Green Tuesdays: Big Data in the Village - April 19, 7pm, OP Main Library
Tomorrow evening, Green Tuesdays in the Village will be presenting a panel discussion on BIG DATA IN THE VILLAGE.
The panel discussion will inquire how big data can better engage citizenry and enable local government toward more informed decision- and policymaking in the Village of Oak Park. To this end, the discussion will be based on the following topics and questions.
Native Gardens for Schools and Congregations
This presentation will include discussion on how Oak Park and River Forest schools and congregations can install their own native plant/butterfly gardens and be a part of the “Wild Ones 200” Native Garden Corridor in Oak Park and River Forest. Learn how to get involved, what support Wild Ones will provide and when and how to get started. Learn about native plants and why they are so valuable in designed landscapes, and how they benefit institutions and the broader community.
Rep. Carlos Curbelo Will Speak at CCL Meeting
Guest speaker for the Citizens' Climate Lobby's March meeting will be Congressman Carlos Curbelo, a Republican who represents Florida's 26th District. He recently formed the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus in the House along with Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL). Congressman Curbelo was also the first Republican to cosponsor the climate resolution introduced by Rep. Chris Gibson (R-NY) last September.
Oak Park Art League's "Discarded to Regarded"
How do we create treasure from trash? In February, artists and Oak Park arts organizations are working together to teach the public how to reduce, reuse and recycle through the visual mediums of art and film. Oak Park Art League (OPAL) is calling on artists for its gallery exhibition, Discarded to Regarded, for which artists submit one-of-a-kind works created from found objects or recycled materials. Artists can drop off work at Oak Park Art League starting Feb. 6.
A Farmer's Road
Sunday March 6th, 3:30 pm/ Oak Park Public Library/ Tickets
Post-film program will include Q&A with: John Murray, Filmmaker for "A Farmer's Road" Wes Jarrell, Farmer and Owner, Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery Cheryl Munoz. Founder and Marketing Director, Sugar Beet Food Coop. Discussion and panel facilitator: Jim Slama, Founder and CEO FamilyFarmed and Good Food Business Accelerator Opportunities to take relevant, local action will be shared. Cheese and gelato tastings will be available from Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery.
Sunday March 6th, 4 pm/ Montessori School of Lake Forest/ Tickets
Please stay for post-film discussion, and concrete opportunities for action.
John Murray/ 2015/ 74 min/ Food & Agriculture
FILM DESCRIPTION: A Farmer's Road is a documentary about changing the American food system one meal at a time. At the heart of A Farmer’s Road is a story of how two PhD soil scientists traded the security of academic tenure at a major research university for the relentless challenges and economic uncertainty of operating a Grade A goat dairy and farmstead creamery in central Illinois.
Backyard
Sunday March 6th, 12:30 pm/ Ascension Catholic Church/ Tickets
A light lunch will be served at noon, immediately prior to the films. Three short films (Bomb Trains on the Hudson, Backyard, and The Sustainable) will be woven together with quotes from the recent Papal Encyclical, Laudato Si, which urges a sense of integral ecology and care for our common home and common family. Post-film opportunities include a panel of experts in trains that carry hazardous materials, fracking in Illinois and updates on the solar energy field. There will be time for Q&A and opportunities to take concrete action on various issues, including local environmental issues in Cicero and information on socially responsible investing (Joe O'Krepky with Edward Jones). Facilitator: Gina Orlando, DePaul Faculty; Wellness Coach, Consultant, Hypnotherapist at Healthy is Wealthy.
Panelists include:Alexis Aurigemma, Co-producer of the film "The Sustainable" Lisa Albrecht, Board member of ISEA (Illinois Solar Energy Association) Stacey Durley Hess, Environmental consultant for environmental investigations and remediation in the Midwest. Dawn Dannenbring, Environmental organizer for Illinois Peoples Action
Deia Schlosberg/ 2013/ 28 min/ Energy
FILM DESCRIPTION: Energy companies pursue increasingly difficult methods of fossil fuel extraction at increasing costs to the people and the environment. “Backyard” examines four states that are presently in different stages of hydro-fracking development. The results are several powerful stories of people at odds with the natural gas extraction occurring around them.
Banking Nature
Saturday March 5th, 7 pm/ Northwestern University/ Tickets
Post-film discussion will feature a panel of experts who will demystify some important innovations in conservation strategy.The event is co-sponsored by Northwestern's Environmental Policy and Culture Department, and the panel will include Mark Witte, Department of Economics, Northwestern University; Jason Funk, Senior Climate Scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists; Tom Hodgman, Director of Conservation Transactions for NatureVest, the impact investment unit of The Nature Conservancy. Facilitator: Dorie Blesoff, Adjunct Faculty, Northwestern University - SESP/LOC
Dennis Delestra & Sandrine Feydel/ 2014/ 52 min/ Social Justice: Economy
FILM DESCRIPTION: Banking Nature is a provocative documentary that looks at the growing movement to monetize the natural world—and to turn endangered species and threatened areas into instruments of profit. It's a worldview that sees capital and markets not as a threat to the planet, but as its salvation—turning nature into "natural capital" and fundamental processes such as pollination and oxygen generation into "ecosystem services."
Bea Johnson's Zero Waste Home
Pre- Event Screening: Thursday Feb. 25th 6:30/ River Forest Public Library/ Tickets
This film is paired with a longer film, My Stuff. Stay for a brief, post-film program and discussion focused on the topics of waste and consumerism, and voluntary simplicity. Featuring Q&A with Rachel Lyons, member of Emmaus House in Lawndale focused on racial justice, hospitality, and accompaniment. She is also the Organizer for the Mission of Social Justice at Old St. Patrick's Church. Facilitator: Seamus Ford, Co-Founder, Root Riot Urban Garden Network.
Bea Johnson/ 2015/ 8 min/ Waste, Recycling
FILM DESCRIPTION: Bea Johnson's Zero Waste Home raises questions such as, how much do you throw away each year and how about each day? The numbers are mind boggling, but what if the waste you produced in a single year fit into a quart size jar? That’s what one family of four is doing!
Bikes vs Cars
Sunday March 6th, 3:30 pm/ Frontier Chicago/ Tickets
Sponsored by West Town Chamber of Commerce and West Town Bike-Friendly Business District in partnership with Frontier Chicago.Please join us for post-film discussion about opportunities for creating bike friendly communities, featuring: Kate McKenna, Outreach and Communications Director, West Town Chamber of Commerce / Bike-Friendly Business District, and Rebecca Noble, Urban Fellow and Outreach Coordinator, Go Bronzeville. Facilitator: Jim Troxel, Facilitator, Angel Groups and Funds.
Related direct action opportunities will also be available. *The film is suitable for high school and above. Food and beverages at this View & Brew screening will be available for purchase; patrons 21+ with ID may purchase alcoholic beverages.
Fredrik Gertten/ 2015/ 88 min/ Transportation
FILM DESCRIPTION: From bike activists in Sao Paulo and Los Angeles, who are fighting for safe bike lanes, to the City of Copenhagen, where forty percent commute by bike daily, Bikes vs Cars will look at both the struggle for bicyclists in a society dominated by cars and the revolutionary changes that could take place if more cities moved away from car-centric models.