RUST: The Radical Urban Sustainability Training

Posted by on February 01, 2010

We are happy to announce that we will be offering RUST – The Radical Urban Sustainability Training, on the weekend of July 10-11, 2010.  The course will be taught by Scott Kellogg, author of “Toolbox for Sustainable City Living” and Lauren Ross, and will take place at the Albany Free School in Albany, New York. All the course information, including content and registration details, can be found at http://www.radixcenter.org/workshops/rust

About R.U.S.T

RUST – The Radical Urban Sustainability Training –  is an intensive weekend workshop of skills for building ecologically resilient communities in today’s cities.  In this class, sustainability experts Scott Kellogg and Lauren Ross gives attendees a “toolbox” of techniques and knowledge usable by anyone wanting to create sustainable systems in their own communities. Through a combination of group hands-on activities and lectures, participants will learn how to build infrastructure for self-reliance by utilizing salvaged and recycled materials.  These systems can be applied in either urban or rural environments, and in many cases can be put to use in even an apartment spaces.

Special emphasis in the class is put on the interrelatedness of sustainability and struggles for social justice. The many innovative sustainability features on display in the Albany Free School neighborhood will be used as teaching tools.

Typical topics & hands-on demos

* Low-tech bioremediation (cleaning contaminated soils using plants, fungi and bacteria)
* Rainwater harvesting
* Aquaculture: ponds, plants, fish, algae
* Constructed wetlands/greywater
* Autonomous technologies:wind turbines & passive solar
* Worm composting and soldier flies
* Raised bed gardening and soil alchemy
* City chickens and micro-livestock
* Struggles for land and gentrification
* Brownfield restoration
* Biofuels: methane digesters, wood gas and veggie oil vehicles
* Mycoscaping:edible and medicinal mushroom cultivation
* Energy depletion and climate justice
* Sustainable and efficient wood burning

Thank you, and if you have any questions, please email me at sk@radixcenter.org

Scott Kellogg
Author, Toolbox for Sustainable City Living