Are you tired of the old story that is EXHAUSTING us? There is a New Story just waiting to bloom out of the cracks in the asphalt of yesterday’s world.

The Story is out there: “It is time to bring forth all that you are and engage in the ‘We’.” The questions have been asked: “How do we live in the world in right relationship with each other and the planet?”

How do we transform our cultures and societies to make space for a brighter future for our children’s children?”

To answer these questions and tell this new story, just as in any play or performance, we need to learn our parts, and that is what permaculture promises; real solutions that can change the fabric of the story we are living in everyday.

It is this impetus and these guiding questions that have brought us to bring an entire set of new modules to Lucidity, focused on catalyzing community action to reconnect with one another, get our hands in the dirt, and create the world we want to live in together.

This year, we bring you a Permaculture Action Course before the festival begins from April 6th through 8th, culminating in a Permaculture Action Day in Santa Barbara with The Polish Ambassador on April 9th. During the festival itself, we’ll bring the networking, community action, and permaculture education to our Permaculture Action Hub, a place for workshops, skill shares, panel discussions, and networking on all things permaculture. This will be a taste-testing smorgasbord of DIY skills, design education, and permaculture connections; but the way to really dive deep is by coming early for the in-depth Permaculture Action Course with some of the most renowned experts in their field.

We couldn’t nail down Art Ludwig, author of Water Storage and Create an Oasis with Grey Water, for the Hub during the festival, but he’ll be teaching in depth during the course on rainwater catchment and harvesting, earthworks, water storage, grey water and all things water-wise for creating a resilient future in this time of drought. If you can’t make the course, don’t worry. He may pop his head up for a moment, and we’ll be teaching the students of the course everything we can so they can pass it on to others during the festival. This is the world we’re calling in — where not only do the students become the teachers, but we all teach and learn from each other, collaboratively. We all hold a piece of the solution. This we already know. We’re just bringing some of the folks whose experience and expertise can help all of us hold even bigger pieces of the solution to share with others!

Architect and earth-building pioneer Ray Cirino will be on site for the festival too. He’ll do an hour Introduction to Natural Building in the Permaculture Action Hub on Friday, but again, the best way to get the full download from Ray is to come to the course for a comprehensive education in natural building principles, techniques, and methods, so that you can be empowered to build structures wherever on this earth you travel.

We’re still waiting to hear from Loren Luyendyk. We do hope he’ll throw down in the Permaculture Action Hub during the festival, but no confirmations. What we do know is that this Certified Permaculture Teacher with over 15 years of practical experience in ecological farming, regenerative design, and horticulture will be teaching one of the most mind-blowing, comprehensive curricula on permaculture design we’ve seen in a while. “Pare down if needed,” as Loren notes in his curriculum outline, is probably what we’ll have to do. History and philosophy of applied permaculture design, ethics and principles, slope, key points, establishment and maintenance, designing for disaster, sector planning, flow patterns, designer’s checklist….the list really does just go on and on.

We’re getting ready for the best Lucidity Festival yet, and we’re working around the clock to make the Story a reality. Between in-depth ecological education, community building, collective action, and connecting each other in a resilient network capable of serious social transformation, this is the moment we’ve been waiting for, and it’s just the beginning.

On Thursday, between the course and the festival, everyone is welcome to participate in the Permaculture Action Day with The Polish Ambassador at Alpha Resource Center here in Santa Barbara. We will be creating a drought-tolerant, regenerative landscape at the Alpha Resource Center, a school and multi-faceted service center for folks with developmental disabilities.

Join us in this kindred quest for a regenerative future!