Mutualistic Cincinnati Coalition

This is a new initiative headed up by CPI to build a coalition of collaborators to build a movement that is working toward a unified vision of Resilience, Regeneration and Mutualism with our City and Bioregion. One that is inclusive of all its residents, current and future.

We aim to build Intergenerational resilience, independence & symbiosis in a post fossil fuel world for Cincinnati residents and our bioregional ecosystem through...

The 19 Mutualistic Cincinnati Coalition Directives: 
 

Housing & Buildings:

• Debt Free Housing

• Net Positive Water & Energy

Food Production

• Passive food production on low maintained private and public lands (relying on perennial edibles and support plants - Permaculture Design Terms: Zones 2-4)

• Active food production in high maintained public and private lands (relying on high turn over and high production annuals). (Zone 1)

• Planting of 70% native edibles in urban Zone 5

Comprehensive Passive water management

• Passive water harvesting designed into appropriate public & private lands and buildings

  • Keyline Design strategies are comprehensive water management strategies that will recharge the hydrological cycle and build water resilience at our homes and buildings

  • This includes Cisterns and Intensive Water Recycling.

  • The goal is to Catch and Store water on all properties, preventing it from reaching creeks, streams and rivers where it looses its potential to work for us on our property.

Transportation 

• Diverse Modes of Transportation

  • Highspeed rails, Subways, Lightrail, Street Cars, Buses

• Bike Lanes & Bike friendly transportation Planning

Business

• Transitioning mature, thriving businesses into worker owned businesses

• Collaborating with B Corporations, Permaganic Authenticated Farms

Social Justice

• Access to these concepts to those in need

• Implementing appropriate accessible technologies to achieve these goals

• Developing & supporting cultural events that help us integrate & grow the fulfillment of these goals

Culture and Family

• Teach the next generation about these local resilient practices and encourage them to drive deep roots into their bioregional heritage

• Give the next generation net positive (energy & water) debt free housing & productive agro-ecologies as their rightful inheritance

• Creating cultural events that tie people into the management and harvest of locally grown and produced resources

• Develop cultural customs that help the next generation understand, respect and connect with the diverse sustainable cultures of the world through global connectivity

Building a sustainable and resilient city requires a comprehensive strategy to support each other. Understanding your capacity to build that future depends on ones free time and economic potential to invest strategically to save money while building that future. This City wide plan lays out attainable goals for every individual.  

The City Wide Plan:

Passive or Active Food Production?

• Active Food Production is for lands that can be managed by someone who can actively farm or garden them. In Permaculture we call this Zone 1. Not all lands have people who can manage them as such and thus we use passive strategies on those lands

• Passive food production is for lands that have low maintenance (money and/or time) budgets and include practices such as Edible Landscaping, Edible Forest Gardens and Wild Foraging.

1. The Urban Core (no yards, only public production and community production spaces)

• Food

  • Minimal food production

  • Public Harvesting

  • Buying Local food first (Permaganic Authenticated if available)

  • Permaganic Authenticated Foods beyond locally produced

  • Industrial Organic Foods as a last resort

• Energy

  • Passive Energy strategies such as efficiency and passive capture

  • Minimal Green Energy Production

  • Buying Green Energy beyond

• Collective Water Management in Buildings (From rain water to waste water)

• Transportation

  • Walking, Biking, Public Transit

2. 1st Generation Suburbs ( .1 - .5 acres)

• These sites increase their production potential, although it is still far from self sufficient

• Onsite water management becomes easier on these sites as they are individually managed.

3. 2nd Generation Suburbs ( .5 - 1 acre)

• Larger sites can begin to attain some self sufficiency depending on number of occupants in a home

4. Outer Ring Suburbs ( 1 - 5 acres)

• These sites range from almost self sufficient to fully self sufficient, depending on the number of occupants.

• Farming begins to be possible on the larger farms of these sizes. Small intensive high dollar crop production is best suited for farms of these sizes (vegetables, some fruit and small livestock).

• These farms are completely self sufficient but are supplemented by the urban biological wastes to increase fertility.

• These farm can be certified Permaganic Authenticated to verify their ecological farming practices.

5. Regeneration/Mutualistic Farms ( 5 acres +)

• These farms enhance ecological productivity through their farming practices. They do this by employing Permaculture/Regenerative/Mutualistic farming practices that increase resilience and sustainability on their farm and thus in the greater bioregion.

• They are ideally completely self sufficient, producing all the resources they need for production on site.

• They Produce Staple Crops, Fruits, Vegetables, Large Livestock, Timber, and Forestry Products.

• These farm can be certified Permaganic Authenticated to verify their ecological farming practices.

Moving Beyond Growth

A Growing Economy is a requirement in a brittle economic culture. A brittle economic culture is one that rides on debt and food, housing, energy and water insecurity. Thus to keep the system from falling apart we need to create growth at all costs. That growth comes at the expense of our planet and our societies. Whether it is the short cut of dumping pollutants in our rivers and streams rather than paying the true cost of disposal or through paying employees below living wages. It is also empowered by a culture of Planned and Perceived obsolete goods that are sent to the dump an an ever accelerating rate that creates our consumer economy and keeps quarterly profits up (please refer to our Resources page to find links to videos explaining this consumption culture). This ultimately leaves us all bankrupt.

During the Fossil Fuel Growth Era of the 1950's - 2000 we could afford to build artificial resilience through Social Programs that were fueled by fossilized energy. This came in the form of food stamps supplied through Industrial Agriculture and its expansive distribution networks, Fossil Fuel powered houses and buildings and purified and pumped water to our faucets. In 2008 we hit the first major hiccup in this finite system. We have postponed it through the new drilling technology called Hydraulic Fracturing or Fracking, which has temporarily driven down the cost of fossil fuel, allowing us to believe that things are back to normal. Fortunately we have increased renewable energy around the globe, however this has only put a small dent in the diverse forms of fossil fuel we use. It is a critical strategy however, it will not be enough to power the brittle fossil fueled Global consumption economy we've created into a resilient and regenerative future for all humans and the planet. Fundamentally, the Directives we've laid out will build a world where we no longer need to consume unsustainably just to pay the bills. However, we have a long way to go. So while the economy is good is the time to invest in this intergeneration resilience as laid out through these Directives to further soften that decline. These Directives will, in the worst of times build resilience while in the best of times allow the development of a green tech future, founded in the earths capacity to support all 7 Billion people and growing. This is the path out of a brittle, high energy, culture of consumption.

The Coalition:

We are currently building our Coalition of the Leading Organizations that address these Directives to direct our dollars towards a resilient future!

We believe to ignore these strategies while the economy is thriving due to cheap, finite and polluting fossil fuel is to miss opportunities to build resilience and transition into symbiosis with our ecosystem and bioregion for difficult times. Building this out from the grassroots is foundational to create a globally connected peaceful humanity. Investing in these strategies will build a symbiotic future for our children and their children.

Please email Info@CincinnatiPermacultureInstitute.org if your organization would like to join this movement