The Rhizome Collective

Radical Urban Sustainability Training

Creating autonomous communities with the tools

of permaculture and social activism

An intensive seminar in urban ecological survival skills

Upcoming Classes

September 20-21, 2008 Albany, NY

September 27-28, 2008 Albany, NY

RUST Students getting a bike trailer technology demo.

RUST is an intensive weekend workshop focused on skills related to building autonomous communities in today's cities. We will share the cumulative knowledge gained from the past eight years of building the Rhizome Collective, an urban sustainability and community organizing project based in Austin, Texas. The training will have both hands-on and lecture/discussion components. The interrelatedness of sustainability and struggles for social justice will be emphasized. The many innovative sustainability features on display at the Rhizome Collective will be used as teaching tools. (To see pictures of some of these systems, take the virtual tour )

aquaculture demonstration

Locations

Austin: The class will be split between two locations: the Rhizome Collective Warehouse and Grove Brownfield. Morning classes and all meals will be held at the Rhizome Collective warehouse. Each day after lunch, we will relocate the class to our brownfield property, where we will spend the afternoon engaged in hands-on activities.

Albany: The class will be held in the Albany Free School, a 37 year old inner city democratic school. (www.albanyfreeschool.com) The numerous functioning examples of urban sustainability in the Free School neighborhood will be used as teaching demonstrations. While not taught at the Rhizome Collective, Scott Kellogg of the Rhizome Collective will be the primary teacher. He will discuss and show examples of the Rhizome's work in Austin, and use systems constructed by him and others in Albany as hands-on display models.

Cost

$150 to $350, sliding scale (pay what you can within this range). The cost includes meals for both days and camping.

Our intention is to make RUST accessible to as many people as possible. A limited number of scholarships and work trades will be made available.

The work trade involves paying $90 and doing six hours of volunteer work for the community hosting RUST. The work can be done either the Friday before or the Monday after the class, but not during. Those interested in doing a worktrade must say so when they register, requests for worktrades following registration will not be accepted.

The Rhizome Collective also offers scholarships for people of color.

Please contact us if you are interested in applying for a scholarship or work trade position. All applications will be reviewed on a case by case basis.

compost first aid

Lodging

Austin: Course attendees are invited to camp at the Rhizome Collective's Grove Brownfield. (For more information on the Grove property and its cleanup see the Rhizome Collective website.) Camping at the brownfield will be a rugged and unique experience. The site borders a 350 acre park that is home to many wild animals including deer, fox and owls. The brownfield is less than a five minute drive from the warehouse. Daily transportation will be provided. Austin's weather in late March is typically spring-like and pleasant. A list of affordable local hostels, hotels and housing co-ops is available for those preferring indoor accommodations.

Albany: Course attendees are invited to camp on a beautiful farm located in Selkirk, Ny, just a few miles south of Albany. transportation between the farm and the Free School will be provided.

Food

Non-dairy vegetarian meals will be provided three times a day.

urbanite garden beds built in workshop

Instructors

RUST is primarilly co-taught by Scott Kellogg and Lauren Ross. Other guest teachers are brought in for each class.

Teacher Bios

Scott Kellogg is a co-founder of the Rhizome Collective and has served as the director of its sustainability program for the past seven years. He has extensive experience designing and building sustainable systems, including constructed wetlands, aquaculture ponds, biogas and biofuel operations, windmills, passive solar devices, micro-livestock systems and many others. He has taught numerous workshops and multi-part permaculture courses in locations as diverse as post-Katrina New Orleans and East Timor. In addition, Scott has participated in numerous campaigns for social justice over the years. He and Stacy are the authors of the book "Toolbox for Sustainable City Living: A Do-it-Ouselves Guide".

Lauren Ross. Lauren is an environmental engineering with 30 years of experience protecting and remediating soil, water, and plant systems. She has designed and implemented permaculture systems and encampments for activists in Cancun, Mexico,
Stirling, Scotland, Calgary, Canada, Brunswick, Georgia, New Orleans post-Katrina and Sacramento, California. She has taught courses and workshops in water politics in venues as diverse as the University of Texas and the Radical Encuentro.

Stacy Pettigrew is a cofounder of the Rhizome Collective. She has participated in the construction of sustainable systems and organizational infrastructure. Stacy is also a journalist and producer with WINGS: The Women's International News Gathering Service.

sheet mulching

Registration

Space is limited, we encourage early registration for all classes. In the past all classes have filled well in advance.

Email or call first to check availability. - (512.294.9580)

To reserve a position, a non-refundable deposit of 50% of the tuition (at least $75) is needed. Send a check or money order payable to "The Rhizome Collective - RUST" to:

For the Austin class: 

	The Rhizome Collective - RUST
	300 Allen St.
	Austin, TX 78702

For the Albany class:

RUST

199 Circular St.

Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

Please include:

• Your name, address, phone # and email
• Which weekend you are registering for
• A short description of yourself, activities, experience, organizations, etc.
• Your main interests in taking the course
• Whether you will be camping or need a list of accommodations
• Any special needs

Recommended Reading

The book "Toolbox for Sustainable City Living: A Do-it-Ourselves Guide" (South End Press, 2008),by Scott Kellogg and Stacy Pettigrew, was written as a companion to the RUST workshop. It is highly recommended that course attendees read the book so that they may be more familiar with the systems described within it. Doing so will allow you the opportunity to ask questions, have diagrams to refer to, and will contribute to you having a more rewarding experience at RUST overall.

The book (due out on June 15th, 2008)can be purchased directly from the authors. Pre-orders can be made by following this link: http://rhizomecollective.org/rustmanual

RUST FAQs

The curriculum seems very ambitious, will we really cover all this material in a weekend? Yes. The course is designed to be highly intensive and to cover a large amount of material in a few days.

Why is the course only two days long? Travel is expensive and it would be more worth my time to stay longer. We understand the cost of travel is prohibitive and that out of town attendees would prefer the course to take place over several days rather than a weekend. It is very important to us, however, that the course be accessible to working people, which means it must be condensed into a weekend. For the Austin classes, folks from out of town can arrange to stay longer either before or after the course to make their travel more worthwhile.

How is the course structured? Will I get to learn about all the topics or must I chose only a few? There is one single curriculum that everyone will attend. The mornings will be lecture, and in the afternoons we will split the class into halves for the hands-on workshops. The same workshops repeat for the other half the following day, so everyone will get to learn about all of the topics.

Who is this course for? Anyone interested in learning specialized techniques for small-scale sustainable design in cities will benefit from this course. While the focus is on urban design, these skills can be applied to rural areas with little modification. Renters can adapt these designs to temporary situations as well.

No prior knowledge of permaculture or sustainable design is required, however, please note that this is not a permaculture design course - very little time will be spent explaining the principles of permaculture. The main focus is learning specific techniques that can be used without an extensive theoretical basis.

When to arrive? We recommend arriving Friday to be prepared for class Saturday morning. The class will end Sunday evening. Austin class participants can arrange to camp on the brownfield before or after the class - let us know if you would like to arrive early or stay later. Albany class participants are asked to arrive and stay no more than one day before or after the class. Please note that we are only able to provide food and transportation during the class. Once you have registered, you will be sent an information form with more details about the course - how to get there, the course syllabus, etc.