Cuba-Australia Permaculture Exchange Roberto Perez Australian Tour 2008

Dave Riley's permaculture garden "Little Cuba"

Roberto Perez is featured in the excellent documentary "The Power of Community - How Cuba Survived Peak Oil".

from Robyn Francis

There has been a resounding response to Roberto Perez' visit to Australia in March-April 2008 with groups from NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland registering their interest to host Roberto. A very full draft itinerary has been developed to accommodate these and some additional potential stops factored in which will require local organisations or people to coordinate. The visit will feature 3 or 4 major conference presentations including the International Permaculture Convergence APC9 in Sydney over the Easter weekend.

This update includes information for hosts and convenors including a media kit.

CUBA-AUSTRALIA PERMACULTURE EXCHANGE (CAPE)
ROBERTO PEREZ - Australian Tour 2008
Update: December 1, 2007

First a big thank you for the resounding response to the news of Roberto's Oz tour to launch the first stage of the Cuba-Australia Permaculture Exhange. Australia is exceptionally privileged to have Roberto take so much time out of his busy life to come and share the Cuban experience with us as the first stage of the Cuba-Australia Permaculture Exchange.

The flights have been reserved and an itinerary drafted, and now it's time to settle some of the details before the summer holidays slow things down. This includes paying for the air tickets as these are required to get Roberto's visa application in process (this can take up to 6 weeks), also cheap seats on flights are booking out fast.

Background to CAPE - for those new to the list Cuban and Australian permaculturists have developed a special relationship over the years, from the initial Ozzies that went over to teach the first PDC there in the early ‘90's, a visit from Seed Savers and partnerships forged by ongoing volunteers like Pam Morgan. The Cuban's expressed deep gratitude to the Australian permaculture community and have requested support once again to send me over to work with them in developing integrated urban planning and ecovillage strategies. Such an undertaking would be on a completely volunteer basis and an honour to undertake. I have offered to donate 6 weeks of my time and skills to go to Cuba, if the cost of getting there and back can be assisted. In discussions with colleagues on my return from IPC8, Wadzy suggested to first bring Roberto out here for an Australian tour, to raise the funds to cover the full exchange costs - everyone liked the idea including Roberto.

The Cubans insist that I return with Roberto to complete the exchange. So in effect Roberto has agreed to come out here to help raise the money to get me over to Cuba-and I am working hard to get him out here!!! Seems like a fair exchange hey?!

Read background articles about CAPE at http://www.permaculture.com.au
Thanks for your support - Roberto's visit has huge potential to bring communities together and promote the solutions permaculture has to offer in the transition to a low-carbon future.


Draft Itinerary:
4-6 March Auckland NZ
8-18 March: Nthn NSW
Djanbung Gardens Public presentation Fri 14
1-day Workshop Sat 15
Lismore - SCU Date TBC
Other NC presentations e.g. Byron,
19 March: Travel to Sydney - arrive 20th
20-25 Mar APC-9 , Sydney - Penny Pyatt
26-29 Mar Other Sydney and region presentations
e.g. Latin Club?, UWS?, other...
30 Mar NSW Sth Coast - Bega - John Champagne
1 April NE Vic - Dave Arnold
3 April Ballarat/Hepburn - Steve Burns
5 April Melbourne - Petra
7 April Geelong/SW Vic - Fern
9 April Adelaide
11-13 April International Climate Conference (location TBC: Melb/Syd)
14 April Fly to Gold Coast/Nimbin for R&R
16 April Brisbane?
17-20 April Sunshine Coast
Followed by a few days to relax, visit World heritage rainforests etc before returning to Cuba

Costs
Havana-Sydney return flight, $3550
Visa and other core travel costs $1000
Domestic travel within Australia approx $1300
Travel Allowance for Roberto $1000
NB Roberto will have limited cash resources and this is the
minimum remuneration for his sundry and personal costs within Australia
Reciprocal exchange visit- flight only $3550
Total Exchange cost: $10,400

(Wadsy was right when he said $10,000 needed to be raised for the whole project) Any funds raised in excess of the basic costs above will go towards sending resources and funds to Cuba to support the permaculture initiatives there.

Sponsorships and Fundraising
Funds are urgently required to secure the flight bookings. Sponsors depositing funds of $500 or more into the CAPE account before Dec 20 may choose to be listed as sponsors on the official tour promotional materials. The purchase
costs for the flight tickets has been temporarily covered through a personal loan which needs to be re-embursed as soon as possible. Funds and donations by cheque/money order payable to ‘CAPE" , mail to PO Box 379, Nimbin NSW 2480. Electronic transfers: Bank: Summerland Credit Union, Cullen St Nimbin; BSB 802-222; Account Number 22267099; Name: Erda Institute Incorporated

Hosts & Convenors
Groups hosting Roberto and convening presentations will need to organise all local transport, accommodation/billeting and take care of any sundry expenses. Each event will need to contribute to the CAPE fund. We recommend convenors budget for $5 per person attending public presentations to be paid into the CAPE fund. Convenors will be responsible for all costs associated with events they are organising, including venue and local promotion.

Media Kit
A media kit will be sent to each convenor with a poster and flyer template/master for local printing and a sample press release for promotion.
All engagements will be promoted on the www.permaculture.com.au. The site will have a download folder containing each event's posters and promotional materials for easy download and distribution. There is a forum now on the site for communications about the visit and CAPE in general. To make postings or contributions to the forum you have to sign up.

CUBA-AUSTRALIA PERMACULTURE EXCHANGE (CAPE)
Coordinated by:
Erda institute Inc and Permaculture Education
Djanbung Gardens, PO Box 359 Nimbin 2480 Ph 02-6689 1755 '

in association with the Foundation for Nature and Humanity, Havana, Cuba.

proudly sponsored by:
Permaculture North Inc •