860

Tamera: Course fees by donation: $1,000; costs for accommodation and food at 20€ (roughly $27) per day is $1,860 for GG and two youngers. Total = $2,860

Spiral Spaces/Kenya: Food and housing for five people for three months covered by IPI on site; shots and visas @ $200 each for five people = $1,000. Total = $1,000

13 Grandmothers: Food and housing covered by Grandmothers. Donation for Gathering preparations and facilities  $1000.

Work/Participation: In-kind; all participants are volunteers and donate their time.

Contingency: $500

Administrative fees @ 6%: $1,012

$17, 872

 A detailed budget is available upon request

 

Beyond Boundaries is a project of the Biosphere Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)3 (www.biospherefoundation.org). All gifts are tax deductable, and an official thank you letter from Biosphere Foundation will be sent for your tax records. If you wish to contribute money to a specific participant, put the participant’s name in the memo section of the check or include a note. You may also direct wire transfer funds into the account, to do that contact Sierra: sierra@pcrf.org. All checks should be made out to “Biosphere Foundation” and mailed to:  S. Silverstone/Beyond Boundaries…Biosphere Foundation…Box 808, Big Pine CA 93513

Links to Projects and Direct Funding Opportunities

Tamera:  http://www.tamera.org/index.html

 Water Symposium:  http://www.verlag-meiga.org/sites/verlag-meiga.org/files/Wassersymposium_Mail.pdf

 IPI International Peace Initiatives, Kenya:  http://www.ipeacei.org/

 13 Indigenous Grandmothers:  http://www.grandmotherscouncil.org/

 

Photos: Page 1: Water retention landscape, Tamera; Page 2, top: Earth Bag Council Hut built by Marlow, Gigi and Intergenerational Volunteers at Three Creeks, Big Pine; Page 2, bottom: 13 Indigenous Grandmothers First Gathering on October 11, 2004 at Tibet House's Menla Mountain Retreat, Page 4: A ‘Creo’, Alternative Currency, at the Community of Damanhur in Italy, Page 5 (above): Intergenerational 

Not far behind her crossing the big waters again Shay will return to Indonesia and rehab of Mir, the Biosphere Foundation sailing vessel which has just completed its first voyage from Malta to Singapore... quite a feat for this crew. After celebrations and reunions they too will be exploring any future seeded during BB in that part of the world.

And Will continues in Grad school, teaches "Regenerative Design and Nature Awareness" at the Regenerative Design Institute, and prepares for further guide work this coming year at the School of Lost Borders. This August he, Win and Gigi offered a quest for young community leaders as another BB step in awakening and activating this experience of global community. Participants included young leaders from Findhorn, Educo South Africa, Israel, Europe as well as the USA soon followed by visitors from Tamera. The bond and work we share is strong.

And then there is Sammie, our hero back at school, full on in putting all of his learning’s and perspectives into the curriculum at Hampshire, designing his own study of sustainability and its meaning cross culturally in all arenas… his future is one we all will be tracking closely.

And as for Win and I, much to do returning to 3 Creeks, connecting again with the work of the School of Lost Borders and Ojai Foundation ….I will continue trainings for at least the next year completing a wave in Europe and the US before returning to the Pacific in 2012. Win as well , working with the school again and all of our gardens and trees and me ….now that’s a full time job. Our family has grown huge and we continue as a sanctuary to all of the pilgrims on such a path Beyond Boundaries. Siri just spent a month working at Three Creeks, and many more come and stay before and after quest or council. Without them we would not be able to truly meet the beauty of this land and continue to move ourselves in the direction of

community life here in the Owens Valley.