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Author, teacher and homesteader, Ben Falk will lead a talk and discussion about how and why he has cultivated his family's resilient homestead, living close to the land. In this talk, Ben will surface some of the reasons why community resilience is vitally important at this time as well as some vulnerabilities to 21st Century threats you may not be aware of. He will go on to highlight practical dimensions of a resilient lifestyle that anyone can develop through highlighting some of what he has experienced on his permaculture homestead in Mad River Valley, Vermont.
Ben, a pioneer in resilient design and lifestyle, has been educating communities about the how and why of community resilience for over a decade. His presentations are known for engaging and challenging audiences young and old with theory, practice, amazing visuals and humor to boot.
Ben Falk, M.A.L.D: Design, Planning, Systems Optimization Ben is the author of the award-winning book the Resilient Farm and Homestead (Chelsea Green, 2013). Ben developed Whole Systems Design, LLC as a land-based response to biological and cultural extinction and the increasing separation between people and elemental things. Life as a designer, builder, ecologist, tree-tender, and backcountry traveler continually informs Ben’s integrative approach to developing landscapes and buildings. His home landscape and the WSD studio site in Vermont's Mad River Valley serve as a proving ground for the regenerative land developments featured in the projects of Whole Systems Design. Ben has studied architecture and landscape architecture at the graduate level and holds a master’s degree in land-use planning and design. He has conducted more than 300 site development consultations across the US and abroad, and has facilitated dozens of courses on property selection, permaculture design, and resilient systems. He has given keynote addresses and presented dozens of workshops at venues ranging from Bioneers to the Omega Institute.